The plant, Greenbridge Generation, described itself in a March 5, 2020 press release as “a unique, one of a kind data center for digital currencies.” The $65 million coal plant conversion was in part enabled by a $2 million New York Regional Economic Development Council Award

1. Technologies to reduce GHGs require ROI
Elevate your enterprise data technology and strategy at Transform 2021.
This post was written by Helen Bertelli is co-founder of Women in Climate Tech.
It’s an investment race to the bottom line. Even as a rapidly expanding number of
companies commit to reducing their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the carbon
footprint of global cryptocurrency mining — which already exceeds that of many small
countries — is growing fast and has the potential to offset climate gains.
Recent McKinsey & Company research shows public opinion, business risks, and (in
some cases) policy pressure are moving many companies to embrace carbon
reduction. “In 2020, more than 4,500 companies worldwide self-reported their
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for public disclosure, and about 40 percent of those
companies have committed to specific emissions targets as part of their strategic and
financial plans,” McKinsey reports.
Those companies span almost all industries. Almost half are aiming for emissions
reductions by 2025, and nearly two-thirds say they’re on track to meet their targets by
2050.

2. As you’d expect, not all industries are moving at the same speed, including
transportation and fossil fuels — two of the biggest carbon-emitting sectors. “A key
factor in these industries is the role of technology in reducing GHG emissions,”
McKinsey noted. “Long-term decarbonization efforts in both transportation and fossil
fuels, for instance, will require significant technological breakthroughs—alternative
fuels, electrification of heavy-duty vehicles and commercial aviation,
carbon-capture-and-storage technologies—as well as a commitment to execution.”
Judging from the money, the commitment is there. Venture funding in the industry has
increased by 3750% in six years according to The State of Climate Tech 2020 by
PwC. The report also says stimulus incentives coupled with other regulatory moves
expected in the coming months should further accelerate sector growth.
But that still is not enough to counter the virtual gold rush for cryptocurrencies. Each
time the value of Bitcoin spikes, so does demand for the processing power required to
harvest it … and the GHG emissions. A recent Nature Communications article
projected “the annual energy consumption of the Bitcoin blockchain in China alone is
expected to peak in 2024 at 296.59 Twh and generate 130.50 million metric tons of
carbon emission correspondingly. Internationally, this emission output would exceed
the total annualized greenhouse gas emission output of the Czech Republic and
Qatar.”
Bitcoin supporters argue sheer economics eventually will drive miners to seek the
lowest-cost electricity. Two well-known cryptocurrency investors, Tesla and Square,

3. say it will help boost investment in renewable energy resources. But a recent
development in north central New York state casts some doubt on those predictions.
A coal-fired plant in Dresden, NY that was shuttered a decade ago for its
unprofitability — one of dozens of such units closed in recent years amid the rise of
renewables and “green power” — has been converted to natural gas generation and
reportedly is cryptocurrency mining an estimated $300,000 a day at current Bitcoin
values. All while emitting hundreds of thousands of tons of carbon dioxide annually.
The plant, Greenbridge Generation, described itself in a March 5, 2020 press release
as “a unique, one of a kind data center for digital currencies.” The $65 million coal
plant conversion was in part enabled by a $2 million New York Regional Economic
Development Council Award.
Short-term, regional economic gains cannot continue at the expense of long-term
climate losses. We need to look at future projects from a longer, wider point of view of
net global impacts and incentivize investments that provide long-term benefits for all.
That kind of candor can be in a recent announcement from Exxon Mobil, which in
April said it was launching a $100 billion industrial carbon capture project in the
Houston, Texas area. The New York Times reported, “The effort would be paid for by
industry and the government, and would eventually store 100 million tons of carbon
annually — equivalent to the emissions of 20 million cars.”

4. Exxon chief executive Darren Woods said his company needs a carbon price to justify
the investment. “The potential for these markets is very, very large to the extent that
demand continues to increase to decarbonize society,” he said. “The concept of a
price on carbon is critical… there has to be a way to incentivize the investment.”
That in turn will spur innovation, which will bring more investments and more global
benefits. “Entrepreneurs — the instigators of innovation and transformation — are
critical players in making the art of the impossible, possible,” said PwC said in its The
State of Climate Tech 2020. “They are a proven cohort for bringing novel technologies
and disruptive approaches to industry, and in doing so inventing a new future.
Together with the early-stage investors that pump in the funds to enable scaling of
these new approaches and technologies, they will be key to transforming sectors to a
net-zero future.
“This world is not driven by impact, but by investing opportunity.”
Helen Bertelli is the founder and president of climate change communications
consultancy Benecomms and co-founder of Women in Climate Tech.
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02
Calamu Technologies raises $2.4M to advance data
fragmentation platform
Elevate your enterprise data technology and strategy at Transform 2021.
Calamu Technologies has raised $2.4 million for its approach to securing data in a
safe harbor spanning three separate platforms, using a data fragmentation platform to
make it difficult for cybercriminals to reconstitute stolen data.

6. All three locations where Calamu Protect stores data would have to be compromised
before a cybercriminal could bring those pieces back together. That same data,
however, is still always immediately accessible by its rightful owners, said Calamu
Technologies CEO Paul Lewis. “The safe data harbor spans multiple public clouds,”
he said.
Calamu Protect also constantly monitors the integrity of the data. If it detects an
anomaly, Calamu Protect will automatically thwart a ransomware attack while its
built-in redundancy capability ensures data remains accessible, Lewis said.
The company has implemented data compression utilities to reduce the total cost of
storage. Lewis noted that Calamu Protect also enables organizations to store data in
a way that is difficult to subpoena because the data fragments are stored in multiple
cloud platforms spanning geographies that are subject to different judicial systems.
Calamu Protect has already been certified to be compatible with Amazon Web
Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and Microsoft Azure cloud platforms.
In addition to providing a graphical user interface, the company also provides an
application programming interface (API) through which applications can be integrated
natively with Calamu Protect, noted Lewis.
In effect, Calamu Protect enables organizations to meet data security and privacy
mandates such as the General Data Protection Rule required by the European Union
via a single platform, said Lewis.

7. Data fragmentation is not a new concept, but Lewis said Calamu Technologies is
applying it in a way that is simpler to implement across a distributed computing
environment. Rather than just allowing an organization to access a pristine copy of
their data in the wake of a ransomware attack, Lewis said the goal should be to make
it difficult to compromise that data in the first place.
Melding data protection and security workflows has long been a goal of enterprise IT
organizations, but it has been difficult to achieve. Organizations can limit their
exposure to a ransomware attack by regularly backing up data, but there’s always a
risk that data might become encrypted in a way that prevents an organization from
being able to access it. In theory, every time a ransomware attack is detected, data
backup should be automatically triggered. The challenge is that data may already be
infected with malware, which would mean that once a file is backed up, the malware
could encrypt all the data that an organization was planning to use to recover from the
attack.
Calamu Technologies is making a case for a fragmented approach to storing data that
frustrates the ability of cybercriminals to share stolen data in a meaningful way; as a
byproduct, it also addresses data privacy requirements, Lewis said. Of course, it’s still
possible the credentials of an end user of Calamu Protect might be compromised by,
for example, a phishing attack. However, the potential impact is sharply reduced if that
attack can’t encrypt the data for ransom.
It’s not clear to what degree enterprise IT organizations may be willing to revisit how
they store data. The challenge is it can take some organizations years to appreciate a

8. new “art of the possible” because they’ve been performing a task the same way for so
long that it’s often too difficult to consider any alternative. However, the need to
reimagine those processes is now acute, as a ransomware scourge continues to
cripple organizations large and small. As organizations become more accustomed to
employing multiple clouds, it creates an opportunity to rethink how data is stored,
managed, and secured.
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decision-makers to gain knowledge about transformative technology and transact.
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you as you lead your organizations. We invite you to become a member of our
community, to access:up-to-date information on the subjects of interest to you
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03

9. Volante Technologies and Deloitte Enter Into Strategic Alliance
Agreement To Accelerate Payments Modernization
Cloud-native payments technology provider to include Deloitte insight and integration
services in its offerings
NEW YORK and LONDON and DUBAI, United Arab Emirates and MEXICO CITY,
May 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Volante Technologies, the global leader in cloud
payments and financial messaging, and Deloitte are joining forces to offer clients an
innovative new service that enables financial institutions to transform how they run
their payments business. Volante's cloud-based technology solutions for financial
institutions will now include added insight and integration services from Deloitte as
part of a broader strategic alliance agreement.
This new offering from Volante and Deloitte will enable banks and payment service
providers to further enhance the strategic and financial benefits of payments
modernization and cloud technologies, while simplifying regulatory compliance
challenges and reducing operational risk. More so, it will enable the industry to scale
new payments products in a more agile manner.
"Payments institutions must modernize their core payments systems and operations
to address the issues that matter most to their business's success. No longer can
anyone in the payments ecosystem rely on outdated technology solutions," said

10. Tushar Puranik, Managing Director, Deloitte Consulting LLP, and Payments
Transformation Leader.
"We see Volante as an important and innovative player," he continued. "Their modern,
componentized, cloud-native solutions and services will enable financial institutions
and payments processors to accelerate enablement of real-time payments and
adoption of ISO 20022 regulations and standards, reduce infrastructure costs, and
grow their businesses with agility. We are excited about the opportunity to bring the
benefits of our alliance with Volante to our clients."
Deloitte – which serves 94 percent of the financial institutions on the Fortune 500 list
and has one of the largest payments-focused groups in the industry – will also bring a
wealth of deep technology-implementation experience to the offering. This includes
helping clients in areas as diverse as payments modernization, API-driven
automation, risk and regulatory compliance, anti-fraud programs and cybersecurity
capabilities on a global and local level.
"We're delighted to welcome Deloitte as a strategic alliance teammate," said Jim
Chow, VP of partnerships, Volante Technologies. "With more than 1,500 practitioners
focused on the cutting edge of trends in the payments industry that transcend
borders, Deloitte's payments group provides end-to-end capabilities that can enable
companies to offer a wide range of alternative delivery channels and enhance
customer experience."

11. "To meet evolving corporate and consumer expectations, banks need to modernize
their technology at every point in the payment lifecycle, and prioritize cloud and
Payments-as-a-Service models for payments processing," said Vijay Oddiraju, CEO,
Volante Technologies. "Deloitte's deep experience in strategy, implementation and
integration will be a critical factor in helping our joint customers derive the greatest
value from our payments solutions."
For more about the global alliance, visit our Deloitte partner page.
About DeloitteDeloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory
services to many of the world's most admired brands, including nearly 90% of the
Fortune 500® and more than 7,000 private companies. Our people come together for
the greater good and work across the industry sectors that drive and shape today's
marketplace — delivering measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public
trust in our capital markets, inspire clients to see challenges as opportunities to
transform and thrive, and help lead the way toward a stronger economy and a
healthier society. Deloitte is proud to be part of the largest global professional services
network serving our clients in the markets that are most important to them. Building on
more than 175 years of service, our network of member firms spans more than 150
countries and territories. Learn how Deloitte's more than 330,000 people worldwide
connect for impact at www.deloitte.com.
Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private
company limited by guarantee ("DTTL"), its network of member firms, and their
related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and

12. independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as "Deloitte Global") does not provide
services to clients. In the United States, Deloitte refers to one or more of the US
member firms of DTTL, their related entities that operate using the "Deloitte" name in
the United States and their respective affiliates. Certain services may not be available
to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Please see
www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member firms.
About Volante Technologies Volante Technologies is the leading global provider of
cloud payments and financial messaging solutions to accelerate digital transformation.
We serve as a trusted partner to over 100 banks, financial institutions, market
infrastructures, clearing houses, and corporate treasuries in 35 countries. Our
solutions and services process millions of transactions and trillions in value every day,
powering four of the top five corporate banks, 40 percent of all U.S. commercial bank
deposits, and 70 percent of worldwide card traffic. As a result, our customers can stay
ahead of emerging trends, become more competitive, deliver superior client
experiences, and grow their businesses through rapid innovation. To learn more, visit
volantetech.com. Follow us at linkedin.com/company/volante-technologies and
twitter.com/volantetech.