Pique Behind the Curtain Vol. 28

A newsletter for those who are interested in climate solutions, media and film production

May 04, 2022

Don't Judge a Book by its... Carbon?

Welcome back to our weekly newsletter, Pique Behind the Curtain. If you’ve come in search of climate content, new film features, and all-around positive vibes, then you’ve come to the right place.

Twelve

You know carbon, right? The essential building block of life? Well, it’s also the basis of the chemicals, materials, and fuels that make up our modern world and power innovation. Carbon makes up everything from your favorite pair of running shoes and electronics to the building materials, EV parts, and fuels used to power the world. But carbon is also part of a dirty compound that we’re all familiar with - CO2.

What if we could take CO2 emissions and turn them into something useful? The company, Twelve, has created a “carbon transformation” process that breaks up CO2 from fossil fuel emissions returning the carbon to its pure form, which can then be used as a building block for many things, like sunglasses. By replacing the fossil carbon in critical chemicals with renewable, recycled carbon from CO2, we can eliminate emissions from thousands of essential products and set a new standard for how things get made in the climate era.

Check Out Our Workshop on Storytelling at the Aspen Climate Festival Next Week!

Good Climate News!

This week in good climate news 🌍:

Making the Climate Cleaner and Schools Greener

Currently referred to as the Action Plan for Building Better School Infrastructure, this initiative includes a $500 million grant program for energy efficiency upgrades, new guidance to assist districts in shifting to EV bus fleets, and other resources to help move schools away from fossil fuels.

By encouraging a switch to clean energy and increasing energy efficiency, the grant program is also meant to help curb greenhouse gas emissions. Public schools in the United States emit more than 72 million metric tons of CO2 every year, the equivalent of 8.6 million homes.

The benefits of having greener schools are plentiful. Not only do they save energy and conserve resources, but they also help municipalities address whatever regional environmental problems they may be facing, such as water use, stormwater management, air quality, recycling, or mold problems.

What’s more, the money saved on energy could translate into additional spending on education! Double-win!

https://grist.org/beacon/500-million-for-greener-schools/

What We’re Watching, Reading, and Listening to

Searching for more positive climate content? Look no further!

Wait - Where’s Our Sneak Pique?

Don’t worry, Pique is still your pipeline for all things climate tech and Earth-saving solutions.

Sneak Pique isn’t going anywhere, but starting now, we’ll be releasing NextNow films biweekly. That means your favorite newsletter, Pique Behind the Curtain, will be featuring new, mind-blowing climate content for you to disrupt your dinner table meals with every other week.

Stay tuned!