High dependence on fossil carbon, associated high carbon footprint, low recycling rates and microplastics: several solutions are emerging. Written by Asta Partanen and Michael Carus. More information on the Cellulose Fibres Conference organized by nova-Institute on March 13 and 14 … Read more
In the Netherlands, the business case for wind turbines and solar panels keeps getting worse; writes Roy op het Veld on change.inc (in Dutch). The supply side of the energy system isn’t the bottleneck anymore – it’s the demand side. … Read more
RethinkX’s Bradd Libby recently posted two useful articles on technological change. He distinguishes between partial and real solutions, or as he calls it ‘band-aid’ versus ‘bona fide’ or disruptive solutions for problems. Real solutions take place in four sectors of … Read more
Synbiobeta ran an article by Gabrielle David on the world of silk. And how we learn to master the art of producing this wonderful material by a natural process, much like the original one. Not primarily by silkworms but by … Read more
Is Europe still the world leader in climate issues? The continent has ambitious plans. But in the field of energy transition, things do not play out as planned. Europe may be overtaken by the US – although this might not … Read more
RethinkX, the group that predicts many profound changes, is also of the opinion that precision fermentation and cellular agriculture will create an entirely new business model: food-as-software. This will disrupt and transform our food and agriculture industries. The process of … Read more
Sybiobeta ran an interesting article on plant vaccination. A promising alternative approach to plant protection. Such a vaccination would activate the natural defence mechanisms of the plant. And it might thereby lead to healthier food and a more sustainable agriculture. … Read more
Forever chemicals, particularly per- and polyfluoralkyl compunds (PFAS), are one of the biggest present environmental health hazards. These synthetic chemicals aren’t localised in a few contaminated areas; they are everywhere: in rivers, groundwater, wastewater, and even in household dust. They … Read more
Climate change, a new IPCC report says, is intimately linked to our land use. Changes in land use result in changes to the climate, and vice versa. In other words, what we do to our soil, we do to our … Read more
Electricity should preferably be consumed immediately when it is generated. Storing electricity is not that easy. It always comes down to converting electricity into something else, that is used at a later date to generate electricity when needed. Talking about … Read more
The problem with plastics – aside from all the environmental issues they entail – is that they are excellent. It wouldn’t be a problem to wean ourselves off them if they weren’t great at what they do. Take PET for … Read more
From November 25 to December 1, 2024, representatives from 175 countries gathered in Busan, South Korea; the fifth and final round of negotiations on a global treaty on plastics pollution. One of the main questions being: will the treaty include binding targets … Read more
If we move away from fossil fuels as a source of carbon, the question arises what should then become our source. Lux Research presents an answer: CO2 utilization. This could fulfil the demand for carbon value chains without relying on … Read more
The green economy is a growing paradigm focused on balancing environmental responsibility with economic growth. Central to this shift is the transformative power of digital tools, which enable industries to innovate sustainably. From optimizing energy use to creating circular economies, … Read more
Just a short while ago, people hardly knew about viruses as a medicine. In particular, this is true for bacteriophages (or phages, for short) – viruses that eat bacteria. Until less than a century ago, we even didn’t know about … Read more
Boards made from agricultural wastes, are they achievable? Often, mdf and chipboard are made from wood. But Ecoboard has a different approach: it uses agricultural wastes. Boards are a wonderful material. For many purposes, they are strong enough. They consist … Read more
Lignin is often hailed as nature’s glue. It is the second most abundant polymer in the natural world. Found in plant cell walls, it plays a crucial role in providing structural support to plants. Up to now, if we isolate … Read more
Recently, Synbiobeta ran an interesting article on vaccinating plants. A new approach to activate the plant’s natural immune system. Could this lead to healthier food and more sustainable farming? Stimulating the plant’s resistance We have become accustomed to fighting plant … Read more
Experts and scientists judged it impossible. The new Dutch wind turbine The Blade seems to mock natural laws. And yet, the new home-sized turbine is claimed to produce 2,500 to 3,000 of sustainable electricity yearly (link in Dutch). That’s the … Read more
In a circular economy, we will use as few resources possible. These we will reuse again and again; in so doing, we will postpone mining new resources as long as possible, we might even prevent this from happening. The Netherlands … Read more
For decades now precision agriculture has been offering numerous changes to the way we grow food. At its heart, it’s about using technology to gain a deeper understanding of what’s happening in the field, be it monitoring soil quality, predicting … Read more
Recently, RethinkX published an article by Taylor Hinds on battery storage. We need such a storage in order to turn the intermittent solar and wind energies into a continuous energy supply. She writes that ‘unsubsidized solar and wind energies are … Read more
Ocean habitats play a key role in storing carbon from the atmosphere; but until now, nobody has known exactly how much ‘blue carbon’ ends up in kelp, seagrass meadows, salt marshes and sediment in the seabed. Now, we tend to damage … Read more
The Conversation’s Brad Libby recently posted a thought-provoking article about converging technologies, and their potential. He envisages artificial intelligence (AI), lithium-ion batteries, infrared cameras, lidar laser range detectors, actuators, 3D printing and more. What if these technologies converge simultaneously? Would … Read more
Graphene is twenty years old now. Discovered by Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, two physicists at the University of Manchester. The Conversation hailed this anniversary in a piece by Stephen Lyth on its achievements and their shortcomings. So far, graphene … Read more
The site change.inc contained an interesting article (in Dutch) on energy hubs – a central place where regional companies and households share their energy production and consumption. In the Netherlands, 1,200 of such hubs could play a major role in … Read more
According to RethinkX, our society may be heading towards clean disruption. Meaning that in the coming two decades, old and wasteful industries will disappear and new and clean industries will dominate. RethinkX predicts that technology disruptions in just three sectors … Read more
Electric vehicles (EV) and autonomous electric vehicles (A-EVs) will create an entirely new business model: Transport-as-a-Service (TaaS). It will disrupt and transform our transportation industries. If major changes in a number of key technologies come together, we witness a disruption … Read more
According to RethinkX, precision fermentation and cellular agriculture will create an entirely new business model in the food sector: food-as-software. This will disrupt and transform our food and agricultural industries. If major changes in a number of key technologies come … Read more
Solar photovoltaics, onshore wind power and lithium-ion batteries (SWB) will displace fossil fuels and conventional nuclear power during the 2020s. This will create an entirely new business model – SWB Superpower – that will disrupt and transform our energy sectors … Read more
Solar panel production disappeared from Europe over the past twenty years. Now, a new generation of solar panels is around the corner, and this could mean the return of solar panel production to Europe. Changing production patterns A large fraction … Read more
Polylactic acid, also known as PLA, is a thermoplastic monomer. It is derived from renewable, organic sources such as corn starch or sugar cane. This means that PLA is different from most plastics. It will not fall apart into persistent … Read more
Bidirectional charging, or possible charging from both sides, is a smart solution for grid overcharging. Bidirectional charging means that the current can go both ways. It is useful in particular for preventing the grid to become congested. Or if one … Read more
Pressure on the electricity grid gets heavier all the time. Many corporations and organisations aim to get more sustainable. But there are bottlenecks. Because at times, there is a glut of sustainable electricity (mainly solar and wind power), and at … Read more
Do we need carbon capture in order to meet climate goals? The jury is still undecided. If we would like to keep on using fossil fuels, we need carbon capture in order to keep CO2 levels down. But application of … Read more
Engineers have developed a new way to exert control over bioreactions: light. Using light of the correct colour can promote the desired reaction and hence keep costs down in biomanufacturing. As highlighted in an article on worldbiomarketsinsights.com. We are discussing … Read more
Green hydrogen has been an expensive fuel, so far. Producing it by solar or wind energy (and electrolysis) is now three to four times as expensive as producing ‘grey’ hydrogen from natural gas, releasing CO2. And there are the technical … Read more
A series of articles at the occasion of the GreenTech exhibition in Amsterdam, highlighted innovation in horticulture. Among these are water quality and irrigation management. The site Greentech.nl pays special attention to innovation in horticulture. Among the new techniques is … Read more
MaterialDistrict recently renewed its publication on bamboo. ‘Booming bamboo, the (re)discovery of a sustainable material with endless possibilities’, is a stunning book written by Pablo van der Lugt; with indeed: endless applications. As Elora Hardy notes in her foreword: ‘We … Read more
New technologies require new instruments. That is also true for distributed energy resources (DERs), predominantly renewable energy. So far, their disadvantages could be eased out in the net. But now, in some locations these resources become the dominant source of … Read more
Renewable energy, mainly solar, wind and hydro, is going to take over global energy supply. But is its development fast enough to prevent global warming beyond 1.5oC? Global annual renewable energy capacity additions are on a record track. In 2023, … Read more
Solar energy continues to astonish the world. In 2024, new developments will ensure continued growth; both in generation and in storage. Largest source of electricity generation Present developments indicate that in 2025, renewables will become the largest source of electricity … Read more
This month, BioBTX collected the € 80 million it needs for construction of its first commercial-sized factory. It will produce benzene, toluene and xylenes (BTX) from mixed plastic waste. A major step towards a circular plastics production. BTX technology BioBTX’s … Read more
Change.inc devoted an article to thermal industrial heating and cooling (in Dutch). Long neglected in views on the energy transition. Even though there is a lot of energy involved. But now, this has been analysed by analysts of Rubio Impact … Read more
In rich countries, the urban biorefinery is a much sought after goal, albeit difficult to arrive at. Much sought after because we could solve out waste problem by this concept. Difficult to arrive at because our waste is such a … Read more
It isn’t recognized generally yet, but the combination of solar, wind and batteries can supply the whole world with electricity. Writes RethinkX in its latest newsletter. This is happening already in many parts of the world, part of the year. … Read more
People must eat. The vast majority of what we eat originates from agriculture. But this produces roughly one quarter of global greenhouse emissions. Can we avoid that? Produce synthetic food that comes with much less environmental problems? And if so, … Read more
As researchers succeed in tagging oceanic predators, they discover new facts about the deep sea. Many animals dive very deep, even to where light doesn’t penetrate anymore. It’s indescribable, what they unveil. The pressure, the cold and the dark Knowable … Read more
The Conversation informed us about the negotiations on a global pact on plastic. A penultimate round of negotiations recently ended in Ottawa – the last stage will take place later in November in South Korea. Countries agreed that they should … Read more
Alternative proteins receive more attention. Meaning: proteins not from animal origin. Like vegetal products, and fermentation and artificial meat and fish. Much progress is being made. Major growth On change.inc, Hannah van der Korput recounts that in 2023, companies producing … Read more