Ciena Solutions Challenge

Ciena Solutions Challenge

ByThe Circular Economy Team

The next generation of problem-solvers need more than technical skills and expertise. They need experiences that allow them to see the designed world and its impact on people, collaborate and empathize across differences, and leverage their skills to redesign the world around them to meet the needs of all people in their communities.  Digital Promise and Ciena are supporting educators and students to design solutions using Challenge Based Learning, a collaborative learning experience in which teachers and students work together to learn about compelling issues, propose solutions to real problems, and take action. Educators and students will navigate through the three phases of Challenge Based Learning—Engage, Investigate, and Act—to take positive action on a Sustainable Development Goal in their community.

ESG goals are urgent and require AI to enact, says Oracle • The Register

ESG goals are urgent and require AI to enact, says Oracle • The Register

ByThe Circular Economy Team

The pandemic has made people more concerned about sustainability than ever, and businesses are the focuses of their collective ire, with most saying they don’t take enterprise sustainability goals (ESGs) seriously. The solution, Oracle says, is to put AIs in charge.  Oracle’s 2022 ESG Global Study surveyed some 11,000 consumers and businesses, and its findings reveal a population overwhelmingly frustrated with a lack of progress toward sustainability initiatives (94 percent). Seventy-eight percent also say that they’re frustrated with the lack of progress businesses have made on the ESG front.  Consumers aren’t content to let businesses pat themselves on the back either: nearly half said that they believe businesses have more power than individuals or governments to affect change, and 89 percent said they need to see proof that progress is being made toward ESG goals.

Direct lithium extraction funding investment uptick • The Register

Direct lithium extraction funding investment uptick • The Register

ByThe Circular Economy Team

New techniques for producing lithium could play a vital part in making batteries for applications ranging from smartphones to electric vehicles that are more environmentally friendly than current methods of extraction.  According to a Reuters report, car makers, mining companies and investors including the US Energy Department are pouring money into direct lithium extraction (DLE) technologies that hold out the promise of boosting global lithium production, which is mostly sourced from just a handful of countries today.  There are a number of DLE technologies which all revolve around extracting the metal from brine in various ways, such as using filters, membranes, or ceramic beads. These are touted as more sustainable solutions than existing ways of obtaining lithium, such as pumping lithium-containing saltwater from underground lakes to the surface in desert areas of Chile or Argentina, and extracting it through evaporation in large basins.

Intel commits to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 • The Register

Intel commits to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 • The Register

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Intel has committed to being net zero for greenhouse gas emissions across its global operations by 2040, and has set itself interim milestones for 2030 including 100 percent renewable electricity use and to identify greener chemicals with lower global warming potential.  The chip giant announced the move as part of plans to increase the energy efficiency, and lower the carbon footprint, of Intel products and platforms, and said it will work with customers and industry partners to create systems that lower the greenhouse gas footprint of the entire technology ecosystem.  Chief executive Pat Gelsinger claimed that Intel is taking “meaningful steps” to achieve this goal, even as it expands its global operations. “As one of the world’s leading semiconductor design and manufacturing companies, Intel is in a truly unique position to make a difference that extends far beyond our own operations,” he said.

Coldplay Announce 2022 World Tour

Coldplay Announce 2022 World Tour

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Coldplay have announced a world tour behind their Max Martin–produced album Music of the Spheres. After declining to tour the album’s predecessor, Everyday Life, for environmental reasons, the band have pledged to cut tour emissions by 50 percent and adopt a broad model for sustainability, with each show powered exclusively by renewable energy. Coldplay plan to eliminate “significantly more CO2 than the tour produces” with initiatives including the planting of one tree for each ticket sold. Ten percent of all tour earnings will enter a fund for “environmental and socially conscious causes,” according to a press release. Check out the dates below.

Microsoft releases 2021 sustainability report • The Register

Microsoft releases 2021 sustainability report • The Register

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Microsoft has published its annual sustainability report for 2021 [PDF], claiming to have reduced its own CO2 emissions by about 17 percent year-on-year, but with a bigger carbon footprint overall than it had last year, showing that “progress won’t always be linear”.  In 2021, Microsoft generated 14.072 million metric tons of CO2e, by its own estimation. That’s up from 11.58 million metric tons of CO2e the year before – an overall 21.4 percent increase.  Announcing the report, Microsoft president and vice chair Brad Smith said that the past year had provided the company with critical experience for its stated goal of becoming carbon negative by 2030.