Hello!

Welcome to The Saturday Morning Newsletter, a concise and casual digest of current events, optimistic news stories, and other interesting tidbits to round out your week. The concept is simple: 14 articles, essays, companies, ideas, podcasts, videos, or thoughts that caught my attention this week for their potential to significantly impact our future.

I want this to be a collaborative effort, so if you see examples of things that truly impact our future, let me know here. I’ll give you credit for sharing them.

Let’s get started.

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#1: Nomad Solar Energy

Description: Nomad Solar Energy develops mobile and off-grid solar generators transportable in storage containers.

Why Is This Company Interesting?? Nomad Solar Energy raised a round of $15M in venture capital funding this week. Their proprietary “Energy Box” can bring portable “plug and play” energy to places that need it. These energy sources can be connected to the grid or deployed autonomously. Deployable energy to remote locations is a critical development of renewable energy—necessary to provide information to places that don’t already have it.

#2: ZeroAvia

Description: ZeroAvia is a developer of hydrogen-electric engines for airplanes, capable of zero-emission flights.

Why Is This Company Interesting?? ZeroAvia raised a round of $150M in venture capital funding this week. Planes are large sources of emissions, and ZeroAvia’s mission is to revolutionize these engines, providing a renewable source of energy to power these flights. This mission is difficult as it’s hard to provide a renewable energy engine alternative that’s as effective as current gas engines at the same cost.

#3: Beebop

Description: Beebop is a software provider whose technology helps integrate residential devices (batteries, solar panels, electric vehicles, etc) into the power grid to create tradable energy assets.

Why Is This Company Interesting?? Beebop raised a round of $5.5M in venture capital funding this week. By employing the flexibility of consumer devices into a tradable asset, this software provides a seamless experience for energy traders. Energy trading is a growing industry, and Beebop helps people utilize their residential devices to tap into energy trading easily.

#4: Novameat

Description: Novameat is a European startup trying to produce plant-based meat alternatives.

Why Is This Company Interesting?? Novameat raised a round of $19.2M in venture capital funding this week. Plant-based meat alternatives are becoming more and more popular as consumer taste preferences and technology continue to be refined. Startups like Novameat continue to reduce carbon emissions through the production and expansion of plant-based meats.

#5: AIR COMPANY

Description: Air Company is a carbon conversion technology company focused on capturing CO2, converting it into fuel, and outputting cleaned fuel for reuse.

Why Is This Company Interesting?? Air Company raised a round of $69M in venture capital funding this week. Carbon capture technology has become increasingly popular, but Air Company is taking that to the next level: capturing and then converting CO2 into Ethanol, Methanol, and Paraffins for reuse.

Nuclear Energy Agency: Roadmaps to New Nuclear 2024

The Roadmaps to New Nuclear 2024 conference was held this week in Paris. New nuclear building has become a top priority in several member countries, which now face challenges due to years of inactivity and evolving policy, industrial, and regulatory contexts. This conference will help address the challenges of preparing for new nuclear build and pinpoint solutions to deliver new nuclear construction at the scale and pace required to meet net-zero targets.

The United Nations: Ozone Layer Still Well On Track For Full Recovery

The Montreal Protocol and the Kigali Agreement have led to a large-scale recovery in the ozone layer. The UN estimates that the ozone could recover to pre-1980 levels by around 2066. This would mean a full recovery of the layer by 2045 over the Arctic and 2040 for the rest of the world. This is all contingent upon current policies remaining in place, but there is large hope to correct this large climate issue.

The Guardian: Technology Helping Solar Farms Counter Growing Hailstone Threat

Climate change has led to more frequent hail storms with larger hailstones. Solar panel insurers are responding to these increased threats by requiring solar farms to build mechanisms to turn solar panels at least 70 degrees to the ground (almost vertically), so hail will only strike a glancing blow. Many new farms already had systems planned to rotate panels towards the sun so this new requirement will be a simple modification.

Our World In Data: Chile Produced 9.4% of Its Energy From Solar in 2023 - The Highest Percent of Any Country

When was the last time you heard positive news about Chile? According to the Energy Institute’s Statistical Review of World Energy, Chile produced the highest share of solar energy of any country in 2023. Just a decade ago, Chile produced almost no electricity from solar. This exponential growth gives hope for the rest of the world: There are ways to change your energy infrastructure to renewable sources quickly and effectively!

Pitchbook: Fed’s Half-Point Interest Rate Cut Boosts M&A Outlook

This week, the United States Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 50 basis points, a highly-anticipated decision expected to energize exit markets for privately held companies. This decision to cut rates for the first time in 4 years will lower businesses’ borrowing costs and should ramp up M&A dealmakers’ appetite.

Citizens Against Government Waste: Protecting Intellectual Property in an AI World

No one should be afraid to use AI or afraid of someone else using AI. AI has phenomenal applications for health, education, manufacturing, and almost every industry. However, the unauthorized use of an individual’s creative voice, image, and words must be protected. Current legislation has been proposed to protect these rights but has yet to be passed.

Bloomberg Tax: Let’s Put Intellectual Property on GAAP Balance Sheets

Many people argue that the value of intellectual property (at least the book value) should be reported as a separate line on each company’s balance sheet. The recent rise in the value of intangible assets has led many accounting professionals to question intangible asset disclosure and measurement.

University of Amsterdam: Ignore Antifungal Resistance in Fungal Disease at Your Peril

Without immediate action, humanity may face further escalation in resistance to fungal disease. Most fungal pathogens identified by the World Health Organization - accounting for around 3.8 million deaths a year - are either already resistant or rapidly acquiring resistance to antifungal drugs. Humanity needs immediate solutions or else there is the potential for many incurable sicknesses in the coming years.

The thought of the week relates to an interesting concept I saw this week: The Shopping Cart Theory. In the future, I’m going to write a game theory newsletter, but here is the teaser for that:

See you Wednesday for Brainwaves,

Drew Jackson

Twitter: @brainwavesdotme

Email: brainwaves.me@gmail.com

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Disclaimer: The views expressed in this content are my own and do not represent the views of any of the companies I currently work for or have previously worked for. This content does not contain financial advice - it is for informational and educational purposes only. Investing contains risks and readers should conduct their own due diligence and/or consult a financial advisor before making any investment decisions. Any sponsorship or endorsements are noted and do not affect any editorial content produced.