The Cement That Could Turn Buildings Into Giant Batteries
June 11th, 2024
Via BBC, a look at how an innovative cement could turn buildings into giant batteries: Concrete is perhaps the most commonly used building material in the world. With a bit of tweaking, it could help to power our homes too. On a laboratory bench in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a stack of polished cylinders of black-coloured concrete […]
Read more »Beyond the Yuck Factor: Cities Turn to ‘Extreme’ Water Recycling
June 10th, 2024
Via Yale e360, a look at how San Francisco is at the forefront of a movement to recycle wastewater from commercial buildings, homes, and neighborhoods and use it for toilets and landscaping. This decentralized approach, proponents say, will drive down demand in an era of increasing water scarcity: In downtown San Francisco, in a cavernous […]
Read more »How Electric Car Batteries Might Aid the Grid (and Win Over Drivers)
June 9th, 2024
Courtesy of the New York Times, a look at how automakers are exploring energy storage as a way to help utilities and save customers money, turning an expensive component into an industry asset: Electric cars are more expensive than gasoline models largely because batteries cost so much. But new technology could turn those pricey devices […]
Read more »No City Is an Island: Urban Water Security, Infrastructure, and Resilience
June 5th, 2024
Cities are thirsty places: by their very nature, ctheyconcentrate the water needs of large populations into small areas. Yet increasing water needs and escalating environmental pressures are imposing mounting strains on urban water systems and infrastructure. Since the start of the 21st century, more than 80 large metropolitan areas around the globe have already experienced […]
Read more »Your Building’s HVAC Is Slowly Killing Us
June 2nd, 2024
Via Medium, a look at how urban buildings could be polluting our cities just as much as traffic: Oh, summertime! Longer days, dining in patios, weekends by the pool, and… wait! A sore throat?! Again? Damnit, I have to work from the office today, and I missed my jacket at home. My knuckles are freezing, […]
Read more »Hot Idea: Meet The Swedish Firm Trying To Shake Up Heat Pumps
May 27th, 2024
Via The Economist, a look at one company’s view on a big opportunity with an old technology: Heat pumps, a type of reverse-refrigerator used for warming homes, are not the type of tech that gets most investors hot and bothered. They were, after all, invented in 1856. Harald Mix and Carl-Erik Lagercrantz, two Swedish financiers, […]
Read more »'Black Swans' are highly improbable events that come as a surprise, have major disruptive effects, and that are often rationalized after the fact as if they had been predictable to begin with. In our rapidly warming world, such events are occurring ever more frequently and include wildfires, floods, extreme heat, and drought.
'Green Shoots' is a term used to describe signs of economic recovery or positive data during a downturn. It references a period of growth and recovery, when plants start to show signs of health and life, and, therefore, has been employed as a metaphor for a recovering economy.
It is my hope that Black Swans / Green Shoots will help readers understand both climate-activated risk and opportunity so that you may invest in, advise, or lead organizations in the context of increasing pressures of global urbanization, resource scarcity, and perils relating to climate change. I believe that the tools of business and finance can help individuals, businesses, and global society make informed choices about who and what to protect, and I hope that this blog provides some insight into the policy and private sector tools used to assess investments in resilient reinforcement, response, or recovery.