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Biogas digesters: an affordable solution for clean fuel and fertiliser
CategoriesSustainable News

Biogas digesters: an affordable solution for clean fuel and fertiliser

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Analysts expect that almost a third of the world’s population will still be cooking with polluting fuels in 2030. This is bad news for the environment, and threatens the health of those cooking in polluted spaces – a burden that disproportionately impacts women and girls in countries with developing economies.  

Nigerian environmentalist and entrepreneur Tunde Adeyemi wants to relieve those burdens and improve the health and wellbeing of rural communities across the African continent. His solution is customised, portable biogas digesters that turn organic waste into electricity, clean cooking fuel, animal feed, and fertiliser. The Kitchen Box is the home solution, and the Bio-Tank is the agricultural version for smallholder farmers.  

The digesters are not only affordable, costing one-tenth of current biodigester systems – enabled by artificial intelligence (AI) and produce biogas that is safe and emissions-free. Adeyemi’s company, D-Olivette, produces all parts of a biogas production system, from tanks and bags for transporting the gas to a biogas-powered stove. The digesters take 10 minutes to set up and come with a five-year guarantee.  

The Kitchen Box is relatively small at 500 litres, making it suitable for use in diminutive kitchens and cooking spaces. Organic waste is emptied into the container where it ferments into biogas. Once the gas is combusted, it can power super-hot, clean cooking. The byproducts of the process are available for use as organic fertiliser. 

The Bio-Tank works the same way and is available in a variety of capacities from 500 to 50,000 litres, and can be designed and sized to bespoke requirements. The tanks are suitable for fermenting farm and human waste, as well as byproducts from food industry businesses. D-Olivette also offers bags for storage and transport of the biogas, making it easy to share and sell the clean fuel. 

The accompanying app uses AI to maximise use of the system for each owner and help communities earn carbon credits for emissions mitigation. To make the system easy to implement, D-Olivette offers training on the set-up and use of its biodigesters with every purchase.  

D-Olivette recently won the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation by the Royal Academy of Engineering and has sold more than 4,000 units of the Kitchen Box. The digesters are currently available across Nigeria and Benin Republic, and Adeyemi plans to continue expanding availability of the systems to reach as many rural communities as possible.  

Other biogas innovations featured in Springwise’s library include municipal and farming systems for transforming organic waste into fuel.

Written By: Keely Khoury

Reference

Plucking power from poultry with feather fuel cells
CategoriesSustainable News

Plucking power from poultry with feather fuel cells

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Fuel cells come in many different forms, but at the heart of all of them is a semi-permeable membrane. These are made out of “forever chemicals”, which are both environmentally hazardous and toxic to humans. Now, researchers from NTU Singapore and ETH Zürich believe they have found a way to replace these harmful chemicals in fuel cells with chicken feathers. 

The waste feathers, which would have been discarded anyway, are made out of a protein called keratin. Once extracted, this keratin can be heated to create ultra-fine fibres called amyloid fibrils. The researchers found that these fibrils, in turn, could be used to create a membrane that was capable of conducting protons – a crucial aspect of fuel cell membranes.  

Fuel cells can be great providers of clean energy, with hydrogen fuel cells producing only water and electricity when used, rather than generating greenhouse gases like conventional fuels. As well as eliminating the need for harmful substances in the fuel cell, the technology also makes use of a significant waste source and prevents the feathers from being burnt, which produces further CO2. As one of lead researchers, Professor Raffaele Mezzenga, said: “Our latest development closes a cycle: we are taking a substance that releases carbon dioxide and toxic gases when burned and using it in a different setting“.  

In testing, a fuel cell setup using the membrane was capable of powering an LED lamp and spinning a small fan. The team’s next step will be to test the durability of the membrane and make necessary improvements. The researchers have already filed for the associated patent and are looking to partner with investors, with the goal of eventually making the technology commercially available. 

Springwise has spotted other ways innovators are unleashing the potential of clean hydrogen fuel, including in a plane powered by liquid hydrogen as well as a new compact hydrogen fuel cell. 

Written By: Archie Cox

Reference

High-performance and compact hydrogen fuel cells
CategoriesSustainable News

High-performance and compact hydrogen fuel cells

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Our reliance on unclean energy sources has catapulted our planet out of stability and into an era of change. Across the globe, fossil fuel usage accounts for 65 per cent of the carbon emissions. But, as the French startup INOCEL aims to prove with its new high-performance hydrogen fuel cell, we can transition our fossil-fuel dependence onto cleaner energy sources.

INOCEL’s very high-power PEMFC, or proton-exchange membrane fuel cell, betters the competition in a few ways. First and foremost, it is three times more powerful than others its size on the market. On top of that, the company claims the product has an energy efficiency level of 60 per cent and a durability performance that makes operating costs more attractive. Finally, its battery size and volume are smaller than other PEMFC fuel cells.

By focusing its applications on fuelling marine, ground transportation, high-performance cars, and stationary applications, INOCEL’s technology will hopefully enable the startup to have a visible impact on a scalable level.

The company will make its unrivalled hydrogen fuel cell available in a 300-kW format in 2024.

Springwise has previously spotted other innovations aimed at making hydrogen power a more accessible energy source, including a startup that’s developed a way to increase the storage capacity of hydrogen, and a system that produces hydrogen on-site to avoid transportation and storage challenges.

Written By: Georgia King

Reference

Heat-emitting ‘wallpaper’ keeps fuel costs down and cuts emissions
CategoriesSustainable News

Heat-emitting ‘wallpaper’ keeps fuel costs down and cuts emissions

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Rather than huddle around a single point of heat waiting for the entire room to warm up, people can now bask in full room heating supplied by ceiling, wall, and floor panels. Made by startup NexGen, a thin film of graphene uses far infrared rays and convection to project heat. The process distributes warmth evenly throughout a space, thereby using less energy to reach the desired temperature in less time.

The rising costs of living are affecting everyone, with particularly dire effects on those with fixed incomes. The Welsh Government is trialling the graphene heat system in a number of social housing buildings to help reduce the high cost of fuel. Capable of being installed under materials such as plaster, carpet, and vinyl, the graphene films help residents better manage their heat use. For some, heating their entire living space all day is unnecessary, so a room-by-room set-up helps to more efficiently manage expenses by using only what is needed.

Installation requires a few days of work, and the system plugs into traditional electrical sockets. Solar panels and a smart battery further increase the sustainability and affordability of the system. And far infrared rays have also proven beneficial to general health.

Springwise is spotting a number of innovations seeking to make more efficient use of available heat sources, with geothermal panels in underground car parks heating the building above and disused coal mines being used to create regional heat networks.  

Written by: Keely Khoury

17th August 2022

Email: info@nexgenheating.com

Website: nexgenheating.com

Reference

Zero-emission, high-performance ammonia fuel powers heavy machinery
CategoriesSustainable News

Zero-emission, high-performance ammonia fuel powers heavy machinery

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: With just a handful of countries dominating agricultural machinery sales use, replacing polluting diesel engines with a zero emissions alternative could be done relatively quickly. The result would make a significant dent in global greenhouse gases. New York-based Amogy has created a fuel and power system to do just that by using the world’s second most-produced chemical – ammonia. Use of the clean, high-power fuel system is part of Amogy’s plans to reduce around five gigatonnes of air pollution from transport by 2040.

Focused on the heavy machinery industries of shipping, truck transport, and agriculture, Amogy’s clean fuel provides the power and longevity needed by heavy-duty vehicles. And now, a retrofitted John Deere tractor has successfully showcased the new fuel.

Made by combining hydrogen with atmospheric nitrogen, ammonia is usually used as the basis of nitrogen fertilisers. Readily available as a material and easy to produce, it is a fuel source that can be integrated into current heavy industry structures such as storage, pipelines, and terminals. And with its high energy density, new vehicles using the fuel can be built smaller and lighter, and retrofitted machines won’t become restrictively heavy.

Ammonia has been more frequently spotted by Springwise as something to be removed. For example, Springwise has spotted a probiotic soap that removes ammonia from river water, as well as a portable industrial air quality monitor that detects pollutants, including ammonia. Amogy is instead seeing it as a more sustainable alternative to fossil fuels in transport. 

Written by: Keely Khoury

14th June 2022

Website: amogy.co

Contact: amogy.co/contact

Reference

Turning wind, water, and air into green fuel
CategoriesSustainable News

Turning wind, water, and air into green fuel

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: At the very bottom of Chile, not far from Antarctica, is the wild and rugged region of Magallanes. Known for the constancy and strength of its wind, the area has traditionally supported a variety of farms along with a sizeable tourism industry. But now, Chile’s largest and southernmost region has been chosen as the setting for an innovative, $55 million (€50.6 million) facility that is exploring the commercialisation of synthetic fuel.

The project—called ‘Haru Oni’—is an initiative of startup Highly Innovative Fuels (HIF). The first-of-its-kind facility is designed to convert three ingredients, wind, water, and air, into a green fuel that could play an important role in the energy revolution.

The project combines the products of two separate processes: electrolysis and carbon capture. In the first, an on-site wind turbine produces an electric current that separates hydrogen from water. In the second, carbon dioxide is captured from atmospheric air and industrial sources. The CO2 and hydrogen are then combined to create a fuel that can be used in a range of everyday applications.

The process is billed by the company as ‘carbon neutral’, and two features in particular earn it this label. First, the hydrogen produced at the site is ‘green hydrogen’, as the electricity used to power the process comes from renewable wind energy that does not emit any carbon. Second, because the CO2 used to create the fuel is ‘recycled’ from the atmosphere, when the fuel is ultimately burned the CO2 released is not ‘new’. Instead, burning the fuel merely returns CO2 captured at the start of the process back into the atmosphere. This contrasts with the burning of fossil fuels which releases carbon that had previously been stored in the earth for millions of years.

The facility remains under construction and is due to begin production later in the year. Once up and running, the company says the site is capable of manufacturing 130,000 litres of fuel per year. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) will monitor the volumes of carbon captured and produced in order to verify the project’s carbon neutrality. 

Synthetic fuels are an important area of innovation, and Springwise has spotted several similar processes, such as an integrated process that turns hydrogen and CO2 into aviation fuel, a Canadian facility that creates fuel from thin air, and an eKerosene plant in Germany that will produce up to eight barrels per day in 2022.

Written By: Keely Khoury

22nd April 2022

Email: contacto@hif.cl

Website: hif.cl/en

Reference

Airbus A380 completes flight powered entirely by sustainable aviation fuel
CategoriesSustainable News

Airbus A380 completes flight powered entirely by sustainable aviation fuel

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Aviation accounts for around 2.5 per cent of global carbon dioxide, but its actual contribution to climate change is much higher. This is because air travel not only emits CO2, but also a number of other pollutants—such as nitrogen oxides and particulates—along with water vapour, which triggers cloud formation. These emissions are also released higher up in the atmosphere than with other forms of transportation, resulting in a greater warming effect. For this reason, replacing aviation fuel with more sustainable options has become something of a holy grail in the sustainability sector.

Now, Airbus has made new progress, with an A380 flight powered entirely with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The flight used an A380 test aircraft MSN 1 and lasted around three hours – taking off from Blagnac Airport in Toulouse. The 27 tonnes of SAF fuel used in the flight was provided by TotalEnergies, and was produced locally, in Normandy.

Like other brands of SAF, the TotalEnergies fuel is made from hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA). These are free of aromatics and sulphur, and were made primarily using used cooking oil and other waste fats, such as animal waste fat as feedstock. These fats are then refined to produce a fuel that has a very similar chemistry to traditional jet fuel. However, in addition to being produced from waste, rather than fossil fuels, SAF also contains fewer impurities (such as sulphur), which means fewer emissions.

According to Airbus, this is the third Airbus aircraft type to fly on 100 per cent SAF in the past year. Earlier flights included an Airbus A350 in March 2021, and an A319neo single-aisle aircraft in October 2021. However, the A380 is the largest of the three to fly entirely on SAF. The company claims that, “Increasing the use of SAF remains a key pathway to achieving the industry’s ambition of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.”

At the moment, each passenger on a round-trip flight between New York and London requires more emissions than used by an average person in Paraguay during an entire year. So it’s no wonder that SAF is increasingly in the spotlight. Springwise has seen this with innovations such as an SAF made using captured CO2. And in 2021, United Airlines completed the world’s first commercial flight powered entirely by SAF. 

Written By: Lisa Magloff

11th April 2022

Website: airbus.com

Contact: airbus.com/en/airbus-contact-us

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