Tue.Oct 15, 2019

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5 startups unlocking the mobility revolution

GreenBiz

From data to electrification, these entpreneurs are surmounting barriers to reaching an equitable, sustainable mobility future and empowering first movers to act.

Startups 292
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Renewable energy surpasses fossil fuels in the UK

Inhabitat - Innovation

In a first for the United Kingdom, wind turbines, solar panels and other renewable energy sources have generated more electricity than their fossil fuel counterparts of coal and natural gas.

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Trending Sources

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How the Urban Freight Lab seeks to fix the last 50 feet of shipping

GreenBiz

Packed with automotive and logistics giants, the living lab out of Seattle aspires to test solutions to "the transportation challenge of our time.".

Logistics 284
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Old bus is converted into a mobile greenhouse to teach students about sustainable eating habits

Inhabitat - Innovation

Parents in New Jersey are rejoicing thanks to a refurbished bus that is on a mission to educate young students on a variety of food education issues, from better eating habits to urban gardening.

Education 217
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Electrofuels Are the Future: The Driving Force to Decarbonizing Heavy Transport

Speaker: Ayesha Choudhury - Senior Vice President, Head of Capital Markets at Infinium

With the first wave of the energy transition, renewable energy sources (such as solar and wind) have begun replacing coal power generation. However, some sectors are lagging behind and struggling to decarbonize more than others, including large-scale transportation like commercial aviation, shipping, and rail transit. Electrofuels (aka eFuels) are the next generation of solutions to help the hardest-to-abate sectors pivot from their reliance on fossil fuels.

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Making buildings the next great climate project

GreenBiz

Sponsored: Buildings are the next frontier for carbon emissions reduction and businesses should leverage a holistic approach.

Carbon 288
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Fighting fatbergs and hidden plastics: Unblocktober movement underway to save UK’s sewers and seas

Envirotec Magazine

Unblocktober , a campaign to save Britain’s sewers and seas from the devastation caused by fatbergs and hidden plastics, is underway and more than 4,000 individuals and employees have already embraced the month-long challenge. With support from the UK’s leading utilities firms and the likes of Defra and Keep Britain Tidy backing Unblocktober on social media, word is spreading – and there is still time for more businesses and individuals to get involved.

Plastics 196

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Stefano Boeri will revitalize Genoa with sustainable energy-producing urban design

Inhabitat - Innovation

A Stefano Boeri Architetti-led design team has won a competition to design a new urban project to transform the Polcevera valley in Genoa, Italy into a beacon of sustainability. Titled “The Polcevera Park and The Red Circle,” the urban regeneration scheme will include a series of parks beneath the new Renzo Piano-designed bridge that will replace the Morandi Bridge that collapsed on August 14, 2018—a tragedy that killed 43 people.

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Leading (and managing) the charge to electric fleets

GreenBiz

To avoid sticker shock on your utility bill, you must move to a managed charging model for your EV or hybrid fleet.

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How to see these six fascinating animals in the wild while aiding in their conservation

Inhabitat - Innovation

If you’re going to travel, travel responsibly. The best way to show these animals that you love them is by respecting their habitats and aiding in the conservation of their species. Here’s how to ethically view six animals in their natural habitats in ways that benefit them rather than disturb them. Sharks on Viti Levu, Fiji There are hundreds of different species of sharks who call earth’s waters home, and a trip to Fiji will give you the chance to see at least eight of them in.

Ethics 152
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Waitrose products gain official ‘Fine to Flush’ approval, a first for a supermarket chain

Envirotec Magazine

Two Waitrose & Partners toiletry products have successfully achieved Water UK’s official ‘Fine to Flush’ standard. This means that the two products – Fragrance Free and Lightly Fragranced moist toilet tissues – have passed strict water industry tests which prove they will break down in the sewer system and won’t cause blockages and fatbergs.

Packaging 145
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AR/VR Simulations for Sustainable, Regenerative, Circular Cities

Speaker: Nik Gowing, Brenda Laurel, Sheridan Tatsuno, Archie Kasnet, and Bruce Armstrong Taylor

With 191 country signatories to the Paris Climate Agreement now hard at work in the race to zero carbon by 2050, much of the heavy lifting in ecosystem sustainability falls on the shoulders of the world's densely populated urban centers. This conversation considers how today's AI-enabled simulation media, such as AR/VR, can be effectively applied to accelerate learning, understanding, training, and solutions-modeling to sustainability planning and design.

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China to Eliminate Subsidies for Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Cars: Report

GreenTechMedia

China will reportedly eliminate hydrogen fuel-cell car subsidies at the end of 2020, raising questions about Beijing's goal to have a million of the vehicles on the road by 2030. China is scaling down its subsidies for electric cars and plug-in hybrids but had been silent on whether it would follow suit for fuel-cell vehicles, which are at an earlier stage of technological and market maturity.

Hydrogen 100
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Getting to Net Zero: what happens when the wind stops blowing? New analysis presents possible answers

Envirotec Magazine

New analysis released on 14 October by energy market analytics firm Aurora Energy Research attempts to address some of the quandaries presented by the effort to deliver a net zero energy system. It tackles questions such as: How much zero-carbon capacity such as renewables will be needed? How would we operate a system dominated by variable renewables?

Carbon 140
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Spain Grid-Connects More Solar in 2019 Than Last Decade Combined

GreenTechMedia

Spain has connected more solar to its grid in the first nine months of 2019 than the last 10 years put together. Data released by grid operator Red Eléctrica de España (REE) shows that around 1,541 megawatts of solar PV capacity has been plugged into the grid so far this year. Spain enjoyed a subsidy-driven solar boom late last decade before suffering through a dramatic slowdown.

Policy 100
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Sorex Sensors launch first dust sensor based on film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR) technology

Envirotec Magazine

University of Cambridge spin-out Sorex Sensors launched its first product based on its seemingly breakthrough sensor technology on 15 October. It consists of a particulate sensor along with an accompanying development kit – and is designed for use in devices such as air purifier systems as well as in atomic layer deposition tools for monitoring deposition rates and amounts (as used in semiconductor manufacturing).

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How Digital Transformation will Bend the Curve of the Linear Economy Toward the Circular

Speaker: Bruce Armstrong Taylor, Co-Founder & Managing Director of SmartNations Foundation, Jimmy Jia, Venture Partner at Pi Labs, Fabienne Durand, Senior Advisor to the SmartNations Foundation, & Roger Strukhoff, Executive Director of the Tau Institute

The Climate 4.0 Economy. Climate change is here. We see it in many ways already. Weather catastrophes: Texas freezing over, the wildfires of California, the increasingly unpredictable violence and frequency of hurricanes, the rapid melting and disappearance of polar ice caps. Much more evidence all around us. What can we do in our corporate organizations, in our homes and communities, to change the current course?

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Are Ancient Bugs the Key to Storing Wind and Solar?

GreenTechMedia

As grids get saturated with wind and solar electricity, there’s increasing pressure to find new ways to store that energy across daily, monthly or seasonal variations. Could the answer be a billion-year-old microorganism? The National Renewable Energy Laboratory and SoCalGas are currently running a new bioreactor that could turn renewable electrons into renewable methane — allowing excess generation to be “stored” in existing natural gas pipelines.

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Sorex Sensors launches first dust sensor based on film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR) technology

Envirotec Magazine

University of Cambridge spin-out Sorex Sensors launched its first product based on its seemingly breakthrough sensor technology on 15 October. It consists of a particulate sensor along with an accompanying development kit – and is designed for use in devices such as air purifier systems as well as in atomic layer deposition tools for monitoring deposition rates and amounts (as used in semiconductor manufacturing).

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California Governor Calls For Customer Rebates in Wake of PG&E Blackouts

GreenTechMedia

California officials are not happy about Pacific Gas & Electric's handling of its massive fire-prevention power outage last week. Gov. Gavin Newsom and state regulators on Monday demanded that PG&E address the communications and technology breakdowns that marred its response to the outage and find ways to limit the disruption from future such events.

Demand 100
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Fighting fatbergs and hidden plastics: Unblocktober movement underway to save UK’s sewers and seas

Envirotec Magazine

Unblocktober , a campaign to save Britain’s sewers and seas from the devastation caused by fatbergs and hidden plastics, is underway and more than 4,000 individuals and employees have already embraced the month-long challenge. With support from the UK’s leading utilities firms and the likes of Defra and Keep Britain Tidy backing Unblocktober on social media, word is spreading – and there is still time for more businesses and individuals to get involved.

Plastics 100
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Plug In America releases Used EV Buyers Guide

Charged

Although new EVs still cost considerably more to buy than comparable legacy vehicles, we’re seeing more and more articles arguing that the total cost of ownership , considering savings on fuel and maintenance, is actually lower. However, such arguments are moot for car buyers whose budget won’t cover any new car. For these folks (who probably represent the majority of car buyers), there’s good news: plug-in vehicles are becoming plentiful on the used-car market, and there are some killer deals t

Batteries 100
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How to get HOA solar approval: Tips for success

Solar Power World

In some areas, Homeowners Associations (HOAs) can present significant barriers to homeowners’ ability to install solar. Before Texas enacted protective solar access laws that limited what restrictions HOAs could place on solar installations in their neighborhoods, HOAs meant a lot of frustration. Speaking to the New York Times in 2009 when he was chief executive… The post How to get HOA solar approval: Tips for success appeared first on Solar Power World.

Law 99
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EV maker Aptera partners with Elaphe for in-wheel motors

Charged

Aptera Motors, a start-up building an ultra-efficient EV , has teamed up with Elaphe Propulsion Technologies, a manufacturer of in-wheel motors. Aptera says in-wheel motors offer it advantages that would be impossible to achieve with other propulsion systems, including enhanced aerodynamics, lighter overall vehicle weight and improved handling, all of which result in better mileage and safety.

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Planet Announces More Spectral Bands, 50cm Resolution, Global Analytics, and Change Detection

Planet Pulse

This morning at our Explore 19 conference, Planet co-founder and CEO Will Marshall unveiled the latest product announcements that customers can look forward to in the next year. Planet Monitoring. Will announced new capabilities for Next-Generation PlanetScope, our flagship monitoring solution powered by the latest iteration of our Dove satellite called SuperDove.

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The Brief: Farewell to Paul Polak, IFC’s Neil Gregory, de-risking cleantech, affordable lab-grown meats, sustainability-linked loans, climate-smart in Africa

Impact Alpha

Greetings, Agents of Impact! Farewell to Paul Polak. We salute serial social entrepreneur Paul Polak, who died last week. The global development approaches Polak pioneered are now accepted wisdom for thousands of Agents of Impact. “We need to see the poor as customers rather than charity recipients,” said Polak, author of “Out of Poverty” and co-founder of Windhorse The post The Brief: Farewell to Paul Polak, IFC’s Neil Gregory, de-risking cleantech, affordable lab-grown meats, sustainabil

Africa 93
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Anheuser-Busch to deploy 21 BYD electric trucks

Charged

Anheuser-Busch plans to add 21 BYD electric trucks to its California fleet. The second-generation 8TT Class 8 electric trucks will be deployed at Anheuser-Busch facilities in Sylmar, Riverside, Pomona and Carson. The non-profit Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) will lead project oversight, development, management, and reporting through a grant from the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

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Solar panel wiring basics: An intro to how to string solar panels

Solar Power World

Solar panel wiring (aka stringing), and how to string solar panels together, is a fundamental topic for any solar installer. You need to understand how different stringing configurations impact the voltage, current, and power of a solar array. This makes it possible to select an appropriate inverter for the array and make sure that the… The post Solar panel wiring basics: An intro to how to string solar panels appeared first on Solar Power World.

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Climate Change and Other Frights: 13 Environmental Books to Scare You Into Action

DeSmogBlog

Read time: 5 mins By John R. Platt, The Revelator. “ Horror,” wrote novelist and critic Douglas E. Winter, “is not a genre. It is an emotion.”. You know what else generates some horrifying emotions? Topics like climate change and pollution. As we approach the Halloween season, let’s dive into those fears with a batch of new books about those most fright-inducing of environmental topics.

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In Africa, climate-smart private equity investors have the opportunity to lead

Impact Alpha

ImpactAlpha, Oct. 15 – Climate change poses an existential threat to our societies. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Africa – the most vulnerable continent to climate change, both in terms of impact and ability to mitigate damage. Africa’s private equity funds must become leaders in the global fight against climate change. While environmental, The post In Africa, climate-smart private equity investors have the opportunity to lead appeared first on ImpactAlpha.

Africa 79
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What is a virtual power plant and why does it matter for solar?

Solar Power World

The solar industry—and the energy sector more broadly—is changing fast. Virtual power plants are one example of how technology and policy developments are enabling new business opportunities. Using software, a virtual power plant (VPP) combines power from a number of independent sources located at numerous sites, creating a network that supplies power 24/7.

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Product Developments Revealed at Explore 19

Planet Pulse

In the Product Vision Keynote session, Planet Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer Robbie Schingler, alongside Planet product managers, picked up where the opening session left off and introduced even more exciting product announcements. Here’s the breakdown: Planet Monitoring. To help customers get access to the latest and greatest Next-Generation PlanetScope imagery, we have streamlined how customers download and access data.

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Argentina May Be the Hottest Renewable Energy Market You Haven’t Heard Of. Can It Spur a Global Boom?

Forbes Green Tech

An innovative approach unlocked Argentina's renewable energy market, adding 6.5 GW and $7.5 billion investment in three years. Now it may spur a 75 GW, $110 billion global renewables boom.

Energy 72
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Altair adds virtual battery software to Hyperworks simulation platform

Charged

Software specialist Altair has added a new battery simulation software, Sendyne’s CellMod Virtual Battery , to the Altair Partner Alliance (APA), its suite of 3rd-party software products available to customers of its Hyperworks product simulation platform. CellMod is a virtual lithium-ion battery that can predict cell and pack behavior, including thermal behavior It accepts inputs including current, ambient temperature, and time-step, and will output voltage, cell internal temperature, surface t

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Envision Solar EV ARC™ Products Continue to Charge Vehicles During California PG&E Grid Interruptions

altenergymag

Envisions EV ARC™ products deployed in Marin County, Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco, Livermore and other locations in Northern California have provided vital electric vehicle charging without interruption during the recently announced precautionary power black-outs

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Sistine Solar raises funds to expand installation of SolarSkin product nationwide

Solar Power World

Energy Foundry is proud to announce a $3.2 million investment in Sistine Solar, which is scaling up deployment of its SolarSkin product. Energy Foundry, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) and Thin Line Capital join current angel investors in this round. SolarSkin is an innovative graphic overlay that transforms any traditional solar panel into one that blends… The post Sistine Solar raises funds to expand installation of SolarSkin product nationwide appeared first on Solar Power W

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RightHand Robotics Revolutionizes E-commerce Order Fulfillment

Greentown Labs

Photo courtesy of RightHand Robotics. Yaro Tenzer may have co-founded a business with “robotics” in the name, but as far as he’s concerned, it’s a data company. That’s because of how much robots need to learn in order to perfect picking up objects—something that comes naturally to humans, but is extremely complicated to replicate. . The RightHand Robotics (RHR) machines utilize data to understand the task, and then use suction and fingers to grab objects of varying sizes and textures.