Tech’s green wave hits choppy waters
By AFP
November 13, 2024
Tech ambitions include producing sustainable jet fuel out of the carbon dioxide in the air - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP Daniel Boczarski
Joseph BOYLE
Tech entrepreneurs have spent years selling the dream that we can save the planet without changing our ways, but the current focus of innovation is dividing experts and investors.
The tech industry loves splashy world-saving ideas and spends billions on the hunt for new energy sources, often clashing with calls from activists and experts simply to use less energy.
The Web Summit in Lisbon this week, one of Europe’s biggest tech events, gave top billing to a Californian firm called Twelve that claims to be able to make sustainable jet fuel out of the carbon dioxide in the air.
“In a lot of ways we’re mimicking trees and plants,” Twelve cofounder Etosha Cave told the audience, describing a process that takes carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and converts it into fuel.
Cave painted a picture of a future where her company’s tech could power long-haul flights and even help exploit mineral wealth on Mars — a utopian vision that has helped her firm raise some $650 million.
The interviewer on stage with Cave told her it “sounds like magic”.
Climate expert Mike Berners-Lee, a professor at the University of Lancaster in the UK, told AFP that world-changing claims about sustainable fuel or new energy sources needed to be viewed sceptically.
“Everyone’s looking for a silver bullet that would mean we wouldn’t have to do anything difficult,” he said.
More broadly, the green wave in tech is entering a tricky period.
While Twelve and other major startups are attracting massive investment, Bloomberg recently reported that funding for climate tech was on track to fall 50 percent this year compared with last year.
– Big losses –
And climate tech has long been subject to the whims of politics and global economic trends.
The current green wave is the second this century.
The first — now called Clean Tech 1.0 — was fostered by US politician Al Gore, whose calls for funding were met with an estimated $25 billion of investments.
The period ended in 2011 after the global financial crisis ended cheap loans and China ramped up its solar panel output, wiping out most US startups and roughly half of investors’ cash.
But those investments were not wasted.
They led to an era of inexpensive solar and wind power and laid the foundations for the electric vehicle revolution.
Clean Tech 2.0 began around 2018 as companies and governments committed to net-zero carbon targets laid out by the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
However, the US has re-elected Donald Trump as president with support from many leaders in the tech industry.
Trump — an avowed climate-change denier whose campaigning slogan on fossil fuels was “dig baby dig” — withdrew the US from the agreement in his first term and analysts believe he will do the same again.
And the global fight against climate change is still fraught, with national leaders meeting for the UN’s COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan this week divided on the idea of phasing out fossil fuels, the main driver of global warming.
– ‘Severe reservations’ –
All this leaves climate tech in a precarious moment, and startups without world-saving narratives are scrambling to get funding from a smaller pot.
Web Summit hosted dozens of them, hawking everything from blockchain-backed “virtual power plants” to smart widgets for stopping household leaks.
While some experts are cynical about the utility of these “shark tank” style events, Elisabeth Gilmore, a professor of environmental engineering at Carleton University in Canada, said she had no problem with young entrepreneurs making big claims.
“These innovations should be eyebrow-raising,” she told AFP.
She said events like the Web Summit could focus minds, but cautioned that entrepreneurs must look beyond the profit motive and make products that help communities.
Berners-Lee questioned whether some of the most eye-catching ideas could be as good as they sounded.
“If these are real solutions that are ready to go, if they’re as good as they look, they would be scaling up like crazy,” he said.
Sustainable jet fuel, he said, was one of the toughest nuts to crack and would need major breakthroughs in storage and power usage.
Cave conceded on stage that Twelve needed “utility-level” renewables as well as power from the grid for her firm’s plants, though she said it used far less land and energy than biofuels.
More broadly, Berners-Lee questioned whether the search for new power sources should even be an aim for humanity.
“I would have severe reservations about giving humanity an unlimited energy supply beyond carbon — we’re causing enough damage with the energy we’ve already got,” he said.
RENEWABLES CANCEL CULTURE
By Chris Hogg
November 13, 2024
Nate Glubish, Alberta's Minister of Technology and Innovation of Alberta, sits down with Digital Journal's Chris Hogg. - Photo by Jennifer Friesen, Digital Journal
“I’ve talked to all the major players, and they all have a plan on ESG, they all care about their environmental commitments, but they are also realists,” said Alberta’s Minister of Technology and Innovation, Nate Glubish. “They all know you cannot run a data centre on renewables. It is not physically possible.”
In an interview with Digital Journal during Calgary’s Innovation Week, Glubish spoke about Alberta’s ambitious push to attract data centre investments.
The province sees data centres as essential infrastructure for the digital age and is positioning itself to be a global hub, with its unique ability to supply reliable, high-capacity power for these energy-intensive facilities.
Why data centres matter, and why Alberta wants them
Data centres are the backbone of everything we do today. They store everything from company files to social media content, and they handle billions of daily transactions across the world.
The expansion of AI, cloud computing, and streaming services has only intensified demand.
Alberta wants to be a top choice for these projects, seizing an opportunity to diversify its economy and leverage its abundant energy resources.
Alberta’s edge, the minister said, is its vast energy potential and investor-friendly policies.
According to Glubish, the province’s regulatory system allows for faster approvals, especially for “off-grid, behind-the-fence” infrastructure, which is critical for data centres that can’t risk power interruptions.
Off-grid, behind-the-fence infrastructure refers to energy solutions where data centres are powered independently of the public electricity grid. These facilities generate their own power on-site or nearby using dedicated power sources such as natural gas or other localized energy infrastructure.
This setup allows for greater control, reliability, and often quicker regulatory approval since it doesn’t require extensive connection to or dependence on the larger, public energy grid.
Another big selling point for the province is its weather — Alberta’s cooler climate makes it attractive for data centre operations.
Data centres generate intense heat and require constant cooling to maintain optimal operating temperatures, which is one of their largest operational costs. Alberta’s naturally colder weather helps offset some of these cooling demands, reducing energy consumption and operational expenses for companies.
This climate benefit, combined with the province’s competitive energy strategy, makes Alberta an appealing location for data centres seeking both reliability and efficiency in their infrastructure.
Data centres’ constant need for power
Data centres run continuously to support the uninterrupted flow of digital information.
Even brief outages can disrupt financial markets, healthcare records, and cloud services for millions.
For data centres, base load power — the kind that can be relied on at all times — is essential.
While renewable energy is part of Alberta’s plan, it isn’t enough to meet data centres’ immediate demands, Glubish said.
The province’s natural gas resources, coupled with carbon capture, allow Alberta to provide a cleaner, reliable energy source now, Glubish said.
Nuclear power is also an option, and so is coal.
Coal is on its way out in Canada because of its high greenhouse gas emissions, and while nuclear energy offers a much cleaner option, it will take 10 to 15 years to build, Glubish says, noting that many of the big tech companies plan to look at building small modular reactors in the future.
“Natural gas is the only way to get this up at scale, and Alberta’s positioned extraordinarily well to supply significant natural gas-fired power plants,” he said. “The good news is that we also have the world’s leading expertise in carbon capture and utilization and storage. For a fraction of the cost of building nuclear, you can get net-zero natural gas.”
The reality of renewable energy for data centres
Glubish acknowledges Alberta’s dual commitment to data centre growth and environmental stewardship.
While renewable projects are a priority, Glubish is clear: they aren’t currently feasible for data centres at scale.
THIS IS THE USUAL RENEWABLE REJECTION ARGUEMENT THAT IS FALSE
Wind and solar power fluctuate based on weather and time of day, making them insufficient to meet the non-stop energy needs of data centres.
BATTERY STORAGE OF POWER SOLVES THAT
In 2023, the Alberta government temporarily halted approvals for large-scale renewable projects to address concerns related to land use, end-of-life reclamation, and effects on agricultural land. This moratorium was lifted in 2024, but with added regulations to restrict the placement of new projects in certain areas, including agricultural lands.
This land-use debate has become a major consideration in discussions around powering new data centres.
Glubish noted that Alberta’s approach isn’t a rejection of renewables — it’s a prioritization of energy solutions that work right now while keeping future goals in view.
Alberta is courting Big Tech to the province
eStruxture Data Centers, a Canadian company, announced a significant investment in Alberta in October of 2024, indicating it planned to build a 90-megawatt data centre in Rocky View County, just north of Calgary.
This $750 million investment is set to be the largest data centre in Alberta, focusing on AI, cloud technologies, and high-capacity computing.
The Alberta government has also been actively courting U.S. tech firms to establish data centres in the province.
In September 2024, Glubish visited Silicon Valley to promote the province’s advantages, including its cold climate and abundant energy resources.
As data centres multiply globally, Alberta is making a clear statement: it’s ready to support this demand with the energy stability and strategic planning these projects require.
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Digital Journal is the official media partner of Innovation Week YYC. Here’s how you can follow: See all Innovation Week coverage
In 2023, the Alberta government temporarily halted approvals for large-scale renewable projects to address concerns related to land use, end-of-life reclamation, and effects on agricultural land. This moratorium was lifted in 2024, but with added regulations to restrict the placement of new projects in certain areas, including agricultural lands.
This land-use debate has become a major consideration in discussions around powering new data centres.
Glubish noted that Alberta’s approach isn’t a rejection of renewables — it’s a prioritization of energy solutions that work right now while keeping future goals in view.
Alberta is courting Big Tech to the province
eStruxture Data Centers, a Canadian company, announced a significant investment in Alberta in October of 2024, indicating it planned to build a 90-megawatt data centre in Rocky View County, just north of Calgary.
This $750 million investment is set to be the largest data centre in Alberta, focusing on AI, cloud technologies, and high-capacity computing.
The Alberta government has also been actively courting U.S. tech firms to establish data centres in the province.
In September 2024, Glubish visited Silicon Valley to promote the province’s advantages, including its cold climate and abundant energy resources.
As data centres multiply globally, Alberta is making a clear statement: it’s ready to support this demand with the energy stability and strategic planning these projects require.
Follow and subscribe:
Digital Journal is the official media partner of Innovation Week YYC. Here’s how you can follow: See all Innovation Week coverage
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