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An educational tool for farmers doubles as an online marketplace
CategoriesSustainable News

An educational tool for farmers doubles as an online marketplace

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Digitisation has impacted every corner of our global economy, but one sector that remains largely un-digitised is the world’s oldest: agriculture. Farmers are the bedrock of the €6 trillion agriculture and food trade market, yet they make the least profit of all the main players in the food value chain. Moreover, many farmers still use the same techniques as their ancestors and lack access to the information they need to implement profit-boosting innovations. A new platform, Wikifarmer, is attempting to tackle these challenges.

Wikifarmer seeks to improve the lot of farmers in two ways. The platform is an international online resource for agricultural information and technological developments. The library offers thousands of user-generated articles, all for free, covering a huge diversity of topics, including the latest technology information and guidelines for best practices around the world. The Wikifarmer team provides localised translations of articles into 15 languages.

The platform also acts as a global farmer’s market. For shoppers, this marketplace provides a direct link to food producers in every region. With purchases covered by a money-back guarantee, shoppers can search a long list of products and contact the company itself for personalised quotes for specific requests or high-volume orders.

For farmers, the marketplace represents a welcome simplification of the food supply chain. Selling directly to consumers means that farmers can avoid commissions paid to the multitude of intermediaries they must normally deal with. So far, around 30,000 products have been listed on the site, and more than 5,000 customers have bought products directly from farmers.

From clean energy for off-grid communities to safe herbicide development, agtech is a hot area of innovation. Springwise has previously covered other innovations that aim to connect farmers directly to marketplaces, such as one focused on smallholder farmers in Ghana.

Written by: Keely Khoury

1st August 2022

Email: info@wikifarmer.com

Website: wikifarmer.com

Reference

Pay-as-you-go financing makes renewable energy more accessible
CategoriesSustainable News

Pay-as-you-go financing makes renewable energy more accessible

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Many communities in rural Peru are mostly off-grid, relying on lanterns, cookstoves, and candles for heat and light. But now, renewable energy sources are replacing candles and diesel generators in much of the country. Provided by social enterprise PowerMundo, solar-powered lamps help children complete their homework, artisans work in the evening, and doctors attend to patients at night. The organisation also provides communication technologies, improved cookstoves, and water filtration systems.

Using a network of wholesalers, retailers, and sales agents to spread the word about the availability of the solar-powered devices, PowerMundo is also making it easier for individuals and families to afford the new type of power. Using a pay-as-you-go model, users can buy one week’s worth of solar energy at a time.

To make the financing option viable, PowerMundo is working with a range of partners to provide larger solar arrays from which communities can buy power. The larger installations provide enough energy for multiple households and do not require individual devices. A recent recipient of a Startup Perú grant, the company plans to put the money towards installation of additional and sizeable pay-as-you-go systems capable of producing substantial volumes of power.

Other off-grid solar power innovations spotted by Springwise include solar-powered water pumps and fishing lights, India’s first solar-powered town, and a plug-and-play solar energy system for swarm electrification.

Written by: Keely Khoury

29th July 2022

Email: info@powermundo.com

Website: powermundo.com

Reference

Drones track pollution to provide real-time air quality data
CategoriesSustainable News

Drones track pollution to provide real-time air quality data

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Calling itself a Guardian of the Air, Peruvian startup qAIRa combines static and mobile monitoring for the most up-to-date air quality information. Constant data streams help urban planners and transport managers track the environmental effects of their work, while alerting area communities to the best times of day to be outside.

With devices for monitoring indoor and outdoor air, as well as a system of drones for tracking larger areas and changing conditions, qAIRa brings diverse data together into a single platform that makes it easy to see, at a glance, any areas of concern. The platform is open source, and the company encourages feedback and suggestions for new applications of the collected data.

The system measures particulate matter, humidity, temperature, UV radiation, noise, and more, and the outdoor devices are either solar or electric powered. Already working in several locations in Peru, the company is exploring funding options to help expand availability of the platform nationally and internationally. An educational module for schoolchildren is currently being developed.

Springwise has recently spotted several other innovations focused on air quality including an air quality app that empowers users through education, air quality data for building management, and smarter, cheaper industrial air monitoring.

Written by: Keely Khoury

29th July 2022

Email: hola@qairadrones.com

Website: qairadrones.com

Reference

A Peruvian startup uses drones and AI to help farmers make better decisions
CategoriesSustainable News

A Peruvian startup uses drones and AI to help farmers make better decisions

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Farmers have always had to contend with the vagaries of the weather, but in recent years, increasing variability and extreme weather conditions have made it even harder to maintain healthy crops. Now, there’s a new tool in the fight against unpredictable conditions.

As a leading provider of agricultural technology solutions, Space Ag is using data captured from drones and mobile sensors to generate artificial intelligence models that help farmers make better decisions. This includes maximising yields, optimising the use of resources such as water and fertilisers, and reducing the impact of pests and diseases.

Space Ag’s high-precision drones can capture aerial images of fields and provide farmers with a complete vision of their crops’ state. The drones’ precise analysis of plant health also makes it possible to improve harvest forecasts and effective field inspections. And because they can also detect irrigation problems, the drones offer a comprehensive solution for maintaining healthy crops.

SpaceAG was founded in Peru in 2017 by Cesar Urrutia and Guillermo De Vivanco. As the largest exporter of blueberries and second exporter of Hass avocados in the world, the duo decided that Peru was the perfect country to launch their company from. The pair’s aim was to transform agriculture into a sustainable industry that could feed a growing population while taking care of the planet.

So far, Space Ag has over 35 customers in seven different Latin American countries with more than 1,000 active users.

Other solutions spotted by Springwise aimed at maximising farm yields include an app that provides Indonesian farmers with real-time weather information, a startup speeds up the development of safe herbicides, and a software platform that helps farmers improve their agriculutral management.

Written By: Katrina Lane

29th July 2022

Website: spaceag.co/en/home

Contact: spaceag.co/en/contact

Reference

Treating wounds with frog skin and maggots
CategoriesSustainable News

Treating wounds with frog skin and maggots

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Chronic wounds are a major medical issue affecting 1 in 20 patients in Singapore. One of the leading causes for chronic wounds is diabetes, a disease that affects 1 in 10 patients in the cIty-state. With an ageing population set to exacerbate the problem, innovators are thinking laterally to find novel solutions. One company is turning to frogs and maggots for a natural approach to wound healing.

Cuprina is a medical technology firm based in Singapore that is focused on the challenge of chronic wound care. Its core product is MEDIFLY, a bio-dressing made from live clinical-grade maggots. In the first phase of wound healing, the human body releases enzymes that prevent infection. These enzymes stop harmful pathogens from entering the bloodstream but also prevent harmful material from being pushed out of the body. In some cases, this stops the wound from fully healing. The MEDIFLY maggots complement the work of the enzymes by cleaning the wound of unwanted matter.

Once the maggots have done their work, Cuprina’s newest product can play an important role in the second phase of healing. The company has a licence to scale up and commercialise new collagen patches developed by researchers at Nanyang Technological University (NTU). The clinical-grade collagen used for the patches is made from discarded bullfrog skins. By providing a scaffold for the body’s white blood cells and healing agents to coagulate and form a protective layer, the patches play an important role in the healing process. They also help to keep the wound moist.

In the third and final phase of wound healing, the collagen patches provide collagen as a ‘building block’ material to repair the skin. Together, the MEDIFLY dressing and collagen patches encourage a faster recovery for patients struggling with wounds such as diabetic foot ulcers.

“Our focus is always on promoting and encouraging natural wound healing, intervening only to help the body do what it does organically,” explains Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Cuprina Holdings, Mr Carl Baptista. “With NTU’s patented technology, we can develop a line of natural, amphibian-derived collagen products that are highly compatible with the human body. It is this compatibility that leads to improved healing outcomes over what is currently available.”

Other recent healthcare innovations spotted by Springwise include hologram patients that help to train medics, an app that provides ‘digital viagra’ therapy, and diagnostic tools that scan eye images to diagnose kidney disease.

Written By: Matthew Hempstead

28th July 2022

Email: enquiry@cuprina.com.sg

Website: cuprina.com.sg

Reference

Gulmeshwori Basic School // MESH Architectures
CategoriesSustainable News

Gulmeshwori Basic School // MESH Architectures

By Zarkon Group,

Kids of Kathmandu, an NGO that builds schools in Nepal, recruited MESH to build a new school building for 5-7th graders on a scenic site in the hills outside the city. The organization is committed to sustainable construction, and resources were severely limited by budget, site accessibility, and general material scarcity.

© MESH Architectures

© MESH Architectures

© MESH Architectures

© MESH Architectures

They had had a successful experience with rammed earth and proposed it for the building. MESH eagerly accepted the challenge.Nepalese pedagogy is recognizable as traditional, rote lesson delivery to orderly rows of students crowded into desks. In part to encourage alternative classroom organization and also in response to the open surroundings, we proposed an organization of hexagonal rooms: 3 classrooms, a computer room, and a library.

© MESH Architectures

© MESH Architectures

© MESH Architectures

© MESH Architectures

We added a covered porch as an outdoor space usable during the monsoon and an outdoor plinth to be used as a stage for gatherings, connected by stair to a green recreational roof.

This makes for a variety of spaces within a small footprint. A loose organization of heterogenous spaces like this keeps the mind open and active by continually rewriting the mind’s model of its surroundings.

Rammed earth has a low energy/CO2 footprint because most of the mass comes from the site itself, with a small amount of cement added.

© MESH Architectures

© MESH Architectures

© MESH Architectures

© MESH Architectures

Otherwise, it functions much like reinforced concrete, with thermal mass to modulate temperature, structural strength, and fire resistance..

© MESH Architectures

© MESH Architectures

© MESH Architectures

© MESH Architectures

Gulmeshwori Basic School Gallery

 

Reference

'Artificial photosynthesis’ could be the future of food
CategoriesSustainable News

‘Artificial photosynthesis’ could be the future of food

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Through photosynthesis, plants convert water, carbon dioxide, and energy from sunlight into sugars that they use to grow biomass. This process has been the basis of the food chain for millions of years, yet it is surprisingly inefficient. In fact, only about one per cent of the energy found in sunlight actually ends up in the plant. Now, scientists at the University of California Riverside have found a way to improve on mother nature by bypassing biological photosynthesis entirely.

The research team used a special type of electrolyser—a device that uses electricity to obtain useful molecules from raw materials—to convert carbon dioxide into a substance called acetate. Plants can directly consume this substance to grow, without the need for photosynthesis. The team used solar panels to generate power for the electrocatalysis.

The artificial system converts sunlight into food far more efficiently than biological photosynthesis. And experiments have found that mushrooms, yeast, and green algae could all be grown in complete darkness using the electrolyser-derived acetate. Producing algae with acetate was four times more energy efficient than producing it through photosynthesis. Yeast does not photosynthesise and is normally cultivated using sugars from corn. Cultivating it with acetate, however, was 18 times more efficient.

The technology could be used to create ‘food factories’ that are entirely independent of sunlight. This would enable crops to be grown in locations where sunlight is scarce, such as underground or in space. The research is still in its early stages, but the potential applications of the technology are numerous.

Springwise has spotted other innovations featuring photosynthesis including an algae-powered microprocessor, technology that supports growth through CO2 captured from the air, and a wastewater system that uses a process similar to photosynthesis.

Written By: Katrina Lane

26th July 2022

Website: ucr.edu

Contact: ucr.edu/contact

Reference

Autonomous robots help with nuclear decommissioning
CategoriesSustainable News

Autonomous robots help with nuclear decommissioning

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: One of the main downsides of nuclear power is the challenge of decommissioning old facilities, a process that requires adequate technologies, sufficient funding, solutions for the management of nuclear waste, and a skilled workforce.

Smart robots can play an important role in decommissioning legacy power stations quickly, safely, and cheaply, and a new project in Cumbria, known as the ‘Robotics and AI Collaboration’ (RAICo), is developing robots that are designed to think and act for themselves, carrying out work that is too dangerous for humans.

The project is a collaboration between The University of Manchester, the UK Atomic Energy Agency (UKAEA), Sellafield Ltd, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, and the National Nuclear Laboratory.

“We’re helping Sellafield and other nuclear end-users to develop the next generation of remote surveying and handling equipment so they can improve their operations,” explains Professor Barry Lennox, a leading member of the RAICo team.

The project’s ultimate goal is to transfer the technology it develops to sites across the UK. RAICo will also provide a pilot for the development of robotic systems in other sectors, such as the offshore energy sector, agriculture, nuclear fusion, and even outer space.

The technology is described as ‘hot’ robotics, a prefix that was coined to reflect the use of robots in radioactive environments inside nuclear reactors. Professor Lennox, however, believes that the meaning of ‘hot’ will now need to be broadened as the technology is applied to more general applications.

Other robotics innovations recently spotted by Springwise include the SeaClear system, which uses a combination of robotics and machine learning to efficiently locate and remove marine debris, and a dam in China that is being built by robots.

Written By: Katrina Lane

26th July 2022

Website: hotrobotics.co.uk

Reference

Small turbines turn almost any river into a hydroelectric power source
CategoriesSustainable News

Small turbines turn almost any river into a hydroelectric power source

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Rivers and canals that have mostly been overlooked as sources of renewable energy could begin providing enough power for an entire community. Belgian company Turbulent has developed vortex turbines that are small enough for use in almost any river or canal. Called Living Rivers, the systems of turbines all have impellers that move at a low enough speed to allow marine life to pass safely through the entire structure.

Requiring a minimum of a 1.5-metre drop in height, and a flow of 1.5 cubic metres per second for at least nine months of the year, the turbines provide a constancy of power in comparison to the variability of other renewable energy sources. Turbulent’s teams work closely with local communities to design, build, and manage each project.

A regular, although not onerous, maintenance schedule helps keep the turbines in good mechanical condition. Remote control access makes it easy to adjust the system, and Turbulent’s designs never impede the natural flow of the river. Rather, they help locals clean the waterway. A large trash rack plus protective mesh gathers rubbish and prevents it from travelling further downstream or harming the turbine.

Springwise previously covered Turbulent earlier in the startup’s development. Since then, the company has delivered projects in Bali, Chile, Estonia, France, and Portugal. Projects in the USA, the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo are in progress. Springwise has also been tracking the global growth of hydropower more broadly, spotting a hydroelectric dam built by robots, a turbine design that allows fish to pass safely, and a solar-hydro hybrid project in Thailand.

Written by: Keely Khoury

22nd July 2022

Email: info@turbulent.be

Website: turbulent.be

Reference

Global innovation spotlight: Belgium - Springwise
CategoriesSustainable News

Global innovation spotlight: Belgium – Springwise

By Zarkon Group,

Global innovation spotlight: Belgium

Global Innovation Spotlight

Reflecting our global Springwise readership, we explore the innovation landscape and freshest thinking from a new country each week. To celebrate the Belgian National Day yesterday, we are celebrating three exciting innovations from Belgium…

Belgium innovation facts

Global Innovation Index ranking: 22nd

Climate targets: reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Belgian territory by at least 80-95 per cent by 2050 compared to 1990

Sustainability issues

Water stress – Belgium hit the headlines as a result of devastating floods. But despite this sudden influx of water, the country has actually been struggling with water scarcity. Lifestyle factors are partly to blame with the average Belgian using 7,400 litres per day, over double the global average.

Air pollution – As with many European countries, air pollution is a key issue in Belgium, with 98.4 per cent of the population exposed to pollution levels above World Health Organization limits. And a recent citizen-led air quality project found large disparities in air quality between richer and poorer areas.

Pesticide contamination – Pesticide contamination is a particular issue in Belgium. One study from the Pesticide Action Network found Belgium to have the highest level of toxic pesticides in the EU. The data, collected by over 30 European agencies between 2011 and 2019, found that one in three fruits in Belgium is contaminated by pesticides harmful to human health.

Sector specialisms

Marketing and sales

Health

Social and leisure

Source: StartupBlink

Three exciting innovations from Belgium

Photo source Turbulent

SMALL TURBINES TURN ALMOST ANY RIVER INTO A HYDROELECTRIC POWER SOURCE

Rivers and canals that have mostly been overlooked as sources of renewable energy could begin providing enough power for an entire community. Belgian company Turbulent has developed vortex turbines that are small enough for use in almost any river or canal. Called Living Rivers, the systems of turbines all have impellers that move at a low enough speed to allow marine life to pass safely through the entire structure. Read more.

Photo source Yuval Zukerman on Unsplash

A HI-TECH FACTORY SUPPORTS CIRCULAR MUSHROOM PRODUCTION

Mushrooms are not only tasty – they are in demand. In 2020, the global mushroom market produced 14.35 million tonnes of fungi, but this figure is forecast to reach 24.05 million tonnes by 2028. And the growth of vegetarian and vegan diets is whetting consumers’ appetites for exotic mushrooms in particular, with varieties such as shiitake and oyster growing in popularity. How can this demand be met sustainably? Belgian urban farm Eclo is using recycled organic waste as a substrate for growing exotic mushrooms. Read more.

Photo source Unsplash

USING OLD ELECTRIC VEHICLE BATTERIES TO STORE EXCESS SOLAR AND WIND ENERGY

As the world increasingly turns to renewable energy sources, the need for efficient and sustainable energy storage solutions is bigger than ever. That’s why Belgian startup Octave has designed a battery energy storage system (BESS) for stationary energy applications. The system is particularly innovative as it is made from the discarded batteries of electric cars. The development is timely given that Europe alone is expecting 30 million electric cars to be rolling off forecourts by 2030. Read more.

Words: Matthew Hempstead

To keep up with the latest innovations, sign up to our free newsletters or email info@springwise.com to get in touch.

22nd July 2022

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