A Clean Energy Fund’s Challenges, How Twitter Antics Hurt Tesla’s Brand And 30 Under 30 Innovators

This week’s Current Climate, which every Saturday brings you the latest news about the business of sustainability. Sign up to get it in your inbox every week.

Tim Taddler for Forbes

Earlier this week, Forbes launched its annual 30 Under 30 list, featuring some of the top innovators across 20 different categories. And lots of these innovators are working on ways to make the economy more sustainable. Take Noah McQueen, for example, a chemical engineer whose company, Heirloom, extracts carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into limestone, which can be safely and stably stored. Then there’s Quansan Yang, who’s developing microchips that are biodegradable both in the environment as well as in human bodies to eliminate electronic waste.

On the transportation side, there’s Ben Parker, whose company Lightship is developing long-range electric RVs. On the battery side, there’s Joanna Patsalis, whose company Direct Kinetic Solutions aims to build better nuclear batteries. And on the homefront, there’s Jiachen Li, who helped invent a roof coating that can keep houses warm in winter and cool in summer, and is raising money to commercialize the material. And on the clothing front, there’s twin sisters Neeka and Leila Mashouf, whose company Rubi Laboratories has developed carbon-negative textiles that can be used for fashion or other applications.

These are just a few of the Under 30 listmakers who are making strides in sustainability efforts. You can check out the entire list by clicking here.

The Big Read

getty

His Clean-Energy Fund Was Up 206% In 2020. Then It Crashed. What Should We Expect Now?

Invesco stock-index owner Robert Wilder has bet on eco-friendly long shots for years, mostly winning. But it’s been a volatile ride.

Also Read International Travel Nightmares Pause For Supersonic Dreams

Discoveries And Innovations

New research finds that as carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere increase, plants become nitrogen deficient, which means they produce less protein and nutrients than they would otherwise.

Extreme heat was responsible for more than 20,000 deaths across western Europe this summer, official figures suggest, as the continent was battered by a series of punishing heatwaves and record-breaking temperatures.

Sustainability Deals Of The Week

Green Hydrogen: Energy company CEPSA announced that it’s investing over $3 billion to build a green hydrogen corridor that will be powered by wind and solar energy and will aim to be producing up to 300,000 tons when the project is complete.

Cleaner Magnets: The Department of Energy has awarded a $17.5 million grant to Niron Magnetics to advance commercialization of the company’s magnets, which are made without rare earth metals using more common materials. The company is aiming to provide an alternative, domestically-manufactured magnet for a wide variety of applications.

On The Horizon

A new report from analytics firm Juniper Research suggests that the future could see significant energy cost savings by the deployment of smart grids worldwide. The company estimates that smart grids produce $33 billion in annual savings today, but projects that figure will rise to over $125 billion within the next five years.

What Else We’re Reading This Week

Electric Drying Racks Are Flying Off Shelves in the UK (Bloomberg)

Scientists use quantum computing to create glass that cuts the need for AC by a third (Popular Science)

Across the US, Native Americans are fighting to preserve sacred land (Religion News)

Also Read Most EV Charging Infrastructure Is Wasted Due To Lack Of New Thinking

Green Transportation Update

ILLUSTRATION BY FERNANDO CAPETO FOR FORBES; PHOTOS BY GOTHAM/GETTY IMAGES; SIBUET BENJAMIN/500PX/GETTY IMAGES

No one has done more than Elon Musk to amp up the electric vehicle revolution, but his increasingly controversial public behavior and comments, especially since his purchase of Twitter in October may create headaches for the Tesla brand. That’s a problem because it’s happening just as the top-seller of EVs is starting to lose market share to aggressive rivals with fresher products.

The Big Transportation Story

YUTARO YAMAGUCHI

Honda To Build Plug-In Hybrid Fuel Cell CR-V In Ohio From 2024

There has been a schism among supporters of zero-emissions vehicles for the past 20 years. On one side, there are those that believe battery electric vehicles are absolutely the best way to go. On the other, those that think hydrogen fuel cells are the answer. As in much of life, the real answer is something closer to a continuum that includes both as well as various combinations in between. Starting in 2024, the Honda will begin producing one of those in-betweeners, a plug-in hybrid fuel cell CR-V at a specialty plant in Ohio.