Finance

BBVA Increases Sustainable Finance Goal to 700 Billion Euros

BBVA (BBVA.MC) has raised its target for lending to businesses it deems sustainable to 700 billion euros ($732.7 billion) over the next five years, the bank announced on Monday. This increase follows the previous goal of 300 billion euros set for the period from 2018 to 2025. Last year, BBVA launched a new global finance unit dedicated to clean technologies and innovation.

Javier Rodriguez Soler, BBVA's global head of sustainability and corporate and investment banking, commented, "The business opportunities in the latter half of the decade will be fueled by substantial infrastructure investments and the maturation of certain clean technologies, which will become more profitable."

TECH

Top Tech Giants Embrace Hydrogen and Nuclear Energy for AI Data Centers

Yuval Bachar is no stranger to data centers, having worked with Meta, Microsoft, and Cisco. However, now his startup is focused on helping Silicon Valley operate data centers with lower carbon emissions.

Bachar's company, ECL, specializes in building hydrogen-powered data centers.

Hydrogen is an innovative energy source for data centers that is not only more environmentally friendly but also enables faster deployment. According to Bachar, these hydrogen-powered centers can be up and running in half the time it takes to build traditional data centers connected to the power grid.

ECL has a hydrogen-powered data center with a modest 1-megawatt capacity located near its headquarters in Mountain View, California. Every two weeks, a diesel truck delivers hydrogen from Southern California or northern Nevada. The hydrogen primarily comes from natural gas, which remains the U.S.'s leading electricity source.

Bachar and other innovators working to power data centers with minimal emissions share insights about their technologies in a new CNBC documentary, available above.

Since the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT in 2022, tech giants like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have been racing to establish data centers capable of supporting generative artificial intelligence. These centers are typically filled with power-hungry Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs), which are essential for training and running large language models. As industries recognize the potential of generative AI, they’re eager to integrate it into products and operations, often with hopes of improving productivity.

However, if a data center lacks enough power for GPUs, executives will seek alternatives. Bachar is keenly aware of this, and it’s central to his pitch.

He notes that utilities in areas like California and Virginia are currently unable to meet the high power demands of data centers. While OpenAI's Sam Altman has invested heavily in nuclear startups, Bachar points out that it will be years before they can supply the necessary energy.

CRYPTO

Stablecoins: The Future of Crypto Finance Unfolds

Behind the grand arches of Istanbul’s bustling Grand Bazaar, beyond the noise and the crowded stalls, a more discreet exchange takes place. In the dimly lit hallways, men move in and out of back rooms, carrying stacks of dollars. In the shadows, one trader reveals that he handles millions every day, predominantly exchanged for stablecoins—cryptocurrencies tied to other assets, usually the U.S. dollar.