{"id":596025,"date":"2023-01-10T05:49:30","date_gmt":"2023-01-10T11:49:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/10\/how-companies-at-ces-are-taking-on-climate-change-or-pretending-to\/"},"modified":"2023-01-10T05:49:30","modified_gmt":"2023-01-10T11:49:30","slug":"how-companies-at-ces-are-taking-on-climate-change-or-pretending-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/10\/how-companies-at-ces-are-taking-on-climate-change-or-pretending-to\/","title":{"rendered":"How companies at CES are taking on climate change (or pretending to)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

I can\u2019t get it out of my head: A honkingly big Caterpillar sign that read, \u201cJOIN US AS WE BUILD A BETTER WORLD.\u201d The digital recruitment billboard at CES 2023 followed promos for an autonomous compactor and excavator, and proceeded another callout: \u201cCHECK OUT OUR BIG AUTONOMOUS TRUCK \u2b07.\u201d<\/p>\n

I did, and boy was it ever<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A \u201cbetter world\u201d could mean anything in corporate-speak, but in this case, the company is talking specifically<\/a> about sustainability \u2014 and using aspirational language to distance itself from a fossil-fueled role in carving up the earth. Like Caterpillar, many of the exhibitors I saw as I walked the tech-show floor seemed to be rinsing their brands<\/a> via earthly taglines<\/a>, stock photos of crops and sunbeams, plastic trees and\/or AstroTurf. I find this sort of thing especially distracting now that climate is my main beat<\/a>, and that\u2019s unfortunate, because there was still lots of intriguing climate (and adjacent) tech on display this year, tucked in among the vague evocations of nature.<\/p>\n

When I arrived in Vegas my colleague Ingrid<\/a> asked if the show would feature mostly adaptive tech (for coping with the consequences of climate change) or mitigative tech (for direct emission cuts). I saw a mix of both, but much of what caught my attention skewed toward adaption. And to that end, this year CES practically overflowed with portable batteries and solar gear<\/a> for campers and preppers alike. Really, there was no escape.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Jackery's<\/p>\n

Jackery\u2019s portable solar tech at CES 2023. Image Credits:<\/strong> Harri Weber for TechCrunch<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Highlights included EcoFlow\u2019s \u201cwhole-home\u201d backup power box<\/a> and Jackery\u2019s new solar generator<\/a>, but I\u2019m sure it\u2019s not a leap to say we should expect more gear like this in the coming years \u2014 as more people cope with climate anxiety<\/a> and extreme weather<\/a> events alike.<\/p>\n

There was a ton of conservation-geared tech, too. Moen debuted a smart sprinkler with soil sensors<\/a> and Rachio announced a $100 smart hose timer<\/a>, both aiming to help lawn-havers save water and lower their bills. (Climate change exacerbates water scarcity and drives droughts<\/a> around the world.)<\/p>\n

\n

\"Moen's<\/p>\n

Moen\u2019s \u201csmart water network\u201d gear. Image Credits:<\/strong> Moen<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

For farmers, Meropy<\/a> showed off its crop-watching robot, which rolls over fields on legs that look like giant hairbrush bristles. \u201cThe idea is to provide information to farmers to help them reduce the amount of chemicals they put on the plots,\u201d co-founder and CEO William Guitton said in an interview with TechCrunch. Meropy\u2019s bots weigh 15 kg (about 33 pounds) and pack cameras that \u201cscan over and under the foliage,\u201d Guitton said.<\/p>\n

Along similar lines, John Deere showcased farming equipment<\/a> that\u2019s also supposed to reduce fertilizer use<\/a>. (Fertilizers are a major source<\/a> of greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture.) Plus, Samsung announced washing machine tech that\u2019s intended to save energy and halve microplastic pollution<\/a>, while <\/span>AMD highlighted<\/a> energy efficiency gains in its <\/span>new chips<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"Meropy\u2019s<\/p>\n

Meropy\u2019s crop monitoring robot. Image Credits:<\/strong> Meropy<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As for emissions mitigation, Schneider Electric<\/a> made some waves with a smart-home system that\u2019s centered around solar and energy storage. Schneider executive Jaser Faruq told TechCrunch he hopes the firm\u2019s app will offer a \u201cmuch more interesting, fulfilling experience for customers to feel like they\u2019re in control of their power.\u201d The system will ideally help users conserve energy and reduce their reliance on fossil fuel-powered grids, Faruq added, such as by automatically disconnecting outlets while you travel. Some of the company\u2019s energy-storage tech reminded me a lot of Tesla\u2019s, which is no coincidence; Faruq previously worked in Tesla\u2019s power storage and solar energy division.<\/p>\n

No Traffic<\/a>, a company that automates and surveils intersections, also caught my eye. When I asked if its name represented a goal or was just aspirational, co-founder and CEO Tal Kreisler told me it originally started as \u201ckind of a joke,\u201d because when people ask how long it takes to travel through perpetually busy areas \u2014 like from San Francisco to Palo Alto \u2014 you might sarcastically say, \u2018with no traffic, it should take like 20 minutes.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Kreisler said the company\u2019s goal is to smarten up intersections so municipalities can prioritize whatever they want \u2014 be it cars<\/a>, buses, micromobility<\/a> or pedestrians (ideally the latter three). That includes timing lights to reduce traffic, so ideally fewer cars are left idling on city streets, but really No Traffic\u2019s scope is broader than its name implies.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Makka's<\/p>\n

Cake\u2019s Makka Prism electric bike. Image Credits:<\/strong> Harri Weber for TechCrunch<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

If you count electric cars and e-bikes as mitigative climate tech<\/a>, as I typically do, then read my editor Kirsten\u2019s story on how electric-vehicle tech stole the show this year<\/a>. The eye-catching announcements included Mercedes-Benz\u2019s plan for a \u201cglobal\u201d EV charging network<\/a> as well as the debut of Icoma\u2019s bizarre suitcase motorcycle<\/a>. I can\u2019t speak to the need for transforming e-bikes with screens, but it\u2019s nice to see automakers throw more weight behind EV charging infrastructure<\/a>, which is hampered by unreliable chargers<\/a> and environmental racism<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Mercedes plans to focus on cities, so it probably won\u2019t help quench rural America\u2019s charging deserts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And though they aren\u2019t brand-new, I enjoyed the colorful shields on Swedish brand Cake\u2019s Makka Prism e-bikes<\/a>. Aren\u2019t they kind of cute?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Harri Weber<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I can\u2019t get it out of my head: A honkingly big Caterpillar sign that read, \u201cJOIN US AS WE BUILD A BETTER WORLD.\u201d The digital recruitment billboard at CES 2023 followed promos for an autonomous compactor and excavator, and proceeded another callout: \u201cCHECK OUT OUR BIG AUTONOMOUS TRUCK \u2b07.\u201d I did, and boy was it<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":596026,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[106,1318,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-596025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-companies","category-taking","category-technology"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=596025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596025\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/596026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=596025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=596025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=596025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}