Startups Fight Climate Change
The scientific community is in full concession: Humans are heating up our planet through the release of methane and carbon into our atmosphere. Yet every day, we proceed with “business as usual” policies, fully aware that in just over a decade, we could be past the point of stopping runaway climate change. This crisis will affect everyone and will disproportionately affect low-income communities. Most of the countries most affected by climate change are also the least responsible for the emissions, and the countries most responsible are the least willing to cut down. New waves of climate refugees will flood borders, droughts will increase, food security will be jeopardized, and billions of dollars in assets will be lost if we allow emissions to remain at a constant level.
Governments have been slow moving and ineffective in stopping a changing climate. Small organizations and startups are essential in filling in the gaps left by enterprise and big government. In this article, I will give an overview of two small organizations (Rainforest Connection and MyDomino) near San Francisco that are providing essential services that fight climate change.
The Rainforest Connection (RFCX) is a small non-profit that focuses on empowering park rangers and conservationists through big data analytics. By placing small communication boxes (see below) in critically impacted hot-spot regions, RFCX can monitor and label measurable, recordable, and verifiable sound data in real time. They are currently able to recognize chainsaws, motorcycles, and large vehicles. The team is currently working on gunshots, bird sounds, and other audible metrics that can improve rainforest health through either direct ranger action or indirect leveraging of policy. Some of their locations include Ecuador, Brazil, and Indonesia.
Their boxes use recycled cell phones, solar panels, and high-intensity microphones to capture rainforest data.
MyDomino is an energy concierge service that facilitates the transition to clean and energy efficient power. The solar market is crowded and complicated to navigate. MyDomino’s fully stacked team of energy experts can help steer you in the right direction. Whether it be finding the right electric car for your budget, or providing useful energy and cash saving tips for your home, MyDomino is the impartial organization that has your back. They are committed to helping you find the right products at the right cost to positively impact the climate and lower your energy bills.
There are many opportunities for making a large impact in fighting climate change. By using more sustainable soaps/ detergents, buying more organic foods, eating less meat, or buying long lived energy efficient products, you can make a tangible contribution to this global solution. However, nothing beats scale. According to the MyDomino website, “if 60 people switch to LEDs, that’s like taking 25 cars off the road for a year. If just 25 people go solar, that’s like planting 97,000 trees”.
If you have an idea that will help fight climate change, there are a plethora of resources at your fingertips. GoodCompany ventures and their subsidiary Climate Ventures 2.0 offers small projects 1 M in funding and a stipend of 25K for promising green tech or services. Rainforest Connection graduated from the Silicon Climate accelerator, a non-profit working to spur innovation at the intersection of Silicon Valley and the climate change movement. If your idea pertains to solar, Powerhouse is the world’s premier incubator and accelerator dedicated to solar. If you want to be in South Market San Francisco, StartupHouse is an excellent low-cost coworking/ incubator space designed for early stage startups.
Climate change is one of the largest threats facing the human race. We have the technology to address it, all we need is the will.
-Julien Morgan