Spotted: In January 2022, 47,000 litres of crude oil leaked out of a submarine pipeline in Thailand’s Rayong province, resulting in a major environmental disaster. The oil slick covered an area of approximately 47 square kilometers, devastating the marine ecosystem and harming the livelihoods of local fishermen. Although cleanup efforts have been underway since the incident occurred, there is still some residual pollution due to the fact that oil is difficult to remove from the ocean surface. In order to address this problem, researchers at Chula Faculty of Science have developed bioproducts that can be used to clean up oil spills in the ocean.
These products are based on oil-eating microbes that can break down the hydrocarbons in oil, making it easier to remove from the environment. The team is currently working on a pilot project to test the feasibility of using these bioproducts on a larger scale. If successful, this could provide a valuable tool for cleaning up future oil spills and protecting the marine environment.
According to international maritime law, all ships that transport oil are required to have a product on board that can be used to remove oil residue in the event of a spill. Currently, there is only one such product available on the market in Thailand. Associate Professor Dr. Onruthai Pinyakong, who led the research at Chula, noticed there wasn’t a product specific to Thailand’s unique, and very biodiverse, environment. For these reasons Dr. Onruthai’s research began in Thailand. She also found there was a good source of microorganisms with properties to degrade pollutants and petroleum in Thailand’s seas.
As with any water treatment process, oil cleanup treatment can be an expensive and energy-intensive process. Springwise has seen a number of innovations aimed at developing more sustainable treatment methods. Some recent projects include a process that uses algae to clean wastewater without the need for chemicals and an easy-to-use device that disinfects water using sunshine.
Written By: Katrina Lane
Spotted: As the world grapples with the growing problem of plastic pollution, there is an urgent need for better options for extracting the energy and molecular value from waste plastics. Conventional plastic recycling methods only result in low-value plastic molecules, providing little incentive to recycle. However, new technologies are emerging that have the potential to transform waste plastics into valuable resources.
Among these is a process to transform one of the most produced plastics into another type of widely used plastic. Developed by a collaboration of scientists from American universities, the new technology may help to reduce the environmental impact of plastic pollution while also providing a financial incentive for recycling.
The process, which is the fruit of a joint effort between the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of California, Santa Barbara, and chemical giant Dow, involves breaking down the long chain molecules of polyethylene (PE) into much shorter molecules. These can then be used to create polypropylene (PP). PE is used in a range of products, from packaging to bottles, while PP is found in items such as car parts and Tupperware. The team behind the research believes that this could provide a valuable incentive for companies to recycle their plastic waste, as they would be able to sell it on at a higher price.
The new study published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society has established a proof-of-concept for upcycling PE plastic into propylene with more than 95 per cent selectivity. The researchers have also built a reactor that creates a continuous flow of propylene that can be converted into PP – allowing for scalability and rapid implementation.
Springwise has spotted a plethora of innovative solutions to the problem of plastic waste. These include the use of PPE waste to make tennis accessories, strengthen concrete, and produce self-healing, recyclable plastic.
Written By: Katrina Lane
Spotted: As society increasingly relies on electronic devices, there is a growing need for more efficient and safer methods of recycling outdated or broken electronics. Flat panel displays (FPDs) are found in many common devices such as televisions and computer monitors. When these devices reach the end of their life cycle, they often contain valuable commodities that can be recycled and reused. However, recovering these materials is a complex and dangerous process that requires specialised equipment and trained personnel.
Now, eLoop, a leading provider of electronics recycling services, has developed the first fully automated system for safely recovering commodities from FPDs. A crucial element of the FPD PRO Technology is artificial intelligence (AI). This identifies rare earth metals and other precious materials that can then be removed from discarded devices. The technology is faster, safer, and more efficient than traditional methods, making it an important innovation in the field of electronic waste recycling.
The automated process is also more environmentally friendly than previous methods, cleanly recovering components that can be reused in the circular economy, keeping them out of landfills. In addition, eLoop’s methodology reduces the costs of recycling.
eLoop estimates that its new process will save 7,900 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year when it reaches full production. The company hopes this will help the state of Pennsylvania, where it is headquartered, reach its net zero goals.
As companies look for ways to support a circular economy, Springwise is seeing a rise in methods for recycling all sorts of material – from disposable chopsticks turned into furniture and homeware to a new type of turbine blade made of a composite material that can be recycled and reused.
Written By: Katrina Lane
Spotted: Qatar is a small country rich in natural gas resources. While these resources have made it one of the wealthiest countries in the world, it has little farmland, and its climate is not conducive to agriculture. The lack of farmland means that Qatar lacks the ability to produce protein for its population. To reduce the country’s dependence on imports, leading sustainable protein company Unibio is partnering with recently founded industrial biotechnology company Gulf Biotech to develop the Uniprotein Plant – a facility that will produce protein locally from methane, the main constituent of natural gas.
The protein will be used as a protein supplement in feed for fish and animals to tackle the deficit in Qatar’s protein production. Compared to soy production, the companies say that Uniprotein uses no arable land and requires significantly less water – making it an ideal solution for Qatar.
The plant will use microbial fermentation to convert methane into high-quality protein. The continuous-flow fermentation process allows for a high conversion rate, meaning that more of the methane is converted into protein. The protein is then treated and purified before it is used. The result is a pellet with 11 per cent water content and 70 per cent protein, comparing favorably with high-value proteins like soy.
Gulf Biotech has completed its feasibility study on the viability of the plant, which will be completed by early 2023.
Springwise has been tracking the many innovative ways in which microbes can be harnessed, from their use in developing a replacement for vegetable oil to hydrogen, fertiliser and industrial applications.
Written By: Matthew Hempstead
Spotted: As the world strives to achieve carbon neutrality, energy storage technology is becoming increasingly important. Renewable energy sources like wind and solar power are intermittent, meaning they’re not always available when needed. Energy storage can help to even out these fluctuations, making renewables a more reliable and consistent source of power. One of the largest energy storage projects in the world is currently being completed in Dalian, China.
The Dalian Flow Battery Energy Storage Peak-shaving Power Station will have a capacity of 100 megawatts/400 megawatt-hours, making it one of the largest storage facilities in terms of both power and capacity. The project is due to be completed in mid-October and will play an important role in helping China meet its climate goals.
The Dalian Power Station, which is based on vanadium flow battery technology developed by the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP), will serve as the city’s power bank while helping Dalian make use of renewable energy – such as wind and solar energy. The Power Station will convert electrical energy into battery-stored chemical energy and back into electrical energy, providing a reliable source of power for the city.
The power station plans to meet the daily electricity demand of about 200,000 residents. Looking ahead the aim is for these numbers to increase as the power station eventually produces 200 megawatts/800 megawatt-hours of electricity. The Power Station is an important step in Dalian’s transition to a clean energy future, and it is hoped that it will help to make the city a model for others in China and around the world.
The roll-out of renewables is gathering pace and with that roll-out comes innovation in energy storage. Springwise has recently spotted innovations such as a thermal energy storage system and a new system that stores energy in the form of heat and compressed air.
Written By: Katrina Lane
Spotted: As the world becomes increasingly reliant on digital data, the demand for data services is rising rapidly. At the same time, there is a growing awareness of the need to reduce carbon emissions in order to address climate change. This has created a challenge for data centre operators, who must find ways to meet the rising demand for data services while reducing their carbon footprint. One possible solution is to use hydrogen as a green fuel source for data centres.
In order to assess the feasibility of this approach, Equinix and the Centre for Energy Research & Technology (CERT) have entered into a research partnership. The partnership will compare the efficiency of proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells and fuel-flexible linear generator technologies. If successful, this research could help to enable the use of hydrogen as a green fuel source for mission-critical data centre infrastructure.
PEM fuel cells are a leading contender for hydrogen energy and offer many advantages over traditional fossil fuel-based generators, including lower emissions and higher efficiency. In addition, they are well-suited to applications where space is limited, such as in data centres. As for fuel-flexible linear generators, they can enable operators to more easily switch between various clean fuel options. The research will take a deeper look into the suitability of these technologies for tropical data centres, considering variables such as local climatic conditions, power demand, and supply chain.
As the first initiative under the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed earlier this year between the two organisations, the teams are hopeful that their work will pave the way for more efficient and environmentally-friendly data centres in the tropics.
Springwise has spotted several innovations aiming to soften the strain that data centres are already putting on the world’s energy supply. These include a platform that helps organisations monitor and cut emissions from cloud computing and a generator that runs on both hydrogen and ammonia fuel.
Written By: Katrina Lane
Spotted: According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), wind energy generation hit a record 273 terawatt-hours in 2021. And the IEA further forecasts that, in order to meet the agency’s net zero by 2050 scenario, the world will need to install 7,900 terrawatt-hours of wind electricity generation by 2030.
As wind power grows in importance, the need to consider the whole lifecycle of a wind turbine is more important than ever. While wind power is a clean and renewable form of energy, the turbines themselves are not without an environmental cost. And one of the most intractable issues to date has been the fact that turbines are made using composite materials that are difficult to recycle. Against this backdrop, the Siemens Gamesa RecyclableBlade, launched in September 2021 and first installed at a project in Germany in July, is a step in the right direction.
The blade is made of a composite material that can be recycled and reused, reducing the need for new materials. In addition, the blade is designed to be dismantled and transported back to the factory for recycling, making it easier to recycle than traditional blades. With its innovative recyclable solutions, Siemens Gamesa is helping to propel the activities that make wind energy even more sustainable, creating a fully circular sector.
Turbine blades are made from composite materials, including resin, glass and carbon fibers. The recycling process for these materials is complex and costly. However, Siemens’ new RecyclableBlade process uses a mild acidic solution to separate the materials at the end of the turbine’s lifetime. Those materials can then be recycled for use in other industrial applications. This could help to reduce the environmental impact of wind energy production and make the turbines more economically viable in the long run.
The innovation is part of Siemens’ larger sustainability vision, which includes a core target to produce fully recyclable wind turbines by 2040. After the run at RWE’s Kaskasi project in Germany last July 2022, the new RecyclableBlade is now available for customers to use at their onshore wind sites.
As wind turbines become more prevalent and their disposal becomes more pressing, Springwise is seeing a rise in methods for recycling wind turbine blades. These include wind turbine bioplastic that can be recycled into gummy bears, a recyclable composite innovation turning turbine blades into snowsports equipment, and the UK’s first turbine blade recycling project.
Written By: Katrina Lane
Spotted: Nature soundscapes are often the preserve of meditation and wellbeing apps – used to make people feel more in touch with nature. But could they have a deeper scientific use? Dr. Sarab Sethi from the University of Cambridge thinks so. His groundbreaking work is based on the premise that soundscapes can tell us a lot about the health of an ecosystem. By monitoring a soundscape over time, we can get an early warning of changes in habitat health or the species present.
Dr Sethi has developed a device that records soundscapes over long time frames, with minimal human intervention. The technology, which is low-cost and open-source, consists of a network of sound recorders that are scattered across a landscape. These recorders collect audio data 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The data is then uploaded to the cloud, where it is automatically processed by a number of advanced machine learning algorithms.
The device is currently being used to monitor the biodiversity of different ecosystems under different human pressures as part of a trial of the technology. One of the places where the technology is being deployed is in Borneo. Here, the devices are being used to monitor sounds across a ‘landscape degradation gradient’ – from old growth forest, to logged forest and then to oil palm plantation. Scientists will then use the data to study how this gradient, and the different levels of environmental degradation, affects biodiversity. Another project is underway in the Arctic Circle, where researchers are listening to sounds in the soil and observing changes in the behaviour observed at anthills. The resesearch team is taking this approach because environmental pollutants could potentially be detected through the distressed noises of the ants.
Sethi’s soundscape-monitoring device could have a major impact on the field of ecology. By providing real-time data on changes in the soundscape, it would allow field ecologists to focus their efforts on areas where there are potentially significant changes taking place. This would save time and money, and ultimately result in better protection for delicate habitats. In addition, Sethi is working on making the device biodegradable which would reduce the impact of research projects on the environment. Overall, Sethi’s invention represents a potential breakthrough in the way field ecologists work, and it could have a profound impact on the conservation of endangered species and habitats.
In the future, such devices could play an important role in conservation efforts. Other similar innovations spotted by Springwise include the recreation of healthy soundscapes to attract fish to damaged coral reefs, and an app that identifies animal and plant species through a phone camera.
Written By: Katrina Lane
Spotted: Shipping accounts for 2.5 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, prompting efforts by innovators to de-carbonise the industry. There are many ways to achieve this, but one of the most promising is onboard carbon capture and storage (OCCS). OCCS involves capturing carbon dioxide emissions from ship engines and storing them in solid form, preventing them from entering the atmosphere.
While the technology is still in development, it has the potential to be a low-cost and efficient way solution for the industry. Carbon Ridge, a leading developer of OCCS technology based in Los Angeles, is planning an onboard pilot for 2023. If successful, this could pave the way for widespread adoption of OCCS in the maritime industry, helping to achieve significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
Carbon Ridge provides end-to-end solutions including CO2 transportation, sequestration, and credit monetisation. The company also claims to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions from commercial shipping by up to 95 per cent. Compared to conventional CCS tech, the company says it provides up to a 75 per cent reduction in equipment size and volume.
The company recently raised $6 million (around €6.05 million) in funding from the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, leading US-based shipping and logistics company Crowley, and Berge Bulk, among others.
Recent innovations spotted by Springwise that reduce maritime emissions include smaller, electric-powered ships that use a battery-swapping system, a cleantech company that gathers real-time data on marine emissions and the use of satellite data to power AI-optimised navigation.
Written By: Katrina Lane
Spotted: 3D printing is an additive manufacturing process that creates objects by building them up layer by layer. The technology has been gaining traction in recent years due to its potential benefits, which include reduced construction waste and increased design flexibility. 3D printing is particularly well-suited to the construction industry, where it can be used to create bespoke structural elements quickly and efficiently. One new approach to 3D printing, which is being developed by Imperial College London, EMPA, and other institutions, uses fleets of drones that collectively build a structure from the air.
The new system for 3D printing is called Aerial Additive Manufacturing, or AAM. Just like a colony of bees, it involves a fleet of drones working together from a single blueprint. Also like the operation of a colony, AAM consists of two types of drones: BuilDrones, which deposit materials during flight, and quality-controlling ScanDrones, which monitor the BuilDrones’ performance and inform their next manufacturing steps.
The system is designed to be scalable and modular, so that it can be used to construct everything from small buildings to large bridges. This means that AAM has the potential to be faster, cheaper, and more efficient than traditional construction methods. While the drones are autonomous, the entire process can be monitored and adjusted by a human controller.
The system was tested with four cement-like mixtures. The drones had to continuously assess the printed geometry and adapt accordingly to meet the build specifications. Next, the researchers will partner with construction companies to validate the solutions and provide repair and manufacturing capabilities.
With the advancement of drone technology, Springwise has spotted a plethora of drone-based innovations. Among these are robot forest rangers that plant trees and drones that use AI to detect abnormal patterns of gas that indicate the presence fire.
Written By: Katrina Lane