A platform verifies nature-based solutions for carbon offsetting
CategoriesSustainable News

A platform verifies nature-based solutions for carbon offsetting

Spotted: The number of organisations committing to climate targets and offsetting has been growing rapidly. However, this growth also represents a major challenge, because the voluntary carbon market is still in its infancy, meaning there is a lack of credible emission reduction programmes and questionable investments in carbon projects with no actual reductions.

Climate-tech startup Goodcarbon is working to change this by focusing on nature-based solutions (NbS), such as the conservation and restoration of forests or oceans. Through their platform, Goodcarbon connects NbS projects to capital, giving projects a stream of income and allowing organisations to offset their emissions with verified high-quality NbS projects. Project developers can also use the platform to sell Forward Credit contracts and auction ownership shares in their projects.

All projects listed on Goodcarbon are subject to a stringent verification process. The platform works together with existing verification and standardisation bodies such as Verra and Gold Standard, and also applies its own impact assessment scheme to ensure the platform only hosts the highest quality projects. The advantage for businesses is that not only can they invest, secure in the knowledge they are not greenwashing, but they can also use the platform to turn carbon offsetting into an investment opportunity.

According to many, the voluntary carbon market is largely non-transparent and is swamped with low-quality NbS projects that do not actually work. As Jerome Cochet, Co-Founder And Managing Director Of Goodcarbon, points out, “We have a major supply problem as project developers face significant challenges. They have high upfront costs, but a lack of funding, little appreciation of co-benefits such as biodiversity protection, and a high dependence on brokers. We are here to solve these challenges by converting natural capital into financial products.”

As of September 2022, thousands of organisations, representing $38 trillion, have committed to emission reduction targets approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). So it is no wonder that we are seeing a number of innovations aimed at offsetting. These include a platform that makes it easier for farmers to sell carbon credits, and a blockchain infrastructure for trading in forward carbon credits.

Written By: Lisa Magloff

Reference

A nature-based solution for water recycling 
CategoriesSustainable News

A nature-based solution for water recycling 

Spotted: Wastewater, such as that containing sewage and agricultural runoff, generally contains an overabundance of phosphorus. This can lead to increased growth of algae and large aquatic plants, which can produce toxins and result in decreased levels of dissolved oxygen in the water, a process called eutrophication. Traditional methods for reducing phosphorus in wastewater generally involve chemicals, which are energy inefficient and can themselves cause problems. Now, a nature-based process for removing phosphorus, developed by start-up I-Phyc (‘Industrial Phycology’) is gaining traction. 

I-Phyc’s solution is a circular process that uses algae to remove phosphorus, ammonia, and other harmful contaminants, including steroids, and insecticides. At the same time, the growing algae locks away carbon and produces biomass from which sustainable products can be created. Algae thrive in water containing an excess of nutrients. I-Phyc’s process deliberately applies algae to wastewater treatment in a controlled way, allowing the algae to do its work before the final, cleaned effluent is discharged to the watercourse.

The company claims that it is able to consistently remove between 50 and 99 per cent of pollutants without the use of chemicals. In addition, the biomass produced by the algae contains a number of compounds that can be used commercially. I-Phyc helps wastewater treatment operators to harvest the algae and transform it into useful products, including fertiliser, poultry feed, sustainable feed stock, biogas and specialist oils and lubricants. The entire process is carbon negative.

I-Phyc has recently raised £2.3 million (around €2.6 million) in an investment round led by Mercia water and Mellby Gård AB. In a press release, Kiran Mehta, Investment Manager at Mercia, said, “Our previous investments helped I-Phyc to develop and roll out its technology and it is now attracting huge interest within the industry. With water companies trying to meet ever increasing water quality standards and challenging carbon emission goals, new technologies will have a key role to play. This new funding will help position I-Phyc as a leader in sustainable water treatment solutions.”

Wastewater treatment can be an energy-intensive process, so it is no surprise that we here at Springwise have seen a number of innovations aimed at developing more sustainable treatment methods. Some recent projects includes an easy-to-use device that disinfects water using sunshine and a solar catalyst that can treat wastewater in a manner similar to photosynthesis. 

Written By: Lisa Magloff

Reference