This week’s 10 biggest climate innovation stories — 13 April
Could drones reduce the upfront costs of wind power? A district heat map tool that channels excess heat to where it’s needed, and European calls for mandatory food waste targets. This, and more, in the week’s biggest climate innovation stories.
1.
Network-based stress-test assesses climate policy risk in the financial system
Researchers at the University of Zurich have developed a network-based climate stress-test approach to assess how climate policy risk propagates through the financial system. Applying this to large Euro Area banks in different scenarios, the researchers found that direct and indirect exposures to climate policy-relevant sectors represent a large portion of investors’ equity portfolios, especially for investment and pension funds. The paper has been published in Nature.
Assessing the impact of #climate risks on the financial system https://t.co/avSwkcJ4Vo
— Phys.org Space News (@physorg_space) April 11, 2017
2.
EON backs wind power drones
Germany utility EON SE is backing a drone-based wind energy pilot, as part of its plans to become an early adopter of airborne wind power technology. Airborne wind power is projected to be cheaper than offshore wind power because it requires less materials, and can produce energy where it is currently not feasible. EON is working with Ampyx Power, a Dutch developer, on the project.
Read more on Bloomberg New Energy Finance
A huge utility company just backed a project to use drones to generate electricity from wind https://t.co/dqHFApk7r3 pic.twitter.com/3rAjexwYDW
— Bloomberg (@business) April 11, 2017
3.
Solar street lighting launches €4.12bn fund to roll out carbon-saving technology
A UK cleantech developer has launched a scheme to help local authorities and businesses install street lighting powered entirely by renewable energy.
Read more at Business Green
Intriguing plan to finance solar street lights announced https://t.co/6F8aKyen82
— James Murray (@James_BG) April 11, 2017
4.
Edible water bottle Ooho launches crowdfunding campaign
Skipping Rocks Lab, the developer of Ooho, has embarked on a new crowdfunding campaign to finalise manufacturing equipment for its edible and compostable water packaging.
Read more at Fast Company
One of the new #CE100 Emerging Innovators, @OohoWater – an edible, natural membrane for hydration on the go. pic.twitter.com/4LA8zHKpQN
— Ellen MacArthur Foundation (@circulareconomy) March 29, 2017
5.
Carbon sequestration maps offer improved accuracy
The EU North State project, led by the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, has developed a method of using satellite images to evaluate the levels of carbon sequestered by forests, with an accuracy of up to ten metres. The technique involves mapping key forest features including location, species, height and biomass using European Sentinel satellite images. These are fed into a model, alongside climate data to produce digital carbon balance maps.
Read more at Phys.org
#Satellitesmap #carbon sequestered by #forests, with accuracy of up to ten metres https://t.co/TFa5WP61mo pic.twitter.com/IPklB9nHbl
— VTT (@VTTFinland) April 7, 2017
6.
From waste to energy: Danish plant flexes the power of wastewater
Investment in new technologies between 2003 and 2016 helped the Marselisborg wastewater plant reduce its power consumption by 33 per cent. The plant generated nearly 70 per cent more energy than it needed in 2016 following a €3 million upgrade. Excess power — the equivalent of energy consumption of 500 households — is being sold to the local grid.
Read more at eco-business.com
https://twitter.com/DKAMBinMalaysia/status/740205467251707904
7.
Thermal Atlas tool reveals district heating potential in Europe
A group of European universities have launched a tool that allows local authorities and governments to see where excess heat is lost and channel it to buildings where it is needed. The Pan-European Thermal Atlas (Peta4) is an online map that shows the demand and supply of heating and cooling in 14 countries. The tool is part of Heat Roadmap Europe (HRE), a collaborative project aimed at making heating and cooling in Europe more energy efficient.
Read more at Energy Live News
New tool reveals #districtheating potential in #Europe – https://t.co/8UyUnbd2FP #Peta4 @HeatRoadmapEU @davconnolly pic.twitter.com/mTgwh7igiF
— Priyanka Shrestha (@ELNPri) April 6, 2017
8.
Sweden shakes up shopping with mall for reclaimed goods
Sweden has a reputation for having one of the best recycling rates worldwide, so it should not be surprising that the Nordic country is home to the world’s first mall that only sells recycled, upcycled and repaired goods.
Read more at Triple Pundit
https://twitter.com/LeonKaye/status/850313220417925120
9.
Germany awards “too good for the bin” prizes to tackle food waste
The German Ministry of Food and Agriculture awarded prizes for ideas to use unsold bread, gastronomy from supermarket food waste, and using overripe bananas as part of its “Too good for the bin” campaign to engage people in tackling the country’s food waste problem.
Read more on Deutsche Welle
https://twitter.com/dw_environment/status/849925907921997826
10.
Parliament calls for mandatory EU-wide food waste targets by 2020
EU lawmakers have urged the European Commission to set binding EU-wide food waste reduction targets by 2020, to be met by 2025 and 2030. The European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) voted unanimously in favour of an own-initiative report entitled Resource efficiency: reducing food waste, improving food safety.
Read more at Euractiv.com
https://twitter.com/EURACTIV/status/851756775250550784