Thematic Thoughts/What Caught Our Eye
Developments that we found particularly interesting during the week and why.
Tracking concrete technology developments
Among the various organisations interested in lower carbon concrete is, unsurprisingly, the Institution of Structural Engineers. Concrete is a massively important building material. But, as they say "publicly available information about these technologies is often limited and inconsistent, making it difficult to draw comparisons with conventional concrete." Which
Radical food system overhaul could deliver US$10 trillion per year in benefits
A report from the Food System Economics Commission (FSEC) argues that the current set up of food systems globally (i.e. what food we grow, how we grow it and how we distribute it to people) has a cost far bigger than their contribution to global prosperity and is on
An 'Industrial Revolution' for efficient buildings?
The European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive could create a massive investment opportunity.
The 5% rate and other untruths about battery recycling.
In a LinkedIn article, Hans Eric Melin, Managing Director of Circular Energy Storage Research and Consulting, addressed a 'well documented fact' about battery recycling: only 5% of lithium-ion batteries are recycled; 95% of batteries go to landfill. Other claims about batteries from their energy intensive production and associated
Blood test could revolutionise Alzheimer's diagnosis
An existing commercially available blood test could identify Alzheimer's risk early.
UK declares national incident as measles cases soar
Between 1st October 2023 and 18th January 2024 (15 weeks), there have been 216 confirmed and 103 probable cases of measles in the West Midlands (a region in the UK) with the majority of cases among children under the age of 10. It has prompted the UK Health Security Agency
Could EVs potentially have a much longer working life than ICEs?
Motoring journalist Quentin Wilson posted an interesting discussion topic on LinkedIn about EVs. Quentin Willson on LinkedIn: Following my post on extending the working life of EV batteries through… | 130 commentsFollowing my post on extending the working life of EV batteries through repair and cell replacement, I wonder if EVs
Do soil carbon-sucking projects deserve the credit they get?
A story over the holiday period that caught our eye in New Zealand publication Stuff was one discussing carbon dioxide (carbon) storage in soil. The article highlighted Australian agricultural start up Loam Bio that produces a fungal and bacterial seed coating which boosts plants' ability to absorb carbon into
Critical minerals - will we have enough?
Kathryn Porter, who writes the Watt Logic blogs, recently did a two part detailed dive into the potential demand from the sustainability transitions for critical minerals. Part 1 sets the scene in some detail. In Part 2, the blog we are highlighting, she looks at the supply situation for two
We need to invest a lot more in agriculture
25 leading philanthropies recently issued a joint report, calling for a tenfold increase in funding for regenerative and agroecological transitions to address urgent global agricultural and environmental challenges. They urge that to align food systems with the 1.5ºC goal of the Paris Agreement there is a need to phase
Electrification of agriculture
More than 130 countries signed a declaration at COP28 to accelerate action on transforming food systems to be more sustainable and tackle their impact on climate change. The Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems and Climate Action will require nations to include food emissions in their Nationally Determined
Could property linked finance unlock £bn of investment?
The Green Finance Institute (GFI) has recently released a report suggesting that introducing Property Linked Finance (PLF) to the UK market could enable £ billions of capital to be raised, to improve the energy efficiency of the UK’s homes and commercial buildings. While the response to the report has been