April 14th, 2025: Shipping Emissions

The International Maritime Industry reached an agreement to significantly reduce emissions from shipping operations, but critics say it still won't deliver on net zero. That's the top story in green tech and sustainability this morning according to our data.

We refer you to the write up by Jim Giles at Trellis for a good overview of the details. On the upside, as the Global Maritime Forum (GMF), a non-profit focused on decarbonization that partners with many shipping companies, said: “Given ongoing geopolitical tensions and trade disruptions, this binding agreement represents an example of multilateralism still at work.” But, Giles writes: "Researchers at the non-profit Transport & Environment (T&E) projected the likely impact of the new framework and concluded that the emissions savings would fall short of both the IMO’s stated goals and a trajectory aligned with 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming."

And now, our daily summaries of 62 selected updates from around the world of green tech and sustainability. Subscribe by email and you'll get 3 that are custom picked just for you and your work.

Today's Updates

Table of Contents

• 🌾Agriculture (3 stories) - AGL's $10M solar grazing success, plus soil health insights and USAID's pivot to sustainable farming tech

  
  

•  🪨 Carbon (6 stories) - Tencent's CarbonX funding boost, Northern Lights' €200/ton costs, UN's $380 shipping levy, and Microsoft's 3.7M-tonne capture deal reshape carbon markets

  
  

• ♻️Circular (1 story) - Plant-based plates and compostables lead sustainable home product alternatives

  
  

•  🌱Ecosystems (5 stories) - Amazon restoration projects, invasive fish leather innovation, and climate's expanding impact on pet diseases and allergies

  
  

•  ⚡Efficiency (3 stories) - LED adoption and smart tech drive $1k yearly savings, as Schletter unveils AI-powered solar design tools amid data center energy concerns

  
  

•  💰Finance (2 stories) - Acen's $750M Australian renewables push and Pearl Jam's pivot to battery tech investments

  
  

•  🔌Grid (8 stories) - Space monitoring meets automated utility crews, while UK power savings hit £3.1bn; Samsung's NSW battery play and Heron Power's grid tech launch signal shift to flexible, distributed systems

  
  

•  🌍Indigenous (2 stories) - Djaara's clean energy program launches while Indonesian hydro megaproject threatens Borneo Indigenous lands

  
  

•  🏭Industry (7 stories) - Fusion tech advances with Tohoku partnership, Alishan's solar films launch, while China's mineral export limits and Sinopec's seawater hydrogen system reshape industry dynamics

  
  

•  📜Policy (19 stories) - IMO sets $380/ton carbon price for shipping, while Trump expands DOE grid authority and faces backlash over climate research censorship; Adelaide eyes COP31 bid amid fossil fuel tensions

  
  

•  🔋Renewables (3 stories) - Major solar growth with EIA forecasting 182 GW by 2026; Vesper Energy's 600 MW Texas solar farm goes live

  
  

•  🚗Transport (3 stories) - Green ammonia ships, rising US EV sales led by GM, and IMO's new maritime emissions rules reshape transport's future

Agriculture

AGL's $10M solar grazing success, plus soil health insights and USAID's pivot to sustainable farming tech

• The sheep farmer who turned a 1800 call to coal giant AGL into a major solar grazing deal (RenewEconomy) - NSW sheep farmer converts cold call to AGL into $10M solar grazing deal, demonstrating successful agrivoltaic model with improved wool yields.

• International Aid Is Not the Most Effective Way to Address Food Security (Earth.org) - USAID defunding prompts calls to shift from emergency food aid toward sustainable local agriculture and technology-enabled farming solutions for long-term food security.

• Healthy soil is like rich, dense chocolate cake ... (BeZero Carbon) - Soil scientist explains how healthy soil structure resembles dense chocolate cake, highlighting benefits of regenerative agriculture for water retention and carbon storage.

Carbon

Tencent's CarbonX funding boost, Northern Lights' €200/ton costs, UN's $380 shipping levy, and Microsoft's 3.7M-tonne capture deal reshape carbon markets

• CarbonX Program 2.0: Learn how to unlock millions in climate funding at our global Q&A (Impact Hub) - Tencent launches CarbonX Program 2.0 offering millions in funding for carbon capture and storage innovations, with global Q&A sessions for applicants.

• Yara, Ørsted, and the €200/ton Mirage: What Northern Lights Really Teaches Us About CCS (CleanTechnica) - Northern Lights carbon capture project reveals €200/ton costs and limited scalability despite government subsidies, highlighting challenges in maritime CO2 transport and storage infrastructure.

• ‘Too Little, Too Late’: Developing Countries Disappointed at World’s First Carbon Levy on Shipping (Earth.org) - UN shipping agency approves first-ever global carbon levy of $380 per ton starting 2028, facing criticism from developing nations as insufficient for climate goals.

• New technologies are helping to regrow Arctic sea ice (Grist) - UK nonprofit Real Ice tests hydrogen-powered pumps to thicken Arctic sea ice, showing potential to restore up to 386,000 square miles annually.

• Microsoft Signs Deal to Remove 3.7 Million Tons of CO2 from U.S. Pulp and Paper Mill (ESG Today) - Microsoft signs major carbon removal deal to capture 3.7 million tonnes of CO2 over 12 years from U.S. pulp and paper mill emissions.

• No climate shaming but what are some unsustainable habits do you see other people doing? (YouTube) - Environmental activist highlights common unsustainable behaviors including excessive air travel and single-use plastic bag consumption despite available alternatives.

Circular

Plant-based plates and compostables lead sustainable home product alternatives

• How To Make Your Home More Eco-Friendly, This Earth Day? (EcoSoul Home) - Comprehensive guide details eco-friendly home product alternatives including compostable plates, bowls, and cutlery made from plant-based materials to replace single-use plastics.

Ecosystems

Amazon restoration projects, invasive fish leather innovation, and climate's expanding impact on pet diseases and allergies

• Ecoporé é finalista de prêmio internacional e fortalece papel da Amazônia na restauração ecológica global (Ecoporé) - Brazilian Amazon conservation organization named finalist for global RestorLife Awards 2025, recognized for ecosystem restoration and community empowerment initiatives.

• Climate Change Is Helping Heartworm Spread to Pets in the Mountain West (Inside Climate News) - Climate change expands heartworm disease into Mountain West pets as warmer temperatures and longer mosquito seasons enable disease vectors to thrive in previously unaffected regions.

• In Hawai‘i, new effort to bring invasive species to heel (Conservation International) - Italian luxury brand P448 partners with Hawaiian fishermen to transform invasive ta'ape fish into leather shoes while supporting local communities and reducing ecological damage.

• Interview met Jerom van Beuzekom (Land van Ons) - Dutch packaging company Paxspring invests in cooperative land restoration initiative to boost biodiversity and sustainability in local areas across Netherlands.

• ‘It looks like I’ve gone 10 rounds with a boxer’: when hay fever becomes debilitating – and potentially deadly (The Guardian) - Rising temperatures and pollution are causing increasingly severe hay fever cases in UK, with some sufferers experiencing life-threatening complications and anaphylactic shock.

Efficiency

LED adoption and smart tech drive $1k yearly savings, as Schletter unveils AI-powered solar design tools amid data center energy concerns

• How to Save Money for All Americans: Efficiency (RMI) - Energy efficiency measures since 2000 save average Americans $1,000 annually, with LED bulbs and smart technologies driving household cost reductions despite political pushback on standards.

• Schletter Group’s Advanced Rooftop PV Planning Tool (TaiyangNews) - Schletter Group launches advanced rooftop solar planning tool with automated load calculations and reduced ballast requirements, set for European release in April 2025.

• The climate impacts of artificial intelligence #ai (Santa Clara University) - AI's rapid growth raises concerns about massive energy consumption and water usage in data centers, highlighting overlooked environmental impacts.

Finance

Acen's $750M Australian renewables push and Pearl Jam's pivot to battery tech investments

• Acen secures $750m to help bankroll one of Australia’s biggest pipelines of solar, wind and storage (RenewEconomy) - Philippines-based Acen secures $750M debt finance to expand 13GW Australian renewable energy pipeline including solar, wind and storage projects.

• Grunge Meets Grid: How Pearl Jam’s Carbon Price Led Me to Battery ETFs (CleanTechnica) - Pearl Jam's $200/ton carbon pricing strategy shifts from forest conservation to battery and critical minerals ETF investments, highlighting growing institutional interest in electrification technologies.

Grid

Space monitoring meets automated utility crews, while UK power savings hit £3.1bn; Samsung's NSW battery play and Heron Power's grid tech launch signal shift to flexible, distributed systems

• LiveEO | LiveEO and ARCOS Partner to Reinvent Infrastructure Monitoring with Satellite Intelligence (LiveEO) - Satellite monitoring company partners with ARCOS to integrate space-based grid surveillance with automated workforce deployment for utilities' infrastructure protection.

• Price matters – lowering the cost of the energy transition (Drax) - Analysis shows UK power station's new low-carbon dispatchable contract will save £1.6-3.1bn in energy transition costs and cut 4Mt CO2 emissions by 2031.

• Korea giant unveils plans for a third big battery in congested south-west NSW grid (RenewEconomy) - Samsung plans third large-scale battery storage facility (80MW/320MWh) near Finley solar farm in NSW's congested south-west grid region.

• Rooftop solar and home batteries: The emergence of the accidental residential energy trader (RenewEconomy) - Australian homeowners installing solar and batteries are inadvertently becoming energy traders through real-time pricing visibility and Virtual Power Plant participation.

• Ex Tesla energy boss takes surfing break, re-emerges as head of new firm to fast track grid transition (RenewEconomy) - Former Tesla energy chief Drew Baglino launches Heron Power to develop advanced grid electronics after year-long break.

• Future electricity demands need to be more flexible (BusinessGreen) - Power systems must shift from centralized fossil plants to flexible, automated demand systems to accommodate growing renewable energy integration.

• Radiant Selected by DOE to Receive Fuel for First Kaleidos Reactor Test (POWER Magazine) - DOE selects Radiant to receive HALEU nuclear fuel for testing its portable 1.2MW Kaleidos microreactor at Idaho National Laboratory in 2026.

• Why coal won’t solve the looming grid-reliability crisis (Canary Media) - Trump administration's push to keep unprofitable coal plants running contradicts evidence that renewables and batteries offer more reliable, cost-effective grid solutions.

Indigenous

Djaara's clean energy program launches while Indonesian hydro megaproject threatens Borneo Indigenous lands

• ‘Heart of Borneo’ dams raze Indigenous forests for Indonesia green energy drive (Mongabay) - Indonesia's $20 billion hydroelectric dam project in North Kalimantan to power green industrial park forces Indigenous communities from ancestral lands and threatens pristine Borneo rainforest.

• Second 'Powering Up' delivered with DJARRA (First Nations Clean Energy Network) - Indigenous corporation DJAARA launches renewable energy strategy and partnership guide while hosting clean energy development program for 30 members on Djandak Country.

Industry

Fusion tech advances with Tohoku partnership, Alishan's solar films launch, while China's mineral export limits and Sinopec's seawater hydrogen system reshape industry dynamics

• Tohoku University and Kyoto Fusioneering Sign Joint Research Agreement (Kyoto Fusioneering) - Leading fusion technology company partners with Tohoku University to research tritium handling and safety measures for future fusion power plants.

• Alishan Encapsulation Films For High-Performance Solar Modules (TaiyangNews) - Alishan launches three high-performance solar module encapsulation films with fast-cure properties, high adhesion, and 91%+ light transmittance for TOPCon and BIPV applications.

• China’s Minerals Pause All Pain, No Gain for U.S. (Heatmap News) - China's pause on critical minerals and rare earth magnet exports threatens U.S. manufacturers while causing minimal economic impact to Beijing.

• Solving Green Hydrogen’s Water Woes, With Seawater (CleanTechnica) - China's Sinopec completes first direct seawater electrolysis system for green hydrogen production at Qingdao Refinery, addressing water scarcity concerns in hydrogen generation.

• Aalo Rolls Out 50 MW SMR Non-nuclear Prototype (Energy Central) - Aalo Atomics unveils first non-nuclear prototype of 50 MW sodium-cooled small modular reactor designed for data center power, with plans to break ground on nuclear version next year.

• Wisconsin utility’s data center–driven gas expansion meets skepticism (Canary Media) - Wisconsin utility seeks $2 billion gas infrastructure expansion for data centers despite skepticism over demand projections and stranded asset risks.

• Seven tips for building resilient supply chains (We Mean Business Coalition) - New guidance outlines seven key tips for companies to build climate-resilient supply chains through effective supplier engagement, addressing $162 billion in potential climate-related risks.

Policy

IMO sets $380/ton carbon price for shipping, while Trump expands DOE grid authority and faces backlash over climate research censorship; Adelaide eyes COP31 bid amid fossil fuel tensions

• South-South and Triangular Cooperation Furthers Efforts to Promote Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction and Urban Health Resilience (UNDRR) - Global training program unites 141 countries to advance inclusive disaster risk reduction and urban resilience, focusing on disability inclusion and technological innovation.

• ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2’s Dystopia Is More Mirror Than Make-Believe (Atmos) - HBO's 'The Last of Us' Season 2 explores post-pandemic societal collapse amid real-world parallels of weakening health systems and climate-driven disease threats.

• Censoring ‘climate’ in ag research will backfire, warns The Breakthrough Institute (AgFunderNews) - Trump administration's censorship of climate-related terms in agricultural research threatens $424M in federal funding and farmers' economic competitiveness, warns Breakthrough Institute.

• Trump  seeks to expand federal role in resource adequacy (GridBeyond) - Trump issues executive order expanding DOE's emergency authority over power generation resources to ensure grid reliability and resource adequacy.

• Ask Mom Detective: What Are the Dangers of Leaf Blowers? (Moms Clean Air Force) - Gas-powered leaf blowers emit toxic fumes equivalent to driving 1,100 miles and create harmful 200mph dust storms, leading to increasing municipal bans across US cities.

• Albanese names Adelaide as host of COP31, while experts remind Labor that coal must go (RenewEconomy) - Australia announces Adelaide as potential COP31 host city while facing criticism over continued coal use, highlighting tension between climate leadership ambitions and fossil fuel policy.

• Net-Zero by 2050: The IMO’s Victory—and the Case for Less Fuel, Not More (CleanTechnica) - IMO passes binding net-zero shipping emissions policy by 2050, introducing carbon pricing of up to $380/ton while overlooking declining fossil fuel cargo trends.

• International Maritime Organization Reaches Agreement On Shipping Emissions (CleanTechnica) - IMO agrees to binding emissions targets for shipping industry, including $380/ton carbon fee and net-zero by 2050 goal, despite US opposition and biofuel concerns.

• How the United States became a science superpower — and how quickly it could crumble (Nature) - US science superpower status faces potential collapse as Trump administration's research funding cuts and policy changes threaten eight decades of successful government-university-industry partnership model.

• Why We’re Suing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission—and Still Believe in Nuclear Regulation (POWER Magazine) - Nuclear startup Deep Fission joins multi-state lawsuit challenging NRC's licensing process, arguing current regulations impede deployment of safer underground reactors.

• Four ways your community can save lives during this summer’s heat waves (Yale Climate Connections) - Local governments can protect residents from deadly heat waves through housing-first policies, heat emergency response systems, worker protections, and vehicle electrification initiatives.

• The drafters of the Clean Air Act saw CO2 as a pollutant (Yale Climate Connections) - Historical research reveals 1970 Clean Air Act drafters explicitly intended CO2 to be regulated as an air pollutant, contrary to modern legal challenges.

• Millions of Americans don’t speak English. Now they won’t be warned before weather disasters. (Grist) - National Weather Service suspends multilingual weather alerts after AI translation contract lapses, leaving 71 million non-English speakers without critical disaster warnings.

• Guest Post: Omnibus Working Against Green Deal goals (ESG Today) - European Commission's Omnibus simplification package threatens to weaken sustainable finance rules and reduce corporate sustainability reporting requirements by 80%, undermining Green Deal investment goals.

• The sustainability profession is at an existential crossroads. Here’s how it can survive (Trellis) - Sustainability profession faces critical decision between raising professional standards through knowledge, ethics, and accountability or risking co-option by corporate interests.

• Apply now: Trellis 30 Under 30 rising stars in climate in 2025 (Trellis) - Applications open for prestigious '30 Under 30' climate leadership awards recognizing young professionals' measurable climate impact achievements through June 2025.

• Trump’s coal order could actually reduce grid reliability (Canary Media) - Trump's order to keep coal plants open could undermine grid reliability by discouraging renewable energy investment and raising costs.

• Countdown to Climate Week: New Events Published (9Zero) - San Francisco Climate Week announces packed schedule of sustainability events including panels on carbon removal, biodiversity, transportation and clean energy from April 21-24.

• Seychelles becomes first country to comply with fisheries transparency standard (Mongabay) - Seychelles becomes first nation to meet Fisheries Transparency Initiative standards, making public previously opaque fishing agreements and sector data.

Renewables

Major solar growth with EIA forecasting 182 GW by 2026; Vesper Energy's 600 MW Texas solar farm goes live

• US Large-Scale Solar Capacity To Exceed 182 GW By 2026 (TaiyangNews) - US large-scale solar capacity projected to reach 182.31 GW by 2026, representing 8% of total electricity generation, according to EIA forecast.

• North America Solar PV News Snippets: 600 MW AC Hornet Solar Project Commissioned & More (TaiyangNews) - Vesper Energy commissions 600 MW Hornet Solar Project in Texas, marking one of USA's largest single-phase solar installations with 1.36 million modules.

• Siting for success: 3 essential analyses for renewable energy developers (Utility Dive) - Renewable energy developers urged to conduct market analysis, congestion risk assessment, and scenario planning for optimal project siting and investment returns.

Transport

Green ammonia ships, rising US EV sales led by GM, and IMO's new maritime emissions rules reshape transport's future

• Fortescue to charter green ammonia-powered vessel to test shipping with no dirty bunker fuel (RenewEconomy) - Fortescue signs deal to charter world's first green ammonia-powered cargo vessel for iron ore shipping to reduce maritime emissions.

• US EV Sales Rise As Tesla Sales Fall (CleanTechnica) - US electric vehicle sales grow 11% in Q1 2025 despite Tesla's market share drop from 51% to 44%, as GM and other manufacturers gain ground.

• International Agreement Reached to Decarbonize Global Shipping, as U.S. Walks Out (ESG Today) - IMO members approve legally binding framework for decarbonizing global shipping with mandatory fuel standards and emissions pricing, as U.S. exits negotiations.