Spotted: Depending on what source you use, the total estimated output of global wave energy is somewhere between 20 and 90,000 terawatt-hours per year. Although this is a wide range, when you consider that the total global energy consumption is now over 25,000 terawatt-hours per year, even the low end of the range is enough to cover most of humanity’s energy needs. The main issue, however, is finding the best way to take advantage of this wave energy.
Moroccan startup Advanced Third Age Renewable Energies Company (ATAREC) is developing a system to exploit the wave energy close to shore, in the areas around breakwaters and other infrastructure exposed to the sea. The startup’s Wave Beat technology captures energy from the vertical variations in sea level using a free-floating buoy.
ATAREC has constructed a demonstrator in the Port of Tanger-Med, 45 kilometres north of Tangier, to take advantage of the 110 megawatts of wave energy in front of the port’s vertical breakwater. The energy produced by the Wave Beat is used directly at the huge port to help run operations.
The company has received more than €900,000 in funding, including equity, grants, and non-dilutive funding. ATAREC is currently applying for additional funding and plans to launch a fundraising campaign.
Wave energy is starting to take off, with other innovations spotted by Springwise including a design for generating energy from the movement of ships in the water and rolling wave generators to power sensors.
Spotted: The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) brings together more than 400 member organisations to build a circular economy and replace single-use plastics. With time running out for us to make the necessary changes to our damaging reliance on plastics, advocates for change continue to emphasise the multi-faceted approach needed to build a solution. Organisations in every sector must work creatively and quickly to reduce their use of virgin, and any, plastic.
In Australia, fashion brand Aciae works to the Circle to Zero principle that strives to eliminate waste from every step of its production processes and contribute to the overall reduction of global plastic pollution. The company’s name is Latin for thread and refers to its practice of turning single-use plastic waste into the thread that’s used to create its machine-washable, waterproof, recyclable shoes. Gathered plastics are cleaned, shredded, and then melted down for extrusion. The extruded fibres are then spun into thread, completing the transformation of trash into fabric.
Aciae works with a number of organisations to source its plastic-based threads, including Repreve Our Ocean, for a line of designs that uses ocean-bound plastics. Aciae’s shoes come in a range of styles and colours, all of which are machine-washable and fully recyclable at the end of their life. That circularity helps Aciae close its production loop and make strides towards its goal of achieving zero carbon emissions by 2030.
As well as providing the fashion industry with an example of ways of working that reduce waste, Aciae also turns a global scourge into something useful while lessening reliance on virgin materials. The brand highlights design for durability, repair, and disassembly by making recycling at a product’s end-of-life an integral part of the initial creation of each pair of shoes. As part of the Australian Fashion Council, Aciae is helping guide the Council’s Seamless Stewardship programme, which seeks to reduce the country’s volume of clothing waste.
Springwise’s library also showcases other methods of using recycled plastics for new products such as home construction materials and eyewear.
Spotted: When water becomes enriched with minerals and nutrients, a process starts called eutrophication, where algae grow rapidly and accumulate, causing algal bloom, which can smell bad, block sunlight, and even release toxins. However, the plants also offer a sustainable, clean, and biological source of raw materials, ideal for many applications. They can be harvested and processed without affecting the environment, and Origin by Ocean is doing just that.
The startup has found that marine overgrowth can be removed and converted into ecological, healthy, and oil-free ingredients for use in everyday consumer products. The company’s patented biorefinery technology, Nauvu, turns invasive and harmful algae and ecologically farmed seaweed into many products in one industrial process. The technology uses selective chemistry to extract valuable bio-based chemicals, which can be used to replace traditional high-carbon chemical ingredients in industries like food, cosmetics, hygiene, and textiles. To make the process as sustainable as possible, Origin by Ocean also recycles chemicals and water.
In addition, the company’s algae harvesting platform can provide employment opportunities to coastal communities around the world, while clearing oceans of potentially toxic seaweed. Origin by Ocean employs individuals directly, from the algae farmers and harvesters to the feedstock producers.
The startup recently raised €7.5 million in a seed funding round which will be used to grow operations and develop an industrial-scale algae refinement plant.
Algae, while essential, can become a danger to our oceans, which is why Springwise has spotted so many innovations trying to use the plant and clean up our seas. One startup has developed bio-based plastics made from macroalgae as a friendly alternative to conventional plastics, and another is turning seaweed into sustainable packaging.
Spotted: Around 8 million tonnes of plastic is dumped into the oceans every year. And roughly 80 per cent of this plastic waste actually started out in rivers. Complicating cleanup was a finding in which researchers concluded that more than 1,000 rivers are responsible for most of the plastic that ends up in the ocean. The researchers also found that most of that waste is carried by small rivers that flow through densely populated urban areas, not the largest rivers.
To tackle this plastic scourge, Germany-based enterprise Plastic Fischer has developed a floating barrier, called TrashBoom, designed to prevent plastic waste from reaching the ocean. The startup was founded by three students, who realised during a trip to Vietnam that the river view from their balcony was actually a stream of plastic waste floating on the surface. The TrashBoom is a floating fence constructed from locally available materials that traps the plastic. The waste is then manually gathered and transported to sorting facilities.
All recyclables are reintroduced into the supply chain and unrecyclable materials are sent to certified Thermal Recovery Plants. All of the TrashBooms are built locally, with locally sourced, low-tech materials. The projects are managed by locally hired staff and project managers, with only two full-time employees working in Europe. The entire process is verified through plastic recycling platform Empower.
TrashBoom is working in collaboration with a number of oganisations, including Allianz and ‘Make A Change World’ in Bali, and has inspired a number of others. The company says that they, “are very proud that we have managed to motivate other companies like e.g. Sungai Watch, Pangea Movement and other NGOs to copy our approach and stop plastic in rivers with simple technology.”
As the tide of plastic sweeping into rivers, oceans, and every other corner of the globe continues unabated, we are also seeing a growth of innovations aimed at stemming it. These include other types of river barrier projects, ocean barrier projects and the use of ships scrubbers and autonomous robots to remove plastic.
Before the current scientific consensus on man-made climate change emerged, many climatologists believed that any extra carbon dioxide released by human activities would be absorbed by the world’s oceans. This proved to be a sticking point in the mainstream acceptance of the greenhouse effect, and it wasn’t until the late 1950s that researchers demonstrated that seawater will not absorb all of the extra carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere.
Oceans have been at the centre of climate science because an estimated 83 per cent of the global carbon cycle is circulated through marine waters. Man-made global warming is, in essence, the short-circuiting of this cycle, so understanding and respecting the oceans—the biggest part of the cycle—is crucial for mitigating the damage we have done.
Although we now know that oceans will not absorb all of our carbon emissions, they have absorbed around a third of the CO2 produced by humans. Moreover, the ocean is home to 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. In short, when it comes to climate change, oceans are our best friend.
But oceans are also vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Marine eco-systems are sensitive to climate shocks, with coral cover declining by over half since the 1950s. Human activities also impact oceans in other ways. Oceans are the cradle of life, making up 95 per cent of the space available to living things, yet research shows that marine biodiversity is declining dangerously, with humans the biggest cause. And each year 8 million tonnes of plastic waste escape into the sea.
Given the importance of oceans to our shared future, many innovators are looking to the ocean for inspiration. And some of the most exciting ocean innovators will be at this year’s ChangeNOW summit in Paris.
According to research, 60 per cent of chemical leaks, oil spill-offs, and micro-plastics end up on the sea floor. These pollutants damage the environment, but so too do traditional clean-up methods, which rely on excavations and harmful chemicals. Latvia’s PurOceans Technology believes there is a better way.
The company has developed a proprietary process called ‘deepwater rehabilitation’. During this process, bubbles of ambient air are piped to the lowest depths, where they stick to chemical pollutants before floating back to the surface. Once at the surface, the toxic waste can be safely collected and processed into purified water. PurOcean’s approach avoids the damage to flora and fauna that accompanies excavation and chemical-based approaches, improving the health of the entire marine eco-system. And as a further bonus, the process enriches the water with added oxygen.
A WEST AFRICAN WATER COMPANY TACKLES PLASTIC WASTE FROM BOTTLED WATER
Single-use plastic water bottles are both common and expensive in West Africa. And much of the waste plastic ends up cluttering the streets, going to land fill, or polluting the oceans. Addressing this issue is Senegal-based water company MIYA.
Miya provides 11- and 19-litre water bottles that can be re-used under a deposit scheme where customers return the bottles for refills. In addition to preventing plastic from littering beaches and harming marine life, the MIYA scheme has several additional benefits. Drinking water in the company’s native Senegal is not always safe, yet bottled water is expensive. Many people therefore face an unfortunate trade-off between hygiene and cost. MIYA’s water is more affordable with customers paying $2.08 for a 19-litre bottle compared to the average price of $1.73 for 10 litres.
A WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT THAT PRODUCES MORE ENERGY THAN IT CONSUMES
Globally, around 80 per cent of sewage is dumped into the ocean untreated. And all this pollution from wastewater damages marine eco-systems in a number of ways. At the same time, current wastewater treatment technologies are energy-intensive and cause one per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in France.
NXO-Engineering takes a revolutionary approach to wastewater, seeing it as a repository of resources rather than something to be treated. The startup’s proprietary NxSTEP process uses micro-algae and bacteria to convert the wastewater into biomethane that can be used as a source of energy. As a result, the process is not only less energy-intensive than traditional methods, it actually produces more energy than it uses. The company has also developed a flotation unit that separates biomass from water, leaving the water fit for human consumption – a process that can reduce the cost of drinking water.
Photo source Airseas
A SEA KITE THAT HELPS SHIPS SAVE FUEL UNDERGOES TRIALS
Maritime shipping accounts for at least 2.5 per cent of global CO2 emissions. However, this is considered by many to be a gross underestimate of the environmental damage done by container shipping. One study found that, in 2009, a single large container ship emitted almost the same amount of cancer and asthma-causing chemicals as 50 million cars.
French company Airseas has developed a parafoil sail—known as the Seawing—that is designed to be installed on cargo ships to reduce fuel consumption and shipping emissions. The Seawing is designed to deploy automatically, rising up above the ship’s deck on a long cable to grab the steady, strong winds 200 metres above sea level. An automated system monitors and controls the Seawing. The system also monitors forward wind conditions and re-routes the ship to take the most efficient path possible without affecting arrival time.
Airseas is not the only company harnessing the wind to reduce shipping emissions. Rather than using a kite-like parafoil, another French company, AYRO, has developed wingsails—called ‘Oceanwings’—that rise vertically from the deck of a ship.
Oceanwings are compatible with most types of vessel, and can be retrofitted onto existing ships or incorporated into new-build designs. Moreover, operating the Oceanwings does not require the specialist skills traditionally associated with sailing, and the wingsails are safe to use in any weather condition. Sensors on the wingsails measure the wind, generating data that is analysed to adjust the angle and camber of the Oceanwings for maximum effectiveness.
USING DNA TO MAKE ENVIRONMENTAL SURVEYS EASIER AND CHEAPER
Environmental monitoring is key for environmental protection strategies. Monitoring data helps policymakers set priorities and activities. At the same time, businesses are faced with a growing need to report on biodiversity, yet monitoring has traditionally been costly and difficult to perform at scale. For biodiversity startup NatureMetrics, the answer is in environmental DNA (eDNA) – DNA that is released from organisms into the environment through faeces, urine, slime, scales, and other forms.
NatureMetrics carries out tests in a facility purpose-built for metabarcoding – a method of DNA sequencing that can identify multiple species in a single sample. The system can process more than 100 samples in parallel, reducing sequencing costs and time. The company’s marine division provides powerful data on ocean biodiversity, working on projects such as nature-based solutions in coral reef, mangrove, kelp, and seagrass habitats, and conservation monitoring in marine protected areas.
Springwise is a proud partner of ChangeNow, which takes place in Paris 19-21 May 2022. As the world’s largest event for the planet, the three-day international summit brings together entrepreneurs, business leaders and policymakers to accelerate change. To find out more and book your tickets, visit changenow.world.
