#111 | Warnings for the electric grid amidst record heat

Understory newsletter on climate and sustainability tech

Record heat, more climate tech investment, upcoming events - lots to dig into this week. A few quick announcements:

Slack Workspace: We made some changes to our Slack workspace to make it easier to engage and find what's most meaningful for you. We welcome you to take a look and share any asks or relevant content with the rest of the community. Let’s connect!

New Content: Read about how NEXT Energy Technologies is turning windows into solar energy producing assets.

Atlanta Event June 16: Join us in-person to discuss Food Waste and Circularity Innovations.

RSVP for Startup Showcase on June 22: We have four companies sharing about renewable energy in Latin America and a variety of circularity innovations. Don’t miss this showcase.

📚 Worth Reading

Temperatures are rising, with the western U.S. experiencing a massive heat wave all weekend. A recent summer readiness report shows that power operators are not prepared to cover peak forecasts. Old electric grid infrastructure, which was not designed to withstand the effects of climate change, may experience outages as temperatures surge. Compounding the effects is the increasing demand for electricity as more assets become electrified (i.e. EVs).

What’s the answer? Scientists argue that utilities need to use forward-looking weather projections, rather than historical data, to drive investment and infrastructure decisions. Others are promoting an increase in local solar and other renewable energy to decrease dependance on centralized grids. The focus should be on proactively building resilient infrastructure versus reacting at the last moment.

Additional reading:

CNN: Energy experts sound alarm about the US electric grid

MISO: Summer Readiness Workshop Summer 2022 Report

Canary Media: The power grid explained

🚀 Funding and Congrats!

Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) launched a $250 million Fashion Climate Fund. Lead funders include H&M Group, H&M Foundation, Lululemon, and The Schmidt Family Foundation.

OhmConnect, which rewards consumers for reducing their energy consumption, raised a $55 million Series D round.

Circular economy platform Rheaply raised $20 million in additional funding.

Virridy raised a $5.5 million seed round led by Accord Capital. The company develops sensors and other tech that monitors water, energy, and agricultural resources.

Brown Foods, which produces cell-based cow’s milk, raised a $2.36 million seed round.

💡 Startup Spotlight

Circular IQ - a platform that helps companies measure and report on their circular performance.

🌱 Startup Resources

Apply by August 12th: Pitch at the Venture Atlanta conference. They added Climate Tech and ESG categories this year.

👀 Quick Hits

Over $2 billion in funding has been pledged toward carbon removal technology in the past 2 months. The segment is growing its funding faster than other areas of climate tech.

Starting in 2024, the EU will require that all electronics adopt the USB Type-C port for smartphone charging in an effort to reduce electronic waste.

Puerto Rico is seeing high adoption of rooftop solar on top local businesses and residential buildings as residents want to avoid disruption from the volatile electric grid.

The New York Times looks at the impact of an evaporating Great Salt Lake in Utah during the extended drought.

🎧 Podcast

Michael Walton: creating sustainable communities

Brian Graff: beautifying solar

Justin Whitehead: investing in a greener future

The Understory Podcast is also available on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and Google Podcasts.

⚙️ Jobs

Find and share your open positions on the Understory Slack channel.

🆕 Summer Digital Marketing Internship at Rochelle Porter Design

🆕 Sustainable Agriculture Writer at Scriptoria Solutions

🆕 Senior Mechanical Engineer at Charm Industrial

🆕 Senior Analyst Sustainability and ESG at JetBlue

🆕 Regional Business Leader, Sustainability Strategy at Microsoft

🆕 Knowledge Expert - Climate and Sustainability at BCG

🆕 ESG/Sustainability Director at CBRE Investment Management

🆕 Aladdin Business, Sustainability, Vice President at BlackRock

EV Sales Advisor at Spring Free EV

Strategic Engagement Manager at Partnership for Inclusive Innovation

Project Manager at Mango Materials

Data Acquisition Manager at Seqana

Director of Utility Sales at Bloc Power

Deputy Vice President of Programs at ClimateWorks Foundation

Project Manager in Sustainability at infogr8

Operations Coordinator at Re Company

Multiple Roles at Virtual Peaker

Scientist Roles at Project Drawdown

Engineering roles at Sunairio

Multiple roles at Pani Energy

Senior Mechanical Engineer at Charge Robotics

Product Manager, Low-Carbon Aviation at Google Climate Research

Environmental Program Officer- Thriving Communities at Patagonia

Intern at Newlab

🗓 Events

June 16: Atlanta Climate Tech: Food Waste and Circularity Innovations

June 22: Understory’s Startups Driving Sustainability - June Showcase

June 22: Access to Green Tech

Do you have any events to share? Post them in our Understory Slack community.

📧 Stay in Touch!

You don’t have to wait for our weekly newsletter for all the latest content. Join us on Slack or follow along on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter to see real-time updates.