Discover CleanTech, Issue 4, August 2022 by Scan Client Publishing

ISSUE 04

Rolls-Royce – is the future of flying electric?

| AUGUST 2022 | COVER PRICE: £5.25

PLUS HOW YOUR WINE WILL WEATHER CLIMATE CHANGE UNDER THE HOOD OF THE EV INDUSTRY CAN BIG DATA HELP SOLVE THE CLIMATE CRISIS? THE FINNISH TRANSPORT MINISTER ON HOW HIS COUNTRY TURBOCHARGED ITS EV MARKET

THE MAGAZINE PROMOTING THE PEOPLE, BUSINESSES AND IDEAS TRANSFORMING OUR WORLD.

JOB OF THE MONTH Would you like to be a part of slowing climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions caused by transportation? Join the growing European team of the leading global owner and provider of EV charging infrastructure! Blink has a long history as a pioneer in the EV industry and continues to be the preferred partner in EV Charging Station technology in the US. Blink is a driving force in the EV infrastructure industry that the company has helped to create. Blink is a leading owner, operator, and provider of EV charging solutions in the United States and have a growing footprint across the U.S., Europe, Latin

Company: Blink Charging, Europe Location: Netherlands or Belgium Opportunity: Supply Chain Director

THE ROLE: As Blink’s Supply Chain Director, you will develop a worldclass supply chain and logistics operations function as they expand their business across Europe. This position will lead and direct all facets of supply chain management including, but not limited to, purchasing, logistics, warehousing, inventory management, forecasting, capacity planning and sourcing, master scheduling, inventory control and financial costing, to ensure that Blink customers’ expectations are met with regards to the installation and management of electric vehicle charging solutions. The Supply Chain Director will bring substantial operational experience to lead the growth of our existing procurement and supply chain functions

THE PERSON: The ideal candidate will identify and drive process improvements and set the standards that our partnerships will adhere to. This position will provide leadership and direction on a cross-functional basis. An exceptional leader, you will have outstanding people skills, business acumen and experience of contributing to a fast-growing, fastpaced organization. If you meet these criteria and possess a strategic, analytical mind, we’d like to hear from you

For more information, please contact elena.loseva@hyperionsearch.com

and South America, and the Middle East. At Blink, they live and breathe electric vehicle charging. The company develops innovative next-generation products that is accelerating its growth, and they are expanding already strong team to keep pace with this growth. If you are creative, entrepreneurial, and passionate about the future of clean transportation, we want to hear from you.

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Contents AUGUST 2022 6

COVER FEATURE Rolls-Royce has put the quest to reach net zero by 2050 at the core of its business – and decided that it will get us flying electric within five years. Discover CleanTech asks the company’s head of sustainability how they will reach these goals.

SPECIAL FEATURES 14

Robots, sheep and agroforestry – Mike Scott investigates how viniculture is using high- and low-tech solutions to weather climate change and create a more resilient and sustainable industry.

Can big data help solve the climate crisis? We ask a company that has employed AI to compare the suitability and effect of a range of solutions in different locations.

Martin Lidegaard, the Danish politician, talks to Anders Lorenzen about his involvement in the creation of the storyline for the climate-focused new season of Borgen and the real-world implications of the continued search for oil.

Reliance, an Indian energy giant, has partnered up with a Danish cleantech veteran to lower the cost of green hydrogen. Technology reporter Jason Deign explores how the quest for cheaper green hydrogen is reforming the energy industry.

The land of Europe’s railways should be reformed to reverse biodiversity loss and preserve eco-systems; that is the recommendation of a new report that has just landed on the desks of railway managers throughout Europe. Discover CleanTech talks to the authors.

SPECIAL THEME: UNDER THE HOOD OF THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE SECTOR The EV market is accelerating quicker than most thought possible and new initiatives and legislations look set to increase the pressure even more. This theme investigates aspects of the EV sector along the entire value chain, from the search for lithium to the strategies of the companies that have shaped the sector.

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Including: How Finland turbocharged its EV market, by Finnish transport minister Timo Harakka.

SPECIAL THEME: COFFEE Coffee is something few of us would like to do without, but sadly the black brew is one of the food industry’s heavy carbon sinners. This theme looks at the many ways big and small organisations in the trade are trying to intiate change to create a more sustainable morning pick-up for all of us.

REGULARS AND COLUMNS 92 96 100 114

Careers in cleantech - David Hunt Cleantech Products of the Month News Investing in cleantech

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Book of the Month Events Writers of the Month

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Dear Reader,

Discover CleanTech Issue 4, August 2022 Published 08.2022 ISSN 2753-8729 Published by Scan Magazine Ltd. Executive Editor Thomas Winther Creative Director Mads E. Petersen Editor Signe Hansen Copy-Editor Karl Batterbee Graphic Designer Mercedes Moulia

Special contribution by: Timo Harraka, minister of transport and communications, Finland Hui He, China Regional Director of the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT). Cover Photo Rolls-Royce Sales & Key Account Manager Vera Winther Publisher: SCAN CLIENT PUBLISHING SCAN MAGAZINE LTD. The News Building, 3 London Bridge Street SE1 9SG, London Phone: +44 (0)870 933 0423 Fax: +44 (0)870 933 0421 Email: info@scanclientpublishing.com

For further information please visit Contributors www.discovercleantech.com Mike Scott Jason Deign Anna Turns David Hunt Anders Lorenzen Karin Blak Sunniva Davies-Rommetveit Chris Smith

While the last few months have been marked by a series of extreme weather events caused by climate change, we have also seen uplifting events; signs that the severity of the situation is starting to truly sink in with those who have the power to accelerate the green transformation – our politicians. In the US, by what looked like a stroke of unexpected luck, Joe Biden looks set to get a deal that will spend nearly 362 billion US dollars over ten years to boost electric vehicles, jump-start renewable energy and develop alternative fuels. Even politician-wary climate activists seemed cautiously optimistic at the news, and needless to say that when the deal is (hopefully swiftly) passed, there will be cause for elation and celebration all over the cleantech sector. In Europe too, we had good news, as the EU Commission recently proposed a target of reducing CO2 emissions from cars by 55 per cent by 2030. In this issue of Discover CleanTech our reporters get under the hood of the EV industry that will have to turbocharge to deliver on the targets; we look not just at the cars, but into the whole supply chain; the batteries, the minerals and the infrastructure. But carbon reductions will only work if they are implemented globally. So with input from Timo Harakka, the Finnish minister of transport, and Hui He, China regional director for the International Council on Clean Transportation, we explore how individual countries are using highly different means to reach their EV targets. Of course, the green transformation is not just about cars or energy. When added up, the little treats that we enjoy every day can also have an enormous impact. Looking at two of the best ones, we investigate how the coffee and wine industries are combining new and old measures to help battle and weather the climate crisis. Indeed, this magazine demonstrates that, today, cleantech is everywhere, in your car, your favourite TV series - even your coffee; we love it, and we hope you’ll love reading about it too!

Signe Hansen Editor, Discover CleanTech

© All rights reserved. Material contained in this publication may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior permission of Scan Group – a trading name of Scan Magazine Ltd. This magazine contains advertorials/promotional articles.

29 Nov - 01 Dec 2022

ExCeL London

www.londonevshow.com We connect the entire global EV value chain, from start-ups to investors to governments and OEMs, and showcase the latest solutions in the ever evolving market.

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Cover Feature

Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce, the billion-dollar corporation that wants to get us flying electric in five years The developer of the world’s fastest all-electric plane, Rolls-Royce, has put the quest to reach net zero by 2050 at the core of all its sectors. Discover CleanTech asks the company’s head of sustainability, Rachael Everard, how the billion-dollar corporation works towards its goal – and how long it will be before we will be able to get on an electric aeroplane. BY SIGNE BENN HANSEN

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Rolls-Royce

“We’re entering the era of zero-emission aviation by building the fastest all-electric plane the world has ever seen.”: this is the bold statement that meets the visitor when clicking on to the Rolls-Royce website. Further in, under the company’s sustainability goals, the company declares its intention to become a net zero carbon company across its entire value chain by 2050. It goes on to state: “More fundamentally, we are determined to use our capabilities and expertise to accelerate the decarbonisation of the sectors we serve”. For those who still associate the name with luxury cars, the statement might be even more eye-catching, but these days RollsRoyce is about much more than cars (that part of the business is exclusively in RollsRoyce Motor Cars). Today, Rolls-Royce, a leading producer of aircraft engines, designs, develops, manufactures and services integrated power systems for use in the air, on land and at sea. We ask Everard how a company with a yearly revenue of around 11 billion pounds in the segments of civil aerospace, defence and power systems, works toward reaching net zero and becoming a force for good in all sectors. 8 |

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Rolls-Royce’s Spirit of Innovation, the world’s fastest all-electric plane, took its first flight over Boscombe Down on Wednesday 15 September 2021.

What are the benefits and challenges of executing a role like yours in a company of Rolls-Royce’s magnitude and diversity? As individuals, as society, and as a company, we will face choices in the journey to reducing carbon and tackling climate change. Some of these might be relatively

straightforward, especially at an individual level – do I go vegan? Do I drive an electric car? Do I really need another new pair of jeans? Others might be harder. What role will nuclear power play in our energy mix? Am I prepared to take longer to get to my destination, to face more layovers and a less direct route, if it means reducing the carbon impact of my journey? Will I

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...the engines we are producing today will still be flying in 2050, when science tells us we must reach net zero carbon. So we need to future proof that technology so it can be compatible with that.

Rolls-Royce’s ground-breaking technology is set to power Vertical Aerospace’s flagship Urban Air Mobility (UAM) aircraft. A Rolls-Royce electrical power system will be integrated into the piloted all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle, which will carry up to four passengers for 120 miles at cruise speeds of over 200mph and is on course to certify in 2024.

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Rolls-Royce and airframer Tecnam have joined forces with Widerøe – the largest regional airline in Scandinavia, to deliver an all-electric passenger aircraft for the commuter market, ready for revenue service in 2026.

be comfortable flying on a plane that looks different or uses a different fuel type than I’m used to? For a company like Rolls-Royce, we need to pre-empt some of those choices, and we need to be ready to respond to them. That can be difficult, especially with a long lifecycle business – the engines we are pro-

ducing today will still be flying in 2050, when science tells us we must reach net zero carbon. So we need to future proof that technology so it can be compatible with that. From a sustainability perspective, we also need to understand the wider implications, the known and knock-on consequences of the choices we make. For example, in-

creasing the use of composite materials in our engines will reduce weight and therefore carbon emissions, but it can reduce our ability to recycle the engines when they reach the end of their usable life. Expanding our technology into increasingly electrical systems means increasing our usage of raw materials such as cobalt and lithium, which can carry known environmental and human rights-related risk and impact deep in the supply chain. When it comes to decarbonising aviation, why has Rolls-Royce landed on electrification as the solution? It is clear there is no one solution to decarbonising aviation; electrification will play an important role, but only alongside other measures. We need to bear in mind the breadth and scale of aviation; from small single seater hobbyist planes, to jets pushing past the speed of sound and large airlines crossing the oceans. Each of these looks, sounds, operates differently, and so too will it decarbonise differently.

Two engineers inspect Trent 1000 in SATU facility, Singapore.

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At the smaller end of the scale – urban, commuter, regional – fully and hybrid electric technologies will play an important role. Battery powered planes will be able to connect local cities, communities and regions in a way no other technology can. As we progress up the scale, however, electric

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As individuals, as society, and as a company, we will face choices in the journey to reducing carbon and tackling climate change... do I go vegan? Do I drive an electric car? Do I really need another new pair of jeans? technology plays a lesser role; the fundamentals of physics means you just cannot get the necessary energy density from battery technology to fly heavy aircraft long distances. So other technologies, hydrogen, more efficient gas turbines, sustainable fuels – they will all play a role.

approved for use, and that will take time – and rightly so, given the need to maintain the highest standards of safety – and we think that will take five or so years.

When do you see the first commercial electric passenger flights becoming available?

I already mentioned the need to ensure these technologies are proven and certified for commercial use. Beyond that, we shouldn’t underestimate the scale of the transformation that might be required to fully decarbonise flight – we will need to rethink our airports and infrastructure, creating capacity to take on different types of fuels, recharge electric planes, handle hydrogen. We can also rethink how we connect, especially through the opportunities

This technology isn’t that far away; we have already flown our all electric aircraft to beat the world speed record and we are already testing fully and hybrid electric engines on our test rigs. But to be commercially available on the passenger aviation market, this technology will need to be certified, to be

What are the barriers to faster implementation?

created by technologies such as urban air mobility; no more trekking to airports on the very outskirts of cities, or taking hours to travel between remote communities by bus, ferry or rail. Decarbonising aviation gets a lot of attention, why is it/should it be a priority? Compared to other parts of our global economy – like energy, power and heat – aviation’s contribution to global emissions is relatively small, about three per cent. But aviation is also one of the hardest to decarbonise, so it is right that it gets a lot of attention. Flying connects people in a way no other technology can, so it is imperative that we find ways to make sure it is compatible with a net zero carbon future.

Rolls-Royce Turbogenerator technology includes a small engine designed for hybrid-electric applications. Current battery technology means all-electric propulsion will enable eVTOL and fixed wing commuter aircraft for short flights in and between cities and island-hopping in locations like Norway and the Scottish Isles. By developing turbogenerator technology, that will be scaled to serve a power range between 500 kW and 1200 kW.

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Rolls-Royce

...to be commercially available on the passenger aviation market, this technology will need to be certified, to be approved for use, and that will take time – and rightly so, given the need to maintain the highest standards of safety – and we think that will take five or so years. Within aviation and electrification, the focus on decarbonisation is clear/ straightforward, but how does the focus on sustainability affect RollsRoyce’s other two branches? One of the really unique qualities RollsRoyce has is the ability to cross-pollinate technologies across the different sectors it operates in; taking nuclear energy from a submarine to a small power plant; fuel cell technology from trains into planes; and renewable power generation and storage solutions from data centres into hospitals and remote communities. Our Power Systems business is really leading the way in the energy transition for

the Group – without the added complication of having to take technologies into the air, it is able to make changes and scale technologies more quickly. For example, two of our most popular reciprocating engines have already been certified to run on 100 per cent sustainable fuels instead of the conventional diesel fuels they were originally designed for. Overall, how would you describe the company’s role in the global quest to decarbonise and reach net zero? Rolls-Royce operates in critical systems that form the backbone of modern society – power, transport and the built environment – and these systems are also

the hardest to decarbonise, and with that comes great challenge, but perhaps even greater opportunity. Through technology and innovation we can envision a pathway to divorce the high carbon impact associated with those systems – with activities such as powering our cities and hospitals, travelling to visit loved ones, transporting goods around the world – to play a really important role in the energy transition. I’m really proud of the position that the company, and its leadership, have adopted on climate action, and the commitment we have made to reach net zero carbon by 2050.

The story of Rachael Everard, head of sustainability, Rolls Royce. Becoming the head of sustainability for a company with the impact and complexity of Rolls Royce, may, depending on your approach, be either the dream job or a nightmare. So how did Everard’s journey lead her there? When we ask her, she replies: “Growing up in the north east of Scotland, on the very edge of the Cairngorms national park, I’ve long been drawn to the natural environment, and felt an innate need to protect it. Like many young people in Aberdeenshire, my dad worked in the oil and gas industry, and I remember feeling such a sense of disconnect between industry and the environment around us – a source of great angst between my poor dad and I during my teenage years!” Leaving home to study at the University of St Andrews, Everard swapped the mountain moorland for the Fife coast. “I started out studying geography, but soon realised it was the connection between the natural environment and people that really interested me, and switched degree to sustainable development – luckily, I was at the only university in the UK offering such a course at the time!” she explains. “Then, just before my final year, I swallowed my pride a little to undertake a summer internship at the very same oil and gas company I moaned so much about as a teenager; that experience really opened my eyes up to the critical role that the private sector has to play in a sustainable future. It led ultimately to my decision to work with business, in business, rather than against it, with the hope of making a positive difference.” She rounds off: “I wanted to work for a company where I personally could make a difference, but also a company that had the potential to make a difference at scale. Rolls-Royce offered me both.”

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Rolls-Royce head of sustainability Rachael Everard.

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Sustainable Viniculture

Viniculture - a poster child for climate change adaptation Shaping the individual taste characteristics of all wines, climate conditions have always been essential to wine production. Mike Scott investigates how the viniculture industry is using high- and low-tech solutions to battle climate change and freak weather conditions. BY MIKE SCOTT |

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PHOTOS: JAS HENNESY & CO/CHRISTOPHE MARIOT

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TED, a Naïo Technologies robot, is an autonomous mechanical weeding robot for vineyards and is part of a digital revolution in sustainable viticulture. TED automatically removes weeds around the vine plants meaning wineries no longer need to use herbicides.

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Flocks of sheep have been introduced to the Hennesy vineyard to graze, conserve the grass and, at the same time, enrich the soil with organic matter.

If you think of wine, it is likely to conjure up images of partygoers sipping Champagne, a sommelier at a restaurant table or connoisseurs sipping different vintages at a tasting. Underneath all the glamour, the marketing and branding, though, at its heart, winemaking is farming – and like other farmers, winemakers are feeling the heat from climate change. Wine has always been affected by climatic conditions, which along with the terroir – or 16 |

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the natural environment where vines are grown – helps to give particular wines their unique characteristics. And freak weather conditions – frost in the spring or heavy rain in the flowering season – can destroy a particular vintage. At the same time, particular varieties are grown in certain regions because the conditions were best suited to them when they were planted – some of them decades ago. But all that is changing as the world warms.

NO EASY SOLUTIONS Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and more severe, increasing the threat to harvests while the overall rise in temperatures will mean that it will become impossible to grow wine in some areas. In California, which in 2020 suffered its worst wildfires in modern history (as did Australia), wine growers are also having to contend with what Zurich, the insurance company, calls “one of the deepest megadroughts the region has seen in over 1,200 years”.

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A conference on soils in Provence explores sustainable methods in viticulture. Photo: Grégoire d’Ablon

pending which hemisphere you are in to take advantage of cooler climes. But while winemakers in Chile and New Zealand have been doing that, and wine is now being grown in unlikely regions such as Tasmania, Wales and Denmark, it is not an option for some of the most famous wines, which are defined and tightly restricted by the Appellation system – the defining feature of Champagne, Rioja or Bordeaux wines is that they are grown in the regions whose name they bear. “Wine is the highest-value production crop,” says Linda Johnson-Bell, founder of the Wine and Climate Change Institute. “It’s critical that wine-making becomes more sustainable.” A NATURAL DEFENCE

Meanwhile, the soil in vineyards – which is so central to the quality of the wine – is being depleted and degraded by higher temperatures and erosion. “Globally, about a third of soils are depleted,” says Philippe Schaus, president of Moët Hennessy. The company takes the issue so seriously that it organised the first World Living Soils Forum in Provence earlier this year. The easiest solution to climate change is simply to move further north or south de-

The industry is starting to do just that, from the vineyard to the vintner. Winemakers are deploying a range of technologies and techniques, both ancient and modern, to adapt. Moët Hennessy has announced plans to stop using herbicides, for example, as well as using more environmentally friendly packaging. The company’s Chateau Galoupet rosé wine, made in Provence, is now sold in flat bottles made from recycled plastic collected from ecologically sensitive coastal areas. The bottles have a lower carbon footprint than glass ones. They are also both ten times lighter than glass bottles and take

up 40 per cent less space, making them easier and more efficient to transport. A number of vineyards have adopted agroforestry or regenerative agriculture techniques. While the traditional image of vineyards is of uniform rows of vines stretching out as far as the eye can see – and nothing else – many winemakers are now planting cover crops in between vines to move away from the monocultures created by planting only vines. Cover crops help to reduce soil erosion and to keep the soil aerated, as well as supplying nitrogen and other nutrients that improve the health of the vines, and ultimately yields. They also provide a habitat for birds and insects. Some vineyards have animals wandering through the vines – in the Di Fillipo vineyard in Umbria and the Clos de Quarterons estate in the Loire Valley, both of which are organic producers – geese roam freely, eating weeds and pests and fertilising the soil. INNOVATING TO PRESERVE But the search for sustainability is not just about returning to centuries-old practices – technology is playing a key role as well. Winemakers are looking to use tools such as drones, the internet of things and artificial intelligence to address the challenges they face. Drones are being used to do everything from deterring birds, to delivering pesAugust 2022

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Sustainable Viniculture

ticides and fertilisers, and to provide a wealth of information to vineyards. They can detect diseases, measure weed infestation, assess moisture levels and predict grape yields. By highlighting the ripeness and sugar levels of grapes, the images they provide can help winemakers decide the best time to harvest their grapes.

“Everything gets crunched in the cloud using very advanced machine-learning algorithms and AI to provide bottom-line insights to farmers and help them save on water, fertiliser and emissions, maximising their yield potential, thus becoming more environmentally sustainable,” said Matan Rahav, director of business development.

And many producers are using sensors in the soil to provide real-time updates, not just on temperature, rainfall and soil condition, but also incoming weather that may harm the vines. Start-ups such as Israel-based CropX are using sensors and software to collect data from above and below ground to help producers manage resources such as water, fertiliser and pesticides.

Another group, Deep Planet, offers AI tools to predict yield, maturity, soil moisture, disease, nutrients and soil carbon. The company’s VineSignal product helps growers to predict the best time to harvest their grapes, forecast the likely yield so they can plan their vintages and optimise irrigation so they use as little water as possible. For higher value wines, sensors can also be

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used to provide traceability of the wines from vineyard to the consumer. CHANGING MINDSET Wine is a poster child for climate change adaptation, says Johnson-Bell. “It’s highprofile, known and loved throughout the world and grapes are the most delicate of fruits. What happens here will happen to other crops.” A mix of technology and tradition will help the sector to adapt, she says, but in an industry with an 8,000-year history, “the greatest challenge to making viticulture more sustainable is changing mindsets. Investing in sustainable practices needs to be seen as an opportunity, not an obligation.”

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Special Feature

The Climate PI

The Climate PI: the organisation battling the climate crisis with big data The Climate PI (Planetary Intelligence) uses state-of-the-art AI to recommend which already existing policies, technologies and social solutions could be scaled and adapted to solve the specific challenges of new locations. Discover CleanTech learns how the firm harnesses big data to address some of the biggest challenges facing our planet and people. BY SUNNIVA DAVIES-ROMMETVEIT, MADE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CLIMATE PI

All of the solutions that we need to reduce emissions, rejuvenating nature whilst improving living standards, are already out there,” explains Jennie-Marie Larsen, chief executive of The Climate PI, an organisation that uses machine learning to recommend climate solutions. “The problem is that all of these innovative solutions are fragmented around the world – stuck in silos – meaning that progress isn’t shared and scaled to other similar places around the globe. Getting to net zero before 2050 requires high-impact solutions and unprecedented international and intercorporate cooperation. Yet, knowing which solutions to apply, where and in which combination requires an understanding of not just climate science – complex in and of itself – but of the economical, political, sociologi20 |

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cal and psychological, real-world changes that such green transitions could evoke. As an example, Larsen points to recent well-meaning but mismanaged attempts to ‘green’ cities and transition away from fossil fuels. London’s Liveable Neighbourhoods scheme, which provided funding to London boroughs to implement green solutions, was recently paused due to backlash from some Londoners. “Some solutions simply weren’t workable for communities,” Larsen explains. “Many smaller streets in London became pedestrianised, but that simply meant a lot more traffic and pollution on London’s busier roads.” A similar situation happened in France, Larsen adds, when French president Emmanuel Macron raised Diesel prices in an attempt to discourage driving: those most hit were the poorest in society who can’t afford the slightest increase in cost of

living, and who don’t have access to public transport because they live in rural areas, and this led to country-wide protests. The reason for these strategic failures is that the vast majority of decision makers are unaware of many of the solutions available to help drive down the sources of emissions and increase the capacity of natural carbon sinks. The Climate PI will provide access to hundreds of climate solutions and, most importantly, associated data on the projected impact of each solution. Larsen explains: “We want to use local IoT and macro-environmental data combined with machine learning to understand which solutions are working, in which combination and in which types of environments – so that we can recommend a suite of the best-fit solutions for similar parts of the planet.”

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HUNDREDS OF WORKABLE SOLUTIONS TO GET TO NET ZERO Larsen is very clear on one thing: to achieve gargantuan objectives like meeting net zero before 2050, public wellbeing and prosperity must be at the heart of all solutions. “Many populations, for example in the global south, are not thinking about reducing their emissions – they are simply trying to survive, and in progressively extreme temperatures and inhospitable environments.” Inspired by economist Kate Raworth’s ‘Doughnut Economics’ (pictured), the company aims to recommend solutions suites in line with the nine Planetary Boundaries, (from The Stockholm Resilience Centre) as well as meeting the basic resource needs of a population. It is vital that people’s needs are met in a sustainable way (represented by the inner social foundation ring), from access to food, energy and water, but also to equal

The Climate PI

rights and education for everyone, which will result “not just in top-down change implementation, but sustain a long-term and community-driven green transformation,” Larsen explains. “We need to strive to ensure that, at a bare minimum, the solutions applied do not negatively impact the local population. That is why changes in London and France did not go as planned: local populations were detrimentally impacted. The Climate PI’s recommendations for solutions suites will seek to ensure that people’s living standards are not lowered, but improved,” she adds. The hundreds of innovative solutions include nature-based, technology-based, regulatory and social solutions. Some may sound more familiar, such as wind and solar power technologies. Others are slightly less conventional, and yet research and testing show some of these are extremely

effective tools to reduce emissions. Cows, for example, are some of the biggest methane emitters in the world, but field-testing has shown that feeding them seaweed reduces their methane emissions by up to 90 per cent. “This could be an invaluable solution in areas dependent on cattle farming,” Larsen explains. “This is a good example of how a shift in practices can help a local population maintain sources of income whilst reducing emissions.” Larsen touches on another extremely important point: for many years now, people have been told to reduce their own individual carbon footprint to combat climate change. This is an important piece of the puzzle to be sure; however, it is not quite as significant as we’ve all been led to believe. For instance, even if everyone on the planet stopped flying tomorrow, this would account for only around a 2.5 per cent cut

Economist Kate Raworth’s ‘Doughnut Economics’ offers a vision of what it means for humanity to thrive in the 21st century.

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The Nine Planetary Boundaries concept represents the limits of planetary health signals we must not pass to ensure humanity can continue to develop and thrive for generations to come.

in global emissions. If everyone drove an electric vehicle we would still only reduce emissions by five per cent – not to mention the emissions generated in manufacturing those vehicles. “This belief that the onus of reducing carbon footprints is squarely on individuals’ shoulders is a myth that was started by fossil fuel companies in the 1980s. It was a distraction technique and disinformation campaign to divert attention from the really problematic sources – their highly-polluting products,” Larsen explains. This homing in on the wrong areas of societal systems is something The Climate

PI wants to help decision makers correct, but scaling these solution suites to the appropriate locations will take time. The firm first aims to maximise emissions reduction by focusing on cities, which account for 73 per cent of all emissions. “Cities are where The Climate PI aims to scale up its data collection points initially. The challenge is that no two cities are alike – Paris is different to Los Angeles which is different to Amsterdam,” Larsen says. “Importantly, though, cities also have many similarities – the right datasets combined with innovative machine learning can tell us what these are, and which solutions can

be used in another city, based on a model city’s success.” Larsen gives Amsterdam and Copenhagen as examples of cities where the same solutions could be employed – not just because they are similar sizes, but because of similarities in factors such as bicycle and public transport usage or political attitudes towards climate. Finding the similarities between cities is no small task, and it will require providing the solutions recommendation engine with a (near) real-time supply of environmental intelligence. This includes geospatial data, ground-based sensors, tailored reports

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from local entities, etc. Repeating this process for every location is obviously not viable, and that’s where machine learning plays a major role. “By learning what works and what does not, it can identify which solutions are environmentally suitable for each location,” explains Larsen. “Take olivine (vulcanic) rock weathering, for example. AI could study beaches where this solution successfully removed one tonne of atmospheric CO2 per tonne of rock that was left to weather in the waves and identify the locations of others with the same potential.” By automating these kinds of processes, The Climate PI engine can map the path to future sustainability by identifying look-alike locations and making recommendations that demonstrate how and where to scale up decarbonisation solutions.

The PI dashboard.

The Climate PI

It’s the overall impact of all of the climate and sustainability investments that cities and citizens want to see – political accountability on an ongoing basis towards the net-zero target... CARBON OFFSETTING AND CARBON INSETTING Another important distinction which The Climate PI wants to highlight are the differences between carbon offsetting and carbon insetting. Offsetting – where one company pays for carbon credits from another firm which has renewable energy initiatives or reforestation projects – is an important

aspect of getting to net zero by 2050 and will unfortunately be the primary way most companies will achieve their net-zero targets. The Climate PI aims to encourage more meaningful climate action by companies so they address emissions sources directly within their value chain. Instead of trying to buy off the negative consequences of a firm’s supply chain through distant nature based solutions, carbon insetting aims to reduce emissions associated with the firm’s own supply chain. Danish fashion brand Ganni recently took the decision to divest from suppliers using coal-generated heat or electricity by 2025, and is also reducing waste by recycling its clothing fabrics. “Another good example of insetting is where companies commit to greening the cities where they are headquartered,” explains Larsen. “For example, HSBC is headquartered in London – a city which is currently experiencing unprecedented heat of over 40 degrees Celsius. HSBC has committed to net zero by 2050, something which the firm should not be able to do with offsetting alone. It could change its supply chains, but it could also directly invest in decabonisation initiatives in its headquartered city of London. Similarly, BMW could make the profound decision to sponsor Munich’s decarbonisation. This would have a direct benefit to their employees, too.” To help advise companies, cities and eventually entire countries on which solutions would have maximal impact, The Climate PI’s dashboard (pictured) will give key metrics for stakeholders to be able to measure the rate of success of their policies. “Plugging in the data to the dashboard would allow cities to see the rates at which these changes are being implemented, and the

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The Climate PI

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differences in air, land and water quality as a direct result of these investments. It’s the overall impact of all of the climate and sustainability investments that cities and citizens want to see – political accountability on an ongoing basis towards the net-zero target,” Larsen says. THINKING BIG The genesis story for The Climate PI began as a result of another innovative big-data venture, which Larsen and one of her Climate PI cofounders Sarah-Louise Penhall were involved with three years prior to the company’s inception. Hired by the Indian government to employ machine learning to predict which solutions would have the highest impact for rejuvenating the notoriously polluted Ganges River, Larsen and her colleagues began to think about the idea of overlaying local population health data to understand impact from changes in the river’s health. They then began to dream of unleashing the potential of this technology onto a bigger stage. “We began brainstorming, and asked each other what this could mean for reducing emissions and tidying up our entire planet. We realised that this could be applied to so many different areas, because all of the data is out there, but it takes a machine (that domain experts have taught to be) smart enough to make millions of connections a second to make sense of it and apply it to the right areas.” Three years after the ideas had initially begun to flow, and realising the potential of their vision, Larsen and Penhall found themselves on stage at a green technology conference in Monaco. Having made presentations and spoken to many different experts on how to get their idea off the ground, they caught the attention of one of the conference’s speakers. Celine Cousteau, environmentalist filmmaker and granddaughter of pioneering oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, approached Larsen with ideas. “Celine really believed in our vision, and we count her as an advisor and our teacher with regard to the importance of Indigenous People’s knowledge as stewards of 80 per cent of the world’s

Mazlows Hierarchy of Needs. The Climate PI is based on the conviction that basic needs must be fulfilled for environmental solutions to become successful.

biodiversity,” Larsen explains. “She is committed to supporting the rights of the Indigenous Peoples of the Javari region in Brazil by co-founding The Javari Project with Tadzio Mac Gregor. The Javari territory is the size of Portugal, and there are many vital lessons

that can be learned from how they manage the land. Celine has been helping the Indigenous community share the lessons that have enabled them to manage their land in a highly sustainable manner, and The Climate PI has translated this information into data.”

Cofounders of The Climate PI, Jennie-Marie Larsen [left] and Sarah-Louise Penhall [right] with Celine Cousteau [centre]. Cousteau is an environmentalist filmmaker who has supported the founders and functioned as an advisor on the importance of the knowledge of Indigenous Peoples when it comes to protecting and conserving biodiversity and natural habitats.

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From there, the endorsements have continued to flow. One big seal of approval came recently from Karim Bouamrane, mayor of Parisian suburb Saint Ouen. Bouamrane intends to implement numerous sustainable changes to Saint Ouen, from efficient buildings and city farms to green education programmes and renewable energy. To do so, he will use The Climate PI’s Sustainable City Ratings Dashboard to help track and drive their path to net zero by measuring and predicting the impact of a suite of deployed climate/sustainability solutions. “We are absolutely thrilled to be working with Karim, and we think this could build into an excellent symbiotic relationship – with the dashboard giving Karim insights on how the changes are working, and with us able to collect data to learn in a part of Paris which we could eventually scale up to Paris as a whole, and potentially other similar cities across the globe,” Larsen says. Many new cities in Europe, North America and Brazil have already expressed interest in testing the PI’s Sustainable City Ratings Dashboard. “We are thrilled to be working with so many trailblazers already, including The Global Urban Development (GUD) who are partnering with The Climate PI to provide the Sustainable City Ratings Dashboard to support and drive the net-zero transitions of their member

The Climate PI

cities. The Climate PI will help fast forward the important climate and sustainable innovation learning necessary for city decision makers to make efficient investments in climate solutions. Very few political leaders have had the opportunity to gain real, in-depth climate education. They need help in this critical transition period. A solutions recommendation engine that provides impact prediction can give them a huge leg up,” says Dr. Marc Weiss, CEO of The Global Urban Development. This is how it will be for The Climate PI’s team for some time, it seems – busy, exciting, challenging and transformative. Larsen agrees that it is an exciting time for the organisation: “Over 1,000 cities worldwide are committed to reaching net zero by 2050 and we can expect this number to grow exponentially. Our mission is to support and accelerate that process by sharing lessons of “tested and proven templates for transition” to the many cities who will make those same commitments. There’s no time left for competition, the time has come for collaboration and the sharing of lessons – both the successes and the failures. Knowledge is the principal resource of the human race and it should be shared.” Visit: www.fpi.earth for more information, or contact info@fpi.earth to get in touch.

Feeding cows seaweed is one of the many examples of small but high-impact changes which can be implemented without negatively impacting jobs and income affecting jobs.

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The Climate PI

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The idea for The Climate PI arose as its founders were hired by the Indian government to employ machine learning to predict which solutions would have the highest impact for rejuvenating the notoriously polluted Ganges River.

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Under the Hood of the Electric Vehicle Sector

Timo Harakka, Finnish Minister of transport and communications, on how his country turbocharged its EV-market Timo Harakka, Finland’s minister of transport and communications.

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Under the Hood of the Electric Vehicle Sector

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The Finnish government’s goal is to fully match the needs of gas-fuelled vehicles with renewable biogas by 2030.

Thanks to the past few years’ explosive sales growth, Finland has landed among the top-five countries in EV market share. Finnish minister of transport and communications, Timo Harakka, writes in Discover CleanTech to share his government’s strategies and goals. BY FINNISH MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS TIMO HARAKKA

In 2016, Finland set the goal of cutting in half domestic greenhouse gas emissions from transport by 2030 compared to 2005. Transport emissions in Finland are gradually decreasing, but we must speed up the change. In May 2021, Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s government adopted a resolution on this tar-

get, called Roadmap to fossil-free transport. This roadmap defines the concrete means to achieve our ambitious national emissions reduction goal by 2030 and, beyond that, to achieve zero emissions by 2045.

the urgency of breaking away from fossil fuels. The shocking heatwaves around Europe this summer also remind us of the need for immediate climate action. AN EXPLOSIVE GROWTH

We are in the midst of a transition towards more climate-friendly transport. Russia’s horrendous acts in Ukraine only underline

Even before the surge of gasoline and diesel prices in spring 2022, we had begun to see clear signs of vehicle fleet turnover in August 2022

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Under the Hood of the Electric Vehicle Sector

Finland. The introduction of electric vehicles has accelerated faster than we dared to imagine. In 2021, the number of newly registered EVs, including plug-in hybrids, rose by 170 per cent, and newly registered battery EVs by 240 per cent compared to 2020. Battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids already represented a third of new

The introduction of electric vehicles has accelerated faster than we dared to imagine. In 2021, the number of newly registered EVs, including plug-in hybrids, rose by 170 per cent, and newly registered battery EVs by 240 per cent compared to 2020. 30 |

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Under the Hood of the Electric Vehicle Sector

car registrations in Finland in 2021. In Q1 of 2022, twice as many battery electric vehicles were registered than Q1/2021. At the same time, imports of used battery EVs have grown exponentially.

vehicles, as well as having removed the car tax levied on EVs upon registration. Should the current trend continue, it seems we can reach our aim of 700,000 EVs, one fourth of the passenger car fleet, in 2030.

As intended in the Roadmap´s main policy initiatives, demand for battery EVs is currently very high. The government has made grants available for the purchase of electric

IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT ELECTRIC CARS For passenger cars, electricity is the number one way forward. Most people stop thinking about transport right there. How-

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ever, reducing emissions from all other types of vehicles and vessels requires a much broader set of solutions. In fact, the single most effective tool in emissions reduction has so far been the blending mandate; that is, the obligation to distribute biofuels (or, nowadays more broadly, renewable fuels). The government has included biogas in the distribution obli-

In 2021, the number of newly registered EVs in Finland, including plug-in hybrids, rose by 170 per cent, and newly registered battery EVs by 240 per cent compared to 2020.

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Under the Hood of the Electric Vehicle Sector

gation, and decided to raise the overall rate from a very high base of 30 pc up to 34 pc in 2030 in line with the expected increase of biogas production.

er-to-x) solutions that pave the way to a hydrogen economy.

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Indeed, I cannot stress the upsides of biogas enough. Biogas is a locally and sustainably produced fuel that utilises waste biomass and thus is a key factor in the circular economy. It reduces emissions both in agriculture and in industry and transport. Biogas could and should replace fossil gas both in Finland and Europe now that one source of natural gas is shutting down. Synthetic e-fuels, including synthetic methane, will provide more options in the future and are therefore also included in Finnish distribution obligation. The government is investing and incentivising P2X (Pow-

Due to our location, long distances and scarce population, Finland is very dependent on transportation of goods by road and by sea. Decarbonisation of heavy-duty transport is a great challenge. While electrification of passenger cars is proceeding rapidly, in heavy transport, technologies are less developed and very expensive. One part of the fossil-free roadmap entails purchase subsidies for electric vans and trucks to speed up the green transition in the transport of goods. In addition, these subsidies also cover gas-fuelled vans and trucks. Our aim is to fully match the needs of gas-fuelled vehicles with renewable biogas by 2030. While reducing the overall

dependence of Russian gas, biogas is a solution for heavy traffic here and now, not only in the future. THE CHICKEN AND EGG PROBLEM Vehicle fleet and recharging and refuelling infrastructure pose a chicken-and-egg problem: adequate infra is needed to incentivise the purchase of vehicles running on non-fossil fuels. At the same time, there must be enough vehicles running on new fuels so that infrastructure can be built on market terms. The Finnish Government is subsidising the construction of recharging and refuelling stations, both for public access and for private resident use. Building recharging stations can be quite a significant investment for older housing companies, and

In May 2021, the Finnish Government adopted a resolution defining the concrete means to halve domestic greenhouse gas emissions from transport by 2030 and, beyond that, to achieve zero emissions by 2045.

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not being able to recharge your vehicle at home can be a major hindrance to purchasing an EV. For new housing companies, recharging units are a mandatory requirement in construction.

port Council and the Environment Council reached a general agreement on several transport-related legislative proposals that were presented by the European Commission in the Fit for 55 package last year.

To ensure that the electricity, gas and hydrogen distribution infrastructure will be built as efficiently and comprehensively as possible, our Ministry has set up a working group for the task. Optimising the recharging and refuelling network will require both public and private investment.

Negotiations on the details of the proposals will now continue with the European Parliament. It is already evident that the proposals for stricter emission targets will advance electrification of passenger vehicles and that the alternative fuels infra-

In addition to a fit-for-purpose array of national incentives, campaigns and regulation, EU legislation plays an important role. Finland supports ambitious EU climate targets and legislation that will help achieve these goals. In June, the EU Trans-

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structure regulation will add the last pieces to the puzzle. Next, we will continue negotiations on the emission trading scheme in road transport and examine emission reduction targets for heavy-duty traffic. International collaboration is an integral part of reaching Finland’s national climate targets in transport and, most importantly, helping to achieve EU-wide goals in our transition towards sustainable societies.

We are in the midst of a transition towards more climate-friendly transport. Russia’s horrendous acts in Ukraine only underline the urgency of breaking away from fossil fuels. August 2022

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Under the Hood of the Electric Vehicle Sector

The all-electric Nissan Leaf has received higher rates of customer satisfaction than any other model in Nissan’s line-up. Photo: Nissan

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Under the Hood of the Electric Vehicle Sector

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How electric vehicles won the low-carbon race Half a decade ago, there was still speculation over whether the low-carbon cars of the future would run on hydrogen or electricity – and many were wary of abandoning internal combustion engines. Today, car owners and automotive manufacturers alike are embracing electric mobility. BY JASON DEIGN

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Under the Hood of the Electric Vehicle Sector

Stroll into a Norwegian car showroom and you will encounter the usual trappings of the automotive sales experience: sleek vehicles, affable reps and plush decor. But you would be hard pressed to find any gas guzzlers. Thanks to the most low-emissions-friendly regulations in the world, more than 79 per cent of all new cars sold in Norway today are electric vehicles (EVs) or plug-in hybrids (PHEVs).

The government has a target of 100 per cent zero-emission vehicle sales by 2025 but seems likely to beat that goal as consumers increasingly opt for EVs and PHEVs over internal combustion engine (ICE) models. This record level of new car sales means electric vehicles make up a greater proportion of the overall automotive fleet in Norway than in any other country in the world. Around one in six cars on Norwe-

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gian roads is an EV or PHEV, and in the major cities of Oslo and Bergen, the level is 30 per cent. “They’re even possibly more visible than what those numbers tell you because people who are buying new cars are people who are using the car quite a lot,” says Christina Bu, secretary general of Norsk elbilforening, the Norwegian EV association. ELECTRIFICATION AGAINST THE ODDS

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The Norwegian experience shows just how quickly states can shift the needle on vehicle electrification through the application of the right policies. On the surface, Norway is hardly the kind of country you would expect to be leading the world in EV adoption. It has plenty of oil reserves, for a start. And the vast wilderness in the north of the country is hardly a place where you would

Under the Hood of the Electric Vehicle Sector

want to venture without a fully charged battery. Yet EV adoption is rising even in rural areas and counties such as Troms og Finnmark, which lies within the Arctic Circle.

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Photo: Jamieson Pothecary, Norwegian EV Association

A decade ago, EVs made up just three per cent of new car sales in Norway, a level like that of many other countries today. To stimulate EV adoption, the government slashed taxes on the vehicles and brought in other measures such as a requirement for new buildings to have charging infrastructure. The tax cuts made formerly expensive EVs more affordable to buy and run than ICE vehicles and have been the real catalyst for EV adoption in Norway. A TECHNOLOGICAL VICTORY A Norwegian EV driver survey this year found 61 per cent of owners were swayed to go electric to save costs, compared with just 18 per cent who claimed an environmental motivation and 11 per cent who said they were attracted by the cars’ Complicated charging infrastructures remain a grievance for many EV owners. Photo: Jamieson Pothecary, Norwegian EV Association

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Electric Vehicles

Photo: Nissan

technology and innovation. That said, it no doubt helps that EVs are increasingly seen as more technologically advanced than ICE vehicles. Even in markets that do not have Norway’s attractive regulatory setup, EVs are taking up an increasing proportion of new car sales. This is likely thanks to the impact of the stylish American EV maker Tesla, which is the top-selling electric brand worldwide (although in the first half of 2022, its sales numbers were overtaken by Chinese EV maker BYD). The success of Tesla cars such as the Model 3 and Model Y has forced other manufacturers to up their electric mobility game, with major automakers such as BMW and Volkswagen putting EVs at the centre of their new product line-ups. THE ONE THAT STARTED IT ALL A brand that is keen not to get left behind is the one that arguably started it all: Nissan. 38 |

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“When we launched the Nissan Leaf 12 years ago, we were the first vehicle manufacturer to bring an all-electric vehicle to market and the customer response was fantastic,” says Clíodhna Lyons, regional vice president for product planning at Nissan Africa, Middle East, India, Europe and Oceania. Support for the Nissan Leaf “remains fantastic today,” she says. “In fact, the Nissan Leaf has received higher rates of customer satisfaction than any other model in our line-up and sales have increased considerably year on year as customers switch on to the benefits of EV mobility.” In common with many other leading automakers, Nissan has decided its future will be electric. In 2021 it announced an electrification strategy called Ambition 2030, and this year it launched a new all-electric powertrain line-up in Europe,

“offering more choice than ever before,” Lyons says. “Our strategy is designed to meet the needs of customers and individual market conditions while accelerating adoption. Our goal is a sales mix that is 75 per cent electrified by the end of 2026 and 100 per cent by 2030.” Customer attitudes towards EVs have improved over the last ten years thanks to slow but steady advances in technology and infrastructure, Lyons points out. “Some of the consumer concerns we saw a decade ago are far less prevalent as worries about range have been mitigated by improved battery technology and performance,” she says. “Charging infrastructure availability has also increased at pace alongside the market, but of course there is still more to do in this area,” Lyons adds. “We continue to partner with private companies and local

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Left: Clíodhna Lyons, regional vice president for product planning at Nissan Africa, Middle East, India, Europe and Oceania. Photo: Nissan. Right: 12 years ago, Nissan launched the Nissan Leaf, the first all-electric vehicle on the market. Photo: Nissan

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Under the Hood of the Electric Vehicle Sector

governments across the continent to grow the charging network.” NEW BATTERY TECHNOLOGY The need to provide adequate charging infrastructure was recognised early on by Tesla, which now has a network of more than 35,000 so-called Superchargers worldwide. Following this trend, Nissan has teamed up with Ionity, a high-power charging station network provider, to give drivers access to 1,600 fast chargers across Europe. Another area the company is paying close attention to is battery technology. All EVs today use some form of lithium-ion battery, but there are concerns about the cost of these if the supply of lithium and other key materials fails to meet growing demand. Nissan, again like many other automakers, is looking to get around this problem by adopting an emerging battery technology called solid-state. “All-solid-state batteries have an energy density approximately twice that of conventional lithium-ion batteries, significantly shorter charging time due to superior

Photo: Jamieson Pothecary, Norwegian EV Association

charge-discharge performance, and lower cost thanks to using less expensive materials,” Lyons comments. “With these benefits, Nissan expects to use all-solid-state batteries in a wide range of vehicle segments, including pickup trucks, making its EVs more competitive.”

“I’m not saying it’s all perfect, but already this year more than 600 new fast or superfast chargers have been installed in Norway. It’s happening quickly.”

Christina Bu, secretary general of Norsk elbilforening, the Norwegian EV association. Photo: Norwegian EV Association

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The company is carrying out research into solid-state batteries in-house and hopes to launch the technology towards the end of the decade. “We are confident that allsolid-state battery technology will be a true game-changer in the automotive industry, accelerating the popularity of EVs,” says Lyons. CIRCULAR THINKING It is possible that by then, EVs may not need much more of a popularity boost. Research already indicates that people who buy an EV rarely go back to ICE cars. And in the Norwegian EV driver survey, 95 per cent of owners said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their purchase. Environmentalists have cause to celebrate, too. Study after study has shown that switching to electric mobility is better for the planet than driving an ICE vehicle, even if the electricity used to charge batteries comes mostly from fossil fuel plants. Across Europe, where two thirds of electricity on the grid is carbon free, the environmental benefits of EVs are immediately apparent. In Norway, the half a million-plus EVs on the road are saving a million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. And saving carbon emissions is not the only way in which EVs can help with sustainability. The move to electrification has forced many vehicle makers to become more conscious of the environmental impact of their products.

Under the Hood of the Electric Vehicle Sector

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More than 79 per cent of all new cars sold in Norway today are electric vehicles (EVs) or plug-in hybrids (PHEVs). Photo: Jamieson Pothecary, Norwegian EV Association Photo: Jamieson Pothecary, Norwegian EV Association

For example, says Lyons, “Right from the start of the Nissan Leaf’s launch, Nissan has not just been thinking about the car and its batteries but about the whole life usage of the vehicle, the energy infrastructure, recycling and how batteries can be given a second life.” The lithium-ion batteries in Nissan Leafs and other EV models still have plenty of storage capacity after they stop being useful as a power source for the vehicles. “Therefore, there is a huge opportunity to reuse these batteries, providing a ‘second life’ in another application,” Lyons says. Second-life battery applications Nissan has been involved in include powering aeroplanes sitting at airport gates, to save on jet fuel, providing emergency back-up power at railroad crossings in Japan, and running stadium lights during matches and events at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Barcelona, Spain.

“Earlier this year, Nissan announced that EV batteries have also been integrated into a conventional power plant in Melilla in Spain, to help secure the continuity of energy supplies to 90,000 residents,” Lyons adds. “We’re proud of the truly holistic approach we are taking to the future of mobility, working towards our commitment of carbon neutrality by 2050, with the goal of ushering in a cleaner, more inclusive world for future generations.” ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT Despite this bright outlook, there are still challenges to be overcome in EV adoption. Availability of charging infrastructure remains a problem, with owners complaining of a lack of standards. Three out of four respondents to the Norwegian EV driver survey said the number of charging operators and apps was complicated, and 88 per cent wished for simpler setups that would work anywhere. Another

problem is that even if the infrastructure has been built, it may not work. Half the people in the Norwegian survey said they had encountered fast chargers that had broken down, and a similar proportion reported queues while waiting to charge. These charging infrastructure issues can have an impact on EV adoption, but experts believe many of the frustrations seen by drivers today will disappear as the industry matures. And that is happening fast. “The biggest challenges from a consumer point of view have more to do with payment and having different apps,” says Bu. “I’m not saying it’s all perfect, but already this year more than 600 new fast or superfast chargers have been installed in Norway. It’s happening quickly.”

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Though China sold nearly 3.5 million electric vehicles last year, market penetration is significantly lower than in Europe.

Electric vehicles in China and Europe – not a race against each other, but toward their own climate targets Hui He, China regional director for the International Council on Clean Transportation, explores the similarities and differences of the Chinese and European EV markets. BY HUI HE

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Hui He, China regional director for the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), joined the ICCT as a policy analyst in 2007 and took on oversight of the China programme in 2014. She has a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Texas, and dual bachelor’s degrees in international relations and economics from Peking University, China.

Figure 1. Annual electric vehicle sales globally by market from 2011 to 2021. (Source: ICCT: https://theicct. org/publication/global-ev-update-2021-jun22/)

Both China and Europe can proudly claim leadership in the global electric vehicle market, in two different ways. Last year, China sold the most electric vehicles in the world, nearly 3.5 million, and that’s more than the sum of the rest of the world combined (Figure 1). Europe, however, led by a large margin in terms of electric vehicle (Electric vehicles include battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles) market penetration: 19 per cent of new cars sold in Europe were electric, three percentage points higher than the value in China and double the world’s average (Figure 2). Even based on this obvious data, it is still not easy or straightforward to say which re-

gion is ‘winning the race’, because the two regions are not simply racing against each other, but their own decarbonisation targets. DIFFERENT TARGETS Both regions set their carbon neutrality targets – Europe by 2050 and China by 2060 – in different ways. China’s pledges were made by its president at a United Nations conference (General Assembly), while Europe wrote into law the 2050 goal set by the European Green Deal. This is called the European Climate Law and it additionally requires the transportation sector to reduce its carbon footprint by 90 per cent by mid-century compared with the 1990 baseline. The sector-specific target drives various transportation policy actions in the

Fit for 55 package. China has not yet set any binding climate targets for transportation, but did announce that it would peak transportation oil consumption by 2030 in its national action plan for peaking economy-wide carbon emissions. The two regions have also used different regulatory approaches for driving zero-emission transportation. In Europe, vehicle CO2 standards play a pivotal role. Triggered by the Fit for 55 package, the European Commission proposed a fleetwide CO2 emissions target of zero for all new cars and this will essentially phase out internal combustion vehicles by 2035. The Commission is currently working on a revised CO2 regulation for heavy-duty veAugust 2022

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Under the Hood of the Electric Vehicle Sector

targets after being divided by the per-vehicle credit based on the electric vehicle’s electric range and other technical features. Since the rule took effect in 2018, China has raised the credit requirement from the initial ten per cent to 18 per cent in 2023. These targets were set incrementally to align with the above near-term target and are reflective of where the industry, market and technology development are already trending. Figure 2. Electric vehicle shares of new light-duty vehicle sales for the largest vehicle markets from 2011 to 2021(Source: ICCT: https://theicct.org/publication/global-ev-update-2021-jun22/) Note: In this Figure, the European market does not include the United Kingdom

hicles that aims to accelerate adoption of zero-emission technologies. China’s policies are rather piecemeal and short term. Its overall electrification target was set in the nation’s automotive industry development plan, which seeks to build a vigorous and competitive auto industry,

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and currently it is electric vehicles as 20 per cent of new sales by 2025. To meet this goal, China’s industrial ministry mandates that car manufacturers generate a certain amount of electric vehicle credits. Modelled after California’s landmark Zero Emission Vehicle Program, the credit requirements can translate into sales share

Heavy commercial vehicles were excluded from China’s targets. The development of electric commercial vehicles was mainly driven by the nation’s anti-air-pollution campaigns. A three-year Blue-Sky Defense Plan, in place beginning in 2018 and led by the Chinese environmental ministry, required the most air-polluted regions and industries to use clean transportation. This helped transform China’s Hebei province, traditionally known for being home to many heavy industries and very poor air quality,

Under the Hood of the Electric Vehicle Sector

into the leading electric heavy truck submarket in the nation. In 2021, the province sold 3,900 electric dump trucks and semi-tractor trucks, more than half of the nation’s total (Figure 3). Highlighting this is not meant to neglect that China adopted fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks, but those regulations have been too weak to have any significant impact on electrification.

38 per cent in 2025 and is also considering a similar credit policy for commercial vehicles. But, as said previously, these goals are industry-driven and too shortsighted. The

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nation can learn from Europe and develop enforceable CO2 standards for cars and trucks that are driven by broader industrial decarbonatisation goals.

A STRIKING DIFFERENCE Despite the variety of policies in China to drive electric vehicles, these policies are missing a critical link to the nation’s decarbonisation target. This is perhaps the most striking difference from Europe. Because of the EU’s electric vehicle market development in the past three years, during which there was dramatic growth from three per cent of new sales in 2019 to 19 per cent in 2021, an increase of eight percentage points each year, the region can simply keep its current pace of electrification to meet the scenario that limits warming to 2°C. China saw a similar increase wherein electric vehicles went from five per cent of new sales to 15 per cent during the same three years. To align with a 2°C-compatible pathway, though, China needs to raise its current annual electric vehicle sales growth from five to six percentage points per year (Figure 4). Solid, enforceable policies will be the key to materialising these growth paths. In Europe, the proposed zero-CO2 emissions standard for cars holds a lot of promise, but the region still needs to develop interim or annual targets to ensure that manufacturers continuously work toward that long-term goal. The regulation also needs to take into consideration the real-world use pattern of plug-in hybrid vehicles so as not to over-credit this partial zero-emission technology. The EU is also considering revising its heavy-duty vehicle CO2 standard to further incentivise the production of electric trucks and buses. China is going to further lift its passenger car electric vehicle credit target requirement to

Figure 3. Geographical distribution of electric dump trucks and semi-tractor trucks in China, 2021 (Source: ICCT)

Figure 4. Battery-electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle market share for new passenger vehicles in select markets from 2015 to 2021 compared with 2°C compatible electric vehicle sales targets. (Source: ICCT: https://theicct.org/eu-lvs-climate-path-jun22/) Note: The US data include light trucks, whereas EU and China are passenger cars only

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Under the Hood of the Electric Vehicle Sector

Solid-state batteries – the next big thing in electric mobility? Electric vehicle companies are in hot pursuit of a new kind of battery that is safer, lighter and more powerful than the lithium-ion products in today’s Teslas and Nissan Leafs. Cleantech specialist Jason Deign investigates if solid-state batteries could become the future of electric mobility. BY JASON DEIGN

Chinese state-owned automotive manufacturer Donfeng Motor Corporation is hardly a Tesla or BMW. The average citizen in markets outside China would struggle to identify its logo. But the company raised eyebrows among electric vehicle (EV) watchers in January 2022 – and did so with an innovation that was not even visible to observers. The fuss surrounding

50 demonstration units of its Aeolus E70 model was all to do with their batteries. Dongfeng claimed the cars were the first to be equipped with solid-state batteries, a technology that automakers believe could soon replace standard lithium-ion battery packs in the growing number of electric vehicles on the road. Critics were quick to

Chinese carmaker Dongfeng claimed a solid-state first in 2022. Photo: dreamstime.com

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point out that Dongfeng’s batteries were not actually solid-state, but something of a hybrid between them and today’s lithium-ion chemistries. But the interest in solid-state batteries remains very real. The technology is expected to allow carmakers to overcome several shortcomings in present-day lithium-ion batteries. These

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The Toyota LQ concept car is said to have solid-state batteries. Photo: dreamstime.com

work by exchanging electrons between electrodes through a liquid electrolyte. The electrolyte is what causes most problems in current lithium-ion battery designs. For a start, it adds significant weight to the battery, which is not great when you are trying to improve the efficiency of a vehicle by making it as light as possible. Plus, the electrolyte takes up a lot of space, limiting the energy that each battery can deliver. But the most worrying aspect of liquid electrolytes is that they cannot act as a fixed barrier between the electrodes. And if the electrodes touch, for example through a deformation of a battery cell, it can cause a spark that ignites the electrolyte. To make matters worse, the electrolyte in lithium-ion batteries is flammable, so once a fire starts it is hard to put out.

SOLVING PROBLEMS WITH LITHIUM-ION “There is currently a lack of legislation around how fire services put out electric vehicle fires,” notes Max Reid, a battery and raw materials service research analyst at Wood Mackenzie. “It tends to be, ‘wait until they burn out’, which is not great if you’ve got a motorway with a fairly large crash.” Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the automotive sector believe these problems can be solved through one apparently simple innovation: substituting the liquid electrolyte with a solid film separating the electrodes. Such solid-state batter-

ies would be safe and compact, packing much more energy per unit of weight and volume compared to traditional lithium-ion products. These characteristics could lead to other benefits. Increased safety means batteries could be recharged more quickly, for instance. And having more energy per battery could allow electric vehicles to travel even further on a single charge than internal combustion engine cars can manage on a full tank today, putting paid to range anxiety – the fear of running out of juice before reaching a charging station. Given the

The industry has been able to produce solidstate batteries for decades – for microchips. August 2022

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Tesla is resisting the move to solid-state technologies for now. Photo: Tesla

potential benefits of solid-state batteries, it is unsurprising that companies developing the technology have attracted a lot of attention. Last year, the solid-state battery maker QuantumScape, whose investors include Volkswagen and tech magnate Bill Gates, went public and achieved a valuation of 13 billion US dollars, even though it has yet to start production. Elsewhere, carmakers are scrambling to take stakes in solid-state battery developers. Ford and BMW have invested in Solid Power. Hyundai, Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi are backing Ionic Materials. Honda, SAIC, Hyundai, Kia and General Motors are betting on SES. 48 |

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CHALLENGES IN SCALING UP THE TECHNOLOGY “All OEMs have some level of interest in solid-state batteries, for sure,” Reid confirms. But for all the interest, progress in getting solid-state batteries to market has been slow because of challenges in scaling up the technology. “The industry has been able to produce solid-state batteries for decades – for microchips,” says Reid. “That level of cell uses sputtering techniques – firing atoms in a vacuum – which is not applicable when you talk about EV sizes.” Reid has calculated that the amount of solid electrolyte film needed for an average electric vehicle would be enough to cover three

tennis courts. The film, which could be in the form of a ceramic material or lithium metal foil, is hard to mass produce efficiently and cost effectively. Another problem for solid-state batteries is that the number of times they can cycle is low compared to traditional lithium-ion products, which means the battery packs in electric vehicles would have to be changed every couple of years or so. These issues have so far put manufacturers off making the switch to solid-state batteries, although Toyota of Japan was reported to have launched a concept car using the technology last year. “As solid-state batteries are some way off from being fully commercialised, battery makers have put

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As solid-state batteries are some way off from being fully commercialised, battery makers have put their money behind conventional technology for now their money behind conventional technology for now,” says Anton du Plessis, chief executive of Zinnwald Lithium, which is developing a German lithium mining and processing plant. NO DATE YET FOR COMMERCIALISATION Traditional lithium-ion battery technology “still has a way to go before it is exhausted in terms of improvements,” du Plessis says. “For example, Tesla, which is regarded by many to be at the forefront of battery developments, appears to have chosen to improve the cell format and dry electrode process, rather than invest in solid-state.” Nevertheless, industry experts predict the large sums of money being poured into solid-state battery research – and electric vehicle batteries more generally – will allow current challenges to be overcome. In the

coming years, “Demand for EVs is going to ramp up significantly,” says Reid. “We are seeing hundreds of billions around investment into the battery space alone. I expect that whilst progress has been slow over the past ten years, it’s certainly not going to be the same for the next ten.” Still, when the technology will achieve commercial maturity remains uncertain and analysts are cautious about placing bets because the solid-state battery segment already has a track record of falling short of expectations. Reid believes mass commercialisation of solid-state batteries by 2027 or 2028 “is definitely realistic.” However, “some OEM roadmaps are stating around the end of the decade,” he says, “rather than what some others would like – which is in the next three years.”

Hercules is one of many EV brands looking to use solid-state batteries. Photo: Hercules Electric Vehicles

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The company making it easier to get new batteries to market Batteries are essential to our energy future. But adapting batteries for new applications is not always easy. UK-based Danecca, founded by the battery expert who worked on Jaguar’s iconic I-Pace electric crossover sport utility vehicle, aims to change that with a novel approach. BY JASON DEIGN, MADE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH DANECCA

Batteries will be everywhere in the energy systems of tomorrow. The need to maximise the use of all available renewable electricity will drive battery developments in areas ranging from transportation to industry. But right now, there is an issue in adapting batteries to all these potential use cases; most batteries are mass-produced in Asia with little consideration for their end use. Danecca, based at Silverstone in the UK, aims to change this with several major innovations based on founder and managing director Danson Joseph’s experience in developing the power supply for Jaguar’s sleek I-Pace coupé sport utility vehicle. At Danecca, “our focal area is the battery system, agnostic of any cell technology,” says Joseph. This potentially makes Danecca’s batteries better able to serve specific industries and use cases. But even if a battery can be adapted for a new application, scaling up production can be a problem for companies that are not ready to order products in bulk from Asia. Here again, Danecca is looking to help. In future, the company plans to “establish manufacturing facilities that can do – depending on the customer requirements – 1,000, 5,000, 10,000 units, with smaller jumps,” Joseph says. Vertical Aerospace’s VX4 four-passenger prop plane. Photo: Vertical Aerospace

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GREAT FOR NEW CONCEPTS This is great for companies looking to develop new concepts and has helped Dan-

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ecca pick up customers in the aerospace, automotive and marine transportation sectors. One high-profile customer is Vertical Aerospace, which is aiming to bring battery-powered passenger aircraft to market. What if a concept holds mainstream promise, and the customer decides to scale up battery manufacturing? Once more, Danecca has the solution. It is currently looking for investors to expand upon its current 8,500-square-foot facility and fund a factory in the UK that could produce up to a gigawatt-hour of batteries a year. The facility will be designed with zero emissions and minimal environmental impact in mind, to “show that industrialisation doesn’t need to pollute the environment,” says Joseph. It will also potentially serve as a prototype for any Danecca customer that wants to set up battery manufacturing plants of

their own. “We can deliver a factory like this in any location,” Joseph comments. REMOVING RISKS FROM PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT Danecca’s approach “takes some of the risks out of the development of products and instrumentation,” he says, and not just because the company, which has around 30 employees, is there to assist all along the way. Another risk-reduction feature that Danecca brings to the table is an awareness of the challenges involved in taking a battery concept through to mass manufacturing. “Often, a design is not sympathetic to the needs of manufacturing,” Joseph explains. “That’s when customers end up spending fortunes. They’ve got a design, then go to manufacture it and realise that they’ve got to change the whole thing. When we engineer, our engineering is aware of the subtleties of manufacturing.”

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If Danecca’s philosophy catches on then it will not only help bring batteries to a host of new areas of life, but also improve the sustainability of the industry overall. “We define our purpose as to create sustainable life,” Joseph says. For more information, please visit: www.danecca.com

Founder and managing director Danson Joseph.

UK-based Danecca aims to help clients adapt batteries for new applications and feasible production.

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Cornwall’s geothermal waters have elevated lithium concentrations due to the dissolution of lithium-enriched minerals in the granite.

Lithium – chasing a sustainable production Pioneering tech that taps into the geothermals beneath Cornwall to extract lithium in a really low impact way could transform EV battery supply chains. Anna Turns speaks to Lucy Crane, a geologist at Cornish Lithium, to find out more. BY ANNA TURNS

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PHOTOS: CORNISH LITHIUM

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At the south-western tip of the UK, Cornwall is known for its rich mining heritage. Copper was mined here until the 1850s, then tin until about 50 years ago, and even today kaolin is extracted from china clay pits and used to make ceramics and paper, amongst other things. Traditionally, mining has been associated with dirty, polluting processes and unethical labour, but a new, modern mining industry is now evolving once again in this county. Deep below the surface of the rugged Cornish landscape and coastline lie vast

geothermal reservoirs amongst the mass of lithium-rich granite rock. A company called Cornish Lithium is exploring the potential of these circulating hot geothermal waters, following 3D modelling of the geology of Cornwall to identify the best areas for future lithium extraction. The team is developing ways to drill boreholes up to two kilometres down into the ground, pump the circulating fluids up to the surface and then extract lithium from the water at a plant, whilst using the geothermal heat energy too. This results in much lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to

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traditional mining methods and the water is returned to the geothermals below once some of the lithium has been extracted for use in mobile phones, laptops and electric car batteries. A MORE SUSTAINABLE LITHIUM PRODUCTION Hopefully, a thriving new lithium mining industry could spark more localised battery production that results in a more energy-efficient and transparent supply chain in the future. With the rapid transition to low-carbon technologies and more August 2022

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Benchmark Mineral Intelligence has seen demand for lithium nearly double from 2020 to 2022, to over 600,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) this year, and this demand is expected to exceed 2,000,000 tonnes by 2030.

widespread electric transport, demand for sustainably-sourced lithium batteries is predicted to skyrocket. According to the World Bank, global production of lithium will rise by 965 per cent by 2050, compared to 2017 production levels. Lithium-rich geothermal waters are also found in Germany, France and the US, where similar explorations are taking place. More streamlined supply chains are key to a more sustainable, circular economy, for both environmental and economic reasons, as Lucy Crane, a geologist who works for Cornish Lithium, explains. “Car manufacturers seem to be looking all the way up the supply chain now. They’re starting to think about making their supply chains more resilient, and especially following the semi-conductor crisis over the past couple of years, [it’s clear that] there’s a geopolitical risk associated with supply chains. If some [raw materials] can come 54 |

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from closer to home, then that makes it more appealing.” New blockchain technologies are being introduced to verify the sourcing of raw materials throughout supply chains too, something Crane is excited to see: “In the mining industry, there’s a big move towards traceability and accountability of supply chains.” “We’re so lucky here in the South West because we’ve got so much amazing natural capital and the potential to produce some of the critical materials that will enable that electric transition,” adds Crane, who says that the ‘sweet spot’ for lithium extraction is between one to two kilometres underground. “I’m really excited about the potential of having an electric car industry in the UK and if we can responsibly produce lithium and get that made into batteries here in the UK, that will transform the carbon cost of the supply chain. This is a fantastic opportunity for Cornwall.”

HEAT AND LITHIUM FROM ONE BOREHOLE When she joined the company in 2017, Crane was the first technical employee in a team of 12. Now Cornish Lithium employs more than 50 people with another ten at Geocubed, a subsidiary company set up to run a hi-tech pilot lithium extraction facility at a site called United Downs. A few miles down the road, another research borehole has been drilled down to 1.6 kilometres at Twelveheads, where experts are recovering rock core for analysis, plus establishing temperatures and lithium content of the geothermal water samples that are being transported to the surface using an electric pump. As the ESG and sustainability manager, Crane’s role is to oversee the wider environmental and ethical impacts of this emerging mining industry. To maximise on resource efficiency, Cornish Lithium is looking at the possibility of partnering with big businesses

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Lithium was first discovered in Cornwall in 1864 when saline water from United Mines was analysed by the Professor of Chemistry at King’s College London.

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and agricultural industries that need a substantial low-carbon heat supply – the hope is to supply them with geothermal heat, a significant by-product of lithium extraction. Currently, Crane’s team is carrying out a feasibility study and doing a full environmental impact assessment, which, she says, is about being ethically responsible as much as environmentally-conscious. “We’re taking that bigger picture view and we hope to one day help upskill local communities through apprenticeships, but we’re also doing some quite high-level life cycle assessments – although we think there should be benefits to us producing things locally, but we want to actually quantify that.”

possibly commercial scale production by then too. “It’s a race to meet the high demand for lithium and other battery metals. The worry is that if these projects can’t get into production fast enough, that will hamper that EV growth,” comments Crane, who explains that the 2030 ban of all new combustion engine vehicles in the UK is already acting as a huge catalyst in the transition to low-carbon transport. And as production of EV batteries scales up, so too does the impetus to keep the relative cost of raw materials down as much as possible. But Cornish Lithium is just one piece of the jigsaw puzzle.

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JUST ONE PIECE OF THE PUZZLE By 2026, Cornish Lithium aims to be doing demonstration-scale production, and

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“In the UK, we have the potential to produce lithium here. Some battery mega-factories are being built, which is great, but the missing link hinges on whether we

can refine any raw materials that we mine into battery-quality chemicals here rather than shipping them off. Then, once we have them, they need to be made into cathodes before they can be made into the battery,” she says. “So there’s a whole upstream process which people are only just starting to get their heads around.” “A lot of people might be surprised to hear that I care about the environment and work in the mining industry, but to combat the climate crisis, we need low-carbon technologies, so we’ll need to mine more raw materials than we ever had done in the past,” adds Crane. “I want to be part of the solution and that starts with thinking much more carefully about the supply chains that produce the stuff that we own and the energy that we use.”

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Lucy Crane, geologist at Cornish Lithium.

Where does lithium usually come from?

Lithium, known as Li in the periodic table, is the lightest metal, very reactive and abundant in the earth’s crust.

Lithium-ion batteries were first commercialised in 1991. Because they are lightweight, portable and can store charge, they are commonly used in mobile phones, laptops and electric car batteries. Most lithium mined today is either sourced from the mining of hard rock called spodumene in Western Australia – that involves extremely high temperatures and is therefore energy-intensive – or it’s extracted directly from underground salt lakes or salars in South American countries such as Argentina and Chile. Once the salty waters have been pumped up to the surface, they are left for months in huge evaporation ponds to concentrate so that lithium can be extracted from the remaining salty solution. This slow, water-intensive process can result in toxic chemicals leaking from the evaporation ponds into the water supply and the surrounding environment. Once mined, the lithium might then get shipped to China and refined into battery-grade lithium chemicals, then manufactured into a battery in another country before being shipped to Europe for installation into an electric car. So traditionally, battery manufacture involves a long, complex and convoluted global supply chain. https://cornishlithium.com/ https://geocubed.co.uk/

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“We are at a crossroads; if we don’t insist on making our own green, secure and cheap energy demand and production, […] we will fail historically,” says Martin Lidegaard, the Danish politician who came up with the idea for the climate-centred plot of the new season of Borgen. Photo: Mia Lami

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Maritin Lidegaard

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The former Danish energy and climate minister behind the plot for Borgen – real life overtakes fiction He could easily have been one of the characters in the early seasons of the Danish hit series Borgen. But when the series returned for a surprise global comeback on Netflix, few might have guessed that former climate and energy minister Martin Lidegaard was one of the brains behind the plot. The Danish politician talks to Anders Lorenzen about Borgen’s climate-focused storyline and the real-world implications of the continued search for oil. BY ANDERS LORENZEN

Lidegaard, a member of the Danish parliament and proclaimed climate activist, has had a proven interest in climate action for years before it became a trend. Indeed, prior to his entrance into politics, in 2008, Lidegaard co-founded Concito, a green think-tank promoting green solutions in the cross-field of politics and business.

Sidse Babett Knudsen. Photo: Mike Kollöffel

Today, however, the 55-year-old is best known as an active politician and, more recently and rather surprisingly, as one of the brains behind the fourth season of Borgen. Based on the question of what would happen if oil was discovered in Greenland, Borgen: Power and Glory seems almost eerily relevant in today’s geopolitical climate. “We are at a crossroads; if we don’t insist this time on making our own green, secure and cheap energy demand and production, if instead we start building up new dependencies on oil and gas, we will fail historically,” Lidegaard says when talking about the war in Ukraine and the need to open up new fossil fuels projects in order to wean off from Russian fossil fuels. August 2022

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Maritin Lidegaard

“...we have this perfect storm of a climate crisis, a security crisis and an economic crisis. For all of these challenges, the only right answer is to establish a green energy market in Europe.” 60 |

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The idea for the new season of Borgen, however, came about long before the current energy crisis, and its way to the screen was anything but ordinary. It all started as Adam Price, the creator of the series, had invited Lidegaard onto his cooking show, a highly popular programme in Denmark

Maritin Lidegaard

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geopolitics and how would Greenland, Denmark and the rest of the world react to it? Price was interested in the idea, not just because of the geopolitical angle but also because of the climate link which was becoming a hot topic just around that time. After that meeting, Lidegaard and Price formulated a basic plot and storyline. “Then, after two to three years, he [Price] came back and said that Danish broadcaster DR and Netflix had asked him if he wanted to produce a new season of Borgen; he thought our plot would fit perfectly into Borgen and asked me if I would be OK with that,” explains Lidegaard. For Lidegaard it was not a difficult choice. “To reach such a huge audience and artists was something I could only dream about,” he says. REALITY ALWAYS OVERTAKES FICTION

The storyline of Borgen: Power and Glory, currently available on Netflix, explores the political and geopolitical fallout after an oil discovery in Greenland. Photo: Mike Kollöffel

which sees famous Danish people invited into Price’s kitchen to cook with him. Not one to forgo such challenges, Lidegaard accepted the invitation. “On the show, I took the opportunity to tell him that I had an idea he might be interested in. At the time, my idea was not that it should be a

new series of Borgen, in my mind it should be a movie or a new series,” he explains. Subsequently, Price and Lidegaard went to lunch to discuss the idea which was based on the eventuality that oil was discovered in Greenland. How would this event shape

While the series is clearly fiction, current and recent events do beg the question of how far-fetched the storyline really is? Could the plot we are seeing played out in the series happen in real life? Lidegaard stresses that the story is, of course, imagined. “But reality always overtakes fiction,” he says. “If I had told Price – why don’t we make a plot where the American president wants to buy Greenland? I’m sure he then would have said – let’s be a little realistic Martin.” In 2019, former US President Donald Trump made an offer to buy Greenland. Denmark turned it down in no uncertain terms, creating a bit of diplomatic tension between the two countries. This happened after Price and Lidegaard came up with their plot, and arguably, at that time, it would have been a more far-fetched storyline than the one they came up with. August 2022

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Maritin Lidegaard

Adam Price, the creator and head writer behind Borgen, wrote Borgen: Power and Glory based on an idea and storyline he developed with Martin Lidegaard. Photo: Mike Kollöffel

Talking about the objective of the Borgen storyline, Lidegaard, who held the office of Danish climate and energy minister for three years and subsequently, for a short stint, the office of foreign minister, tells Discover CleanTech: “I wanted to show the interlinkage between climate and energy politics and security and geopolitics, which has somehow been underestimated in Danish and European politics.” He adds: “The other part was that I wanted to show modern life in Greenland, show the Danish audience how things are looking in Greenland now, and maybe also the other way around – show the Greenlandic audience that Denmark actually cares for Greenland”. He quickly underlines that he cannot take credit for the dramatisation of the series and the high quality of the writing and acting. “That’s down to the filmmakers,” he stresses. WE NEED TO CUT DEMAND FOR OIL Lidegaard cites another example of how quickly things can move in politics: When 62 |

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they wrote the plot about it four years ago, the Greenlandic government at the time was actively searching for oil companies to explore Greenland’s vast landmass. While there has been a new election since then and the new governing party in Greenland wants to stop all extractive industries in Greenland, the former governing party has just joined the coalition government. On that basis Lidegaard says it is “indeed very interesting what the long-term politics in this area will look like.” He also offers a sombre assessment of what an oil discovery in the Arctic would look like. He is convinced that if either oil or gas was found in the Arctic, it would be very difficult to prevent that being explored, especially with the war in Ukraine. Lidegaard, who classifies himself as a climate activist, says that in the light of that, the only thing to do to avoid the exploration of oil in the Arctic and elsewhere is to reduce demand. ”Go for electric vehicles (EV’s), go for other heating forms, go for other production passages than the ones that use crude oil and

gas; that’s what we have to do, and that’s where a country like Denmark should lead for both climate and security reasons,” he stresses, and adds: “We import energy for 300 billion euros in the EU each year, from Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and so on. The benefits we would gain if we replaced this with homegrown green energy and energy efficiency are enormous both in terms of climate as well as security”. AT A CROSSROAD There are, however, developments which make Lidegaard optimistic. He quotes two reports, one from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the other from the International Energy Agency (IEA), whose analysis finds that energy efficiency in combination with renewables is not only the cheapest solution for energy demand, but also the fastest built. “So if you want to replace the gas import or the oil import from Russia, and for that matter the Middle East, the cheapest and the fastest way to do this is through renewables,” he says.

Maritin Lidegaard

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“If I had told Price – why don’t we make a plot where the American president wants to buy Greenland? I’m sure he then would have said – let’s be a little realistic Martin.” In light of this, Lidegaard believes, the main barrier in Europe is the infrastructure. The solution he presents is the sharing of renewable energy within Europe, meaning that when, for instance, northern Europe is very windy, the excess energy would be transported to countries with lower wind energy generation. This is a concept known as the European supergrid, which engineers and policymakers have been working on for years, but so far there is little to show for it other than good interconnectors between neighbouring countries such as Denmark and Germany, the UK and France and so on.

Photo: Mia Lami

Thus Lidegaard concludes our conversation: “So here we are, we are in a hurry, we don’t have that much time – but if we don’t do it now under these circumstances, when will we do it? When we have this perfect storm of a climate crisis, a security crisis and an economic crisis. For all of these challenges, the only right answer is to establish a green energy market in Europe.”

Martin Lidegaard is a member of the Danish parliament Folketinget and the vice chairman of the Social Liberal Party. From 2011-2014, he was Denmark’s minister of climate, energy and building. From 2014-2015, he was Denmark’s foreign minister. Before entering politics, Lidegaard founded and chaired the green think tank Concito. In 2013, Lidegaard was a guest on Adam Price’s cooking show. He used the opportunity to present Price, the creator of Borgen, with the idea on which the storyline for the recently released Netflix revamp of Borgen – Borgen: Power and Glory – was built.

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Features

Electrolysers

The race towards cheaper green hydrogen crosses borders Reliance, an Indian energy giant, has partnered up with a Danish cleantech veteran to lower the cost of green hydrogen. Experts estimate that it is not unlikely that the collaboration will manage to bring down the cost of hydrogen to one dollar per kilogramme. BY JASON DEIGN

Green hydrogen is the molecule of the moment, with potential applications in everything from heavy industry to road transportation. But the electrolysers needed to make the gas are still expensive, which is why technology developers are on a quest for new and improved designs. Henrik Stiesdal is an iconic figure in renewables. In the late 1970s, the Danish inventor pioneered some of the earliest commercial wind turbine designs. His work was pivotal in the evolution of industry leaders such as Danish wind giant Vestas and led the industry to adopt a turbine design – upwind, with three blades and a horizontal axis – that still dominates the market today. Now in his sixties, Stiesdal – through his identically named company – is turning his attention to another major clean energy challenge. There are many industries that cannot reduce their carbon emissions by relying on renewable electricity alone – think of ocean-going vessels, which will never be able to traverse the sea on battery power, or the plastics sector, which relies on fossil fuels as a feedstock. These industries require a fuel and feedstock that can replace traditional oil and gas, without the carbon emissions. Today, the 64 |

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best bet is green hydrogen, a power-packing molecule that can be created with zero emissions from water, using renewable electricity. This electricity separates the oxygen and hydrogen in water through a process called electrolysis. If scaled up, electrolysis could potentially guarantee almost unlimited amounts of energy with no emissions. But there is a catch. Electrolysers, the machines that carry out electrolysis, have never been built on the scale needed to replace large amounts of fossil fuel. Today’s designs are expensive, so the green hydrogen they produce still has a hard time competing with oil or gas. Cutting electrolyser costs is the challenge that Stiesdal is looking to overcome with his HydroGen concept. “We have taken up the challenge to accelerate the development of affordable green hydrogen,” says the brochure for HydroGen. A KEY TO ELECTROLYSER COST REDUCTION “Our integrated electrolyser unit, the HydroGen Electrolyser, represents an innovative step forward, capable of delivering on both cost and volume. Technologically based on classic alkaline electrolysis, the HydroGen Electrolyser offers unprecedented low cost and fast ramp-up of supplies.”

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Hydrogen is being touted for a wide range of uses, including transportation. Photo: Photographic Services, Shell International Limited.

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Electrolysers

Reliance builds solar plants and is now planning a move to electrolysers. Photo: REC Solar

Compared to traditional electrolysers, HydroGen units are designed to be easily manufactured at industrial scale. Alkaline electrolysis does not involve hard-to-find materials, unlike other methods electrolysers can use to create hydrogen. In 2021, the HydroGen design caught the eye of Reliance New Energy Solar, the renewable energy arm of one of India’s largest companies. In a deal announced in October last year, Reliance said it would use the Stiesdal electrolysers to produce hydrogen at a cost of less than one US dollar per kilogramme 66 |

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within ten years – a roughly fivefold reduction in costs compared to the situation today. “Our vision is to put India on the global hydrogen map and fulfil the developmental aspirations of 1.35 billion Indians,” said Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries at the time. Madhavan Nampoothiri, managing partner of Aspiration Cleantech Ventures in Channai, India, says hydrogen will play a big role in helping Reliance achieve a stated aim of cutting emissions to zero by 2035. “As part of that, it is planning to

build a 2.5 GW electrolyser manufacturing unit in India,” Nampoothiri says. “This deal with Stiesdal will help Reliance move towards those goals.” DEVELOPING ELECTROLYSERS IN INDIA The tie-up with Stiesdal could also give Reliance a leading position in future hydrogen markets in the region since there are no electrolyser manufacturers of note in India today. “The Indian government has come up with a National Hydrogen Mission which targets production of five million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030 and the related

Electrolysers

to have an efficiency of 98 per cent. This could equate to an electrolyser system efficiency of 95 per cent, well above the 75 per cent or less seen in today’s designs. Hysata says this could cut the cost of green hydrogen to less than 1.50 US dollars per kilogramme if scaled up, although it is important to note that such price forecasts depend on the availability of low-cost or free renewable energy. In 2021, the financial advisory and asset management firm Lazard calculated that the per-kilogramme cost of green hydrogen from a 100 MW, $630-per-kilowatt alkaline electrolyser could vary from 4.74 US dollars down to 1.78 dollars based on an energy cost of 60 to 20 dollars per megawatt.

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Such estimates are being updated as the green hydrogen market evolves, although experts see the need for faster development. “In general, we see a growing need for capacity, design and cost down,” says Josh Carmichael, vice president of hydrogen at Wood, one of the world’s leading consulting and engineering companies. Although there is much interest in developing green hydrogen projects, there is still a lack of schemes that have been given a final investment decision, Carmichael says. This in turn is preventing original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the electrolyser industry from scaling up production. “Even if they do achieve this, there’s a lot of work to be done to bring those OEMs costs down significantly,” says Carmichael.

DELIVERING ECONOMIES OF SCALE Hysata hopes to achieve gigawatt-scale production levels by 2025. Elsewhere, observers expect to see significant reductions in electrolyser costs purely due to economies of scale, as has happened in the solar market. In 2020, for example, the International Renewable Energy Agency estimated electrolysers could see a 40 per cent fall in cost by 2030 with 100 GW of capacity installed worldwide.

“That’s why you see innovative ideas like [Stiesdal’s] design, or organisations like Reliance in India, who are removing entire steps in the hydrogen production and manufacturing process, or materials in the design to cut every 10 per cent of costs at each stage,” he says. “It’s one of the best ways in which we are going to get the required scale, speed and costs down all at the same time.”

“It is quite likely that bringing down the cost to one dollar per kilogramme is possible.”

development of renewable energy capacity,” Nampoothiri notes. “Reliance has been famous for two things: planning everything at a massive scale and executing those plans,” he says. “It is quite likely that bringing down the cost to one dollar per kilogramme is possible.” Stiesdal is far from the only company looking to cut the cost of electrolysers. As previously reported in Discover CleanTech, an Australian company called Hysata is working on an electrolysis cell that is said

Henrik Stiesdal helped shape the wind industry and now his company is tackling hydrogen. Photo: Siemens AG

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Coffee – we need to look to the past to survive the future Enjoyed all over the world but grown mainly in the developing world, coffee is a product that connects us in more than one way. But as consumption continues to grow, so does the need to focus on ways to lighten the environmental footprint of the industry, and it is not just about new high-tech solutions, but also about looking to the past. BY SIGNE BENN HANSEN

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PHOTOS: FAIRTRADE INTERNATIONAL AND MONIKA FIRL

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Despite the challenges of COVID-19 in 2020, the Fairtrade-backed Sankofa Project has supported 31 smallholder farmers established almost 45 hectares of dynamic agroforestry, integrating the production of cocoa, timber, biomass and fruit trees, yam and other associated crops for income, food security and nutrition.

Shade-grown coffee.

Few of us, this writer included, would be likely to happily give up our morning coffee – or the afternoon one for that matter. The smell, the warmth, the light buzz of energy, and the social charm of chatting over a tall latte – it is all part of the black brew’s borderless appeal. However, with more than two billion cups of coffee consumed every day globally, the coffee industry’s contribution to the climate crisis cannot be ignored. A study made by Professor Mark Maslin and PhD student Carmen Nab at UCL states that weight for weight,

coffee produced by the least sustainable means generates as much carbon dioxide as cheese. And what is more, the study states, global coffee demand is expected to triple production by 2050. To put this into perspective, having one cup of coffee a day increases your greenhouse gas emission by approximately 155kg per year (equivalent to driving approx. 640km in a combustion engine car). Now multiply that by more than 2 billion and then triple it! That will be the coffee industry’s annual footprint in 2050 if nothing changes.

It is clear that, however much we love coffee, lowering the carbon footprint of the world’s favourite hot drink is a necessity to preserve the welfare of our planet. The good news is that according to the UCL study, the footprint of coffee produced could be slashed by up to 77 per cent by changing how it is grown, transported and consumed. While a large part of the carbon footprint of the coffee industry comes from the process of milling, roasting and transporting the August 2022

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Left: Bringing the biological life back into soil, compost enhanced with beneficial bacteria, locally managed tree nurseries, youth engagement, regular training and exchange with members are all pieces of the learning and experimentation process that COMSA, an Organic Fairtrade certified coffee co-operative, shares with its own membership and beyond. Right: Alberto Caballero, “comandante composta” at C.A.C. Pangoa, in the Selva Central of Peru. Caballero discovered the power of living soil in a Farmer-to-Farmer workshop at COMSA in Marcala, Honduras. Upon his return to Peru he has dedicated his work in Pangoa to share and educate other farmers about best practices to accelerate soil regeneration.

coffee, all processes that rely on availability or creation of green energy, reducing transport emissions or offsetting to lighten their footprints, the way the coffee is grown can also make a significant difference. Especially since coffee is often produced in low-income countries where native forest may be legally or illegally cleared to provide space for plantations, creating negative environmental effects in the form of loss of biodiversity, soil depletion and the carbon released into the atmosphere through deforestation. On top of that, the use of fertilisers and mechanical farm equipment heavily increase the carbon footprint of coffee. This is why many see organic agroforestry as the best way for the industry to provide its customers with a more sustainable option for their morning sustenance. Monika Firl, senior coffee manager at Fairtrade International, is one of the advocates arguing 70 |

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that a transformation of the coffee industry into agroforestry is the only way forward. “Agroforestry coffee is the future for coffee – I’ll say that till the cows come home,” she says. “I have seen the most incredible results from using regenerative organic practices with filtered shade and building up the health and life of soil. It’s absolutely possible for this to become the new norm – or go back to being the norm.” WHAT HAPPENED TO COFFEE

1970s, as coffee consumption grew, the coffee shrub was increasingly taken out of the forest and bred, forced and coaxed to live under the full sun. Firl explains: “Creating the sun-tolerant plantations came at a cost; insecticide and pesticides became necessary to protect against the natural predators in the way that the forest used to do naturally. It also brought on all kinds of carbon emissions, not only by destroying soil and habitat, but also by using external inputs to produce the plants.”

When Firl says that shade-gown coffee and agroforestry could go “back to being the norm”, it is because the kind of coffee cultivation that is currently used in many largescale plantations has not been the norm for long. Discovered in the forests of Ethiopia more than 1,000 years ago, coffee originally grew as a shrub underneath the forest canopy and was for long also cultivated in the shade. However, during the 1960s and

While Fairtrade as an organisation was created to level the playing field and create fairer terms of trade for the world’s millions of small-scale coffee producers, the organisation is increasingly working with environmental issues as well. Because, says Firl, it is all interconnected, and “if climate and environmental issues are not taken into account, then a huge piece is missing”.

Coffee Production

Thus, the organisation has launched a number of initiatives to help create more sustainable production systems; one of them is looking at how the organisation can help build pathways to agroforestry. ANOTHER WAY In short, the aim of agroforestry is to bring coffee back to its natural state; use the organic infrastructure of the forest to protect from disease and pests, avoid carbon emissions from fertiliser usage, deforestation and mechanical aids, and turn the plot into a carbon sink. Needless to say, agroforestry also increases biodiversity, and as the system rebuilds soil and increases the amount of water it can absorb, it can help protect farmers from the wreckage of drought and floods, something that can have a devastating impact on plantations. “I have been in places where I’ve seen entire mountain sides washed away from hurricane damage. But I could see the little squares of shade-grown coffee where tree roots were able to hold the soil in place.

Everybody else lost not just their coffee, but also all their topsoil,” says Firl. Of course, not every coffee plantation will be able to convert to agroforestry. In Brazil, for instance, many large-scale coffee plantations are set up in an industrialised manner with mechanical pickers that require a certain spacing between rows. But that is not the norm. Of the approximately 12.5 million coffee farms in the world, around 80 per cent are small-scale producers. With a total of around 11 million hectares of coffee plantation in the world, transforming the small holders could thus provide great environmental benefits. And as virtually all small-scale farmers are already working without mechanical aids and fertilisers, due to their high cost, transitioning back to agroforestry is very much within their production model. “It’s very compatible in every sense because of their size and income and access to infrastructure,” Firl explains. “They are working with very rudimentary tools, a machete and a basket, it’s zero emission technology, and just small

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amounts of energy usage in depulping and processing so that transition is viable. [...] The transition will look different from farm to farm, but the additional potential to improve the health of the land, the productivity and the family income can help make this positive change happen.” FROM START TO FINISH As carbon is stored in biomass, agroforestry can also help improve the carbon footprint of the coffee industry by turning the plot into a carbon sink. The more the field is thriving and growing, the more microorganisms live in the soil and the more carbon is stored in the biomass. Another tool to further carbon sequestration is to create biochar from the residue from pruning and then using that biochar to bind carbon in the ground. However, coffee’s big problem is not just in the beginning or middle of the production chain, but also at its end, where millions of tonnes of used coffee grounds end up in landfills where they produce harmful meth-

Shade-grown coffee.

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Monika Firl, senior coffee manager at Fairtrade International, is convinced that agroforestry is the future for coffee. Here seen on a trip to Rwanda. Photo: Gary Howe

ane emissions. In the UK, the company Bio-bean is working on reducing the impact of this waste by collecting and reusing the coffee grounds. Jessica Folkerts, the company’s head of marketing, believes it is essential to look at the entire supply chain, from start to finish, to improve the sustainability of the industry. “For coffee, that’s everything from labour policies and agricultural practices and impact, right through to waste disposal and recycling. If you examine each stage individually, as well as the entire process as a whole picture, you’ll see aspects where carbon reduction and even a closed loop model are possible. And so often, valuable resources with vast, and as of yet unseen potential are right under our nose,” she says. Most important for any of the changes to have an impact is of course the possibility of scaling up to have an effect on the enormous industry that coffee is. To do that, the willingness of customers to pay a little extra for sustainably produced coffee is vital, says Firl. “I am hopeful that the average consumers will understand that if they care about their coffee in the morning, they can also care about the planet – people can make the simple choice of picking up a coffee that is healthy for the planet, good for the farmers and delicious – and the best thing is, you can have all of that in the same cup!” 72 |

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Coffee grounds – keeping your shirt fresh and your home warm From flavourings to brake pads and soil conditioners – spent coffee grounds (SCG) have multiple uses, and with approximately one billion kilos of coffee beans produced yearly, the potential is immense. Consequently, researchers and businesses are looking at utilising the potentials of this by-product across a wide spectrum of industries. BY KARIN BLAK

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The process starts by cleaning and drying the soggy SCG. Photo: bio-bean

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The profits from the sale of coffee logs and pellets supports the research into better ways of using SCG. Photo: bio-bean

In 2020/21, approximately one billion kilos of coffee beans were produced worldwide. That is an increase of about 80 per cent over the previous ten years, and with the popularity of coffee, this rise in production is set to continue. However, only one per cent of the actual bean is used when mak-

ing a cup of coffee. This leaves 99 per cent as spent grounds going into landfill, often in a plastic bag. Here, the oxygen-free environment provides the perfect conditions for anaerobic bacteria to break down the grounds. All

well and good, but this natural breakdown process releases methane into the atmosphere, which is 30 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than CO2. As such, SCG provide the perfect example of how including a waste product in a circular economy can save money for businesses, cut down on greenhouse gas emissions, and produce sustainable, natural products. EVADING THE LANDFILL

Once oil has been extracted, the dry grain that is left has many uses. Photo: bio-bean

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The company bio-bean in the UK is collaborating with existing waste management groups to collect SCG from nationwide coffee chains, independent coffee shops and restaurants, office blocks and more. Jessica Folkerts, head of marketing at bio-bean, says: “Rather than sending out a separate bio-bean truck to collect the SCG, using an existing service saves energy and cuts emissions, plus collecting directly from businesses saves them millions in disposal fees.”

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Preparing the spent, wet grounds is relatively straightforward, Jessica explains; first removing anything that does not belong, followed by the drying process which can also sterilise the grounds. Then comes the oil extraction phase and treatment of the leftover grounds depending on the industry the end product is intended for. SNACK BARS AND FACE SCRUBS Coffee oil is a product that is used in both the food and the beauty industries. The oil extracted from SCG provides rich and natural coffee flavouring and is also a preservative. Perfect for the food and beverage industry. When used in the beauty industry, coffee oil’s protective components are said to be excellent for use in sun-care creams, while the caffeine is perfect for anti-ageing treatments and anti-cellulite formulations. Kaffe Bueno in Denmark has taken the science one step further. Once the oil, and with it the majority of the coffee flavour, has been extracted, what is left is a fibre which is milled into a fine powder. This is a caffeine-free, low fat, rich in protein and potassium, insoluble dietary fibre, and Coffee fibre is used in bread making. Photo: Kaffe Bueno

Coffee fibres are even used in the making of pizzas. Photo: Kaffe Bueno

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what is more, it is gluten free. Kaffe Bueno supplies the food industry with this sustainable product for use in baking and confectionery, pizza and pasta, and healthy snack bars. They state that the profile of this fibre “comprises nutty and chocolate notes. Although it comes from coffee, its coffee taste is mostly gone along with the oil extracted.” The beauty industry is making good use of these fibres too. It’s naturally abrasive in texture and is used in scrubs, masks, soaps and cleansers, replacing plastic grains where they previously were used. CUTTING COSTS AND CARBON EMISSIONS Even the clothing industry is finding SCG a useful product. The #rens clothing and shoe company states that they use antimicrobial coffee fibre in their clothing and shoes to fight unwanted odours, helping the wearer to “stay forever fresh and wash less”. The possibilities of SCG-based products seem endless. Bio-bean’s coffee logs and pellets replace wood and though it has a similar CO2 output to wood when burned, Jessica Folkerts notes that it may have a smaller overall carbon footprint, depending where and how the wooden logs have been sourced.

The problems SCG can help to solve. Photo: Kaffe Bueno

Inficaf, a sister company of bio-bean, is turning SCG into a consistent, sustainable raw substance to replace the need for virgin or synthetic materials. This base product is used, for example, in the making of brake pads in the automotive industry and, appropriately, in the production of front covers of convenience coffee machines. Taking things one step further, researchers around the world are exploring the use of SCG as aggregates in the construction in-

99 per cent of SCG go to landfill. Photo: bio-bean

dustry, and the use of coffee oil in a more sustainable plastic production. AN UPLIFTING EXAMPLE OF A CIRCULAR ECONOMY The concept of a circular economy has been around for hundreds of years. Examples exist in the collecting of animal bones from households for use in bone China or the collection of human waste for use as fertiliser. Both formed part of the subconscious cultural thinking of the time. The difference in today’s circular economy is the conscious change in cultural awareness of the damaging effect of waste. Taking action on waste, the European Parliament is updating its legislation on waste management and promoting a circular economy that reduces waste to a minimum. The European Parliament’s aim is that “when a product reaches the end of its life, its materials are kept within the economy wherever possible”. This principle certainly applies to SCG. It takes open and naturally curious minds to explore the possibilities where none have been considered before. With an ever-increasing amount of SCG available, passionate researchers and businesses are reaching across the continents in collaboration to harness the full potential of SCG while growing the circular economy, with significant benefits to the planet.

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Kaffe Bueno supply coffee fibre to bakeries. Photo: Kaffe Bueno

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The eco-coffee that preserves native forest and improves the lives of indigenous people In a remote region of Peru, the indigenous Mayni community cultivates organic, shade-grown coffee amongst the majestic trees, snaking vines and whooping monkeys of their native home, the Amazon rainforest. Thanks to a small coffee roaster in Glastonbury, Somerset, that coffee is now raising the bar for sustainable coffee on the UK market. BY KARIN BLAK |

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In a remote region of Peru, the indigenous Mayni community cultivates organic, shade-grown coffee in an ultimate example of agroforestry.

At 25 years old, the life of sales manager Greg Campher took a turn which would not just become a defining one for the South African born coffee-fanatic; it would also affect the lives of a number of indigenous communities living deep within the Peruvian rainforests. Back in 2009, the then 25-year-old Campher took over the coffee import of a friend; today his company Easy Jose Coffee Roasters specialises in shade-grown coffee cultivated by the native people of the Amazon. As a father-of-two living in Nottingham, Campher’s life could not be much further from the people who produce his coffee, but he talks of their community with much admiration. Calling his first visit to see the Mayni people, the first indigenous community to produce coffee for Easy Jose, a “gamechanger”, he says: “It’s a truly indigenous community, they’re very happy to live how they live, but there has been an amazing process, a shift in mindset as to what’s important for them, for their future. They August 2022

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CEO and founder of Easy Jose Greg Campher visiting the Mayni community.

put in a lot of hard work; it’s very impressive to see. When I saw that, that was it for me – that was the new future for me in terms of what our business should focus on.”

that year. The sales success was followed by more publicity and the company now imports and sells around 70 tonnes of its speciality coffee a year.

In 2018, Campher founded Easy Jose to focus on the import of what the company calls fully traceable shade-grown speciality coffee; terms that, in the case of this company, go far beyond marketing purposes. And the initiative has been received with open arms by the UK’s many coffee enthusiasts. Having been voted the Independent’s Indy best buy in 2020, the small company’s sales exploded through the pandemic, with online sales increased by 1,472 per cent from June to December

MORE THAN A LOVELY STORY While many coffee brands are marketed as sustainable, rainforest certified etc., the majority of terms used, unfortunately, relay little information on how exactly the production is sustainable. When it comes to the kind of large Brazilian farms that Campher worked with at the beginning of his coffee venture, they may earn a rainforest certification by setting aside a small percentage of land for natural habitation, but the rest of the farm can be an absolutely

In this industry, 99 per cent of everything is marketing. Everybody wants to tell a beautiful story, so I had to go and see that this was a real project. 82 |

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bare and environmentally unsustainable coffee production. ”What I quickly realised was that though they were rainforest certified and all about sustainability and what not, when I looked at it, it did not add up,” Campher explains. Having grown wary of the marketing fluff prevalent in the industry, when he was first told about the Mayni tribe and the way they cultivated coffee as a way of preserving native forest, Campher needed to see it with his own eyes. “In this industry, 99 per cent of everything is marketing. Everybody wants to tell a beautiful story, so I had to go and see that this was a real project,” he says, adding: “When I got there, it was better than what I thought it was going to be.” SHADE-GROWN VS. RAINFOREST GROWN While most people know how palm oil contributes to the destruction of the rainforest, fewer know, or care to think about, the fact that coffee too is often grown on land that used to be rich and biodiverse native for-

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est. “You see so much encroachment on the land,” says Campher when describing his last visit to Peru. “The coffee is absolutely there as well, but it almost gets away with it because you often plant coffee with a tall tree to provide shade, and it doesn’t look so bad. But to me it’s a broken model because you already have perfectly adequate trees in the natural forest so why cut them down and create the devastation – biodiversity is lost, soil is destroyed in the process of cutting down. Why not do it in harmony with the forest?” Growing coffee in harmony with the original environment of the forest is exactly what the Mayni people do. With 22,000 hectares of rainforest that they call home and protect, the Mayni use four per cent of that forest to grow coffee. They do not, however, clear the land, but grow the coffee in the shade of the canopy of the rainforest. “I have seen the Mayni doing it, and they do it very well,” says Campher. “They take down certain trees in order to plant coffee, but the synergy and the biodiversity remains.”

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While agroforestry farms act as carbon sinks and thus lower the footprint of the final product, Easy Jose also works to lower or offset the carbon footprint of the high carbon emission produced in the processing, roasting and transport of the coffee in other ways. Eventually, the company hopes to be able to offer its customers the chance of offsetting emissions directly through initiatives in the communities producing their coffee.

The difference is, says Campher, visible to the eye when visiting and comparing the Mayni’s coffee cultivation with regular shade-grown coffee farms. “It is far richer – we saw monkeys, sloths, a lot of birds and snakes as well,” says Campher, who estimates that there are around double as many species in the Mayni’s coffee cultivation as in regular shade-grown cultivation. THE PRICE WE ARE WILLING TO PAY When most coffee producers choose to cut down the natural forest to cultivate coffee, it is, of course, because it enables them to gain more yield and income. However, with the increasing interest in speciality coffee and consumer willingness to pay a premium for a coffee that is produced in the most sustainable possible way, environmentally sustainable coffee is also becoming more economically sustainable. The increase of such production methods is, in other words, just down to supermarkets beginning to provide the sustainable alternatives that people want, stresses Campher. Furthermore, for the Mayni community and the five other indigenous communities who are now following their example to work with Easy Jose, the extra premium paid by the company for their coffee can provide them with a viable way of preserving a way of life that is otherwise struggling to survive. Noting that on his last visit to their community, the Mayni people had built a school and installed Wi-Fi with the money earned from their coffee production, he says: “They decided that health and education are the important things for them. They have lots of little ones, it’s around 45 families and probably 112 kids. [...] and it’s really lovely to see their focus on providing that for their children.” The sector could, however, use more support from governing bodies, stresses Campher, who would like to see the UK government implement legislation to prohibit the import of products that have caused rainforest destruction. “I would love to see us make an impact in that way. If you grow coffee or cocoa, there is no reason you cannot grow it in this way.”

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The Mayni community has used the proceeds from their organic coffee production to build a new school for the many children of the community.

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Biodiversity on European Railways

Locking in carbon along rail tracks throughout Europe 86 |

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Biodiversity on European Railways

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European rail companies can play a vital role in the EU’s pledges to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, suggests a new report. While putting responsibility on the rail companies to take action, the study highlights that restoring native ecosystems along the rail tracks will also help combat climate change. BY KARIN BLAK

A report produced by the International Union of Railways (Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer - UIC) has recently landed on the desks of railway managers throughout Europe. European Railways: Strategies and Actions for Biodiversity encourages rail companies to step up their efforts in the conservation and enhancement of biodiversity and ecosystem services on land owned by them.

Typical vegetation alongside rail tracks include grassland and scrub, with woodland set further back for safety reasons. Photo: Prof Ollerton

“Europe’s rail network includes about 230,000 kilometres of track, passing through the cold Nordic landscapes on to the warmer Mediterranean ecosystems in the south. We estimate that the rail system covers as much as 420,000 hectares of land so there’s huge potential for rail companies to protect and restore ecosystems and connect them across the landscape,” says Professor Jeff Ollerton of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UK-CEH), one of the lead authors of the report. August 2022

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Biodiversity on European Railways

Nabu protection area Kiesgrube Etzelbach. Photo: Frank Barteld

The report is a result of UIC’s Ecological Effects of Railways on Wildlife (rEvErsE) project and sets out 13 strategic goals that can be adopted by rail companies, including opportunities for cross-border collaboration with governments, businesses, organisations and neighbouring landowners. The ambitious vision sets an expectation for the conservation and restoration of green corridors that link landscapes, thus providing habitat for declining native plants, fungi and animals. But the green corridors could do even more than that, explains Professor Ollerton: “Biodiversity and ecosystem services both have a significant value to society; for example, a healthy, balanced ecosystem contains the biodiversity needed for storing and locking in carbon.”

Furthermore, as these habitats along the railways are restored and managed across all 420,000 hectares of land, the impact is believed to mitigate some of the effects of climate change, by, for instance, preventing floods.

vErsE project, rail companies can further develop existing strategies with readymade solutions and actions to implement, to begin the protection and restoration of these neglected green spaces.

To set the scene, the report includes positive and practical examples of existing initiatives and case studies to inspire participation. And, with the help of the rE-

Exploring the ecological effect of railways on wildlife, the report suggests that conservation and enhancement of biodiversity should be prioritised at the same level as other environmental targets and strategies, such as lower pollution and achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions. “We have an obligation to our children and their descendants to leave the natural world in a better state than we inherited it. All sectors of society can play a role here,” stresses Professor Ollerton.

The key to setting ambitious targets for conservation and enhancement of biodiversity, the report says, is to adopt consistent and repeatable monitoring approaches.

The key to setting ambitious targets for conservation and enhancement of biodiversity, the report says, is to adopt consistent and repeatable monitoring approaches. This will ensure reliable outcomes as well as encourage corporate accountability. No space for green washing here.

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STRATEGIES FOR NET BIODIVERSITY GAIN The report’s 13 recommendations aim to halt and reverse biodiversity decline across Europe, a continent that has seen considerable degradation and loss of nature over the past century.

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Left: Fitting electrical protection caps to prevent birds being electrocuted. Photo: Renate Wunder. Right: Professor Ollerton, scientist and a lead author on the report. Photo: Prof Ollerton. Below: Wildflowers make a stunning display and provide nectar and pollen for bees and other insects. Photo: Prof Ollerton

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Biodiversity on European Railways

A barrier to stop amphibians getting trapped and help them find a way under the track. Photo: OBB-Infrastructur AG

THE CHALLENGES OF CREATING A GREENER RAIL SYSTEM Despite the above, the pressure on land to continually provide improved connectivity between cities, risks further loss of habitat and biodiversity. But while it is acknowledged that railways can have a negative impact on wildlife, the report points out that it is “the duty and obligation of rail companies to engage meaningfully with nature conservation”. Professor Richard Pywell of UK-CEH and another lead author, says: “The European rail network has many opportunities to support nature along its tracks. To benefit from our recommendations, rail companies need to consider biodiversity at all levels of their business, alongside safety, performance and sustainability.” This places the responsibility on railway companies to strike a balance between protecting their green assets and biodiver-

sity, while maintaining a safe and reliable rail service for the increasing number of people and goods using rail. UIC believes that the strategies do not have to equal increased cost, as vegetation management already exists. The responsibility on railway companies is rather to change the way their green infrastructure is managed. EFFECTIVE CHANGES REQUIRE EDUCATION AND KNOWLEDGE Professor Ollerton’s advice for reducing the negative impacts of development activities is to follow the principles of the “Mitigation Hierarchy”: first try to avoid any impact, and if that’s not possible, then aim at minimising the effect, then look to restoring or offsetting those impacts on biodiversity. Though as Pinar Yilmazer, senior programme advisor at UIC is keen to point out, “using biodiversity offsetting should be the last resort, not the first port of call.”

Monitoring and managing the rail track habitats and their biodiversity requires people with specialist ecological skills. This is no time to skimp on skills and training; if rail companies are to deliver adequate conservation outcomes and achieve the best results, the emphasis has to be on employing the right people for the job. Though that alone will not necessarily achieve the understanding and support of stakeholders. As well as cross-border collaboration, UIC will be using a wide range of communication tools, they plan to keep employees, passengers, society and neighbours up to date on their progress and achievements. “The potential destruction of wildlife habitat along rail tracks is of great concern,” says Yilmazer. “We need to increase awareness of the positive role these ecosystems have in absorbing carbon dioxide, which is why education and communication campaigns are an essential element of the rEvErsE project.”

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Biodiversity on European Railways

KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR CHANGES So far, the rEvErsE project has received much interest, and to help in its implementation and management, an online hub is underway that can be accessed by anyone involved in the practical application of the project. This will contain additional information, case studies and suggestions, as well as all the latest information relating to progress and research. Workshops will also be held to engage stakeholders and provide as much support as possible. With the report freely available online, Professor Ollerton sets great importance on the commitment of the main

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international industry body for railways to commission work on biodiversity. “The commitment of UIC and the rail companies to protect and enhance biodiversity is a really important step for nature conservation across Europe,” he says. Many of these changes will not happen overnight, but the project should gradually provide many new developments to improve not just the environment but the train journey as well – as Professor Ollerton says when explaining why rail travel is his favourite form of transport: “On a long journey you can sit back, read or work, and watch the landscape unfold.” Pinar Yilmazer UIC Senior advisor. Photo: UIC

UIC’s proposed strategic goals. Photo: UIC

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Column

Cleantech Carreers

Electric construction machines can help lower the notoriously high emissions of the construction industry.

eMobility isn’t just about cars BY DAVID HUNT

When it comes to emobility, or electric vehicles, passenger cars get all of the focus and attention. That’s fully understandable; cars are what interest most people, and they are certainly the electric vehicles that we see most often, and in rapidly increasing numbers, on the roads of the UK, Europe and the US. In the UK, recent figures show that nearly ten per cent of all new car sales are BEV. In fact, it is delivery and supply chain issues that hold back BEV 92 |

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(battery electric vehicle) sales. Demand exceeds supply. Battery ‘gigafactories’ are springing up at a rapid rate globally, but they take time to build, even for Tesla. PLANES AND BOATS We saw in the last Discover Cleantech publication, a feature on electric flight. Whilst it may be some years before we see even relatively short-haul commercial flights, the likes of which carriers such as Easyjet and

Ryanair specialise in, some commercial electric flight is far closer than most people think. eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) ‘planes’ are being developed across Europe and the US, and these ‘air taxi’ companies are attracting significant investment. The Vertical Flight Society claims over one billion US Dollars is being invested annually, into the evolution of eVTOL aircraft. Velocopter recently raised another 170 million, bringing their total to 580 million US

Cleantech Careers

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David Hunt is Founder and CEO of Hyperion Cleantech Group, parent of global executive search and recruitment businesses exclusively working in the cleantech sectors. He is a mentor for a number of international cleantech accelerators, host of the Leaders in Cleantech podcast, and a regular commentator on cleantech and talent issues in trade and the mainstream media.

Another big source of carbon emissions are the generators used to power tools and equipment on construction sites

Dollars. A company I featured on my Leaders in Cleantech podcast recently, Vertical Aerospace, floated on the New York Stock exchange (NYS) via a 2.2 billion US Dollars IPO/SPAC. There are currently nearly two dozen companies flying full-scale eVTOL aircraft, many going through the rigorous certification process. The good news is that as well as these companies themselves, a significant number of companies are their Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers, creating many jobs; more of this later. I was recently speaking at events in Oslo and Amsterdam, where boats, large and small, from canal cruisers, to passenger ferries, were on display. The electric ferry ‘Ellen’ recently set a new world record for

The electric ferry ‘Ellen’ recently set a new world record for sailing 50 nautical miles (92km) on a single charge.

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Cleantech Careers

sailing 50 nautical miles (92 kilometres) on a single charge. BIKES AND SCOOTERS I mentioned previously the rapid rise in the sale of fully electric cars (BEVs), but it is eBikes that are the fastest growing form of e-mobility. In the US, eBikes are outselling electric and hybrid car sales combined. Across Europe and the US, commuters are switching from crowded public transport and expensive-to-run cars for their trips to the office – on the days that they work there. Whilst traditional bike sales have increased too, the benefit of getting to work in a less sweaty and out of breath manner has pushed many to go for the battery assisted option. And love them or hate them, electric micro-scooters are proliferating in 94 |

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cities around the world too. Personally, I love them – by far the best option if you are wanting to do a bit of sight-seeing, and want to avoid being stuck in a traffic jam or busy public transport. ONE FOR BOB THE BUILDER! I was recently speaking at an International Energy Agency (IEA) event in Denmark, hosting panel sessions on the electrification of maritime and urban road transport, but the bit I enjoyed most (I’m sad I know) was a panel on the electrification of construction equipment. The amount of energy consumed, and CO2 produced, in the building and construction sectors is huge. Concrete, cement and steel are all massive contributors to our global carbon emissions, and of course, their transpor-

tation too. In fact, across the global construction value chain, it is estimated that construction is the cause of 25 per cent of total global carbon emissions. And mobile machinery and stationary construction equipment alone contributes 400 megatonnes of CO2 annually. Clean steel, cement and concrete are all being worked on, with some great examples of steel being produced using ‘green’ hydrogen. But let’s stick to construction sites for now. Companies like Danfoss are producing electric drive-trains and systems for electric construction machines, and some great retrofit solutions. Another big source of carbon emissions are the generators used to power tools and equipment on construction sites. We’ve all heard, seen

Cleantech Careers

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Love them or hate them – e-scooters are rapidly increasing in numbers.

and smelled them in operation. That’s another huge bonus of the electrification of construction sites and equipment. Most construction is in our cities and urban areas, where we live and work. Not only does electric equipment reduce carbon emissions (when powered from an ever-lower carbon grid, or directly from renewable energies), but it also provides a massive reduction in pollution, both air pollution and noise pollution. All of this is hugely welcome, especially when that construction site is near your home or office. THOSE JOB OPPORTUNITIES AGAIN. My mission in life is to help as many talented people as possible to utilise their talents in the cleantech and sustainability sectors; to find careers of purpose and

impact. The urgency of the climate situation is that we need everyone on ‘our’ side. Electric planes, boats and construction equipment, and their supply chains, are all nascent. Which means there are not many ‘off the shelf’ experienced employees to work in these companies and industries as they scale, which provides great opportunities for individuals to take their broader aviation, materials science,

engineering, design, project management, commercial and financial skills to these newly created companies and markets. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work in the sector (though it could help in the eVTOL sector!), you can use the skills and experiences you already have. The clean energy and mobility transitions require millions of people to make career transitions. Maybe you can be one?

My mission in life is to help as many talented people as possible to utilise their talents in the cleantech and sustainability sectors; to find careers of purpose and impact. August 2022

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Cleantech Products of the Month

Cleantech Products of the Month Cleantech can be many things – products specifically aimed at making your lifestyle or home more sustainable, or innovations to make the products we must have more sustainable. The products here illustrate that very well; we present the more sustainable versions of some luxury goods that we may not need, but might feel we cannot do without, as well as some highly practical innovations that can help battle the effects of a heating world without contributing to the problem.

THE LEO, LIONFISH WALLET AND CLUTCH. An exclusive handmade wallet or clutch is one of the things that we might be able to do without, but which can bring so much joy – especially when gifted to a loved one – and in the case of the lionfish wallet and clutch, a positive environmental impact can even be part of that gift. Made in INVERSA leather, leather produced from the invasive Lionfish, which destroy biodiversity, the wallet contributes to the financing of divers’ work to keep the population down. In the words of INVERSA, the company “partners with local fishers and divers to source all of its products. We develop robust economies in underrepresented communities by rewarding the removal of invasive species”. The wallet is beautifully handcrafted one at a time by the small Teton Leather company, the designer and founder of which is also a board member of INVERSA. Price: $429.00 USD www.tetonleathercompany.com Photos: INVERSA

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Photo: Taiga

THE ORCHA ELECTRIC PERSONAL WATERCRAFT FROM TAIGA

Photo: Taiga

If you love cruising on the water, but hate thinking of the impact of your ride on your surroundings, ask for this jet ski when looking for a rental or to-buy, and rejoice in the fact that you will not be the only one benefitting from the fossil-free silence of your ride. With a direct electric drive and unique hull shape, the watercraft delivers all-out control that cuts through water with agility and grace for a wholly new riding experience. Released in July this year, the Orca is the world’s first electric water jet ski concept. The electric jet ski is developed by the Canadian company Taiga Motors which released an e-snowmobile earlier in the year. The Orcha has a maximum range of up to 45km and up to 120kW peak power (160 hp). Price: $26,500.00 USD www.taigamotors.com

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Cleantech Products of the Month

YMGI SYMPHONY SOLAR ASSISTED 56 SERIES With the recent heatwaves blazing through Europe and the rest of the world, needless to say we like the idea of a solar-powered air-conditioning system. Really, sometimes the solution could not be more obvious. YMGI’s SOLAR 56 system consists of one indoor unit, one outdoor unit and one photovoltaic (PV) type solar panel. It can be wired directly to an array of solar panels to reduce or eliminate power consumption (depending on your installation configuration, you can achieve a SEER rating of up to 35) or can be wired to a charge controller and battery bank that will store solar power and run the system for up to four hours. When the sun is out and cooling is needed, it is the perfect solution to cool small single-zone spaces like sunrooms, nurseries, apartments, condos, offices and mobile homes. www.ymgigroup.com

Photo: YMGI

Photo: GRAYL

GRAYL GEOPRESS PURIFIER AND WATER BOTTLE With the heat that has swept through almost every continent, the focus on safe and healthy hydration has increased too. Developed by two travel and outdoor enthusiasts from Seattle, the GRAYL purifiers provide safe drinking water no matter where you are. Designed for use anywhere on earth, GRAYL purifiers provide protection from all waterborne pathogens plus chemicals, heavy metals and even microplastics. It works by pressing the water (this takes eight seconds) through a purifying media, where ion exchange permanently binds pathogens such as virus and bacteria, while activated carbon absorbs chemicals, heavy metals and odours. The product is tested and proven by an independent laboratory and more stats and certification details can be found on the website. Price: From $89.95 USD www.grayl.com 98 |

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Cleantech Products of the Month

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Photo: GRAYL

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Sunergy

British farmers begin growing an energy wonder crop from the US British farmers have begun planting a US wildflower billed as the crop of the future because of its potential as a source of bioenergy. The cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum), branded ‘Sunergy’ by importer Newtone Agriscapes, is being cultivated on farms in Kent, Lincolnshire, Northern Ireland, Sussex and Wales. BY JASON DEIGN |

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Sunergy

The Sunergy plant fits the brief as an ideal perennial crop and thus provides a great potential source for biogas production in the UK.

Results from the various locations will give growers insights into how the cup plant can adapt to different environments in the UK. The plant needs a year to establish itself, so first harvests are not expected until 2023. When harvested, the cup plant can be used to produce biogas in an anaerobic digester, which is a sealed vessel where microbes break down organic material and produce gas as a by-product. This biogas is effectively carbon neutral because it recycles carbon that is already in the atmosphere. Growing energy crops is not without controversy, with detractors arguing that the land used by the plants could be put to better use in growing foodstuffs for humans or animals instead. The Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association, an industry body, argues that the growing of anaerobic digestion crops has had little impact on UK food output. The cup plant seems particularly well suited for energy production since it is said to

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“Uptake has been very positive as growers understand that Sunergy fits the brief as an ideal perennial crop...” says Nick Green, director of Newtone Agriscapes.

thrive in marginal soils that might not be suitable for food crops. Newtone Agriscapes says Sunergy gives farmers “the opportunity to turn areas of land that are less productive, difficult to access or too restrictive for large equipment into long term, financially productive areas with minimal intervention.” BIOENERGY PRODUCTION Tests in Germany show the cup plant could yield anything between 13 and 20 tonnes of biomass per hectare. As well as acting as a potential energy source, the plant – a herbaceous perennial native to eastern and central North America – is also prized for use as animal fodder and as a food stock for pollinators such as honeybees. Furthermore, its potential to take over native habitats is limited by the way it reproduces. Although it has attractive yellow flowers, the plant’s seeds do not germinate easily, and it usually spreads via its roots. These

are hardy, living over half a century, but do not transplant easily, limiting the spread of the plant to nearby environments. Another reason why the cup plant is of interest as an energy crop is that it needs very little maintenance once established, according to Newtone Agriscapes. “The average Sunergy crop will normally only require two or three passes a season; a digestate application in early spring followed, potentially, by harvest of a fodder crop when the plants are in early flower prior to a harvest for anaerobic digestion feedstock in the autumn,” says the firm. “We are very encouraged by the interest in this little yellow flower of the future,” says Nick Green, director of Newtone Agriscapes. “Uptake has been very positive as growers understand that Sunergy fits the brief as an ideal perennial crop. With low inputs and high output, Sunergy will be key in future proofing overall farm performance.” August 2022

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TAE says it has already heated a plasma to more than 75 million degrees Celsius inside a reactor dubbed Norman, which was built in 2017.

Fusion energy breakthrough announced alongside new funding TAE Technologies, which is pursuing the elusive goal of commercial nuclear fusion, has announced a performance breakthrough and 250 million US dollars in new funding. The Californian company is one of several racing to produce power using the process that fuels the sun. BY JASON DEIGN |

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August 2022

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California-located TAE Technologies is one of several companies racing to produce power using fusion, the process that fuels the sun.

Unlike today’s nuclear fission reactors, which split large atoms to release energy, fusion involves combining two light atomic nuclei to form a single nucleus. This process, which typically involves hydrogen, the lightest and most common element in the universe, releases vast amounts of energy and is what powers stars. If it can be replicated within a commercial reactor, then proponents believe the energy produced could be practically unlimited and would come with no emissions and much lower levels of radioactive waste than today’s nuclear power industry produces. But creating mini suns on earth is far from easy. The temperatures and pressures needed to crush atomic nuclei together are so high that the process cannot be carried out in any form of traditional vessel. Instead, fusion reactors will need to suspend a plasma – an extremely hot mass of charged particles – within a vacuum, using magnetic fields. Companies such as TAE Technologies are trying to find ways to achieve this in practice. It is not easy, which has earned nuclear fusion the reputation of being an energy source that is 30 years away – and always will be. TAE, which has been pursuing the nuclear fusion goal since 1998, says it has already heated a plasma to more than 75 million degrees Celsius inside a reactor dubbed Norman, which was built in 2017. The milestone

has helped the company attract 250 million US dollars in new funding from backers including Chevron, Google, Reimagined Ventures, Sumitomo Corporation of Americas and TIFF Investment Management.

According to experts, the challenge with this approach is that the fuel mix would require a temperature of at least three billion degrees for a reactor to produce more energy than it consumes.

COMMERCIAL FUSION POWER The investment means TAE has so far raised 1.2 billion US dollars to develop a commercial fusion reactor. TAE says it will use the latest cash injection to build a new reactor, to be called Copernicus, at a 100,000-square-foot facility in Irvine, California. This will be “the penultimate step on TAE’s path to commercialise clean fusion power,” says the company. “The calibre and interest of our investors validates our significant technical progress and supports our goal to begin commercialisation of fusion by the end of this decade,” says Michl Binderbauer, TAE Technologies’ chief executive. Other companies looking to develop commercial fusion reactors include Commonwealth Fusion Systems, which plans to have a working prototype by 2025, and Zap Energy, which last month received 160 million US dollars in its third funding round. TAE claims to be different from its rivals because it is focusing on fusion based on hydrogen and boron, which is non-radioactive. There is enough hydrogen and boron on Earth to supply the world with energy for 100,000 years, the company says.

The temperatures and pressures needed to crush atomic nuclei together and create fusion are so high that the process cannot be carried out in any form of traditional vessel.

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Faraday

Battery manufacturing boom in the UK The UK could be home to ten battery gigafactories by 2040, according to the Faraday Institution, an independent institute for energy storage research and development. An update to a 2020 study by the institute forecasts the factories could deliver a total of 200 GWh of battery storage capacity a year. BY JASON DEIGN

Five 20 GWh-a-year facilities could be operational by 2030, the Faraday Institution believes. The combined electric vehicle automotive and battery ecosystem could be worth 22 billion GBP by 2030 and 27 billion GBP by 2040, it says. ‘Gigafactory’ refers to massive battery manufacturing plants. It was popularised by electric vehicle entrepreneur Elon Musk, who coined the term to describe the plants built to supply batteries for Tesla. Britain does not have any Tesla battery plants, but “recent announcements in the UK by Britishvolt and Envision AESC have built excitement, particularly in the North East, about the potential to create a new, dynamic and highly skilled battery industry,” says the Faraday Institution. The government “has played its part by making bold policy commitments and increasing investor confidence in the UK as a location to do business,” but more needs to be done, it adds. On its current trajectory, the UK could have about 57 GWh of annual battery manufacturing capacity by

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2030, equivalent to only about five per cent of the total in Europe. In contrast, Germany is set to install around 34 per cent of Europe’s total battery manufacturing capacity. Germany already had four gigafactories in operation at the start of this year, totalling 15.5 GWh of capacity a year, compared to the UK with just one gigafactory and 1.9 GWh of capacity a year.

These batteries include solid-state, lithium-sulphur and sodium-ion technologies, which have yet to be commercialised at scale, but which carry significant promise for use in electric vehicles and energy storage applications. “The UK is already home to global experts in battery research and to well-established companies,” says Pam Thomas, chief executive officer at the Faraday Institution.

GIGA SCALE Tesla chose Germany for its first European gigafactory, which opened in March with an initial production capacity of 100 GWh a year. The Tesla facility builds Model Y crossover utility vehicles as well as batteries. “It is important that the UK Government continues to communicate the attractiveness of the UK as a battery manufacturing location to investors,” says the Faraday Institution. “Alongside cultivating new investors, it should also help to develop a resilient, sustainable and efficient supply chain, build up skills capability and commit to the longterm funding of battery research, particularly next-generation batteries,” it adds.

“We must move quickly to exploit this competitive advantage by establishing largescale domestic manufacturing in the UK while continuing to fund long-term battery research,” she says. Despite this, “there is a growing sense of optimism that a highly productive and sustainable battery manufacturing industry can be built in the UK,” says Stephen Gifford, the Faraday Institution’s chief economist. “By 2040, a successful industry could employ 170,000 people in EV manufacturing, 35,000 people in gigafactories and 65,000 people in the battery supply chain.”

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Edge Wind

Partnership helps protect wind turbine blades in USA A new partnership could see American wind turbines benefitting from a blade protection concept field tested in tough offshore environments. Denver, Colorado-based Rope Partner has announced it will bring the technology to the USA following a deal with Edge Solutions of Scotland. BY JASON DEIGN |

PHOTOS: EDGE SOLUTIONS

Edge Solutions has developed a blade protection shield called Armour Edge that gives turbine blades a predicted lifespan of more than two decades. Under normal conditions, the leading edges of wind turbine blades tend to get pitted by rain, hail, sand, dust, insects and ultraviolet light. The damage can become chronic over time, with 87 per cent of wind turbine blades in one survey by EDP Renewables of Portugal suffering from leading-edge erosion after 14 years of operation, and half showing severe signs of deterioration. This leads to a gradual loss of performance that reduces the output from the turbine. A 2020 study found medium amounts of leading-edge erosion could reduce a wind turbine’s annual energy production by 1.8 per cent a year. Badly affected turbines could lose up to 4.9 per cent a year. Edge Solutions avoids this with a highly durable leading edge protection shield made of an ultra-tough thermoplastic material, developed by Ineos Styrolution of Germany, that has been installed on turbine blades in the Baltic and North Seas. The metre-long Armour Edge shields are custom-formed to fit a given blade and can be quickly bonded in place by trained technicians. Although Edge Solutions expects them to last at least 20 years, there is evidence to suggest they could protect blades for much longer. A report by the UK Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, a Glasgow-based technology and innovation 106

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research centre, found the Armour Edge could withstand 232 hours of accelerated rain erosion, equal to more than 53 years of exposure under field conditions. BLADE PROTECTION “Feedback from technicians in Europe has been uniformly positive and we believe the durability of Armour Edge coupled with the speed and ease of installation will revolutionise the leading-edge erosion market,” says Edge Solutions managing director David Urch. “Rope Partner is an innovative company with a strong commitment to safety, innovation and training and we are working closely with their expert technicians to ensure they are fully trained in the application of Armour Edge. We look forward to seeing the rollout commence in the field.” In the USA, Armour Edge shields will most likely be used in onshore wind farms to begin with as the country has been slow to install turbines offshore. Although the federal government is aiming to have 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030, the USA only has two projects in operation today, totalling 42 MW. “This new collaboration with Edge Solutions underscores our ongoing commitment to deliver the highest quality services to our customers to maximise the value of their projects,” says Eric Stanfield, Rope Partner’s chief executive. “Based on Armour Edge’s success across Europe, we’re confident in the immense value these innovative shields will offer our US customers.”

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“We believe the durability of Armour Edge [… ] will revolutionise the leading-edge erosion market,” says Edge Solutions managing director David Urch.

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HUSK

Microgrid firm pledges electricity for two million people in Nigeria US company Husk Power Systems aims to bring electricity to two million Nigerians who do not have access to the grid. The company’s Nigeria Sunshot Initiative campaign will use microgrids – small electrical grids that do not need to be connected to the main electricity network. BY JASON DEIGN |

PHOTOS: HUSK

Husk operates the world’s largest fleet of community solar-hybrid microgrids, which use solar power and battery storage to provide electricity to off-grid villages and other communities in rural Africa and Asia. According to Husk, Nigerian government data suggests solar microgrids can be developed more quickly and cost-effectively 108

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in many parts of the country than traditional grid connections, helping to speed up the rate at which people can have access to reliable energy supplies. “Husk Power will do its utmost to support federal, state and local governments to deliver on Nigeria’s goal of universal

electrification by 2030,” says Olu Aruike, country manager of Husk Nigeria. “With more than 90 million Nigerians still living without access to energy, the Nigeria Sunshot is a real-world demonstration that the microgrid industry is ready to scale and drive rural economic growth with a net-zero, resilient solution.”

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Jennifer Anya, operations manager at Husk Power Nigeria

hospitals and 100 schools. And it should spell early retirement for at least 25,000 diesel and gasoline generators as the polluting machines are replaced with solar energy.

Husk’s solar-hybrid microgrids use solar power and battery storage to provide electricity to off-grid villages in rural Africa and Asia.

Husk’s Sunshot Initiative will involve building at least 500 microgrids by 2026, with 400,000 connections serving more than two million people. Roughly 8,000 of these connections are expected to be for small businesses run by women. The buildout will also bring clean electricity supplies to around 700 public health clinics, 200 private

SCALING UP

an extra 19.8 million connections to bring electricity to everyone. Of these, 8.9 million could be provided by microgrids. Husk’s Sunshot Initiative could cover about five per cent of those, bringing electricity to just on per cent of the population.

The Nigerian Sunshot Initiative will be an important test of how quickly and easily microgrids can scale up to meet growing energy needs in developing nations. Although they are cost effective and use readily available technology, the spread of microgrids in regions such as Africa and Asia has been hampered by regulation and funding challenges.

But the microgrid company hopes to scale up deployments tenfold by the end of the decade, having committed in a 2022 United Nations Energy Compact to build 5,000 microgrids by 2030. Husk, which currently operates in Nigeria and Tanzania, is also hoping to enter various other markets in sub-Saharan Africa.

Developers are typically able to work on just one project at a time, with Husk only last year becoming the first company in Nigeria to commission multiple microgrids at once. The microgrids have a total capacity of 300 kW and serve 25,000 people in six communities, benefiting households, small businesses, farmers and health clinics. This year, Husk expects to have more than 20 microgrids in operation.

Jennifer Anya, operations manager at Husk Power Nigeria

Expanding that number to 500 by 2026 sounds like a big challenge, but is only a tiny portion of what is needed to bring full electrification to Africa. Nigeria needs August 2022

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ISMC Mining

Global mining body sets course for improved sustainability Mining’s top industry body has released a strategy to boost the sustainability of the sector while supporting innovation, social performance, and governance and transparency. The International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), which includes a third of the largest global metals and mining companies in the world, released the strategy this month to coincide with its 20th anniversary. BY JASON DEIGN

Photo: Anglo American

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ISMC Mining

The strategy includes delivering on a commitment announced last year to achieve net zero scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions – those produced directly from mining and indirectly from the energy used by the industry – “by 2050 or sooner”. Last year’s commitment also involves setting carbon reduction targets for scope 3 emissions – those caused by all other aspects of the industry, including the goods it purchases and the products it sells – by the end of 2023 or “as soon as possible”. Mining is directly responsible for between four and seven per cent of global carbon emissions, according to McKinsey, the consultancy firm. But if the scope 3 emissions are included then that level rises to around 28 per cent, largely because of the greenhouse gases produced from burning coal. As well as reducing these emissions, the ICMM strategy supports innovation for sustainability; for example, to help the industry move towards a more circular economy and to reduce the environmental impact of disasters associated with tailings dams. These are sites where the wastewater and sludge from mining is stored, and they can become unstable as they grow. Tailings dam failures can cause catastrophic damage to nearby communities and ecosystems.

products and services across the sector,” he says. “There is no doubt that the mining industry is heavily focused on digital transformation to improve current operations to be more sustainable and safer.”

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Monitoring a tailings dam to prevent accidents. Photo: Worldsensing

The ICMM, which includes mining giants such as BHP, Glencore, Anglo American and Rio Tinto, is clear that mining has a major role to play in delivering the minerals needed for the energy transition – but not at any price. “For the world at large, the next three years will shape the outlook for the next 30,” says Rohitesh Dhawan, president and chief executive officer of the ICMM. “To achieve a net-zero economy by 2050, decarbonisation technologies must be deployed at an unprecedented scale in the near term. Metals and minerals are the backbone of these solutions and are in many cases in short supply, but it is our fundamental belief how these are produced is as – if not more – important than how much.” Anglo American’s pilot for the nuGenTM Zero Emission Haulage Solution is a hydrogen-powered ultra-class mine haul truck. It’s an ambitious project that marks the first time a truck of this size and load capacity (a 220t truck with a load capacity of 290t = a total laden weight of 510t) has been converted to run on hydrogen that will be produced on-site in hybrid combination with a battery. Photo: Anglo American

ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE In 2019, for example, a tailings dam failure in Brumadinho, Brazil, killed an estimated 270 people and released around 12 million cubic metres of mining waste into the environment. Andrea Bartoli, chief technology officer at Worldsensing, which sells Internet of Things (IoT)-based monitoring equipment for mines and tailings dams, tells Discover CleanTech that the mining industry is working hard to improve its environmental and social performance. “We provide innovative network management tools and low-power IoT sensor-based monitoring technology that are key in helping the mining industry to become resistant to climate challenges, and we have seen mounting interest in our August 2022

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Kitepower

German company SkySails Power got as far as launching an airborne wind energy system but more recently divested part of its business. Photo: SkySails

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Kitepower

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Airborne wind firm resorts to crowdfunding to stay aloft Delft, Netherlands-based airborne wind energy (AWE) developer Kitepower is planning a crowdfunding drive for cash. The move underscores the precarious path to commercialisation facing firms in the promising yet technically challenging AWE market, which has yet to be conquered despite the efforts of some of the largest companies on the planet. BY JASON DEIGN |

PHOTOS: KITEPOWER

The idea behind AWE is to replace the blades used in traditional wind turbines with airborne devices, typically kites or gliders, that are tethered to the ground and generate energy by looping in the sky. AWE proponents say the technology can access high-altitude winds that blow more strongly and consistently than those that can be reached using conventional wind turbines. Another avowed advantage of the technology is that it requires much less in terms of materials than a traditional wind turbine, theoretically reducing costs. To date, however, businesses trying to commercialise AWE have only had limited success. One German company, SkySails Power, has got as far as launching an AWE system in the island of Mauritius, but has more recently divested part of its business.

viewed as the most complex technology setup in AWE. Kitepower’s system uses a flexible kite and a ground-based generation unit, which helps simplify the technology. Still, the company’s decision to embark on a crowdfunding push for financing does not instil much confidence in the prospects for the technology. Kitepower, which has been developing its product since it spun out of the Delft University of Technology in 2016, says it has already used more than four million euros to turn its mobile airborne device into “a mature and applicable system.”

The industry’s most prominent flag bearer, Makani Technologies, failed to achieve commercialisation despite being backed by Google’s parent company, Alphabet. Makani’s demise has been blamed on the complexity of its technology. Depending on the concept involved, the airborne device may be rigid like an aircraft or flexible like a kite.

“After conducting six years of research at Delft University of Technology, we launched two working prototypes, with which we have now carried out three successful pilots,” says Joep Breuer, Kitepower’s chief technology officer. “V9 is the latest version and has a larger kite and winch. It furthermore utilises the latest technologies, such as advanced micro-computers and lines made of polyethylene, which are up to seven times stronger than steel. While a kite currently generates 100 kW per year, we want to increase that to 200, 300 and 500 kW in the years ahead.”

Energy generation, meanwhile, can be via small turbines on the device, which spin as the craft moves through the air, or via a winch on the ground that spins round as the tether plays out. Makani attempted to generate power using a rigid glider with wing-mounted turbines, which is generally

The company has flown prototype systems on the Caribbean Island of Aruba and says it is working with the Dutch Ministry of Defence on providing sustainable energy supplies for the military. Investors interested in supporting the company can register their interest via the company’s website.

The idea behind airborne wind energy is to replace the blades used in traditional wind turbines with airborne devices.

Kitepower team and partners at Reach Meeting in 2016.

Airborne wind energy developer Kitepower is looking for funds.

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Investing in Cleantech

Environmental technology – the role of venture capital Chris Smith, the CEO of TSP Ventures, an early-stage environmental technology venture capital (VC) firm, calls on other VCs to step up in the battle against climate change. BY CHRIS SMITH

From around 2010-2014 I was lucky enough to be given responsibility for running a business in Brazil. Brazil is a large and vibrant country with lovely, friendly people. The population is of indigenous, Mediterranean and African descent and they have fused into a true multi-culture that is lively, colourful and collectively has a 114

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full-on zest for life. I made many friends and much enjoyed this part of my life. My flight carried me over the Amazon and seeing the areas cleared for cattle and soybeans and the large number of fires that were burning would sadden me. Regrettably, and because illegal gold mining has

also become rife, it has since gotten much, much worse. The same is happening in Asia with palm oil plantations. Brazil and other ‘emerging’ countries understandably feel that they should be allowed to develop their natural resources as they see fit. Hopefully, corruption aside, they then use

Investing in Cleantech

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Chris Smith is CEO of TSP Ventures, an early-stage environmental technology VC. He has had a long career in the military and then financial services that included doing four start-ups. His final job before TSP was global head of strategy for Bgc Partners where he was responsible for all M and A. He believes in the TSP Ventures strapline of “Enterprise, People , Earth”. This encapsulates his belief that the role of enterprise is to serve the long term good of people and the earth. He passionately believes that backing businesses with an EPE purpose and making venture style returns is not mutually exclusive, indeed it is often the opposite

where in the world, and we have contributed three to five per cent of the emissions of GHGs now in the atmosphere. Therefore, for us to lecture other economies on their behaviours and emissions is both cowardly and crass. Instead, we should strive to be world leaders in the reduction, remediation, repair and adaptation of technologies that will slow, stop and eventually reverse humanity’s impact on the climate, the environment and biodiversity. This is where venture capital has a significant part to play.

VCs should support technologies that grow animal feed more cheaply than in the Amazon to prevent further deforestation, says CEO Chris Smith. Photo: dreamstime

the money generated by these resources to pull more people out of poverty and develop the large and reasonably affluent middle class that other countries enjoy. In the UK it has been reported that we are a country with some of the very highest rates of habitat and biodiversity destruction any-

The UK has a talented and successful VC community that has helped multiple companies start up, grow and thrive. More VCs are entering the environmental space, but it’s patchy and focused predominantly on the wrong things (if I see another app that monitors my carbon footprint, I will scream). Instead, we should be backing the deep-science projects that have the potential to make new fuels, store energy, capture carbon, re-purpose waste, reduce pollution and protect biodiversity. This would include technologies that grow animal feed more cheaply than in the Amazon, and that can recover gold from waste and mine it in more clean and cost-effective ways.

I am proud to be a holder of the Queen’s Commission and, when an active soldier, I was lucky enough to spend some time in the jungles of the world. I remember a particularly tough march that I had to do up a steep muddy mountain in Brunei to the border with Sarawak. We started when it was still dark and couldn’t see a thing, but along the ridge line the canopy was thinner and there was a little light. It was very tough; slipping, sliding and sweating, but as dawn broke we hit the summit and were greeted by the most spectacular views over miles and miles of virgin rainforest. The exotic birds were calling and we could hear the unmistakable sound of gibbons ‘whooping’. The trees were transpiring so that little pockets of cloud and mist hung over the forest. It was 1983 and it was so beautiful that this then 23-yearold was deeply moved. I believe that a lot of that view has now been lost to palm oil plantations. Good VCs don’t just pick winners, we help create them. Let’s do our bit to help create the winners that will in turn help the planet and the people on it now, as well as the people who are yet to be born. August 2022

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Book of the Month

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Book of the Month

Great Adaptations – In the Shadow of a Climate Crisis – by Morgan Phillips Environmental blogger Anders Lorenzen presents his pick for Book of the Month. Following the heatwaves that have swept through Europe this summer, the choice is of Morgan Phillips’ Great Adaptations – In the Shadow of a Climate Crisis. BY ANDERS LORENZEN

Some people may have welcomed the heat and sun we recently received across Europe. However, in many parts of the continent, this early heatwave was unprecedented with serious economic and health implications. As the climate continues to warm, not even Europe is shielded from the impacts, and the feeling that summers are getting warmer, longer and more tropical is no longer just a feeling but an undeniable fact. European cities, and in particular the bigger ones like London, have a serious task at hand in adapting to climate change. Therefore, this month there could not be a more poignant book to look at than Morgan Phillips’ Great Adaptations – In the Shadow of a Climate Crisis. Phillips sets out by making it clear that it is not simply the case that we need to adapt to some level of climate change, but it is how we do it, how well we are able to do it and what it will cost which are the key defining questions. AS IMPORTANT AS CLEAN ENERGY While the issue around adaptation is technical and does not have the same trendy swag as the clean energy transition, it is at least as critical; as no matter how much clean energy we install, we have to adapt to changes already coming our way. Phil-

lips points out that while there are many core social issues to adaptation, such as social justice, it would be wrong to ignore the economic consequences too. What is recommendable about Phillips’ book is that he has condensed such a complex issue as adaptation into a short, easily accessible book, perfect for reading on the go. A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY You may wonder what a book about climate adaptation is doing in a publication that mainly talks about the cleantech and energy revolution and transformation? The answer is that if we get adaptation right and choose the right things to innovate, it will create millions of green jobs globally. For instance, take the twinned opportunities to climate-proof our buildings so that

they both vastly reduce emissions and become able to withstand temperature increases and protect against a variety of extreme weather even Just one example of the vast subject matter there is to ponder on this issue, and which this book encourages thought upon.

Author Dr. Morgan Phillips FRSA, is co-director of The Glacier Trust, a UK charity that enables climate change adaptation in Nepal. He is also head of insight at environmental charity Global Action Plan, trustee at National Association for Environmental Education, and associate director at Green Schools Project.

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Events

London EV Show

The London EV Show 2022 is anticipated to welcome over 5,000+ attendees, 200+ exhibitors and 70+ big media houses, not only from Europe, but across the globe.

London EV Show 2022 returns to ExCeL London

BY SIGNE HANSEN

The second annual London EV Show is all set to once again host the most-comprehensive EV conference and exhibition for the entire value chain. Taking place from 29 Nov to 1 Dec 2022 at Excel London, the event will facilitate quality networking and business matchmaking and presenting all the latest and greatest that the EV sector has to offer. Expanding its footprint to the farthest corners of the world, the London EV Show 2022 will host a massive exhibiting platform for companies to showcase the latest models, next-gen electrification technology, innovative products and solutions. This year, the event will also feature a 1.5-mile test drive track for exhibitors to provide hands-on experience of their latest EV models for thousands of EV enthusiasts. Moreover, EV admirers will be able to ride, drive and demonstrate the latest products, EV models and services that the industry has to offer. 118

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Building on the success of its first event, the EV Show 2022 will once again give participants access to over 100+ anticipated speakers from across the entire EV spectrum. Key stakeholders from several OEMs, governments, transport departments, big tech companies, fleet operators, charging infrastructure companies and start-ups will convene and provide unrivalled insights on different aspects of the EV industry. “Ever since sustainability has become an all-important subject for governments around the world, EV adoption has

emerged as one of the most sought-after solutions to meet net-zero goals. Inspired by the same idea, the previous edition of the London EV Show was instrumental in convening the important EV stakeholders to deliberate upon the ways to advance EV adoption and emerged as one of the most important EV events of 2021 despite the COVID restrictions,” says Shariq AbdulHai, CEO of Valiant Business Media, and adds: “In light of the overwhelming response the event received last year, we are very confident that this year the London EV Show will again run full house and

London EV Show

Events

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will break all records in terms of participation and execution.” London EV Show 2022 certainly looks like the place for EV stakeholders to be able to forge new alliances, witness the latest disruptive technologies and network with the influential voices from the EV industry; in short, to get a glimpse of what the future of EVs looks like. The London EV Show 2022 is anticipated to welcome over 5,000+ attendees, 200+ exhibitors and 70+ big media houses, not only from Europe but across the globe. Place: Excel London, United Kingdom Date: 29 November - 1 December, 2022 Website: www.londonevshow.com Discover CleanTech’s special partnership offers: https://bit. ly/3LrTSf4 London EV Show 2022 takes place at ExCeL London.

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Events

Estonia’s scenic summer: view of the Old Town sea port harbour. Photo: dreamstime

The cleantech calendar

BY SIGNE HANSEN

– events you should not miss in the coming months CLEANTECH FORUM ASIA Join the event for easy access to startups, scale-ups, investors and multinationals from across the region and the world. Not only will you meet the future of Asia’s sustainable innovation ecosystem, but you’ll also discover the global connections that will fuel your next opportunities wherever you live and work. Don’t miss this great opportunity to learn from the future of Asia’s sustainable innovation ecosystem, including companies on the soon-tobe-released 2022 APAC 25 list. Place: Singapore Date: 12-13 October 2022 www.cleantech.com/event/cleantechforum-asia 120

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INTERNATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY EXHIBITION IN ESTONIA GREENEXPO 2022 Estonia holds the International Renewable Energy Exhibition, GREENEXPO 2022 – green line of life, for the first time in October 2022. The event takes place at the Eesti Näituste Exhibition Centre in Tallinn. The B2B and C2C will see compa-

nies and individuals from Northern Europe and other countries present their ideas at the exhibition, creating in the words of the organisers “the present and future of mankind”. Place: Tallinn, Estonia Date: 12–14 October 2022 www.greenexpo.ee

Events

LONDON CLIMATE TECHNOLOGY SHOW

CLEANTECH CAPITAL DAY SCANDINAVIA

Leading global climate technology stakeholders are assembling in the UK for the annual London Climate Technology Show taking place in October at Olympia London. Be a part of this important international climate technology tradeshow and conference to witness and showcase the latest innovative technologies accelerating the global climate technology transition and meet key industry stakeholders, policymakers, investors, leading businesses and climate tech start-ups from across the globe. Cambridge Cleantech will also be represented. Place: London, United Kingdom Date: 19-20 October 2022 www.climatetechshow.com

Taking place in the Norwegian capital Oslo, Cleantech Capital Day will again collect the most important players in industry, investment, government, start-ups and growth companies to learn from new sustainable innovations. The two-day event will bring together around 200 professionals, with most members of the network of the event’s organiser, Cleantech Scandinavia, attending, plus many other international investors, industries, and established cleantech companies. Participants come from Europe, China, the Middle East and North America.

Discover CleanTech

The event features many networking opportunities, company pitches – including the Nordic Cleantech Open Finals – and content sessions. Also there are sessions focused on specific markets looking to find better ways to bridge these areas with the Nordics and Europe at large, with the goal to increase cleantech business. Organisers say: “The discussion will be spot on and focus on what we can do now.” Place: Oslo, Norway Date: 25-26 October 2022 www.cleantechscandinavia.com/Events/ cleantech-capital-day

Opera House in Oslo, Norway. Photo: dreamstime

CLEANTECH FORUM EUROPE Cleantech Forum Europe takes place in Brussels where participants will meet the investors, innovators and corporate change makers who are building and championing the technologies that will deliver net-zero transformation. It provides an opportunity to network with the people that can help accelerate your technology or idea. The event’s theme, From commitments to actions: Accelerating our net-zero strategy, will inspire a research-led agenda where experts discuss the big ideas with the power to deliver a cleaner, cooler world. Organisers say: “Join us to take action on the climate crisis”. Place: Brussels, Belgium Date: November 8-10 2022 www.cleantech.com/event/cleantechforum-europe August 2022

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Discover CleanTech

Writers of the Month

Writers of the Month This issue of Discover CleanTech includes special features by:

ANNA TURNS Anna Turns specialises in writing about sustainability, from climate change and renewable energy to marine issues, food and farming. As a freelance journalist and Oxford University biology graduate, she contributes regularly to The Guardian, Positive News and The Independent. Turns also teaches journalism students at Plymouth Marjon University and has just published her first book, Go Toxic Free: Easy and Sustainable Ways to Reduce Chemical Pollution. In 2020, Turns joined the Integrity Council for Provenance which aims to combat ‘greenwashing’ and create standards that better enable transparency. www.environmentaljournalist.co.uk

ANDERS LORENZEN Danish-born Anders Lorenzen is a freelance writer. He is a passionate environmentalist and advocate for action on climate change, as well as the founder of A greener life, a greener world. He has contributed to various outlets on the topics of climate change, energy and broad environmental issues. He is a keen runner and lives in London with his partner and young daughter. agreenerlifeagreenerworld.net

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LONDON

19-20 October 2022 | Olympia London

Connecting Global Climate Technology Stakeholders for a