Good Morning
What we’re reading this week:
Hate this: Only 7% of US climate tech venture capital funding went to female founders in 2023 (GB)
And this: ‘Quite a gap to close’: women ‘vastly underrepresented’ in green jobs sector (SC)
But on the bright side: Here’s how to boost gender equality and climate action together (EB)
The Greendicator
Top Deals of the Week
![](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%2Fb6b99ddd-1184-431a-a6f6-706970299119_980x600.jpeg)
SolarDuck, a Dutch offshore solar development company, raised $16.3M in funding from Invest-NL, Katapult Ocean, Green Tower, and the Energy Transition Fund Rotterdam (FN)
Biochar producer Standard Biocarbon received a $5M investment from Nexus Development Capital (FN)
UniFAHS, a phage technology startup for sustainable agriculture, raised a $1.4M seed round led by A2D Ventures (PRN)
Scottish all-electric 4×4 vehicle manufacturer Munro raised $1M in follow-on funding led by Elbow Beach Capital (FN)
Element3, a startup extracting lithium and other materials from oil and gas wastewater, raised an undisclosed seed round led by EIC Rose Rock (FN)
Green Theory
Paved Paradise and put up a…Solar Lot
How close is your nearest parking lot? Whether you find them convenient or hideous, your local parking lots may center in a national or state solar campaign. Ever since France passed a mandate in late 2022—decreeing surface lots of 80 or more spaces must cover at least half of their area with a solar canopy by 2028—these sprawling asphalt grounds have captivated the clean energy policy space.
By seating solar panels above parking, the French government hopes to generate more clean energy, closer to where it’ll be consumed, saving on rising transmission losses. Further, by shading cars, and protecting them from other elements, solar parking lot proprietors can prop up their properties with even more differentiation. For environmentalists, solar parking canopies help spare precious wild species that may be threatened by solar utility farms as clean energy demands expand.
Companies don’t need to wait for government mandates—the business case for solar canopies gets better by the day. Dr. Joshua Pearce, a professor at University of Ontario, conducted a large analysis of Walmart stores to find their solar parking potential. He estimates that the boost to in-store sales from increased and longer EV-charging visits could be enough to offer free charging.
In the US, we have about half a percent of all land dedicated to parking. Coincidentally, we need about 0.5% of US land (including roofs) to go solar for 100% clean energy. In cities, the area dedicated to parking today could be as high as 20%—what’s holding solar lots back?
Not every parking lot gets great sunlight, and the economics vary by region, but a bigger barrier comes in the form of upfront cost. Compared to building solar on a roof, for instance, these canopy systems can cost 30-40% more. Still, if this application scales, and businesses get more confident designing and deploying modular solar canopies, prices could come down dramatically.
For a country with growing energy demands and lots of lots, solar parking offers a tremendous opportunity for governments, businesses, and ultimately our communities. The most conservative calculations put a French-style solar parking law covering around 10% of our total energy needs in the US. The concept has sat in the policy garage for long enough: how quickly could we get it in drive?
The Closer
The unbelievable geometry of a pufferfish skeleton. (Link)
One can only wonder how paleontologists would reconstruct the pufferfish skeleton if it was to be found as a fossil, as they did the T-rex. My money is they'd think it was a snake.