Author: jy3076

Neustark – removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and stores it in recycled concrete

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Student Jessica Yu | Uni: JY3076

Sustainable Problem:

Cement production attribute to one of the largest GHG emissions globally. Cement production releases 5–6% of all carbon dioxide generated by human activities, accounting for about 4% of global warming. The manufacturing process of cement also causes pollution and can contaminate the water which causes adverse affects to human wellbeing and environmental health concerns.

Sustainable technology:

To address this, there is a push for smart and sustainable construction materials as well as alternative processes for cement manufacturing. Construction companies are looking for efficient manufacturing process and low-carbon sources.

Source: https://www.startus-insights.com/innovators-guide/discover-top-startups-creating-sustainable-manufacturing-solutions/

  • Neustark is a swiss startup that removes carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and stores it in recycles concrete. (Stores about 10kg in each cubic meter of recycled concrete aggregate)
  • It uses principles of natural mineralization accelerating it to capture carbon more efficiently. It optimizes concrete usage to minimize cement usage in concreate manufacturing.
  • Neustark carbonation takes place before the granules are mixed with cement. The pH value of the finished concreate is the same as that of conventionally produced concrete.

Key Stakeholders:

  • Real estate Developers
  • Construction companies
  • Government Urban planning department

Implementation steps:

1.) Determine the ecological and economical potential of neustark based on the specific framework condition on the business that is considering using this technology

2.) Validate the key assumptions behind what could potentially be saved through the companies ‘lab scale concreate test’ series

3.) Rent their mobile unit to validate those test at large scale at their location of choice

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Clean-Energy Skylight Makes Seawater Drinkable And Provides Free Light

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Student: Jessica Yu | Uni: Jy3076

Sustainability Problem:

By 2050, it is predicted that 3 billion people will be living within informal settlements and 1 in 3 people around the world do not have access to safe drinking water . An informal settlement is housing that falls outside of government control or regulation. These communities are excluded from regular access to the benefits of urban development, including public services, infrastructure, public spaces and collective facilities. It’s clear that providing safe water for all is one of the most pressing problems in public health.

Technology Solution:

Designer Henry Glogau developed a no-cost lighting solution for homes in shantytowns – a skylight dubbed ‘Solar Desalination Skylight’ that provides free lighting and drinkable water.

  • The Solar Desalination Skylight works by evaporating seawater using heat from the sun. During the day, seawater trickles through a pipe into the bowl-shaped skylight. The salt and pollutants are removed and clean drinking water is extracting via a tap at the Skylight base.
  • At night, the remaining brine left over from the purification process generates an electrical charge to power a dim light.
  • As well as the functional performance, the desalinated water adds a morphing dappled effect that changes mood throughout the day, creating a soft ambiance for the living room space where family activities take place.

Source:https://www.daylightandarchitecture.com/iva/2020-projects/solar-desalination-skylight/?consent=none&ref-original=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F

Stakeholders:

  • informal settlement communities in Antofagasta, Chile.
  • Local NGO (in this example TECHO)
  • Governments
  • Real estate developers

Implementation:

1.) Conduct research to understand the areas with the lowest-income household in the communities

2.) Ensure the areas of installation has sufficient enough sunlight and Seawater

3.) deploy community desalination workshops to educate how the installation would work

source:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7–n9oqOOk

Homegrown Hive to save Bees in Ireland

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Student: Jessica Yu | Uni: Jy3076

Problem:

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More than 30% of Irish bee species are threatened with extinction, part of the reason that bee populations have undergone a rapid decline is the rise in imports of international bees. Originating from totally different climates, these bees and others, like the Italian bee, are used to warmer weather. They can’t survive the Irish rain.

Technology:

Niamh built a hive (Econooc) that’s designed to help save the native bee population. It will not reject international bees, but it will focus on conserving black bees.

  • This self-assembly hive “biomimics” the shape of a tree hollow, this being the perfect shape for bees to move around in a cluster during the winter months.
  • The base of the Econooc is made from mycelium, which is grown from mushrooms, and is similar to polystyrene, while also having natural substances that give the bees an extra defense against the varroa mite that can carry viruses into the hive.
  • The hive comes with a calendar that teaches the user about biodiversity and how to create a more diverse garden. This calendar is made from paper embedded with wildflower seeds which the user can plant to encourage pollinators.

Source: http://thenewnow.ie/students/niamh-damery/econooc/

Stakeholders:

  • Local Farmers
  • Government
  • Food companies

Implementation:

1.) Identify the areas that have wide green space and trees. Or work with Farms that have the area to install these hives

2.) Partner with farmers and local government to monitor the process and track the increase of bee growth

3.) Ensure this program and initiative has continuously grown and been maintained and can look into expanding into other areas

Track of your product’s lifecycle -TeknTrash

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Jessica Yu | Uni: Jy3076

Sustainability Problem:

There are 8 Million m2 tons of plastics dumped in the ocean and 11% of all methane in the atmosphere comes from trash. Historically, product manufacturers depend on sales data to track consumer patterns. Therefore, there is a direct connection between sales and consumption however, there is a lack of customer knowledge or data.

The Technology:

  • TeknTrash  created something called the POD – Point of Disposal (Stipra technology), it is a device which captures consumption data of customer. Stipra is a service that awards people for proper recycling.
  • TeknTrash technology allows for instant recognition of disposed products and its geolocation, thus allowing companies to match their sales to their effective consumption. It is based on pictures of products taken by users when they are disposing their household products to obtain rewards.
  • In a result, this effectively changes the recycling model in the modern day. We no longer have to base it on the sales of product such as paper, plastic, glass, but can depend on the data based on sales of useful consumer data.
  • This would allow effective and sustainable incentivize solution to the consumers to dispose properly.
This is a device which captures consumption data.

https://www.tekntrash.com/pod.php

Stakeholders:

  • Consumer Product Goods companies
  • Marketing Agencies (for data consumptions)
  • Local city municipals (to encourage recycling)
  • Waste Management

Implementation:

  • Companies would have to register at the Stipra and create campaigns of the product they want Stipra to track, define a geographic area, what rewards to be given
  • Consumers would have to also utilize this mobile APP to capture videos and photos of their household items when they dispose it
  • AI system finds product and looks at Stipra to search matches, awards points to consumers.
  • Captures and collects metadata such as location, age and gender of the person. This way, companies can use the data to improve their products.

Tulip Wind Turbines

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Jessica Yu | Uni: JY3076

Problem: Energy

Wind energy offers many advantages, which explains why it is one of the fastest growing energy sources in the world. However, there are still many challenges of wind power that the market needs to solve for. Wind power must still compete with conventional generation sources on a cost basis, even though cost of wind has decreased significantly, it might not be able to compete economically with the lowest cost sources of electricity. Wind turbine also takes up a lot of land, and resource development might not be the most profitable use of land. Furthermore, turbines causes noise and aesthetic pollution, not a lot of people want to live next to it. Lastly, there is also the concern of intruding wildlife with birds being killed by flying into spinning turbine blades.

Sustainable Technology: Tulip Turbines

Since Europe is working on becoming climate neutral by 2050 (producing net zero emissions), the development of vertical turbines could be a solution to the many problems including noises and aesthetics.

  • A company in the Netherlands is producing ‘wind tulips’ to make energy production less of an eyesore. The idea is structuring the flow better using the science of fluid dynamics. They are quieter and smaller and work easily with changing wind direction. The shape is not only for pleasing the eyes, it also comes with aerodynamics that make the small wind turbines produce more energy per square meter than solar panels in windy areas.
  • These Tulip wind turbines are around 3 meters, or 9 feet, high. They come with a US-made generator rated at 1000 watts with the capacity to go up to 3000 for limited times and a charge controller. Manufactured in the Netherlands. Available in 4-10 months.
  • Most wind turbines need to be placed far apart, because the problem with lift turbines when they are placed close together is their turbulence would interfere with each other. But when the turbines are correctly spaced to benefit from that adjacent zone of higher velocity wind, the total power output jumps upwards.

Stakeholders:

  • US Department of Energy
  • Large company manufacturers that need their own sustainable energy sources
  • Residential areas that need off-grid energy sources
  • Shopping Malls, Schools, Skyscrapers

Technology Implementation:

1.) Understanding the location wind source. Utilizing local weather data from airports and meteorigcial stations.

2.) Identifying reliable power purchaser or market. To date, wind energy is the most cost competitive renewable energy option on the market. Before investing thousands of dollars into wind resource assessments, permitting, and pre-construction activities, a developer will secure tentative commitments from one or more buyers for the wind plants output over 10 to 30 years of its operational lifetime.

3.) Evaluate the maintenance and performance. An environmental impact assessment need to be performed before construction, in order to ensure that communities and their environments will not be harmed by the project.

Sources:

Technology

https://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/advantages-and-challenges-wind-energy

https://flowerturbines.com/technology/

Micromobility charging stations

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Student: Jessica Yu (Uni: JY3076)

Sustainability Problem:

Solar Power stations and infrastructures have been increasing in many places thus bringing down the cost in many homes. However, there are still many areas where the grid does not reach the areas and it is hard to gain energy access on the go.

Summary:

In order to make energy / charging stations available, standardize and universal charging station needs to be made available, DUCKT is a company that helps create this, gives access and creates a new stream of energy towards public transportation. DUCKT can charge any micromobility vehicle including scooters regardless of model in one infrastructure solution.

  • This company helps create a infrastructure that is suitable for many vehicles in the market. For example, in Paris, they deployed new charging infrastructure that can be plugged into advertising boards or streetlights.
  • DUCKT ( https://medium.com/startup-grind/startup-q-a-duckt-6306b15e3288) says its charging docks can be plugged into advertising boards, bus stations and street lighting to provide a power source, meaning scooters for example can stay in use for longer without the need to have batteries replaced.
  • The city of Paris has begun a pilot project to install 150 dock, lock and charge points for micromobility vehicles across the “Paris Rive Gauche” (13th Arrondissement) area of the French capital. The project aims to demonstrate how universal charging infrastructure can accelerate micromobility use and it’s hoped reduce climate impact in the city.
  • Scooters are very popular in the cities, so providing sufficient infrastructure will no doubt become crucial for authorities in the capital going forward. Time will tell whether projects such as this will be rolled out more widely in Paris and other cities where scooter usage is increasing.

Stakeholders

  • Public Space Owners (Key Stakeholders): While service operators are visitors of the city, people and the local authority are the hosts, and the hosts of the city are the one who will be impacted in their daily life
  • Sharing Operators (Primary Stakeholders): Firms are spending almost 60% of their income for operations and charging. Operators can cut from their extra operation times, especially to charge during the day anytime, anywhere. DUCKT Station provide safety against vandalism both during the day and night
  • 3rd party Business (Secondary Stakeholders): Parking operators, energy suppliers, coffee chains, EV stations, Shopping centers, holiday resorts, gas stations get to become mobility service hotspots.

Deploying this technology

Work with cities local authorities and scooters operators to present this solution to implement as a standard that benefits all. Furthermore, they also can work with scooter manufacturers because they have internationally patented the plug works in how it’s designed, they can have these adapters as a spec ready into these vehicles so they will already have a infrastructure solution that is already existing in the cities.