archiveOctober 3, 2023

Wide-ranging barriers are preventing renewable energy from contributing effectively to a green energy transition. Barriers include a lack of attention to all energy carriers, a failure to diversify renewable energy technologies beyond wind and solar power, deficiencies in policies, bottlenecks in permitting and grid connections, unequal investment levels in different regions, and continued large investments in fossil fuels. The global energy supply is split mostly among heat (49 per cent) and fuel (29 per cent), with electricity having the lowest share (22 per cent). In 2022, the share of renewables in...

Leading the round, Pangaea Ventures, alongside GC Ventures, Solvay Ventures, Chevron Technology Ventures, and Technip Energies, has invested in Compact Membrane Systems, a pioneer in advanced membrane technology. CMS membranes offer a groundbreaking solution for carbon capture in challenging sectors like steel, cement, and kiln-process operations, responsible for over 11% of global emissions. Unlike traditional methods relying on costly and energy-intensive processes, CMS provides modular, fully electrified, and cost-effective solutions that are contaminant resistant, low energy, and easy to use, eliminating the need for regeneration, steam, or chemical solvents. With...

Buckinghamshire Council has inked an electrification agreement with Lunaz to upcycle its fleet of waste refuse trucks. The move will support 300 highly skilled clean-tech jobs in Silverstone, England, with each upcycled electric vehicle (UEVs) saving 82 per cent of the embedded carbon versus replacing with new diesel vehicles. The first 26-tonne refuse truck to become fully electric will be converted from its existing diesel power to electric, with delivery to be made in the autumn. The work is being funded with a grant from DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food &...

Seafood’s’ vulnerability to environmental change has been vastly understudied, with the US and producers in Asia most at risk. More than 90 per cent of global “blue” seafood production in both capture fisheries and aquaculture faces substantial risks from environmental change, with several leading countries in Asia and the United States set to face the greatest threats to production, a new study shows. The authors behind the new paper produced the first-ever global analysis of environmental stressors impacting the production quantity and safety of blue foods around the world, ranking...

C-suites face strict requirements under ESG rules that place new demands on execs in the governance of their organisation. Standard corporate governance disclosures that were traditionally covered by voluntary reporting will now be mandatory under new ESG regulations such as the EU’s CSRD, due to come into force in 2024. The ‘G’ in ESG is a key pillar of environmental regulation that requires organisations to manage and account for non-financial reporting, corporate accountability, bribery, corruption and executive pay. Corporate governance is the process of managing non-financial risks that may have a...

Heat pumps have been welcomed by the majority of British owners across all property types in the first major nationwide survey. A new survey by Nesta, the innovation charity, finds that among people who have had a heat pump installed while living in their current home, 81 per cent are as satisfied or more satisfied with heat pumps compared to their previous heating system. The figure is similar – 83 per cent – when looking at heat pump owners in Victorian or older properties. The similarity across property type and...

TikTok users each emit 2.63g of CO2 every minute that they use the social media platform, according to a new study. With social media being used by over 4.76 billion people around the globe, amassing to 59 per cent of the world’s population, it is important that as a society we understand the ramifications of its use. Whilst many consider the implications of social media usage at an individual and societal level, such as its impact on mental health, the wider repercussions are often overlooked.  One key issue with social media’s mass usage that does...

UKFT is developing a fully-integrated and automated sorting and pre-processing plant for waste textiles from the fashion industry. The Autosort for Circular Textiles Demonstrator (ACT UK) is a £4 million two-year project that will support the transition from uneconomic manual sorting of clothes and textiles that are not suitable for resale to highly-automated sorting and pre-processing, which can then be used as feedstock for existing and emerging recycling processes. The processing plant could eventually divert thousands of tonnes from landfill each year. ACT UK brings together a consortium of recycling technologies,...

A UK-based clean-tech innovator is calling for an acceleration of hydrogen use in transport to power the journey to net zero. Bramble Energy recognises the dangerous impact air pollution can have on physical wellbeing and mental health, and is calling for industry to take action in accelerating its uptake of hydrogen as a viable clean and zero-emission solution for transportation. The potential for hydrogen as a clean solution in a wide range of mobility industries is immense. Hydrogen vehicles emit just water vapour and have the unique ability to clean...

A new reusable packaging and returns solution eliminates single-use packaging for eCommerce retailers. Manchester-based no-boxx is aiming to eliminate single-use packaging used in online deliveries and has developed a reusable packaging that uses a propitiatory technology to track the environmental impact in the eCommerce sector. The retail tech business is part of Exchange, tech scale-up programme in Manchester, and has ambitions to scale over the next 12 months. no-boxx is a sustainable and reusable packaging and returns solution for e-commerce retailers, which eliminates single-use packaging and reduces CO2 emissions by...