2023: Top 10 in Climate Tech Startups

Your 3-minute summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work

Jan 10, 2023

Good morning, folks.

In today’s 3-minute read, we’ll cover these 5 juicy nuggets below — as tasty as that velvety macchiato you had in coffee’s birthplace, Ethiopia, in a cafe smoky with freshly roasted beans.

Climate Startups & Investment

#1 — 🙄 These 10 climate tech predictions for 2023 are so **obvious**
#2 — 💣 Greta Thunberg destroys Andrew Tate [climate Twitter]
#3 — 🎁 11 new solutions for climate change [+ startup creation]

Better Habits & Deep Work

#4 — 👴🏽 You will live forever [science-based]
#5 — 📐 What are you optimizing for?

Onward and upward,

Chris

#1 — 🙄 These 10 climate tech predictions for 2023 are so obvious

As a tease, here are four of the ten predictions from my friends at Obvious Ventures.

Carbon Dating: Carbon credit verification institutions will tokenize over 50% of their projects. Institutional investors will trade carbon as an asset, with the secondary market overtaking the voluntary market. (Toucan Protocol*, senken, BeZero Carbon*, Pachama)
Come Together: Environmentalists, as well as solar/wind advocates, will link arms with nuclear. Fusion, in particular, will capture mind- and VC-wallet-share. At least five fusion companies will have valuations over $1B. (CFS ENERGY LTD, Helion, Avalanche Energy, TAE Technologies, Inc)
Cow Tipping: The livestock industry will run the risk of becoming “the new coal,” leading to more regulation of methane and more interest from consumers for “climate-friendly beef” and dairy. (Algabiome, Blue Ocean Barns, ArkeaBio)
Anti-Fragile: Catastrophic climate events will accelerate, and adaptation to climate change will increasingly show up as a top story. Look for more investment in resilience and change management — particularly in the supply chain and insurance. (SINAI Technologies*, Cloud to Street, Altana Technologies)

To read all of them, check out the post.

#2 — 💣 Greta Thunberg destroys Andrew Tate

First, the punchline.

It comes as a Tweet from Greta, the 20-year-old climate activist:

“Yes, please do enlighten me.

Email me at ‘smalld**kenergy@getalife.com.’”

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Now, the backstory.

Andrew Tate is one of the most infamous internet personalities. Criticized for misogyny, racism, homophobia, and classism, he’s been kicked off of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube.

Last month, he taunted Greta on Twitter, saying:

“I have 33 cars.
Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions.”

After a few days, she sent the response above about, uh, his anatomy.

To read more about this anti-climate bullying, check out the responses from the Twitter community — in her favor.

#3 — 🎁 11 new solutions for climate change [+ startup creation]

Many of you are already fans of the Project Drawdown list of top climate change mitigation strategies.

But now it’s new and improved — with 11 more added. [Screenshot below]

Importantly, all solutions selected 1) are currently available, 2) are growing in scale, 3) are financially viable, 4) are able to reduce greenhouse gas concentrations in Earth’s atmosphere, 5) have a net positive impact, and 6) are quantifiable under different scenarios.

🤓 And if you want to nerd out, you can peruse their work on Github — “where Python and Excel versions of the models are being worked on, along with user interfaces, data management tools, and other software tools.”

#4 — 👴🏽 You will live forever [science-based]

In a given year in the future, what if medical science breakthroughs were able to extend the average human life by **more than** one year?

If so, we would reach [drum roll, please]…

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“Longevity escape velocity”

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Some refer to that point in time as “Methuselarity” — based on the biblical figure who purportedly lived to be 969 years old.

If you want to tell me how crazy this is, bite that tongue. [Gently, please.]

This is a concept popularized by credentialed longevity experts such as Harvard professor Dr. David Sinclair, futurist Ray Kurzweil, University of Cambridge Ph.D. Aubrey de Grey, and physician-investor Peter Diamandis.

When could it happen?

😮 Within 15-25 years, based on the opinion of these folks.

#5 — 📐 What are you optimizing for?

Salary?
Equity?
Control over your schedule?
Tons of GHG reduced?
Human lives saved?
Trees planted?
Acres preserved?
Geographic flexibility in your work location?
Temporal flexibility re: when you work?
Time with family and friends?
Hours in meditation?

If we don’t know the answer to this question, then we might be climbing the wrong mountain.

Share Entrepreneurs for Impact

That’s all, y’all.

Make it a great week, because it’s usually a choice.

Cheers,