Tag: Climate

Coffee grounds can be made into spectacle frames. Coffee itself, meanwhile, is having a hard time due to climate change. Which is why a Belgian startup has developed a coffee alternative made from chickpeas. These are first fermented in an organic and patented process. The secret lies in the use of multiple microbial strains under different conditions, and in...

Cow dung has a lot to offer. Finnish research on the impact of penguins on the climate is no sailor’s yarn either. The flightless birds’ excrement secretes ammonia into the atmosphere, a fact confirmed by studies undertaken on a colony of 60,000 in the Antarctic. The concentration of ammonia was 1,000 times higher than it was without the birds....

Folded cardboard paper protects objects during transit. Meanwhile, in Singapore a research team has taken its inspiration from the folds in elephants’ skin, features which prevent the endangered mammals from overheating. The idea? To use a similarly uneven surface to create sustainable, ‘cooling’ tiles. The team mixed mycelium with bamboo shavings, oats and water and shaped the mix into...

Adding algae to food reduces emissions in livestock. Cultivating rice also generates methane, a fact that prompted a Swedish-based research team to take action. The source lies in substances secreted by rice roots and metabolised by microorganisms. Studies involving a bioengineered rice strain with low methane emission showed that two substances in particular had a decisive influence. Secreted salts...

Paper tags prevent theft, while algae protects against fire. And now, British students are turning to natural materials such as charcoal to provide safeguards against wildfires. Their patent-pending, pinecone-like sensor can be placed on the forest floor. If the surrounding temperature exceeds 80℃, wax in the ‘cone’ starts to melt. Its heat is converted into energy by a small...

Filters can rid water of pollutants directly at the source. Now, an LA-based startup is aiming to remove CO2 from seawater. Why? The world’s oceans store around 30% of annual CO2 emissions and can absorb 150 times more of the gas than air. But as coral death shows, the situation is far from ideal. The new process sees carbon...

Goal-setting can motivate people to undertake climate action. So too entertaining tips. Now with its new IT solution, a startup from Norway is helping companies to bring climate action directly to their clients. Integration into software or apps means offsetting measures can be initiated upon purchase. During the buying process the resultant carbon footprint is calculated and clients can...

Sand retains its warmth for months, just as white-hot heat can generate electricity. Now a venue manager from Glasgow has discovered another means of producing energy, providing climate control by using the body heat of venue-goers. To cool rooms, special ceiling-mounted devices collect heat from the air and transfuse it into fluid. Using boreholes, this, in turn, is funnelled...