🍵 The Greenland Sleeper Shark Doesn't Know about Overnight Oats
(130) a better year for US fires
Good Morning
What we’re reading this week:
Your guide to talking about climate tech over the holidays (MIT)
Updated building codes also could see big savings in energy consumption (SA)
Psychological inoculation strategies to fight climate disinformation (N)
It’s too easy to buy stuff you don’t want (A)
Risk to rely on soil carbon sequestration to offset global ruminant emissions (N)
The Greendicator
Top Deals of the Week
![Solar on Every Vehicle | Sono Motors Solar on Every Vehicle | Sono Motors](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa1719a44-f4bf-4708-8edd-818e0d89a36b_1200x627.jpeg)
Sustainable aviation fuel startup SkyNRG raised a $190.9M round led by Macquarie Asset Management (EU)
Sono Motors, a Munich-based startup developing solar tech for cars, raised $126.6M in funding led by Yorkville (EU)
ZeroAvia, a developer of zero-emission aviation engines, raised a $116M Series C led by Airbus, Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital, and NEOM Investment Fund (PRN)
RNA and protein manufacturing startup Nature’s Toolbox raised a $47.5M Series B led by RA Capital Management (FN)
Construction & manufacturing decarbonization platform One Click LCA received $44M in funding from PSG and InfraVia (BW)
Matsmart-Motatos, a Swedish D2C e-commerce retailer of overstock dry foods and consumer products, raised $43.8M in growth capital led by Circularity Capital (EU)
Eco-friendly lithium extraction startup ADIONICS raised a $27M Series B from Bpifrance, Céleste Management, and others (PRN)
TSUN, a Suzhou-based PV manufacturing company, raised a $21M Series B led by IDG Capital (FN)
EMotorad, an Indian e-bike startup, raised a $20M Series B led by Panthera Growth Partners (TC)
Leap, a platform for generating value from distributed energy resources, raised $16M in funding from Presidio Ventures (VC)
Modo Energy, a provider of a SaaS platform for data analytics for renewable energy assets, raised a $15M Series A led by MMC Ventures (FN)
Eliq, a Swedish software startup providing a home energy platform, raised $10.6M in funding from Inven Capital, Axpo, and Valkea (FN)
Artificial reef startup Kind Designs raised a $5M seed round led by Mark Cuban and Anthropocene Ventures (BW)
Climate Alpha, a startup using AI to analyze the impact of climate change on real estate, raised a $5M seed round led by Jungle Ventures (TC)
Floreon, a startup building bioplastics made from plants, raised a $2.5M Series A led by Northern Gritstone (EU)
Avarni, a startup helping large enterprises hit net-zero goals through carbon reporting, raised a ~$1.6M extension round from Main Sequence and Sprint Ventures (TC)
Green Theory
Wildfire Wrapped
As of this writing, no active wildfire incidents rage in California. 2023 is shaping up to be another lower-fire year for California, with possibly the fewest incidents of the past decade, and second-lowest acreage. Still, year-to-date, an area slightly larger than San Francisco has been razed.
![Chart](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F596d5950-84ca-48e1-9147-097b6b1f4335_1262x780.png)
Tragically, four Californians died in wildfires this year: one civilian perished, and three firefighters lost their lives when their helicopters collided during fire suppression operations.
The State continues to conscript crews of imprisoned persons to perform the life-threatening, bone-breaking work of protecting our communities, natural wonders, and air—an exploitative arrangement, explored by Jaime Lowe in Breathing Fire, which focuses on female inmates on the front lines of California wildfires.
The more that non-emergency, and non-carceral systems can mitigate the worst ravages of wildfires, the less burden we place on first responders. Cultural burns, prescribed burns, and non-burn alternatives offer actionable pathways to dramatically reducing air pollution and devastation.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3d81d461-92a0-4266-961d-639500c6a0dd_1600x1205.jpeg)
Across the US
2023 also looks like the best US-wide year in a long while, for minimal wildfire acres burned. Zooming out geographically provides a broader trend, but it also obscures the personal experience of wildfires.
![Chart](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8b047b59-8c56-463b-bccf-9338c0e3556d_1438x742.png)
Our NYC subscribers, for instance, might be surprised to see how good 2023 appears for the US, compared to the last decade. After all, wasn’t the smoke really bad this year? Indeed, historical air quality data clearly show June 7-9 to be unlike anything New Yorkers had experienced in the previous 10 years.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb9695763-7126-49dc-b677-a4199eff1b79_1600x1248.png)
For those who didn’t experience hazardous days in 2023, we can’t forget about fires, even if this year went more smoothly. Unfortunately, the sharp uptick in wildfire particulate matter is reversing decades of hard-fought pollution reduction. As of 2022, up to 50% of the PM-2.5 air quality improvements since 2000 had been squandered in several states in the Western US, and 25% lost in many other states across the country. Though the aforelinked Stanford research focuses more specifically on US air quality, the spike in particulates from rising wildfires is both global and increasingly dire for public health.
Backwards forest management—by those who brought us Smokey the Bear—haunts us, even if this year offered relative respite for the average American. With proven strategies at hand, can we take this off-season to lock in an even safer 2024?
The Closer
A shame, really. (source)