Spotted: Surgeons are increasingly turning to robotics to assist with surgeries. Many of these involve ‘graspers’ – tools controlled remotely by the surgeon. One drawback of these tools is that the surgeon cannot feel exactly how much pressure is being exerted. While pressure sensors are used for this, they often lack the precision required for delicate surgeries.
Now, researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed a novel aero-elastic pressure sensor, called ‘eAir’, which they hope will address these challenges. The sensor could potentially transform some types of surgery by enabling better tactile feedback for surgeons, allowing more precise manipulation of patient tissues.
Conventional pressure sensors have trouble delivering consistent readings and can miss subtle changes in pressure – leading to potential errors. To address this, the NUS team drew inspiration from a phenomenon known as the ‘lotus leaf effect’. This is a natural phenomenon where minuscule, water-repelling structures cause water droplets to roll off a leaf’s surface. The team has engineered a sensor that mimics this effect, detecting minute pressure changes.
The eAir sensor includes a liquid and a trapped layer of air. As external pressure increases, the air layer compresses. The surface of the sensor registers the movement at the interface of air and liquid, triggering a change in electrical signals that accurately reflects even minute amounts of exerted pressure.
The NUS team is hoping to collaborate with key players in the medical field to develop the so. They have filed a patent for the eAir sensor technology in Singapore, and are working to refine the sensor for real-world applications.
This is not the first time we have seen researchers take inspiration from the natural world. Springwise has also covered cancer researchers who used spiders for inspiration and energy-saving paints inspired by butterflies.
Spotted: According to a market report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the State of Sustainability Initiatives, the conundrum facing palm oil producers is that “while the sector is a main driver of climate change through deforestation and land-use change,” the crop is “the most widely produced edible oil, meeting 40 per cent of global demand for vegetable oil on less than six per cent of all land dedicated to producing vegetable oils.”
The oil’s versatility means that it is used in many different food and cosmetic products, making it very difficult to find a sustainable replacement. Fermentation may be the key to meeting that challenge. UK foodtech company Clean Food Group uses food waste and large-scale fermentation to create sustainable oils and fats. Designed to replace traditionally grown products, the fermented versions grow on non-GMO yeast chosen for its speed and customisation capacity.
Having recently raised £2.3 million to scale its operations, the company has already completed a 1,000 litre fermentation test. The results from the latest trials will be used to create the oils and fats that will be submitted for regulatory food and cosmetics approvals late in 2023. Clean Food Group plans to complete commercial scale trials and its Series A funding round in 2024.
The company is working with industrial food specialists Alianza Team and Doehler Group to scale production capacity to industrial quantities as well as develop the products that will undergo compliance testing.
Replacing standard chemicals with less toxic versions that also create less pollution during production is a challenge that is attracting the attention of innovators around the world. In Springwise’s library, examples of new manufacturing techniques include bio-based surfactants and AI-powered R&D.
Spotted: For centuries, aloe vera gel has been known for its healing properties, while its peels were considered agricultural waste. But when Dr. Debasish Bandyopadhyay observed that aloe peels, or rinds, were repelling insects, his curiosity prompted further investigation. Today, scientists report that this product no longer needs to go to waste, offering hope that hazardous pesticides can be replaced.
After drying out aloe vera rinds, researchers from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley uncovered that certain compounds contribute to their ability to ward off bugs. Amazingly, these identified compounds were non-toxic, meaning that an aloe-peel-based insecticide would be safe for humans, animals, and the environment.
The use of conventional chemical insecticides has been found to pose a significant risk to all forms of life on Earth, including humans. As Dr. Bandyopadhyay explained to Springwise: “Conventional pesticides frequently contain hazardous chemicals that harm the environment, including soil and water pollution, harm to organisms that aren’t the intended targets, and disturbance of ecosystems.” He concludes that “a safer option for pest control may be a natural insecticide prepared from aloe vera peel.”
The team is currently studying aloe rinds as a potential pesticide and repellent for other creatures not yet studied, including mosquitos and ticks. They will present their findings at the American Chemical Society’s autumn meeting.
Springwise has previously spotted other natural insecticides in the archives, from a nature-inspired bug repellent to a natural pesticide that does not harm beneficial insects.
Spotted: Hydrogen is a promising fuel for a future decarbonised economy, but, currently, more than 99 per cent of the hydrogen produced globally comes from fossil fuels. Green hydrogen, which is produced by running a renewable electric current through water, is a leading alternative to fossil-derived hydrogen, but it comes with its own set of challenges, such as the high cost and energy demand of the electrolysers used to produce it. This has led innovators to look for further clean sources of hydrogen to supplement the nascent green hydrogen industry.
This is where US startup Koloma comes in. The company aims to extract naturally occurring hydrogen from iron-rich rocks, taking advantage of a natural process called serpentinization. During this process, groundwater reacts with iron in the Earth’s crust to create pure hydrogen in a reaction that goes on continuously, replenishing the gas at a rate of 23 megatonnes per year – which is equivalent to around 30 per cent of the world’s hydrogen demand.
Once geologic hydrogen is formed, there are several natural mechanisms by which it can become trapped to form reservoirs that can be tapped through drilling wells. Koloma is currently exploring its first test wells in the American Midwest (their precise locations are kept secret), which is yielding samples that are being analysed for volume and purity. The company’s founder, Dr. Tom Darrah, a professor of earth sciences at Ohio State University, has secured multiple patents for hydrogen extraction technologies.
The hydrogen Koloma hopes to extract promises several benefits over hydrogen produced using existing methods. According to data shared by the company, the carbon intensity of geologic hydrogen is only marginally greater than green hydrogen produced using renewable energy – the current gold standard for clean hydrogen. However, it also requires almost no external water and very little external energy as inputs, which sets it apart from all other hydrogen production methods, including green hydrogen. It also does not rely on large-scale wind turbines or solar farms, which take up a significant amount of land.
The promise of geologic hydrogen has captured the attention of several startups, but Koloma has just received $91 million of funding from the Bill Gates Foundation, meaning it is well-placed to expand its capabilities and the production of geologic hydrogen a commercial reality.
Springwise has covered several alternative sources of clean hydrogen including a company that is producing Green Hydrogen from biowaste and a process for making hydrogen and carbon black without combustion.
Spotted: As economic growth and consumption rise, so does the amount of waste produced. Statista estimates that, by 2050, the world will be producing 3.4 billion metric tonnes of municipal solid waste each year, a 70 per cent increase compared with 2016 figures. Polygreen, which operates as a network of companies to provide integrated and multi-faceted circular economy solutions, is one leading organisation tackling our growing waste problem with creative zero-waste schemes and innovative partnerships.
For instance, Polygreen recently entered into a strategic partnership with Abu Dhabi Waste Management Centre Tadweer, to bring zero-waste, circular economy, and sustainable waste management principles to the Middle East. The Memorandum of Understanding signed by the two partners will focus on sharing knowledge and best practices for high-profile global events such as COP28, United Nations events, and the Delphi Economic Forum, as well as explore the application of Polygreen’s ‘Just Go Zero’ model in Abu Dhabi.
Polygreen has already had success in implementing the Just Go Zero initiative on the Greek island of Tilos, turning the island into a zero-waste destination wherein 100 per cent of municipal solid waste is now diverted from landfill. As well as engaging with local stakeholders to achieve this fully circular zero-waste economy, Polygreen focused on resident education to encourage essential behavioural change in terms of how waste is sorted at home.
Specially designed vehicles collect and weigh the litter from every household and business on the island, and with the Tilos Just Go Zero app, locals receive important information about the programme and can track how much rubbish they have recycled in real-time. Waste is then sent to the Centre for Circular Innovation instead of landfill, where it is sorted for either recycling, reuse, compost, or turned into alternative fuel. The goal is to use similar methodology to accomplish equally impressive results in Abu Dhabi.
Other circular economy innovations recently spotted by Springwise include on-demand data that makes recycling easy, a scheme that lets residents in South Africa exchange recycling for digital currency, and a new approach to circular packaging.
Spotted: Organic waste makes up a huge proportion of all municipal waste, with around 17 per cent of global food production going to waste at the retail, restaurant, or household level. But what if that food wasn’t all wasted? What if some of it could be turned into renewable energy? That is the question being answered by New Zealand clean-tech startup Cetogenix.
Cetogenix has designed a modular system for breaking down organic waste to generate renewable energy and other useful by-products, such as fertilisers and biodegradable plastics. The company’s technology uses a combination of chemical and microbial processes, which can be located at source and easily scaled.
The flagship product, called CETO-Boost, is currently under development. When complete, it will allow a 40 per cent increase in the production of renewable natural gas from anaerobic digestion plants. It will also be capable of being retrofitted, and the company has identified more than 15,000 anaerobic digester plants that could benefit from this retrofitting.
Cetogenix secured $4.5 million(around €4.1 million) in a 2022 seed funding round led by deep-tech investor Pacific Channel, with support from angel investors. The investment is being used to scale up the company’s technology and enable global deployment, with an initial focus on Europe and North America.
This technology aims to tackle both organic waste and natural gas issues at the same time. In the archive, Springwise has spotted other methods for tackling these issues, including turning organic waste into bio-plastic and using methane pyrolysis to generate green hydrogen.
Spotted: By 2050, the proportion of the global population living in urban areas is expected to reach 68 per cent, creating a further 2.5 billion city-dwellers compared to today’s number.
To accommodate this growing population, while also improving sustainability and quality of life, there is growing interest in the concept of smart cities. One company that is improving urban life today is Eleven-X, which has created eXactpark, a smart parking solution.
Using a specially designed wireless sensor, eXactpark collects real-time data on parking space occupancy in indoor or outdoor structures and tracks when spaces are filled or vacated. This information can then be used in a variety of ways. For example, drivers can use the Space Guidance app to find available parking.
The data can also be integrated into back-office parking management applications to enable better decisions, including dynamic pricing and optimisation of infrastructure planning. The platform can deliver a customised dashboard that monitors factors such as turnover, zone counts, demand over time, pinch points, average parking duration, and other indicators.
Eleven-X’s sensors are wireless, cost-effective, and designed to last more than 10 years. They also require almost zero maintenance. This means that the total cost of ownership for the sensors is low compared to other solutions.
The startup is a graduate of Canada’s Accelerator Centre and has completed a pre-seed financing round.
Making cities more efficient is crucial for minimising their carbon footprint and improving the lives of inhabitants. In the archive, Springwise has also spotted a smart urban planning platform and the use of the Internet of Things (IoT) to improve traffic flow.
Spotted: Supply chain disruption is a huge cost for organisations around the world. In fact, one 2022 survey of more than 1,500 global supply chain leaders found that the average annual cost of supply chain disruptions to each organisation was $182 million. And within this, ESG-related disruptions alone cost companies, on average, $35 million (around €32.2 million) per year.
The financial driver of disruption costs, combined with regulatory initiatives such as the German Supply Chain Act, is pushing companies to have better visibility along their supply chains. However, these supply chains are more complex than ever, which makes achieving visibility difficult. This is the challenge that Austrian startup Prewave hopes to address.
The Vienna-based company has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) powered platform that enables brands to keep tabs on their suppliers by analysing millions of data sources from across the internet and social media. This analysis generates alerts when relevant issues with a supplier are detected – from disruptive events, such as storms and earthquakes, to cybersecurity breaches, and reputationally damaging CSR incidents.
But what makes the Prewave platform particularly valuable for brands is the fact that its AI is predictive, which means it can forecast risk events before they happen. For example, the company claims that its technology was able to predict seaport strikes in Indonesia 18 days in advance.
If a risk alert is received, the company can contact the supplier directly through the Prewave platform to ask for further information and to collaborate on resolving the issue. Employees can also assign the alerts to their colleagues.
In May, Prewave received €18 million in a series A+ funding round, and the startup has already secured prestigious customers including Audi, ABInBev, and KTM.
As supply chains become increasingly complex, it’s more important than ever for companies to optimise them. In the archive, Springwise has also spotted a decarbonisation platform and the use of blockchain to enable supply chain transparency.
Tech company Fairphone has worked with Swedish design agency Above to produce the latest version of its ethical smartphone, with a focus on reducing the environmental and social impacts of battery metal mining.
The Dutch social enterprise, which has been making its modular, repairable smartphone since 2013, said the Fairphone 5 has its “fairest battery yet” and the fairest on the market right now based on available industry data.
The company used recycled steel, nickel alloy, tin and plastic in the battery and aimed to improve the conditions of workers in its supply chain for other key metals such as lithium, gold and cobalt.
The Fairphone 5 is the latest version of Fairphone’s modular, ethical smartphone
Its initiatives included sourcing the lithium from a mine that was one of the first to be audited against the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining, which has been recognised by the EU as the strongest standard in the industry. It also uses Fairtrade certified gold and pays a premium to the factory workers involved in battery production, effectively giving them a living wage for the duration of the work.
The company also used “mineral credits”, which are based on the idea of carbon credits or offsets and managed through the external organisations the Alliance for Responsible Mining and The Impact Facility.
The system involves Fairphone matching its material use with financial support for efforts to achieve safer working conditions and fairer production models in the mining of minerals such as cobalt and silver.
The phone is available in three colours
For instance, the company says its purchase of Fairmined silver credits will offset 100 per cent of its silver use and allow small-scale miners working independently of large companies to take actions such as adding ventilation systems and solar panels, assessing water and air quality, and investing in worker and community health.
Beyond just its battery, the Fairphone 5 is also what Fairphone calls “e-waste neutral” – meaning the company compensates for every new phone by recycling an equal amount of electronic waste or taking back and repairing old phones.
It includes upwards of eight years of software support and continues the brand’s practice of featuring replaceable and repairable modules to extend the lifespan of the phone.
Fairphone will provide at least eight years of software support to encourage users to hold onto their phones
“The Fairphone 5 is better than ever, but more importantly, it’s made with more fair and recycled materials and contributes to improving the lives of over 54,000 people in its manufacturing chain,” said Fairphone co-founder and head of product management Miquel Ballester.
The phones have a Qualcomm QCM6490 chipset, which is unusual for smartphones and was designed by Qualcomm for Internet of Things products. Fairphone says that it is this choice that enables them to offer the longer software support that you would ususally find in those products.
It has commited to continuing support until 2031 and is aiming for 2033 — a total of eight to ten years, around twice the standard support time of other Android providers, therefore potentially allowing users to keep their phone for twice as long.
The Fairphone 5’s battery is removeable and replaceable, along with nine other modules including the cameras, loudspeaker, USBC-port and SIM card slot and SD card slot.
The phone includes 10 replaceable components
Design agency Above says it has designed the components to be easier to remove and replace than previously, while also honing the modules to have their own visual appeal.
The modules are visible through a translucent recycled plastic back cover — one of three colour options for the Fairphone 5 and one that Above says is a “visual celebration of the innovation and sustainable ethos embedded within the product”.
“We celebrate sustainability as a unique opportunity to craft beautiful products, shattering the myth that it demands design compromises,” said Above senior creative director Ryan Helps.
The phone comes in a transparent edition through which the modules inside can be seen
Fairphone sold 115,681 handsets in 2022, and its sales have been slowly growing since its launch 10 years ago. The company’s main aim is not to rival giants like Apple and Samsung on sales but to demonstrate best practices and grow the market for more ethical electronics.
Of its use of mineral credits, the company said it is “a scalable solution that is easily replicable by the industry”.
“Imagine if the biggest companies in the industry were to shift their supply chains to even a fraction of fair sourced materials or implement even a few of our living wage initiatives?” said Ballester. “The impact would be enormous and our industry could change the world.”
“Instead, it is lagging behind in its response to the big environmental and social challenges on the horizon.”
Fairphone is headquartered in Amsterdam, in a warehouse on the northern docks renovated with reclaimed materials.
Spotted: As the global population, living standards, and economy continue to grow, along with improvements in water supply, so does the volume of wastewater. Each year, 380 billion m3of municipal wastewater is generated globally, with very little of that ever being recycled. But, on-site wastewater can be reused to create a circular waste economy and reduce the amount of freshwater that would be wasted, and this is where Epic Cleantec comes in.
Born out of work with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Reinvent the Toilet Challenge, Epic was founded to use this untapped potential. Epic deploys onsite water reuse systems into the built environment, making cities more resilient, sustainable, and water secure. The company’s OneWater system captures and processes a building’s wastewater, including black and grey water. The process allows a building to recycle up to 95 per cent of its water on-site for reuse in toilet and urinal flushing, laundry, irrigation, and cooling towers.
Epic’s approach produces three outputs: recycled water, recovered heat energy from wastewater to improve building energy efficiency, and carbon-rich soil nutrients for local agriculture and landscaping use. And through a partnership with Devil’s Canyon Brewing Co., Epic Cleantec is also turning this wastewater into beer.
Using its technology, Epic transformed wastewater from a high-rise apartment block in San Francisco into over 2,000 gallons of recycled water, which Devil’s Canyon used to create Epic OneWater Brew – a Kölsch-style ale.
At a time when the world is rapidly urbanising and using more and more water, it’s no wonder why there are so many ways to address water scarcity. In the archive, Springwise has spotted one company that uses wastewater to power biomanufacturing, while another is harvesting water from the air.
