Reflecting our global Springwise readership, we explore the innovation landscape and freshest thinking from a new country each week. Ahead of independence day, we are celebrating three exciting innovations from India…
Climate targets: A 45 per cent reduction in emissions intensity from the 2005 level by 2030, net zero by 2070
Sustainability issues:
Coal use – Only the US and China have higher greenhouse gas emissions than India, and the country is the world’s second-largest producer, consumer, and importer of coal. India is particularly reliant on coal for power generation, with the fossil fuel accounting for 75 per cent of annual electricity generation.
Cooking fuels – Despite government initiatives to promote the use of liquified petroleum gas, many rural Indian’s lack access to modern, clean cooking fuels, relying instead on solid fuels. The smoke created by burning solid fuels for cooking and other household activities is the largest source of ambient air pollution in India, contributing to ill-health and early death.
Water pollution– As India’s population grows and the country becomes increasingly urban, waterways are being put under unprecedented strain. And the situation is becoming critical with estimates suggesting that 70 per cent of the country’s surface water is not fit for human consumption.
Each year, millions of tonnes of flowers are left as offerings at Indian temples. For religious reasons, these offerings can’t be thrown into landfills, so they end up in rivers. The flowers are often covered in pesticides, toxic metals, and insecticides, and once they reach the water, the chemicals wash off, creating toxic compounds that suppress oxygen levels and threaten marine life. Startup Phool is addressing this problem by turning the discarded temple flowers into incense and other products, providing hundreds of jobs for local women. Read more
Most of the acoustic materials that can cancel out sound are made from plastic foams that aren’t easily recycled. Moreover, current alternative options are made from plant fibres that don’t effectively dampen noise in the most useful range of sound frequencies, or are too thick or unwieldy to fabricate. Now, researchers have created a biodegradable seaweed-derived film that effectively absorbs sounds. Read more
Unlit, unused, dirty, and often unsafe locations are almost always easy to find in a city. Imagine, instead, how much beauty could be brought into the world if those underutilised spaces were multi-use community hubs. Mumbai architects StudioPOD, along with Dutch designers MVRDV, turned that idea into reality with the One Green Mile development directly below the Senapati Bapat Marg flyover in Mumbai. Read more
Words: Matthew Hempstead
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Energy is the bedrock of civilisation, so much so that the scale scientists will use to determine the sophistication of any alien civilisations we may one day encounter is based on their energy use. For most of human history, communities have relied on the energy of human and animal muscle. But since the industrial revolution, the world has tapped a different energy source – the power of the sun stored in the remains of organisms that died millions of years ago.
Fossil fuels changed everything. They have created unprecedented prosperity, brought the four corners of the globe within a 24-hour flight of each other, and transformed the way we produce food and a whole host of other products beyond the wildest dreams of our ancestors.
And energy from fossil fuels has allowed us to generate electricity, bringing the quiet revolution of light and refrigeration to our homes – not to mention smartphones, televisions, and a whole host of other gadgets. Or at least it has to most of the world. The number of people without access to electricity has fallen steadily – by an average of nine per cent per year between 2015 and 2019. Yet today, 770 million people still lack electricity, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. The work of extending the life-changing benefits of electricity to everyone is therefore unfinished.
The issue of access to electricity and energy must be tackled alongside another existential challenge – the global energy transition. The burning of fossil fuels is heating up the planet’s climate—by at least 1.1 degrees Celsius already since pre-industrial times—causing a whole host of devastating impacts that are all too obvious to anyone following the news. The world as a whole must therefore transition away from fossil fuels towards affordable and clean energy – and fast. The role of innovation in what is arguably humanity’s greatest ever technical challenge is obvious. Yet the solutions innovators are finding are creative, and sometimes surprising.
New renewable energy sources
Today, the largest renewable energy sources are hydropower, wind, and solar. Wind and solar energy, in particular, are forecast to ramp up during the energy transition, and innovators are working to optimise these established sources incrementally. Wind turbines are becoming hardier, quieter, and more efficient, while solar panels are increasingly being integrated into the built environment in innovative ways – through walls, the facades of skyscrapers, and even blackout blinds.
But in addition to optimising solar and wind, innovators are also thinking outside the box about whole new energy sources. One company is using small turbines to turn almost any waterway into a power source, while another is seeking to harness the power of deep-sea currents. Even nuclear power, in use since the 1950s, is getting a makeover with seaborne nuclear plants that could act as mobile energy sources.
Energy storage
One of the key challenges we face as we move away from fossil fuels is how to store energy from variable sources. What do we do when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow? Much of the focus has been on batteries, but these come with their own challenges – not least the demand they create for scarce materials that are extracted in environmentally damaging processes. Undeterred, innovators are working to create safer, greener, more efficient, and more affordable batteries, such as one developed in Germany that is made using globally abundant resources.
Batteries are far from the only game in town when it comes to energy storage, however. For example, a prototype system that stores energy in the form of heat and compressed air is 30-40 per cent cheaper than lithium-ion batteries. And another system stores energy on the ocean floor using a mechanism similar to a hydroelectric dam. Hydrogen, in particular, is considered a good candidate for energy storage, and two companies are exploring how hydrogen could be stored in underground shafts.
Energy efficiency
Target 7.3 within SDG 7 sets the goal of doubling the rate of improvement in energy efficiency, a reminder that we must look at energy demand as well as supply. There are many inefficiencies in homes around the world that lead to wasteful energy consumption. For example, in South Africa, a country that faces particular challenges with the security of the power supply, many homes use inefficient electric water heaters, known locally as ‘geysers’. One startup has developed an innovative device that reduces the impact of these systems by tailoring heating to user habits.
Another way in which energy efficiency can be improved is through new building materials that reduce the demand for energy-intensive heating and cooling systems. For example, engineers from China and Germany have developed a wood-based cooling foam that could reduce the cooling energy needs of a building by more than a third. Roofs and windows are another source of energy inefficiency. Researchers in Singapore have developed a window coating that blocks infrared but not visible light, while a smart roof coating developed in the US could also lead to energy savings.
Off-grid energy systems
Extending affordable energy to the remaining proportion of the population who lack it is particularly challenging. Many of these communities are remote, situated a long way from traditional energy infrastructure. Innovators have been responding with modular, portable energy systems.
For example, a Swiss company has developed fully autonomous solar-powered micro-grids that can be used and scaled up by almost anyone. The system is designed to be fully autonomous, and plug-and-play – allowing users to simply plug the system together with no configuration, specific know-how, or maintenance required. Another system developed by a company founded in Tanzania has developed a standalone ‘mini grid’ that draws on multiple energy inputs and a smart storage system to provide continuous power to off-grid communities across Africa.
Back-up generation
Energy systems need to be resilient as well as green and affordable. When natural disasters knock out the main energy grid, hospitals, data centres, and other essential services need to have access to backup supplies. Today, many backup generators still run on polluting diesel. To tackle this problem, one company has developed a generator that can run on a range of fuels, including ammonia and hydrogen.
And it’s not just hospitals that need backup power, so too do households, especially if they are situated in regions prone to supply disruptions. Grassroots NGO Deciwatt has developed a muscle-powered emergency generator for such vulnerable communities.
Words: Matthew Hempstead
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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…
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.
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.
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.
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
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Reflecting our global Springwise readership, we explore the innovation landscape and freshest thinking from a new country each week. To celebrate Canada day last week, we are celebrating three exciting Canadian innovations…
Climate targets: cut emissions by at least 40-45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, net zero by 2050
Sustainability issues
Oil sands extraction– The Alberta oil sands are the world’s third largest proven oil reserve, and Canada is the largest exporter of oil to the US. Oil sand extraction causes heavy metal pollution and emissions of nitrogen and sulphur oxides, and is a particularly energy and water intensive method of producing oil.
Road salt pollution – Canada uses around 5 million tonnes of road salt each year to tackle the country’s treacherously icy driving conditions. This heavy-use of salt has a negative environmental impact, most obviously on vegetaion lining the sides of major roads, but also on aquatic life.
Air pollution – As in many other countries, air pollution is one of the biggest environmental factors impacting human health in Canada. Poor air quality is linked to 15,300 premature deaths per year in the country, as well as environmental impacts including acid rain and reduced plant growth.
COMFORTABLE OFFICE CLOTHING MADE FROM USED FISHING NETS
One effect of the COVID-19 pandemic is that many of those working from home got used to spending the working day clothed in loungewear – or even pyjamas. Many of those returning to the office have found themselves thinking wistfully back to a time of wearing comfortable clothes. This is the thinking behind Lezé the Label, an entire brand created around loungewear that is comfortable enough to be worn at home and chic enough for the office or an outing. And the twist? The clothing is made using sustainable materials such as recycled fishing nets, sustainably sourced beech trees, and coffee waste. Read more.
INDIGENOUS-OWNED BEAUTY BRAND MAKES TOXIC LIP GLOSS TO HIGHLIGHT CLEAN WATER CRISIS
For June’s Indigenous History Month, Cheekbone Beauty launched a social-driven ‘#GlossedOver’ campaign with the help of agency Sid Lee. As part of the campaign, Cheekbone Beauty is releasing a line of lip gloss made using water from Indigenous communities in Canada. The twist? The lipgloss cannot actually be sold because the water is so contaminated. Read more.
MITIGATING THE IMPACT OF LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES IN THE ENERGY TRANSITION
Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) look set to play a crucial role in the future of energy as the world transitions away from fossil fuels. Found in everything from electric vehicles to smartphones and computers, these batteries have several downsides when it comes to environmental impact. One of the biggest things we can do to mitigate their impact is to invest in effective recycling technologies. Canadian company Li-Cycle has developed a two-step battery recycling process that recovers 95 per cent of critical materials, such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel. Read more.
Words: Matthew Hempstead
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Infrastructure encompasses all the connections that hold the global economy together. Traditionally, these connections have come in the form of buildings, roads, and power supplies. But with the advent of the internet age, cables, wires, data centres, and satellites are increasingly integral to the economy’s nervous system. While many in the developed world take this infrastructure for granted, people in developing countries often lack both physical and digital connections.
Industry sits together with infrastructure as the bedrock of the economy. Today, 23 per cent of the world’s workforce is employed in industry according to the latest figures from the International Labour Organization. And industry has been key to the historic success of the developed world. Sustainable industrialisation is therefore an important priority for those in developing countries.
Global manufaturing took a hit as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the subsequent recovery has been uneven, with less developed countries showing signs of stagnation. At the same time, as the climate crisis becomes ever more urgent, it is important that the economic benefits of industry and infrastructure do not come at an environmental cost that is too high for the world to bear.
Investment in innovation is essential for industrialisation to be sustainable and broad-based in the future – especially in areas of industry that are currently difficult to decarbonise.
Electrification
Target 9.4 within SDG 9 calls for industrial processes and infrastructure to be upgraded or retrofitted for improved environmental sustainability. One of the challenges when it comes to de-carbonising industry is the need for extremely high temperatures for key processes. At present these temperatures can only be attained economically by burning fossil fuels. Electrification of industrial heating processes is an important goal – especially as most net-zero scenarios envisage electricity generation transitioning almost entirely to renewables.
Finnish engineering company Colbrook has developed ‘Roto Dynamic Heater’ (RDH) technology that uses electricity generated from renewable sources to reach process temperatures of 1700 degrees Celsius – hot enough to replace fossil fuels in a number of processes previously considered unsuitable for electrification. Elsewhere, Saudi Arabian mining company Ma’aden is planning to replace fossil fuels with solar ‘greenhouses’ to generate the steam needed for aluminium production.
Hi-tech manufacturing
In addition to electrification, hi-tech innovations can also lead to improved efficiency and sustainability. Approximately 45 per cent of electricity generated on earth is consumed by industrial electric motors. Current designs are energy-intensive with metal-to-metal contact between rotating and stationary parts acting as a major source of inefficiency. Finnish startup SpinDrive combats this inefficiency with active magnetic bearings (AMB) technology that levitates the rotating parts of a motor using electromagnetic forces.
Elsewhere, a new manufacturing process that combines elements of traditional casting with 3D printing produces complex metal parts that are lighter and up to 80 per cent cheaper than the current industry standard. Affordable, lighter components could lead to improved fuel efficiency in the automotive and aerospace sectors.
Transport infrastructure
Roads, railways, ports, and airports are crucial for both the movement of goods and ideas. But millions of people around the world live more than 2 kilometres from the nearest all-season road. Extending transport links in a sustainable way is therefore essential for economic development. German startup Ecopals has developed an asphalt additive made from non-recylable plastic. The enhanced asphalt improves road longevity and reduces the need for virgin materials and petroleum-based products such as bitumen.
Clean, accessible public transport is particularly important in less developed countries where many do not have the means to own a private vehicle. In Kenya, the Nairobi Metropolitan Area Transport Authority has recently announced that its new Bus Rapid Transit network will be exclusively operated by green vehicles.
Communications and connectivity
In today’s world, internet connectivity is as important as more traditional forms of infrastructure. Yet, to this day, over a third of the world’s population has never been online. Innovators are working to bring connectivity to even the most remote regions.
Satellite technology is coming on leaps and bounds with companies taking different approaches. Mangata is using a combination of ground-based hubs and high orbiting satellites to make the cloud accessible anywhere. Another company, Astranis, is using small satellites placed in geosynchronous orbit to provide faster broadband speeds. The company’s satellites are much smaller than other geosynchronous satellites on the market and are consequently much cheaper and faster to manufacture.
Even where the internet isn’t available at all, innovators are looking to provide connectivity. Bridgefy has developed technology that enables messaging and app access without data or Wi-Fi.
Re-purposing old infrastructure
As the world transitions to a new energy system, much of the infrastructure that powers today’s world will no longer be used. However, innovators are considering a number of ways in which existing fossil fuel infrastructure can be re-purposed to support a cleaner, more sustainable world in the future.
For example, the UK is exploring how coal mines could be used to provide geothermal energy. And sustainable aviation fuel has been successfully piped to New York’s LaGuardia airport using existing petroleum pipelines.
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Reflecting our global Springwise readership, we explore the innovation landscape and freshest thinking from a new country each week. To celebrate the Fourth of July, we are heading to the States to celebrate the exciting innovations coming out of the world’s largest economy…
Climate targets: 50-52 per cent reduction in economy-wide net greenhouse gas pollution by 2030 (compared to 2005), net-zero emissions by no later than 2050
Sustainability issues
Greenhouse gas emissions – The US has the second-highest total CO2 emissions in the world behind only China. Moreover, the country also has very high CO2 emissions per capita, as well as the fourth highest methane emissions. The good news is that annual US CO2 emissions have fallen steadily over the past decade.
Soil contamination – A recent report found that around 20 million acres of farmland have been contaminated with PFAS. PFAS is a shorthand term for a group of chemicals that make products resistant to heat, water, and strain. Known as ‘forever chemicals’ these substances have been linked to cancer, thyroid disruption, liver problems, birth defects, and immunosuppression.
Air pollution – According to the latest ‘State of the Air’ report by the American Lung Association, despite decades of progress on cleaning up sources of air pollution, more than 40 per cent of Americans live in areas with unhealthy levels of ozone or particulate matter. The 2022 edition of the report found 2.1 million more people breathing unhealthy air compared to 2021.
ALGAE-GROWN LIMESTONE COULD BE THE KEY TO ‘CARBON NEGATIVE’ CEMENT PRODUCTION
The current process for creating portland cement—one of the world’s most common building materials—consists of heating limestone to high temperatures. Today, limestone for cement production is quarried. As a result, the heating process releases carbon that would otherwise be locked away in the earth into the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide. This has a significant effect on global warming. But what if there was another way to produce limestone? Read more.
A PLATFORM CONNECTS UKRAINIAN REFUGEES WITH US SPONSORS
Since the start of the current Russian invasion of Ukraine, people around the world have been welcoming refugees fleeing the conflict. In the US, the ‘Uniting for Ukraine’ programme offers Ukrainians a pathway to permanent residency if they are sponsored by a US citizen. Launched on World Refugee Day, a new platform called Welcome Connect makes it easy for US citizens to connect with Ukrainian refugees who lack an existing connection to a sponsor. Read more.
OFF-GRID HYDROGEN GENERATION TECHNOLOGY FOR ON-DEMAND POWER
Although relatively expensive to produce at present, and with storage often cited as a concern, green hydrogen fuel production is increasing. A naturally occurring and superabundant element, hydrogen is popular for several reasons, including the ability to produce it using renewable energy sources. And now, Element 1’s modular, grid-independent hydrogen generation technology is making the fuel even more accessible. Read more.
Words: Matthew Hempstead
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There is no shortage of research demonstrating how vital education is for a wide variety of social and economic outcomes. For example, one additional school year can increase a woman’s earnings by 10 to 20 per cent, and each year of education reduces the risk of conflict by 20 per cent.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the percentage of young people completing upper secondary school increased from 54 per cent in 2015 to 58 per cent in 2020. While these figures demonstrate progress, this rate of improvement actually represents a slowdown from the preceding five-year period. And even before the pandemic, projections showed that only 60 per cent of young people would be completing upper secondary education in 2030, indicating a pronounced deceleration in educational progress.
If progress was slowing even before COVID-19 swept the globe, early indications suggest that the pandemic has had a significant detrimental effect on educational outcomes. Figures from UNICEF show that school closures have resulted in 2 trillion hours of lost in-person learning globally. And the impact is likely to be felt the most in low-income countries, with the United Nations expecting a spike in school drop-outs in the coming years.
Against this backdrop, efforts to improve access to education for all age groups are more important than ever, and innovation can play an important role.
Access to schooling
Access to schooling is an obvious place to start a discussion of innovation and education. But the years before a child reaches school age are particularly important for their development. Despite this, only one in five children are enrolled in pre-primary education in low-income countries. In Uzbekistan, educational authorities are using converted buses to bring pre-school classes to the most remote communities.
Participation rates improve once a child reaches primary school age, even in low-income countries. Nonetheless, access to schools can be challenging in many regions, with children required to walk for hours to attend lessons. A non-profit in Madagascar is addressing this issue with 3D-printed schools that can be located closer to homes.
University-level education is the most exclusive of all, with affordability acting as a key barrier to access. For example, in some Southeast Asian countries, the average cost of a university education is nearly double GDP per capita. A Singapore-based startup aims to provide students with affordable financing options by partnering directly with universities to offer subsidised installment plans.
Diversity and inclusion
Education is not only about ensuring children attend class, it’s also about creating an environment where students from all backgrounds can thrive. School can be particularly challenging for migrant children who face cultural as well as language barriers. For example, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are over three years behind non-migrant pupils on average. One Danish startup has developed a language-learning app that helps migrant children navigate differences between their own culture and the culture of their new home.
Learning differences
Inclusion is also of critical importance for students with learning differences. According to UNICEF, only 36 per cent of adolescents with disabilities complete lower secondary education. In response, innovators are developing tools that are tailored to the needs of non-traditional learners. One personalised learning platform offers tailored programmes, and connects students with educators who can provide individualised support. Meanwhile, another startup has developed a voice-based learning app that is specifically designed for those with reading and writing difficulties.
Adult learning
Education isn’t only about children. Target 4.4 within SDG 4, focuses on the importance of technical and vocational skills for youth and adults. On-the-job training is one focus for innovators. For example, a Paris-based startup has leveraged artificial intelligence to develop a human-first employee learning platform.
Adult learning is particularly important for those who find themselves displaced as a result of wars and natural disasters. One language-learning platform is connecting refugees and those from other marginalised groups with employers in the digital economy. The goal is to help disadvantaged candidates break into a sector they might have previously considered out of reach.
Words: Matthew Hempstead
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Reflecting our global Springwise readership, we explore the innovation landscape and freshest thinking from a new country each week. This week, we’ve headed to Central America…
Climate targets: by 2030, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 22 percent and black carbon emissions by 51 percent over a business-as-usual scenario.
Sustainability challenges:
Air pollution – Air pollution kills almost 33,000 people per year in Mexico according to the World Bank. And poor air quality is exacerbated by the country’s high rate of urbanisation. Seventy-eight per cent of Mexico’s population live in the country’s highly motorised cities. Forecasts suggest there could be 6.5 million vehicles in Mexico City alone by 2030.
Water scarcity – Parts of Mexico are highly susceptible to water shortages and climate change is believed to be worsening the threat of drought. In 2021 a fifth of the country experienced extreme drought conditions compared to an average of just 5 per cent for each year between 2012 and 2020.
Avocado production – The world has seen a boom in demand for avocados in recent years. And five out of ten avocados produced globally come from Mexico’s Michoacán region. Avocado cultivation is extremely water-intensive and is responsible for 30-40 per cent of recent deforestation in Michoacán.
The internet has become so ingrained in our daily lives that most of us can’t envision life without it. However, there are still many parts of the world where internet access is unavailable or unreliable. Mexican startup Bridgefy is on a mission to connect users even without internet access. It does this by leveraging other nearby smartphones’ Bluetooth and Wi-Fi antennas to create a mesh network that connects devices within a 330-foot range.Read more.
According to the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization, agriculture is the biggest source of water pollution. This is largely due to the excess nutrients from fertilisers that run off from fields into rivers, lakes, oceans, and groundwater sources. One solution is to use less fertiliser or to grow food that does not require fertiliser. The latter is the direction being taken by microTERRA, a startup that grows the aquatic plant lemna, or duckweed, for use as an ingredient in plant-based foods. Read more.
The development of vegan leather that looks and feels like the most luxurious animal leather, is a major goal for designers. Startup Polybion specialises in organic, vegan leather made in a closed-loop production process. The company uses local sources of industrial fruit waste as the basis for its material and has already identified additional waste streams should demand grow. Read more.
Words: Matthew Hempstead
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The ocean matters to humanity in more than one way. Not only does it support the livelihoods of billions of people – it also has an enormous influence on the climate. An estimated 83 per cent of the global carbon cycle is circulated through marine waters, and oceans have absorbed around a third of all the CO2 ever produced by humans. Moreover, marine waters contain resources that are extremely useful in the fight against climate change. Seagrass meadows sequester carbon up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests, and seaweed is used in a wide range of sustainable innovations.
Given the importance of oceans to our shared future, many innovators are looking to the ocean for inspiration. Although international co-operation and government action are essential for enacting change, innovation will also play a crucial role in protecting life below water.
Ocean pollution
Around 80 per cent of ocean pollution is caused by our lives on land through sources such as agricultural run-off, pesticides, plastic, and untreated sewage. And much ocean pollution ends up on the seafloor – including 60 per cent of chemical leaks, oil spill-offs, and micro-plastics. Latvia’s PurOceans Technology is tackling seafloor pollution in a unique way. The company pumps bubbles of ambient air to the lowest depths where they stick to chemical pollutants and float back to the surface.
To garner corporate funding and support for pollution clean-up, startup CleanHub has developed a tech platform that connects brands whose plastic products may end up in the ocean with local plastic collection schemes.
Marine and coastal ecosystems
Marine ecosystems are not only crucial for the vast array of species that live in them – they are also integral to the global economy. For example, hundreds of millions of people around the world rely on coral ecosystems for food and economic security. Yet, according to the UN Environment Programme, around 14 per cent of the world’s coral has been lost since 2009. In response, Blue Oasis Technologies has developed engineered underwater ‘cities’ that are designed to save coral. The structures are made up of 55-tonne modules that are lowered into the ocean with a crane, as well as smaller, stackable modules. Elsewhere, a project by Danish energy company Ørsted aims to provide a ‘safe haven’ for corals by growing them at the base of wind turbines.
While coral reefs receive a lot of well-deserved attention, they are not the only form of marine ecosystem. Seagrass meadows are home to myriad animals and plants, and act as extremely effective carbon sinks. Non-profit Beneath the Waves has teamed up with digital data company Hexagon AB to map seagrass meadows using airborne laser technology. The enhanced data will improve the accuracy of monitoring and restoration efforts.
Overfishing
The world produces around 200 million tonnes of fish and seafood every year. Statistics on overfishing are notoriously complex (and controversial). But a 2017 assessment by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations found that over one-third of fish stocks are overfished. And the proportion of fish stocks that are over-exploited has increased over time.
One particular issue connected to fishing is by-catch. Globally, we throw just under 10 per cent of the fish and marine animals we catch back into the ocean. To help reduce the impact of fishing on marine life, France’s National Institute for Ocean Science is working with a number of partners to pilot an AI-powered smart net that can sort fish in the water, preventing by-catch. A simpler approach, tested in a study in Mexico, is to use illuminated fishing nets that reduce both by-catch and fishers’ workload.
SDG 14 also mentions illegal fishing as a particular challenge. In Korea, the government is leveraging drones, artificial intelligence, and the internet of things to manage octopus resources and reduce illegal fishing.
Scientific knowledge
To effectively protect and preserve our oceans, it is important for us to understand them. But more than 80 per cent of the ocean is unmapped, unobserved, and unexplored, and it is estimated that 91 per cent of ocean species are yet to be classified by science.
One way we can bolster our scientific knowledge of the oceans is through autonomous vehicles. The UK’s National Oceanography Centre has developed two new classes of autonomous underwater vehicle that can operate up to 1500 metres underwater. And, in China, a new autonomous vessel that serves as the mothership for a fleet of intelligent, self-driven air, surface, and underwater research drones, is currently undergoing trials.
Words: Matthew Hempstead
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Reflecting our global Springwise readership, we explore the innovation landscape and freshest thinking from a new country each week. This week, to celebrate the Queen’s platinum jubilee, we’ve headed to the United Kingdom…
Climate targets: reduce emissions by 78% by 2035 compared to 1990 levels, net zero by 2050
Sustainability issues
Air Pollution– Nearly every home in the UK is exposed to levels of air pollution that exceed World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. Ninety-seven per cent of homes are exposed to pollution levels that breach the guidelines for at least one of the three main pollutants, with 70 per cent exposed to levels that breach the limit for all three. The UK’s own legal limits are set much higher than the WHO Guidelines, but many urban areas still exceed even these thresholds.
Noise pollution – After air pollution, noise causes the second-highest pollution-related burden of disease in Western Europe. One study has estimated the medical cost of noise-related hypertension and associated conditions in the UK to be £1.09 billion per year. And the number of people in England exposed to road and railway traffic noise exceeding WHO guidelines is 11.5 million and 1.5 million respectively.
Antimicrobial resistance– Antimicrobial drug-resistant infections are becoming more common in the UK as they are elsewhere in the world. And antibiotic-resistant bacteria were estimated to cause 2,228 deaths in the UK in 2020. In the past drug-resistant infections were considered a problem for hospitals, but increasingly patients are acquiring resistant infections from the wider environment.
One fear for many electric vehicle (EV) owners is the thought of running out of juice miles from the nearest plug. Now, startup ZipCharge is poised to eliminate range anxiety with their ZipCharge Go portable charger. The company describes the Go as a ‘flexible and convenient charging solution’ for those without easy access to fixed charging points. ZipCharge plans to offer the Go on a subscription service, starting at £49 a month. It will also offer the device for sale at around the same cost as a fully-installed home charging port. Read more.
The bulk of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions from industry are caused by just three sectors: petrochemicals and chemicals, iron and steel, and cement production. The reason these industries are so emissions-intensive is that they involve processes that require extremely high temperatures. Technology developed by academics at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in the UK, and the University of Ghent in Belgium, uses electricity from renewable sources to achieve process temperatures of up to 1700 degrees Celsius – sufficient to replace fossil fuel burning in processes where electrification was previously impossible. Read more.
By 2035 there are expected to be one trillion Internet of Things (IoT) connected devices. Finding the most effective and sustainable way to power all these devices is a key challenge for innovators and researchers alike. Algae are one potential power source, and researchers from the University of Cambridge recently put it to the test. Algae naturally harvest energy from the sun through photosynthesis, producing a tiny electrical current that can power a microprocessor. Read more.
Words: Matthew Hempstead
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