Weekly Climate Solutions Digest
Welcome
On this November morning, frost etches ferny patterns on windows in the north while jacarandas drop purple confetti across southern streets. The season holds its breath. Light is low, colors are saturated, and everything asks for a gentler touch.
This week we follow two threads: cooling as a craft, and stewardship as a practice. SunCable reserves space for a 6 gigawatt solar farm in the Northern Territory of Australia, sodium ion storage steps in to hold the evening, and pilot projects in the US and India let buildings shed heat into the night sky. Drones read the warm handwriting of old walls so retrofits can be precise. Even carbon becomes a feedstock, as Mercedes and Twelve turn CO2 into car parts and build toward cleaner fuels. Meanwhile mobility gets humbler and cheaper with compact European EV plans.
Care is local too. Brazil recognizes new Indigenous territories, and direct funding in Papua New Guinea keeps rainforest guardians resourced and respected.
Taken together, these are not distant promises. They are today’s work. Here is what that looks like on the ground this week.
Top Climate Solutions Of The Week
- SunCable signed a 70-year Northern Territory land lease, and this deal unlocks development of a 6 GW solar farm.
- Peak Energy and Jupiter Power announced a 720 MW sodium-ion storage project in the US to deliver cheaper lithium-free batteries that firm renewables and displace fossil peakers.
- The EU launched an initiative to scale affordable small EVs, coordinating industry and policy to ramp local production, cut costs, and grow jobs.
- Lamarr.AI is flying drones with thermal imaging so building owners can pinpoint heat loss and target retrofits faster and cheaper.
- RMI and Third Derivative are piloting passive radiative cooling technologies in the US and India to cut air conditioning demand and peak loads without electricity.
- Mercedes-Benz and Twelve turned captured CO2 into automotive parts and are scaling an e-fuels plant, pointing to lower-carbon materials and fuels for transport.
- Brazil recognized 10 new Indigenous territories, granting legal protections that deter deforestation and safeguard carbon-rich forests.
- Cool Earth is directly funding a Papua New Guinea community to protect rainforest through patrols and livelihood projects, reducing deforestation while improving incomes.
Progress is real and already at work. It can also feel heavy, especially in a week full of headlines. If that weight is sitting with you, read on.
If you are struggling...
If you feel wrung out by the news, angry at the grind, anxious about what is coming, you are not broken. You are noticing. It makes sense to be tired in a world this loud. It also makes sense to pause.
When optimism feels like a mask, try the case for possibility. It is not pretending things will be fine. It is remembering that the future is not fixed and that not knowing can open room to move, to act, to care.
You can practice that shift. Try possibility thinking. Prepare for what might go right with the same care you bring to bracing for what might go wrong. Make a short list for the day good news arrives. Let your imagination warm up.
And if you feel stuck, maybe nothing is wrong at all. Maybe you are not stuck, you are germinating. Roots often grow in the dark, quietly, before anything blooms above the surface.
Take one gentle step today. Drink water. Step outside for a minute. Text someone who is safe for you. Then take the next small step when you can. You do not have to fix the world to belong in it. You are allowed to just be here.
For people and planet,
Bri Chapman
brichapman.com