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This week: Why hurricanes are more intense; AI for greener buildings; cigarettes versus air pollution
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From left, a Volvo truck running on renewable hydrogen biofuels; a battery-electric truck; a hydrogen fuel-cell truck; and a battery-electric e-cargo bike. PHOTO: VOLVO GROUP
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Welcome back. Trucks and buses make up fewer than 8% of four-wheelers on the road but their high utilization rates and big engines mean they generate more than 35% of direct emissions from road transport, according to the International Energy Agency. Cleaning up these workhorses is crucial to limiting global warming, but they are considered hard to decarbonize because they often need to be much more powerful than cars, are used more often and are usually kept on the road for a longer time.
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China is leading the way—having purchased around 80% of electric buses and trucks that were sold last year. But incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act and new emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles are expected to help the U.S. and Europe catch up.
Volvo Group is one of the world’s largest makers of heavy-duty vehicles including trucks and buses as well as construction and marine equipment. The company now
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offers a range of battery-electric vehicles and is also working on ones powered by fuel cells and others that run on cleaner fuels.
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Karin Svensson, its chief sustainability officer and a company veteran, is in charge of Volvo's plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2040.
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It is a big ambition given nearly all of the company's footprint comes from the use of its vehicles.
Svensson’s green epiphany came around the same time as the 2015 Paris climate agreement, when she was working with the company's new CEO on a fresh strategy.
She spoke to me about her experiences and plans, which you can read here or listen to on the WSJ Pro Special Access podcast.
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Karin Svensson, chief sustainability officer of Volvo Group.
Photo: Bo Hakansson, Bilduppdraget
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Svensson's recommendations for others: Figure out exactly where in the value chain emissions come from, set carbon targets and manage them just like financial ones, and get sustainability integrated into the business strategy. “It's not something separate, it's the strategy,” she says.
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As we prepare for the kids to go back to school, Svensson shared her advice for students considering the future: She has recommended her daughter study engineering greentech and her son focus on logistics. She also expects a big need for mechanics to keep all the new engines in tiptop shape.
Tell me what you think: Send me your feedback and suggestions at rochelle.toplensky@wsj.com or reply to any newsletter. If you were forwarded this newsletter, you can sign up here.
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Content from our Sponsor: DELOITTE
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At HPE, Data Is Leveraged to Track Progress Toward Equity
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Systems to track multiple aspects of the talent experience can help leaders understand how effectively they promote diversity, equity, and inclusion actions—a first step to accountability and progress. Keep Reading ›
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Hurricane Idalia made landfall in Keaton Beach, Fla., on Wednesday morning as a Category 3 storm, according to the National Hurricane Center, and was later downgraded to a Category 1 storm as it moved across Georgia, writes Eric Niiler.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted 14 to 21 named storms with winds of 39 mph or greater, including six to 11 hurricanes with winds of 74 miles an hour or higher. Here is why hurricanes are becoming more intense.
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AI Helps Buildings Get Greener
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The Sello shopping center in Finland has an AI building-management system. Photo: Siemens
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Keeping buildings running contributed roughly 26% of global energy-related greenhouse-gas emissions in 2022, according to the International Energy Agency, writes Dieter Holger. For the world to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, the agency says the energy that these buildings consume per square meter needs to decline by around 35% by 2030.
Artificial intelligence is starting to help buildings go greener.
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“For the employees that are best able to use these (generative AI) technologies, it gives them superpowers.”
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— Michael Chui, partner at the McKinsey Global Institute
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Air Pollution Is Worse Than Cigarettes
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A street shrouded in dust and haze in Beijing. Photo: Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press
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Cigarette smoking and other uses of tobacco shave an average of 2.2 years off lifespans globally, writes Sha Hua. But merely breathing—if the air is polluted—is more damaging to human health.
That is the conclusion of a report published Tuesday by the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute, which identified air pollution as the world’s top threat to public health.
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WSJ Pro Guide to Navigating AI
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This series looks at how you can leverage generative AI to work and manage the risks and rewards of this transformative technology. Look for more coverage in the days to come.
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How solar energy can help boost biodiversity and farming (Forbes)
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The low-hanging fruit of the climate crisis: methane leaks (Bloomberg)
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Colorful paints could cut heating and cooling costs (Anthropocene)
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Europe loses its top spot as the largest offshore wind market to the Asia-Pacific region led by China (Financial Times)
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Shell quietly shelves its carbon-offsets plan, pointing to new problems with the corporate world’s favorite climate solution (Bloomberg)
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The impossible fight to stop Canada's wildfires (Wired)
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Canada and the U.K. announce a combined $160 million to the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (AFP)
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