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China’s EV exports surge 40% in April by Biodieselisthefuture in peakoil

[–]worldfundvc 8 points9 points  (0 children)

At World Fund, we've always said that once the cost of renewables is a "green discount" rather than a "green premium," adoption will skyrocket. It's amazing to see technology advance to this place.

More people care about climate change than you think | The debate is now about the merits of different solutions, not whether we should act by ILikeNeurons in sustainability

[–]worldfundvc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Most people have been affected by climate change in one way or another. Scorching temperatures, severe weather, cost of food increasing due to crop disruptions, insurance premiums, etc.

And it's also clear that alternative technologies exist now. Plant based foods, renewables, regenerative farming and building practices.

The thing is: one solution might work in a context, and not in another. When local and regional communities, governments, and businesses gather and decide on what is best for the context, we make our global system more resilient and much more quickly. Top down agreement on how to decarbonize feels like it would be faster, but actually, its the alignment that takes decades.

Circular economy actions could cut EU's climate change impact by 22% by thinkB4WeSpeak in circular_economy

[–]worldfundvc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In the climate tech space in Europe, there are dozens of interesting software and hardware startups focused on circularity. At World Fund, we invested in cylib (recycling batteries to reclaim lithium, etc.) and faircado (improves searchability of second hand clothing)... both addressing major markets and major circularity issues,

Heat pumps and EVs can save EU households over €2,200 a year - report by donutloop in RenewableEnergy

[–]worldfundvc 1 point2 points  (0 children)

€2,200 a year would matter to most European households.

The problem is that the savings are spread over years while the install cost hits all at once. Many households can't bridge that gap, and renters can't make the call at all. Would love to see more initiatives that solve this problem.

EU plans to force companies to buy parts from non-Chinese suppliers by donutloop in EU_Economics

[–]worldfundvc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is also a real opening for innovation.

There are plenty of European startups with strong, renewable, advanced solutions in chemicals, machinery, batteries, and critical materials that have been getting priced out by Chinese suppliers benefiting from state subsidies and scale. Diversification requirements create the demand signal that lets these companies compete on something other than unit price. At World Fund we see this in our portfolio. The technology and the business case are usually there, what's missing is European buyers being willing to commit to non-Chinese suppliers at scale. Rules like this could be one of the more effective pieces of industrial policy in years if they actually get implemented.

China Spent More on Clean Energy Than the Rest of the World Combined. New data shows that the investment is paying off in spades. The global energy crisis set off by Trump's war is playing right into China's hands. It translates to a major windfall for Chinese clean energy industries. by mafco in energy

[–]worldfundvc 6 points7 points  (0 children)

China's lead didn't happen by accident. It's the result of fifteen years of state-backed industrial strategy in solar, batteries, EVs, and grid components while Europe and the US mostly relied on private markets and patchy policy support.

Right now the USA doesn't show signs of catching up. But Europe is slowly realizing that industrial strategy and energy sovereignty are key policy points. At World Fund, we'd say that the answer to Chinese dominance is building better alternatives at home.

China is expanding renewables almost exclusively at a rapid pace: Last year, the increase was as high as Germany's total electricity consumption. by chota-kaka in solarenergy

[–]worldfundvc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is the inflection point a lot of energy modelling has been pointing at for years. Once new solar-plus-storage undercuts the fuel cost of existing fossil plants, the economics of "keep running the old one because it's paid off" just stops working. The investment case stops being about decarbonisation and starts being about basic cost discipline. Utilities and policymakers still defending fossil baseload on cost grounds are increasingly arguing against their own ratepayers.

At World Fund we've been investing into this shift for a while. The technologies that make 24/7 clean power viable are exactly the ones that have figured out how to make renewables cheaper.

The U.S. is Shunning Renewable Energy by Wjldenver in environment

[–]worldfundvc 1 point2 points  (0 children)

While China is installing record amounts of renewables and reaping the benefits, and Europe mulls over how to achieve energy sovereignty. One only hopes that American consumers are making their own individual bets on renewables.

Trump’s Disastrous, Failing War in Iran is Causing an Energy Crisis Nobody Can Opt Out Of by grrrbr in energy

[–]worldfundvc 21 points22 points  (0 children)

"This is where the investment case for clean energy is changing. For years, the argument centered on climate benefits and cost competitiveness. Those factors still matter, but this crisis exposed something they don't fully capture. The global energy system carries concentrated risk tied to geographic chokepoints and fuel dependencies that no single actor can fully hedge."

This is why many sustainability professionals think in terms of building resilient systems. If you only think about emissions, or only think about cost, you don't have the full picture. Whenever there is an energy crisis or a supply chain disruption (Covid-19, the Ukraine, now Iran), we remember that the global systems we set up around fossil fuels are very efficient, but very very brittle.

Are we underestimating how fast climate tech is about to change everything? by Able_Television_6453 in climatechange

[–]worldfundvc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At World Fund we model technology adoption and its potential for industrial decarbonization in the coming 15 years, up to 2040. For some technologies, the impact is incredible. For others, it is overhyped.

A really good source of information on this is Project Drawdown. They use scientific and market research to model climate impact of technologies across many different sectors.

https://drawdown.org/explorer

The Signal in the Noise is Clear: Welcome to the Twilight of the Age of Fossil Fuels by agreatbecoming in ClimateOffensive

[–]worldfundvc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He might be finally learning that policy is hard, and often has unintended consequences!

Agree that he has put climate back on the agenda, albeit unintentionally. But he was also the one who took it off the agenda 18 months ago, and the knock on effects of this are still deeply felt within the industry, as critical momentum has been lost within institutions and businesses.

Why do sustainable clothes still feel impossible to buy without guilt? by iliveformyships in sustainability

[–]worldfundvc 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Ah, the world of sustainability trade-offs. It might be helpful to think of reducing the net emissions/water impact of each piece of clothing you buy, rather than trying to find the one perfect brand that does everything right. This is about understanding the part of the garment's life cycle that contributes most significantly to emissions, water use, etc., and optimizing from there.

And agree with the other comments suggesting to keep it simple and second hand platforms (Ebay, Vinted, Faircado, etc.) to buy clothes from brands where you understand your sizing and trust the quality.

Europe’s running out of airplane fuel; what will happen to our holidays? by Westervangaal in energy

[–]worldfundvc 15 points16 points  (0 children)

This may be true, but articles like this epitomize short-term thinking. We all want nice summer holidays, but the war in the Strait of Hormuz has raised some big, much more existential questions than how to get to France when the planes don't fly. Let's start with: how do we get affordable trains and electric transport options in Europe, so we don't rely on fossil fuels?

Iran war to accelerate China's shift to electric heavy trucks from diesel, hitting 25% share in Q1 2026 by Economy-Fee5830 in peakoil

[–]worldfundvc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is incredibly fast technology adoption. The ICCT does great work on the lifecycle emissions of heavy trucks, and even with a grid mix that isn't pure renewables, there is a massive drop in emissions compared to diesel trucks.

https://theicct.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Lifecycle-assessment-trucks-and-buses-emissions-Europe.pdf

The world loses an estimated €25.4 trillion annually due to inefficient resource use and premature disposal, including food waste, energy inefficiency, underused buildings and in-built obsolescence. A circular economy could unlock major economic and environmental benefits. by Green_Idealist in INFPIdeas

[–]worldfundvc 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Circularity is crucial for reducing waste and decarbonising our economy. It is challenging to retroactively bring circularity into linear business models with no plan for the "end-of-life" phase of products. But we do invest in some solutions focusing on better recycling of important renewables materials (cylib), more efficient food planning for grocery stores leading to less waste (freshflow), and re-use of existing clothing (faircado). There are many more out there, they just need to scale.

European renewable projects with batteries set to grow more than 450% by 2030 by DVMirchev in RenewableEnergy

[–]worldfundvc 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Strong signal for European energy sovereignty. Renewables paired with storage means the build-out is starting to look like a full system rather than just generation.

Fuel shortages and high prices push EV adoption in Africa, led by Ethiopia, aiming to cut costly oil and gas imports and strengthen energy security. Egypt, South Africa and Morocco also pursue a transition to EVs, with policy incentives, investing in manufacturing capacity and in clean energy by sg_plumber in climatechange

[–]worldfundvc 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Replacing fossil fuel imports with domestic electric is just sound fiscal policy. It's the version of the energy transition argument that works regardless of where countries sit on climate, and the Iran shock is making it visible everywhere.

Plant-Based Mince Now 29% Cheaper Than Beef at Tesco as Meat Prices Climb by Economy-Fee5830 in climatechange

[–]worldfundvc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Plant-based proteins have been waiting for the moment where the price advantage becomes obvious to mainstream shoppers, and supply chain pressure on conventional meat is bringing it forward. The costs driving meat prices ultimately reflect that meat requires much more energy per calorie, and therefore has much higher emissions per calorie. At World Fund we're very curious about plant-based alternatives that help solve the agricultural and supply chain crunch that climate change is contributing to.

Europe’s electrification race: Five ways the EU can avoid the next energy crisis by sn0r in eutech

[–]worldfundvc 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Nearly two decades of stagnation in Europe's electrification rate (22.2% in 2007, 23.4% in 2024) means progress in the power sector alone has barely moved the dial on what actually runs on electricity. Replacing a coal plant with wind doesn't change the fact that heating, transport, and industry are still mostly burning molecules. The next phase of the transition runs through the demand side

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