Top News of the Week, June 24-28

Forbes: Rivian Gets Up to $5 Billion from Volkswagen

Upstart electric vehicle maker Rivian said Volkswagen is investing up to $5 billion in the electric vehicle maker and that the two companies are forming a joint venture to develop an automotive software platform based on Rivian technology.?

Collaborating with one of the world’s biggest automakers could also help Rivian reduce some of its component and materials costs, writes Alan Ohnsman in Forbes .

Volkswagen's support for Rivian—combined with Rivian’s ongoing relationship with Amazon, its biggest investor and top buyer of its electric delivery trucks—may help ensure that the EV manufacturer launches its next products, the midsize R2 electric SUV and compact R3 crossover, on time.

The new funds could also help Rivian resume construction of its Georgia plant, which was mothballed early this year as a cost-saving measure.

Read more - Volkswagen Investing Up To $5 Billion In Rivian As The Carmakers Plan Software Venture - Alan Ohnsman, Forbes, June 25, 2024

Canary Media: Heat Pumps Halved CO2 Emissions at a Century-Old Scottish Distillery

Whisky is a low-carb beverage, but now it can be low-carbon.?

CHIVAS BROTHERS LIMITED , the Scotch whisky business of French spirits giant Pernod Ricard has set a goal of “carbon neutral distillation” across its production sites by 2026.?

Chivas’ Glentauchers facility in Speyside, Scotland, still relies on fossil-fueled boilers, but its new system has reduced its total energy usage by 48 percent and energy-related carbon emissions by 53 percent by reducing its use of those boilers.

The readiness of this tech is good news for food and beverage companies, as the pressure is mounting to reduce carbon emissions, writes Jeff St. John in Canary Media Inc. .

Read more - How heat pumps can turn wasted energy into low-carbon whisky - Jeff St. John, Canary Media, June 24, 2024

Heatmap News: We Need More Nuclear, Says Granholm

At the American Nuclear Society ’s annual meeting last week in Las Vegas, U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm told the crowd that she “wants a chance to build new nuclear at a scale not seen since the ‘70s and ‘80s.”

Unlike the past few decades—when nuclear power plants were more likely to shut down than be built—any new nuclear power is likely to be bought up eagerly these days by utilities and big energy buyers with decarbonization mandates, writes Matthew Zeitlin in Heatmap News .?

States and the federal government are more than happy to pony up the dollars to keep existing nuclear plants running. Technology companies will even pay a premium for clean power. Amazon, for instance, bought a data center adjacent to a nuclear plant despite having no nuclear strategy to speak of.

Read more - Everyone Wants Nuclear Now - Matthew Zeitlin, Heatmap News June 24, 2024

Financial Times: Investments in Cleantech to Hit $2 Trillion by End of 2024

Burning fossil fuels accounts for 75 percent of global greenhouse emissions: the “poisoned root of the climate crisis”, according to António Guterres , secretary-general of the United Nations .?

But quitting them is far from easy, writes Rachel Millard in the Financial Times .?

Global investment in clean technologies is on track to hit $2 trillion this year, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) . This represents almost twice the amount being spent on fossil fuels, but even so, this is still less than half the estimated $4.5 trillion of annual investment needed by the early 2030s to achieve net zero goals.

Read more - Clean tech investment set to hit $2tn in 2024 - Rachel Millard, The Financial Times, June 25, 2024