Gemma Tuck’s Post

I'm hosting the 3rd Women and Climate dinner in Oxford on Thursday 14th November. For those of you who are new to the community, it provides a joyful and safe space for women and nonbinary professionals from around the world to learn and talk about climate. As an active member of the London group as well, this community has provided me with networking opportunities, new information on the latest climate tech innovation, and a place where I can ask those 'silly' questions without fear. One of the biggest things I've noticed is that everyone is ready to offer support and advice, and I now get to call many of the community friends. If this sounds good and you're Oxford based, book a place on the dinner following this link. Look forward to meeting you then! https://lnkd.in/ejQnHmRm

"Are government funding schemes essential to climate tech growth?" The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has been described as instigating 'boom times for US green energy' and the European Union's Net Zero Industry Act as 'the EU's response to the IRA'. Government funding is largely seen as essential in the climate tech community. According to McKinsey & Company, government incentives help build up 'predictable demand and a robust project pipeline' vital for growth. But I found this Forbes article by Mike Scott interviewing Harald Overholm the CEO of solar business Alight inspiring. Alight ⬇ 1. Launched a solar based business in a country that 'lacks sunshine' ☀ 2. In a market where electricity prices are cheap but labour expensive 💶 3. And where government support schemes were few 🤝 While I'll still be advocating for more government funding and support, this story shows there are ways for some to succeed regardless 💪 👏 #climatetech #funding #investment #policy #startup #scaleup #solarpower #cleanenergy #renewableenergy #climatechange #climatesolutions https://lnkd.in/e2MUCKB3

"What are unintended consequences in the green transition?" It's a phrase I first heard when at a Climate Connection event run by Juliette Devillard during a talk from Sarah Montgomery at Infyos on the hidden human rights costs of renewable energy supply chains. (Most) of us know that the transition to renewable energy is absolutely critical and that the industry has achieved huge amounts in a short period of time... although we (all) want it to go faster! 🙌 But I think it's also important to have those amongst us that look at the surrounding impacts to ensure we don't succeed in this only to face another big consequential challenge 🤔 This is why I was glad to hear two announcements from the industry as it convenes at WindEnergy Hamburg on the afterlife of wind turbine blades: ➡ U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded six projects across the US a combined $3.6 million to work with its laboratories on the research and development of cost-effective recycling technologies to improve the sustainability of U.S wind energy systems 💰 Congrats to UMaine Advanced Structures & Composites Center's WIND REWIND, Cimentaire, Fletcher Engineered Solutions, GreenTex Solutions, Cimentaire and United Standard Materials Corporation 👏 ➡ And Vattenfall has extended its 2021 commitment - an immediate landfill ban and a target to recycle 50% of blades on the farms it operates by 2025 and 100% by 2030 - to include additional materials related to the nacelle and cones 💪 And I'm aware of one tech company already working on this issue in the UK REBLADE 👍 Would love to hear about more... 🔦 #windeurope2024 #windenergy #windturbines #turbineblades #recyling #cirularity #energytransition #startups #climatetech #pr https://lnkd.in/egBNRz22

"How can the bank or search engine I use change my climate impact?" I am always encouraged by the creative (yet critical) ways in which some founders are using technology to help fight the climate crisis. ➡ Dan Sherrard-Smith founded MotherTree helping businesses and consumers 'green' their money by ensuring it's not being used to invest in climate-damaging activities such as fossil fuel expansion. Who knew that, for many, financed emissions - from business bank accounts to pensions- are a company's single biggest contributor to their carbon emissions? 💵 ➡ Christian Kroll started search engine Ecosia to use ad revenue to plant trees. You find what you need from the search engine, and they plant trees where they're needed. With this revenue, they're helping to restore a portion of the Atlantic Rainforest in Brazil - a crucial ecosystem 🌱 ➡ Argo Alaniit built GreenDice to help businesses revalue IT 'waste' into useful educational tools supporting those who wouldn't get affordable access to this technology otherwise in other parts of the world 🌏 According to The Global E-waste Statistics Partnership, in 2019 up to 82.6% of e-waste was handled illegally – and a large part of it was thrown into low or middle-income countries. Why not put it to good use? If you know of any other examples, please share them below 🔦 #climatetech #financedemissions #treeplanting #biodiversity #ITwaste #ITaccess #naturerestoration #PR

"What's the issue with EVs and tyres?" While EVs are certainly a much better option than their diesel/ petrol driven counterparts, we all know that there are issues around use of raw materials and end of life recycling that we need to address. I came across another issue this week...tyres. On Felicia Jackson and Giulia Bottaro's Shaken Not Burned podcast, co-founder of Growth Studio, Paul Finch talked about another unintended consequence - that as tyres wear down more quickly, they produce more microplastic pollution. In fact, tyre wear is "the 2nd-largest microplastic pollutant in our oceans, toxic to marine life and a major particulate air pollutant." But, as is the case with nearly all climate-related issues, there are start-ups out there who are already working to solve this issue 💪 Shinning a light on a few below, but please add more in the comments 🔦 ➡ The Tyre Collective is working on technology that captures and monitors tyre wear, aiming to accelerate the shift towards true zero-emission mobility 👏 ➡ ENSO - 2023 Earthshot Prize Finalist is a tyre technology company making better tyres for electric vehicles with the aim to increase EV range and reduce tyre pollution  👍 #electricvehicles #EVs #climatetech #EVs #decarbonisation #climatesolutions #startups #scaleups #PR

"How can we deal with food waste?" According to a report by the House of Commons earlier this year, in 2021 we wasted approximately 10.7 million tonnes (Mt) of food. With the Cold Chain Federation hosting its #ColdChainLive2024 conference today, it's important to remember that this waste happens up and down the food supply chain - from farms and manufacturing to restaurants, retail and households... and everywhere in between. Author Nicola Twilley argues that, in our households, the invention of the fridge and its increasing size has made us complacent and 'willing to waste' in developed countries, which you can read more about in her book 'Frostbite', or in her interview with Akshat Rathi on Bloomberg's 'Zero: The Climate Race' podcast. ...While founders like Louis Paulet talk about the huge amount of food waste happening pre-retail stage (approximately 53% in France), and the House of Commons admits that measuring on-farm waste is very difficult. Technology clearly has a critical role to play. Here are a few start-up and scale-up businesses looking to help solve this issue 🔦 ➡ Olio • Share More, Waste Less is a community led technology initiative in the UK that enables people to share unwanted food to avoid waste. They also work with big supermarkets and local stores redistributing unsold food to reduce waste at a retail level too. ➡ Beans have launched in France on a mission to help the planet reduce food waste at an industrial level. The co-founders identified 2 critical needs, to reduce waste and to reduce cost for customers with inflation taking its toll. FMCG companies can dispose of overstock efficiently and transparently and customers can save up to 50% on groceries. ➡ Sunswap have developed fully-electric transport refrigeration to decarbonise this key element of the supply chain, while keeping it reliable. Of course, questions need to be asked about how far we should be shipping food, but this type of innovation helps reduce waste early on in the supply chain and is critical for remote areas. Please feel free to shine a light on others in the comments. #foodwaste #climatetech #startup #scaleup #coldchain #supplychain #PR #brandawareness #climatesolutions

"What is radical collaboration?" It's a term I heard Elena Doms use on the Looking Outside podcast and there is no doubt that radical collaboration in climate technology is critical to support innovation and drive progress. Especially when it is between a corporate with funds, and start-ups with innovative technology. These partnerships help start-ups to: 1. Get the investment they need to build new technology 🏗 2. Provide the opportunities needed to test and prove new technologies 👩🔬 3. Unlock the best capabilities by combining different technologies 🔓 4. Secure first commercial customers to support scale-up 📈 Below are a few examples of collaboration I've come across in the climate space recently: ➡ Microsoft, Google, Meta and Salesforce have collaborated to create a new advance market commitment to support the development and growth of the nature-based carbon removal market. The partnership has committed to contract up to 20 million tons of nature-based carbon removal credits. ➡ INNOVA Europe sees the collaboration of the top 10 European academic institutions including ESMT Berlin, EDHEC Business School, POLIMI Graduate School of Management, Aalto University, ETH Zürich, IE Business School, University College Dublin, Kozminski University and KSE Graduate Business School to develop innovative and sustainable solutions for our world's critical challenges. ➡ A little closer to home, the partnership between Blenheim Palace and A Healthier Earth brings together British agtech innovation, and forestry and estate management to improve the speed, effectiveness and survival rate of plants, and to help mitigate climate change-related land and forestry challenges. Please mention others you know of in the comments below 🔦 #collaboration #climatetech #argitech #climatesolutions #PR

"Why has the moon turned red?" 🛑 This photograph does not do it justice - there was no questioning the red hue of the moon in the UK last night. Scientists say its a result of wildfire smoke crossing the Atlantic... According to The New York Times "over 28,000 wildfires have burned more than 4.5 million acres in the United States," so far this year 🔥 And there are blazes across Canada, and Europe as well in Greece and Turkey. Ever since working with Dryad Networks, a Berlin-based tech company detecting wildfires in under a minute (rather than up to 6 hrs!) 💡 And AiDash an AI and satellite tech company able to predict the path of wildfires and prevent vegetation over transmission lines from causing fires ⚡ I've struggled to understand why uptake of this innovative technology to prevent these disasters isn't happening faster 🤔 Of course there is some progress being made but this, surely, is a no brainer. Especially when you consider the impact on carbon emissions as well. #wildfires #climatetech #funding #carbonemissions #sensors #LoRaWAN #PR #raisingawareness

"How can we protect the future of our coastlines?" A report from the House of Commons states that approximately 28% of the coastline in England and Wales is vulnerable to erosion. And the Climate Change Committee project that even a 0.5-metre rise in sea levels could put a further 20% at risk. According to Aggregate Industries UK, approximately 58% of coastal erosion, sea level rise, and storm surges can be attributed to climate change. Something for us all to remember as we hit the beach... 🏖 As always, there is technology being built to help us tackle the issue: ➡ isardSAT is developing new sensor technology to collect and track coastline data at a much higher rate of accuracy. This data can then be used to model scenarios and demonstrate the most effective mitigative action ⏳ ➡ CCell - Listen to our oceans has found a way to create beach-protecting coral reefs in a faction of the time it would take naturally by using metal structures and a small electric current to allow the formation of limestone on these structures 🌊 ➡ The University of East Anglia is piloting the use of Distributed Strain, Temperature and Acoustic Sensing on the Norfolk coast to pinpoint weak areas of cliff most likely to fall and identify the cause of subsidence 💡 Do share more examples below 🔦 #climatetech #ukcoastline #startup #innovation #climatechange #seasandoceans #PR

"What makes a great B2B SaaS company?" If we look at the metrics used to create Sifted's 'B2B SaaS Rising 100 report' complied by John Thornhill, Amy Lewin, Jonathan Sinclair and Federico Scolari it's: ➡ Investor strength and funding records 💰 ➡ The size of market opportunity 👥 ➡ Competitive differentiation 💫 ➡ Momentum 👟 These are four critical factors but, from a communications point of view, it will always be: ⭐ the ability to communicate the tangible, 'real-world' impact to investors, customers and wider stakeholders ⭐ Easier said than done. Congratulations to all those who made the list, especially to my friends at SWEEP. And good to see London coming out strong 💪 #b2bsaas #climatetech #startup #PR https://lnkd.in/eWX3_jFq