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Could layers of gravel, sand, and clay replace bricks?
CategoriesSustainable News

Could layers of gravel, sand, and clay replace bricks?

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: On average, for every square metre of brick produced, it’s estimated that about 26 kilogrammes of carbon dioxide emissions are released. Once more, the firing of these bricks in kilns is one of the largest stationary sources of black carbon – a significant and dangerous contributor to air pollution. 

Due to their high carbon footprint, bricks are playing their own part in global warming and increased instances of extreme weather. Ironically, because such weather events can damage buildings, it means that even more bricks and other buildings materials need to be manufactured in carbon-intensive processes to make repairs. Hoping to provide a greener, more sustainable alternative is Aussie company Earthbuilt.

The new, carbon-friendly method of building houses, as well as the new materials Earthbuilt uses, aim to not only negate the majority of carbon emissions associated with bricks, but also introduce a more durable and stronger house. An Earthbuilt home is graded at the highest level of Australian fireproofing, meaning the technology can also be utilised in constructing miles of firebreaking. Additionally, the non-Newtonian fluid properties of Earthbuilt’s structures mean that the walls self-heal rather than crack under pressure, this also makes them earthquake resistant.

The technology relies on machines that lay the fill (including gravel, sand, and clay) over layer upon layer of Earthbuilt’s material – which resembles a roll of fabric, but is in reality a tensile membrane – until a wall is built up. This wall holds incredible strength due to the many layers that make it up, as well as holding great resistance to movement thanks to the material’s properties itself. This process is called terre armée, or reinforced Earth in English. Due to the process of constructing Earthbuilt walls being machine-led, there is a large reduction in labour costs, as well as in the material costs and overall carbon footprint.

Video source Earthbuilt

The company is just finishing its MVP prototype and is currently searching for investment and manufacturing partners. Next, the ambition is to look at other big polluters in construction and develop more sustainable solutions. 

Springwise has also spotted other innovations in building materials like these recycled plastic tiles that look like clay as well as these robots and AI that speed up homebuilding. 

Written By: Archie Cox

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Bio-based ingredients replace microplastics – Springwise
CategoriesSustainable News

Bio-based ingredients replace microplastics – Springwise

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Every year, approximately three million metric tonnes of microplastics enter the environment worldwide, and they are found everywhere within agriculture, food, and cosmetics. Now, Germany-based Bioweg has created bio-based ingredients to be used as alternatives to plastic-based additives and polymers. 

The startup’s technology combines fermentation, material science, and molecular simulation to develop biodegradable and sustainable bio-ingredients. All Bioweg’s ingredients are customisable, vegan, GMO-free, easily scalable, and sustainably produced without the need for harsh chemicals. 

Bioweg has four products: MicBead and Rheweg are solutions to microplastics in cosmetics and personal care, AgriWeg replaces petroleum and acrylic-based coatings in fertilisers and seeds, while HydroWeg is a sustainably derived hydrocolloid for plant-based food. To make its ingredients sustainable, the company converts low-value by-products, residues, and waste from the food and agriculture industry – like molasses and vegetable peels – into high-value and circular products. 

The company ferments these by-products to create microbial cellulose in a zero-waste process and Bioweg has identified high-yielding strains based on more than 10,000 lab-scale and factorial design-based experiments. And to further improve the yield, the company optimises the genetic makeup of the strains using classical and new genetic engineering techniques. 

So that it may create ingredients that are perfect for end use, Bioweg performs molecular simulations, including structural and thermodynamic analysis. This allows the company to test various cellulose fibrils’ properties with different functionalisation levels. Then, using green chemistry principles, Bioweg can adapt the fibrils for various designs and purposes. 

Microplastics have become a severe problem for the oceans, land, and humans, and Springwise has spotted many innovations looking to clear up and replace these harmful ingredients. One company has created dissolving make-up wipes that leave no microplastics or waste, and researchers are even looking into removing microplastics with sound.

Written By: Anam Alam

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Boards made from grass replace timber 
CategoriesSustainable News

Boards made from grass replace timber 

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Fast-growing grasses that are turned into construction panels use nine times less land than traditional timber products. With the global engineered wood market projected to be worth over $400 billion by 2027 (around €374 billion), the potential of new grass-based panels to help decrease the construction industry’s footprint is significant. A culmination of more than 20 years of research and development, biotechnology company Plantd’s panels are carbon negative and produced in all-electric manufacturing plants.  

Using a perennial plant called giant reed grass, Plantd’s process is designed for easy scalability and minimal resource use by farmers. Giant reed grass grows 20 to 30 feet tall, and a single acre of land can produce up to 20 million tonnes of grass, which would contain 25 to 30 million tonnes of atmospheric carbon. The boards made from these grasses are lighter, stronger, and more moisture-resistant than traditional wood boards. And because Plantd’s production process sequesters 80 per cent of the carbon contained in the grasses, the boards are also carbon negative.  

The manufacturing plants are modular and capable of producing multiple products, including panels and studs, from a single location. Modularity makes it easy for production to scale up or down depending on location and market size, and as all-electric plants, the process produces minimal carbon emissions. Because the grass can be farmed on arable land already in use, the switch from timber products to grass panels could also help reduce deforestation.  

Springwise has spotted other recent innovations focused on transforming the construction industry, including wood-based biocomposites, and the first-ever carbon negative portland cement.

Written By: Keely Khoury

Reference

Lab-grown breast milk could replace formula
CategoriesSustainable News

Lab-grown breast milk could replace formula

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: As almost all American parents of infants are aware, there is currently a huge shortage of infant formula. Caused by a temporary shutdown of the US’s main formula producer, the situation has driven many parents to despair. While breast milk is the ideal food for infants, it is not always possible or practical to breastfeed – for various reasons. Now one company, BIOMILQ, is hoping to offer parents the best of both worlds – lab-grown ‘real’ breast milk.

Cell biologist Dr. Leila Strickland came up with the idea for BIOMILQ while she was struggling to breastfeed her own newborn. Struggling to produce enough milk, she turned to formula. Although the choice was the right one, she also realised that it was not ideal, as formula does not have the perfect nutritional composition for babies. Eleven years later, Strickland worked out how to culture breast cells in a lab and collect the milk they secrete.

BIOMILQ refers to its process as, ‘the mother of all patented technology’. The company began, in true startup fashion, in a rented lab space with used equipment sourced from eBay. Initial experiments involved cow udders. But the nascent company had no budget to test if cells were really producing milk and Strickland gave up her lab after a few years, in 2016. Then, in 2019, she decided to try again, this time with the support of Michelle Egger, who had worked for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The pair had a commercial lab run a proof-of-concept experiment which showed that the cells were producing the same proteins and sugars found in human breast milk.

Following this success, Bill Gates bought a $3.5 million stake in the company in 2021, which will allow it to scale up the process. Strickland explains the process, saying, “We start with these amazing cells that line a woman’s mammary gland. Using the same techniques that we’ve used for decades to grow cells outside the body, we’re able to reproduce the behaviour these cells have evolved over millions of years, to produce components in quantities that match the baby’s needs.”

To produce its breast milk, BIOMILQ uses similar techniques to those used to grow other cell-based foods, such as cultured meat and dairy. Donated breast tissue and milk cells are fed nutrients and incubated in a bioreactor. Springwise has been following the cultured food industry with great interest, as well as similar innovations such as fats produced through fermentation. 

Written By: Lisa Magloff

22nd June 2022

Email: hello@biomilq.com

Website: biomilq.com

Reference

Pellets made from agricultural and wood waste replace fossil fuels
CategoriesSustainable News

Pellets made from agricultural and wood waste replace fossil fuels

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Each year, Costa Rica produces more than 1.2 million tonnes of wood, of which around 40 per cent ends up as waste. Much of this wood waste is disposed of improperly with decomposition releasing methane, a greenhouse gas that adds to global warming. Now, renewable energy company Pelletics is putting waste to work fighting climate change.

The company takes wood and agricultural waste from sawmills and cassava cultivation and turns it into pellets that constitute a high energy density fuel. Depending on its exact properties, the feedstock is put through one or a combination of processes such as drying, particle reduction, densification, cooling, and dust removal. This treatment takes places at the company’s plant in Muelle, San Carlos, which is situated at the heart of Costa Rica’s sawmill region.

The fuel produced by Pelletics is considered carbon neutral, and can be used as a direct replacement for fossil fuels in applications such as boilers, industrial burners, and home heating. In Costa Rica, fossil fuels are imported whereas the company’s pellets are produced locally, reducing transport emissions while supporting local jobs.

The company currently works with more than 30 sawmills, and the company recently updated its facilities with new technology to further improve its sustainability.

Pelletics is not the only company spotted by Springwise that is developing bio-based alternatives to fossil fuels. Other innovations include a Kenyan biofuel company that services informal retailers, anda researcher turning cardboard boxes into biofuel.

Written By: Matthew Hempstead

25th March 2022

Website: pelletics.com

Contact: pelletics.com/contacto

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