THE SALT WE LOVE & DON’T KNOW

ESSENTIAL FOR TECH AND CLIMATE?

Humans have an interesting relationship with salt. My spouse recently made the shift ... from plain ol’ table salt to the fancy Himalayan type.  I’ve been the laggard, but now suddenly salt is top-of-mind for me too. 

It sometimes takes a narrative like this for one to realize what’s essential. We often fail to inquire on our own about the essential ingredients that make up the dishes we want to consume. And some also overlook what’s critical to avoid tasteless outcomes ... like climate change, for instance.  

The air is thick with optimism about our climate, however. 

Please humor me ... most days, I’d leave the educating you all about salt to the World Health Organization (WHO) – which serves as a resource for health insights including those that help reduce salt intake and improve health. But today, while scanning for technology, AI, energy and climate news, I found myself reading about reducing emissions (of greenhouse gasses) through better transport and energy use choices from the WHO itself.  I also stumbled on a post by the World Economic Forum (WEF) about predicting the effects of climate change by determining the level of salt in our oceans.  

One statement in particular stood out: 

“Unraveling the complicated relationship between ocean surface salinity, rainfall and sea and air temperatures uses complex models of the ocean and atmosphere, [which] run on the biggest computers. We can be certain that global temperatures will continue to rise with the continued emission of greenhouse gasses.”

It dawned on me that there may be an interconnection between salt, big computing, and climate matters that I hadn’t previously thought about. And I suddenly found myself consumed with curiosity about how salt could aid in mitigating climate change. 

 Salt enhances technologies that produce energy supply and improve our climate. Take for instance sodium-ion batteries: salt-infused technologies that are revolutionizing renewables. As far back as I know, sodium-ion batteries have been pitched as contenders to lithium-ion batteries.  Now I know much more: they’re a viable and cost-effective alternative that powers electric and hybrid-electric vehicles, which helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

 These batteries contain sodium, a substance found in common sodium chloride, an essential nutrient used as a seasoning to enhance flavor. And did you know that sodium conducts electricity? So, in essence, what we’re talking about here is using salt to power clean energy technologies. 

Now that’s thoughtful technology. 

Imagine for a second what we might uncover if we were to further unpack this concept of applying salt to address energy matters using AI-powered supercomputers running predictive models to help solve the climate change issue too.  Can you taste it, yet?

It turns out that there are scientists doing just that … trying to create the next generation of batteries needed to power the world with renewable energy using AI. What more? Some of them are materials scientists - such as the ones exploring how to equip EV batteries with sodium chloride. They're now capable of simulating these molecules and their applications by using quantum computers, now enhanced by recent advancements in AI. 

Now that’s deep learning.  Some experts refer to this as molecular design with automated quantum computing-based deep learning and optimization – a “proposed probabilistic energy-based deep learning model trained in a generative manner facilitated by QC [quantum computing] that yields robust latent representations of molecules” more specifically.

Interestingly, Nature.com describes the potential of quantum computing for automated molecular design, its prominence and its usefulness. To our contentment, it states:  

“Technological and societal progress can be further fueled by the discovery of novel molecules for applications ranging from drug design for treating diseases to efficient energy storage devices for combating climate issues.”

Novel approaches to addressing climate issues in the lab can indeed lead to breakthroughs in clean energy technologies. 

Yes, some wonder will the energy sector boldly go quantum?  Will AI and high-performance computing revolutionize it all? Can the same technology scientists are using to unpack molecules be leveraged to slow climate change, reduce its impacts and help communities cope with an ever-evolving world?

Indeed. If AI is already helping researchers crack salt water’s curious electrical properties - “analyzing the splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen along the surface of a titanium dioxide catalyst, one potential way to generate hydrogen for fuel” per Science magazine, imagine what more it might achieve for clean energy by leveraging AI at scale. 

Our focus at Owl Voices is to find thoughtful and visionary technological assets that achieve goals like these. Essentially, this is the stuff, the tech that keeps us from having to eat salty goulash. 

And while we may sometimes write narratives about the audacious tech that we want the masses to put into action, we invite you to engage with us about the practical tech that energizes and inspires climate action, and delivers incremental value too.

 For related articles in our Essential Energy series see here.

TESLAS OLD GANG COMES AROUND

CLASS REUNION TO BUSINESS

How much energy makes the world go round?

If we’re talking battery capacity to power the zero-emission technology that gives us a chance to meet climate targets, we have to look to educated guessers.

In a TED interview in late 2022, Tesla CEO Elon Musk predicted the required global battery capacity in 2050 would be 300 terawatt-hours. At that time, we were at about 52 gigawatts.

Mmmm … if a gigawatt is one billion watts, and a terawatt is 1,000 times a gigawatt … yeah, we need a lot more.

Those 300 TWh are the carrot at the end of the stick at Redwood Materials, whose founder is former Tesla CTO JB Straubel, who likely helped Musk come up with that number. The U.S.-based component manufacturer is closing the loop on the battery production supply chain. The drop in costs and climate impacts is both immediate and exponential in the long-term.

The key is recycling old batteries and battery packs from everything from toothbrushes to EVs, capturing an unprecedented level of participation. We also looked at its partnership with Toyota, which is gearing up to produce batteries for a line-up of 30 BEVs by the end of this decade, and pledging to use Redwood’s cathodes and anode copper foil. Now that’s the forward momentum we need.

More predictions:

By 2025, Redwood says it will produce anodes and cathodes for a million EVs annually.

By 2030, that will increase to five million.

Consider that lithium-ion battery demand is expected to grow 500% in the next 10 years, and the mind-blowing number that bears repeating - 50,000 - the miles raw materials travel in a convoluted supply chain before reaching a battery cell factory.

In 2023, Redwood announced it was expanding to Europe, stating that, “Localizing the global battery supply chain across the U.S. and Europe will be critical to driving down the costs and increasing the sustainability of electric vehicles and clean energy storage.”

While OwlVoices has been leaning into non-consumer-driven forms of the energy transition, Europe has always been the fastest-growing EV market, with the right blend of commitments from automakers, government and buyers.

The circularity Redwood promotes demands going where demand is. So, it acquired leading lithium-ion battery recycler Redux Recycling GmbH, enabling it to cannonball into the EU pool of suppliers, customers and industry partners.

Redux has been recycling electric vehicle and E-bike batteries, stationary storage systems and consumer devices like cell phones, laptops and power drills, which slots in perfectly with Redwood’s approach. And it has achieved the same 95%+ materials recovery rate.

It doesn’t hurt at all that its Bremerhaven location puts it on Germany’s North Sea coast, giving it terrific accessibility to Europe and shipping ports. Bremerhaven Port is the largest vehicle import facility on the continent. And not far across the sea is Sweden.

The acquisition, and Redwood’s search for a new location site in Sweden sparked rumors of a partnership with Northvolt, a battery developer and manufacturer that specializes in lithium-ion technology for EVs, and doing everything as sustainably as possible.

Like Straubel, founders Peter Carlsson and Paolo Cerruti were Tesla executives. Northvolt is planning at least five additional facilities, in Europe and North America.

Small circles.

CRUSH CRUSH WROOM

TOYOTA TO PARTNER WITH TESLA AGAIN

And every time we turn around, we hear about how one of the best innovations in the climate change solution basket is ripe with peril, like, what will happen when we start tossing out lithium-ion batteries a thousand times the size of an AA.

We cheer on companies like Wright Electric, Rolls Royce and Universal Hydrogen that are working so hard to decarbonize aviation, developing emission-free propulsion systems at the scale needed to put airliners in the sky.

But remember, whatever the power source, there are anodes and cathodes and the same raw materials in play, and the same peripherals, like supply chains and end-of-life. Most innovators are taking all of that into consideration, but it’s a monumental task, and what lies beyond the edge of transformation is never certain.

We’re also cheering on Redwood Materials as we do a deep dive into its end-to-end approach to batteries. Instead of trying to measure impacts and hold numerous players accountable for sustainability, it has taken it all on. Sounds daunting, but all it took was reinventing the manufacturing process to model a closed-loop, domestic supply chain.

OwlVoices has been writing about the need to take wary, financially hamstrung consumers out of the energy transition equation. Getting most people to do more is hard, even as the clock ticks down on emissions targets. Most are not climate deniers or ambivalent, but just do not know what to do beyond investing in EVs, solar projects and other clean tech they cannot afford. We spotlight lots of companies whose solutions have a wide-ranging impact on products consumers use but never see, like waste-to-energy and microplastics munching laundry enzymes.

The U.S.-based Redwood, founded by Tesla’s original CTO, JB Straubel, is having it both ways – making it easy for consumers to cough up the hundreds of millions of old electronics out there. It’s a treasure trove of the 18 metals and minerals it sustainably recycles into new battery components.

That’s big, from many perspectives. So is Redwood’s new partnership with Toyota that establishes their own, closed-loop battery supply. It starts with recycling the carmaker’s hybrid EV batteries, creating an end-of-life pathway. That’s just the beginning.

The world’s largest automaker will source Redwood’s cathode active materials and anode copper foil for its new, $13.9 billion Toyota Battery Manufacturing, North Carolina (TBMNC), its first battery plant in North America. Production, using 100% renewable energy, is set to next year of batteries for both hybrid and battery electric vehicles (BEV).

Redwood is building a battery materials campus just a few hours away in South Carolina, creating an even smaller circle, and huge climate impact reductions as it gears up to meet the demand for 30 BEVs Toyota plans by 2030.

There’s no easy way to calculate how much the reduction of raw material mining and shipping will save in carbon emissions. But we don’t need the numbers to know mitigating those enormous impacts is a corner piece of the puzzle. Maybe all four corners.

CRUSH CRUSH ZOOM

TESLA PLAID TO NEVADA AND BACK

Circularity.

It’s not a new concept. Nature does it very well. Humans used to, and then we put a lot of effort into disposability. It was just so convenient! As landfills quickly piled high, recycling became the thing. Now it is being called a scam. Harsh, because that was not the intent. But it was doomed to fail because we didn’t have workable processes to efficiently deal with reusing our diverse, and often toxic, trash.

Redwood Materials looks at the problem from the energy perspective, which is, of course, where we can make the biggest reduction in greenhouse gases. The Carson City, Nevada-based company was founded in 2019 by JB Straubel, who left Tesla after 15 years as its CTO.

Batteries, at least for now, are the biggest part of a transition, and demand is rising at a rapid pace. A great thing about batteries is that they can be infinitely recycled, and used in next-generation products. It can be a supply of raw materials that will remain essential to the technology for the foreseeable future.

Redwood’s broad view of battery production takes in everything from supply chain impacts to what happens when it's time to throw them out.

They’ve done the math.

Critical metals for new batteries move 50,000+ miles before they reach a manufacturing site, according to Redwood. What?!

They call it a “costly and unsustainable process.” That sounds like an understatement. But we’re not going to debate an innovator who has a solution that is nothing if not comprehensive; a closed-loop, domestic supply chain that removes raw materials from the equation.

That sounds brilliant. But can they avoid another recycling failure?

Apparently, it's easy when one entity takes on the collection, refurbishment, recycling, refining and remanufacturing. They are recovering about 95% of key battery elements to send back to manufacturers; elements that are not currently produced in North America.

And yet, the U.S. has the largest supply of lithium and cobalt deposits in the world.

Where, you ask?

“In America’s junk drawers,” Redwood says.

The trillions of dollars Americans spend on electronics every year, which they keep for an average of three years, resulting in hundreds of millions of discarded devices, yes, hundreds of millions, every year. Less than 5% are recycled. Cell phones account for 150 million of them, most languishing in limbo. Raise your hand if you know where your old Blackberry or flip phone is.

But it's more than phones and electronics like laptops, which we don’t know what to do with either. If it has a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, Redwood will take it. The list includes power tools, baby monitors, electric hand mixers, Bluetooth speakers, cordless vacuum cleaners, VR headsets, video game controllers, hearing aids and electric toothbrushes.

To encourage people to hand over the things they can’t or don’t know how to throw out responsibly, they partner with nonprofits, schools, retailers and communities with events and have placed drop boxes in 75 U.S. cities. You can even ship to them directly.

Not surprising that it has been racking up awards, including being named to Time’s 2022 list of Most Influential Companies.

COMPUTING

AI + QUANTUM: THE ENERGY GAME-CHANGER, OR THE CYBORG?

Integrated quantum computational intelligence-based nano-cyborgs. There, we said it. They’re emerging. 

Yes, saying IQCI-based nano-cyborgs is a mouthful even in short-form, but did you know that this is one of many emerging applications of quantum computing that may lead to advancements you may have already dreamt about - like revolutionary space travel and even the augmenting of humans with devices. 

We’re now in a place in time where researchers are imitating the quantum mechanical dynamics of nature - and yes, imitating nature sounds really impressive.  However, one Nobel Laureate believes that these advancements “will subsequently confer computation with extraordinary power.” 

While as extraordinary and impactful as quantum intelligence-enabled technology may be, we at OwlVoices have also been speaking quite energetically about the essential energy and climate impacts of emerging technology. The WSJ puts it more simply - and we like it: As we integrate more AI (and possibly quantum) finding a positive net climate impact is important too. Now that’s powerful. 

Matter of fact, we rejoiced when we learned about existing efforts to identify optimization methods that help balance carbon emissions and water use of data centers with AI more specifically. We also read about one AI perspective that holds that as is the case with electricity use in this AI era, water use can become more efficient too. And wouldn’t you know, that in our research, we also uncovered information that suggests that quantum has the potential to revolutionize AI.

So it goes without saying, that the notion of an integrated AI and quantum computational technology that drives an end-state where artificial super-intelligence reigns, while daunting to some, may yield positive impacts on energy and climate after all.

Take for instance some of the beneficial outcomes and transformative applications that have already emerged from nanomedicine using the latest advancements in AI and Nanotechnology. One perspective holds that quantum, once integrated into this AI and nano-computing mix, will be a game-changer.  

We’re really curious about this and would like to explore the exact potential for quantum to revolutionize the energy sector. It’s really not difficult to fathom that given the tremendous potential that AI already holds in the energy sector when combined with quantum computing (or quantum artificial intelligence as some refer to it), it may emerge as the powerful game-changing technology for achieving critical climate targets. 

And there are some experts, such as those publishing their studies in leading research publications, who have surmised that quantum is indeed a promising tool, but to our amazement, for handling renewable and sustainable energy systems. It also dawns on us that several experts have recently debated a similar matter at this year’s COP28 - many seeking to catalyze or even address the matter of tech's impact on our climate.  

One important takeaway: There’s a need to create a sense of urgency about the desired energy and climate outcomes in this AI era. And rightfully so, the Axios article notes, that “the European Union will start requiring all but the smallest data centers on the continent to report emissions to meet new corporate sustainability reporting requirements.”

Experts stress that we must strive to find the best methods for mitigating AI’s energy impact more specifically, because “curbing AI’s use of energy and water could seriously lessen its threat to our climate.”  

We already know that the energy sector faces many pressures including the diversification of energy sources, energy optimization and grid management, and energy efficiency and demand forecasting too. 

As far as quantum, while we don’t personally know yet whether it has taken center stage in the energy and climate debate, we certainly perceive that it may just take the emergence of more advanced quantum computing for these climate and energy tables to turn. If it takes quantum to help everyone better quantify AI’s energy use confidently, then bring it on. With all the buzz around AI, only time and quantum maturity will tell whether quantum truly holds the key to addressing these energy sector problems. 

Per one source, “If quantum computing moves out of the theoretical computing space and into practical applications within the energy industry, many significant advancements could arise.” 

We’ve said several times over that to be more cost, operationally, and energy-efficient in this AI (and Quantum) era is always worthy of conversation. We leave you with that once more, and also stress this time around, that we simply can’t leave it only to the few emergent “green AI,” scientists striving to address data center and energy resource issues alone. 

Regardless of whether it’s a computing mix of nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, or some other seemingly daunting technology (like a cyborg), one thing is obvious, the lack of transparency around energy use and climate impacts is a critical matter. It simply shouldn’t come down to regulatory requirements to ensure that all are doing their part - keeping AI’s (and quantum’s) climate impact top of mind, and possibly even at center stage. 

Talking about Essential Energy is of utmost importance. For related articles in our series see here.

WHAT THE CHANGE?!

IT IS TOGETHER OR NEVER

What is the greatest solution to combat climate change?

Our minds swirl with all the latest advancements in renewable energy collection, waste-to-energy processes, mind-blowing discoveries in biosciences, zero-emission transportation and products that flip the script on desalination and water recycling.

Yet the answer is much simpler than all of the tech and innovation.

It’s connections.

Dare you to find an innovator who is going it alone.

Our saving grace will come in the form of veteran companies that both innovate and mentor, entrepreneurs who inspire investors and customers to take a leap. It will come by way of chance conversations that light a way forward and partnerships between those who get that it’s not necessary to reinvent the wheel to build a zero-emissions wagon.

The common denominator for success is community.

On March 25, 26, and 27, ChangeNOW will host a summit in Paris billed as the largest event of solutions for the planet.

At the Grand Palais Ephémère, 35,000 participants from 120 countries will have access to a firsthand look at some 1,000 solutions, and wise words from 400 world-class leaders of change.

It’s important to know that events like these are more than a morale boost or a break from the office or lab. Real work gets done on and beyond the stages. Networking is intense. Invaluable information is shared. MOUs are signed. Partnerships scale up impact.

ChangeNOW’s mission is to accelerate change by enabling innovators, investors, companies, media and civic leaders from around the world to join forces. The summit is its way of taking positive change to the next level.

This year’s focus is on those protecting our oceans and water resources. A sneak peek at participants: Hydraloop, with its smart, small-circle, water recycling products; Project Seagrass’s restoration strategies; wave-powered desalination from Oneka Technologies; plastic waste transformation solutions by Nomad Plastic and Origin by Ocean, transforming the chemical industry with algae.

Whether you go or not, lean in. Conference videos will be posted at #ChangeNOW2024, and sharing of its videos and posts is encouraged. Let’s challenge ourselves to watch, share and connect with the innovators that inspire us.

Here's an inside look at ChangeNOW events; a testing ground themselves for ways to reduce waste, be environmentally responsible and socially inclusive. Since 2020, they have been measuring the carbon footprint of their events and implementing strategies to reduce or avoid emissions.

Their annual summit is the first major event to reach level 2 of the REEVE label, issued by the Réseau Eco-Evénement association that analyzes impacts from all stakeholders in the event industry, including organizers, venues, caterers, service providers, communities and networks.

ChangeNOW’s 75 commitments in 2022 toward sustainability and a circular economy have been audited and validated. It continues to build on its efforts that have resulted in a reduction of waste by half and the avoidance of five tons of carbon emissions.

HEIMDALL

RE-ENGINEERING THE ELECTRICITY BIFROST

Smaller resource circles are a fast-emerging climate solution – onsite solar and wind power, water recycling, trash to energy, and sustainable communities. They can take pressure off of aging infrastructures, like roads and waste processing plants, which are struggling to keep up with increasing demand, as well as newer, under-designed infrastructure. That includes the power grids we will rely on for the foreseeable future.

We hear about governments and utilities wringing their hands over the cost of upgrades. When we see innovations like Heimdall Power’s grid-enhancing technology, let’s cross our fingers and toes that decision-makers are paying attention, and that the solution works as promised.

Some are calling them things like “magic balls.” We’re going to dub them, “spheres of influence.”

Heimdall calls them Neurons.

Mounted on existing high-voltage power lines, the IoT devices go to work monitoring all the things that can hinder power distribution, in real-time, like weather and line temperature, while its software uses digital communications technology to monitor grid health and optimize it, safely.

Heimdall’s tech is already proving itself across Europe, and gaining a foothold in the U.S. The Norwegian company has its sights set on the latter, in particular, where about 160,000 miles of power lines are hanging around waiting for Neurons to be attached.

Heimdall is already working with two U.S. customers, Great River Energy in Minnesota and a large, investor-owned Midwest utility, and has teamed up with Swiss weather data company, Meteomatics.

It looks like a formula for success because the company added ‘user-friendly’ into the equation. That means economical and easy to implement.

Utilities are reporting an average of a 30% increase in capacity in their systems, gained from using the Heimdall Cloud software for grid planning and analysis. A grid that can accommodate more energy can take on more renewables.

They are reporting savings from being able to use transmission lines more effectively. For the first time, utilities know exactly how much spare capacity is available in a power line and how to safely increase distribution. Without that information, costly redundancies are necessary.

Norwegian utility Arva reported it was able to disconnect one of two parallel lines. It could optimize the use of just one by having full control over its temperature to prevent overloading.

Neuron sensors operate in a temperature range of minus 40 to 248 degrees Fahrenheit.

Heimdall’s goal included the installation of lines that aren’t “expensive, time-consuming, dangerous or complicated,” and to be able to do it without power interruptions. So, they developed their autonomous drones.

About the size of a soccer ball, Neurons, as seen in this video, are positioned in under two minutes.

Grid optimization is not a new sector, but consider that across the globe, there are more than 900 electricity transmission and about 7,200 distribution utilities. All of them also need fast, effective and economical solutions to climate change impacts like increased power outages. Companies that are smart about how they make grids smart have the opportunity to help us literally better weather the storms.

EENY, MEENY, CHINY, MOE

WHO DRINKS THE BATTERY CUP OF JOE

A scenario where it feels like important lessons will be learned continues to unfold in China.

In late December, the first JAC Yiwei rolled off the production line in Suizhou City, Hubei Province. As production ramps up, the cars will likely be popular because Chinese are becoming car owners at a rapid pace, accounting for about half of global sales. And with new restrictions to curb emissions, low-cost EVs are the vehicle of choice. The subcompact, backed by Volkswagen and designed for city use, is powered by a sodium-ion battery, making it a first of its kind.

That’s right. It’s lithium-free electric, and if your head isn’t already buzzing about that, here’s why it should be.

In the mad scramble to meet climate emissions targets by eliminating fossil fuel transportation, a roadblock is looming; a lithium shortage. Researchers are projecting shortfalls will become an issue in as little as three years.

That would put the spotlight directly on China, where demand for lithium for EVs is projected to grow on average by 20% annually through 2032. During the same period, its production of lithium could increase by as little as 6%.

And that really matters because China is responsible for 70% of the world’s lithium processing. That’s adding up toward a global crisis.

But is it?

Lithium presents a bigger issue in that it’s a nonrenewable natural resource, mining it has a big carbon footprint and uses lots of water, the toxic metals in lithium-ion batteries make disposal an issue and since every little of it is found in China, there’s the impact of shipping raw lithium there.

Contrast that with sodium, the sixth most common element and 2.6% of the Earth’s crust. There for the easy taking.

A drawback of the sodium-ion battery is its relatively low energy density; and less storage per volume. That means bigger, heavier batteries to achieve the same performance as lithium-ion. That pushes us back a few squares in the consumer-driven market – range.

Because of their need to be bulkier, sodium-ion batteries are more suitable to stationary energy storage, instead of onboard. BloombergNEF predicts that by 2030, they could account for 23% of that market. Their real value as a climate solution may be in that realm.

With all the competition out there around battery efficiency, maybe sodium has bigger potential than we can see at the moment. And there are a lot of alternatives under development, like zinc batteries, and others made from one of the world’s biggest waste products, clam shells. It certainly seems like we need to keep looking for the best solution.

It’s a good guess we’ll quickly see how it works in China, and get a clue as to how it may translate elsewhere.

On board, the Yiwei are cylindrical cells from HiNa Battery, a Beijing company affiliated with the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and JAC’s UE, honeycomb-structured, modular tech battery. The UE is similar to BYD’s blade battery used by big brands like Ford, Toyota and Kia.

80’s TECH LYRICS

THE OLD-SCHOOL RECYCLING SONG PLAYING

When talking about the trash humans produce, we don’t have to go beyond daily accounts to find alarming numbers. On average we each toss out about 0.75 kilograms, or more than a pound and a half on a daily basis. The average American? About five pounds. Not per household, per person, every day.

Don’t get us started on plastics.

Let’s go to the big, global, annual number for municipal solid waste – more than 2 billion tonnes. That gives us context for this statistic; about a third of it is not managed in an environmentally safe manner.

While we mull that over, companies like SoMax, featured in the OwlVoices magazine Water issue, and Wildfire Energy, in Earth, have developed and successfully implemented low-profile add-ons for waste facilities that are loaders full of garbage in, energy, biofuel and biochar out.

The White Hydrogen Coalition is working to accelerate mainstream adoption of these kinds of solutions, using a two-pronged approach of a platform and native currency to boost the investment side. At the same time, it launches a real-life demonstration of the Low-Temperature Conversion (LTC) process to process our massive amounts of plastic and other waste. If you haven’t heard, recycling simply is not working.

LTC is a pyrolytic process, where substances are changed chemically using the heat of around 400ºC (752 F) that initially results in liquid, rather than gas. It’s been around since the 1980s, developed and successfully tested. Yet, there’s not much to be found on it, except for research papers and a smattering of use at municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants. Perhaps the issue has been a lack of earlier innovation into uses for its end products.

WHC’s demonstration plant is designed to produce syngas, electricity and white hydrogen.

Of course, the process itself needs to be energy-efficient, which is the case. That means applications are numerous. Reactors that process raw waste from landfills, agriculture and most industries can use LTC to process right on-site, avoiding the impacts of shipping waste. The setup can become an auxiliary energy plant, producing at least enough to power its own operation, and probably offset at least a portion of other energy needs.

They can use tech like Wildfire’s MIHG gasification, designed for a continuous flow of garbage in/syngas out. SoMax uses a hydrothermal carbonization reactor (HTC) that turns sewage into great things like fuel and fertilizers that are free from all the nasties in biowaste.

Both are focusing on making their reactors add-ons to garbage dumps and wastewater treatment plants. It’s a no-brainer for municipalities that want to reduce their waste effectively while reducing their carbon footprint.

And by recycling waste into usable products, a new revenue stream is created.

Anyone who cares about the planet is now thinking, why aren’t we doing this everywhere? The OwlVoices community, in particular, is asking, “What can we do to push it forward? Start with awareness. Share our information. Who needs to hear it? That’s not rhetorical. The answer is primarily municipal and industry decision-makers who have little or no reason not to adopt these technologies.

COMPUTING

AN ABUNDANCE OF ENERGY SURROUNDING AI

AI is here to stay, and yes, to generate; that is, new use cases for generative AI are emerging every day. Still, it's the AI we can't quite see, the one deeply ingrained in the technology, the one working behind the scenes ... it's this AI's impact that hasn't yet been fully realized, and is quite frankly hard to fathom.

Nevertheless, it's safe to say that there’s an energizing abundance, surrounding the application of AI these days. Yes, it’s the energy impact of AI, in general, that we might all want to keep a better pulse on.  

Have you considered the application of AI in energy management? As you might have imagined, AI is already capable of governing energy applications - and likely the energy consumed by these applications too. In our recent post, we invited you to explore the ways in which we can collectively employ AI while also discussing the need for sustainable and environmentally friendly technology. 

We’re putting on a set of binoculars to better gauge this one very important aspect of AI - investigating the extent to which people are talking about it, and about ways to address how AI’s energy impact can be managed better. 

In a post by the IEA about coupling AI and energy, they describe potential use cases for AI across power systems - and these may be summarized as follows:

Improved forecasting of energy supply and demand - leading to improved energy reliability

• Predictive maintenance - including continuous monitoring of utility-scale energy assets

• Managing and controlling grids - strengthening the flow of power at the distribution level 

• Facilitating demand response - forecasting electricity pricing, and improving dynamic pricing mechanisms

• Expanded consumer services - which may offer improved visibility into the cost of electricity for the end-use customer. 

Certainly, many of these applications of AI in energy and utilities have promise. However, beyond consumer services, we believe that utilities employing AI these days can harness AI capabilities to enable us to better understand and stay tethered to the applications that make AI’s energy impact a little more tangible. Moreover, we might benefit from further exploring how end-user energy value streams are accessed, and how they benefit the collective energy efficiency effort too.

One perspective holds that a single large language model (a type of AI program) may consume as much energy as leaving your LED light bulb running for an hour.  While some may think that an LED’s energy is nominal, when taking into account the number of generative AI-enabled technologies alone that have surfaced this past year, the presumed scale and energy impact (or equivalent aggregate LED-led energy usage) would be immense.  

We know this to be so because a recent post by IEEE  indicates that AI programs are “on track to annually consume as much electricity as the entire country of Ireland (29.3 terawatt-hours per year)” in aggregate. Said more simply, when considering the millions of servers running these large language models and the annual hours of electricity this requires, powering AI models takes a lot of energy, as also noted in Scientific American.

While it’s apparent that AI will have a significant energy impact, it’s also the case that AI can be applied to answer the energy challenges we’ll eventually face. Fortunately, some are already developing solutions that deliver immediate benefits - made possible through practical and meaningful applications of AI-enabled technologies. 

Take for instance emerging AI tools that enable utility customers to get quick and personalized recommendations from their utilities, which may include providing suggestions about how one can become more energy efficient. Moreover, we’ve learned about energy demand forecasting applications enabled by AI, that will surely help owners and operators of commercial buildings anticipate and reduce their energy costs. In addition, there are even some efforts to leverage AI to improve renewable energy integration to deliver carbon-free energy supply portfolios. 

And then others are turning to nano-electronics and devices that lead to incremental reductions in energy consumption; as evidenced by the work of a nanotechnology expert at Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering who has created an AI-enabled device “so energy efficient that it can be deployed directly in wearable electronics for real-time detection and data processing, enabling more rapid intervention for health emergencies.”

As you reflect on these insights, we urge you to think beyond the energy impact of these specific technologies; yes, together we can aim to explore nanotechnology, but much more. In subsequent posts, we might dive into where the nano meets the quantum. Or why not even take a glance at the consumption of the world’s supercomputers as we know it? And while we keep our eye on the kilowatts consumed by “energy-hungry servers” as some say, we think it’s worth a trip to areas where we find others seeking new ways to improve the computational efficiency of quantum calculations even so - because we know that this is an area that will undoubtedly continue to evolve during this AI era. 

We at OwlVoices are simply using our talons to help peel this AI and energy onion for you - and as we march ahead on this journey exploring the energy implications of AI, we remind you once more that to be more cost, operationally, and energy-efficient in this AI era is always worthy of conversation.

We’ll have to make one exception of course ... we won't stop expending our own energy keeping you engaged about this topic. While the promise for more energy-efficient, sustainable and environmentally friendly AI-enabled technology, and the chatter, does matter, for us, it’s addressing your need for a heightened level of awareness about what’s essential in energy that matters most. 

For related articles in our Essential Energy series see here.

ALTERNATIVE FUEL RAINBOW

GOLDEN HYDROGEN POT WAITING

Green, blue, gray, brown, black. Colorless hydrogen is assigned a color to denote how it is produced and its degree of climate neutrality. It’s long been used for things like refining petroleum, treating metals, producing fertilizer and processing food. It’s only become familiar to most of us as it moves toward more mainstream uses like fuel.

Then there’s white hydrogen, occurring naturally or produced without a carbon footprint. It’s our best bet in light of predictions hydrogen will meet about a quarter of the world’s energy needs by 2050.

The White Hydrogen Coalition, led by Founder and CEO Robert Serec, is on a mission to decarbonize energy production and use.

What sets WHC apart is similar to how other innovators are finding success, coming to the solutions space not with a product to sell but a determination to build a solution to a problem. This time, though, it’s not as a manufacturer, but as a facilitator.

The goal is fast, mainstream, global adoption of LTC and similar processes to transform plastic and bio waste into truly clean energy like syngas, electricity and hydrogen.

That’s not pie in the sky.

WHC has established a blockchain-based platform and cryptocurrency, WH2C that aligns with the principles of a circular economy.

It describes the platform as a merger of the real world and blockchain, where energy producers, distributors and traders in the B2B and B2C landscape can engage in local or global transactions of clean energy sources. Blockchain provides transparency. Native currency allows for active support and investment in energy startups that have met specific criteria. Members can be part of pre-ordering, use tokens to trade energy produced by WHC-backed initiatives, and even propose their own projects. Token activity can be viewed at the Etherscan and Snowtrace AVAX networks. Minimum buy-in is only $50.

Crowdfunding is a platform option that works for projects like municipally owned energy plants. WHC uses it to fund its operations and its own work in the field. Last year a demo LTC plant was built, and to date, €10 million has been raised, with a goal for another eight.

But let’s back up a little, because white hydrogen has been hitting the news lately with coverage of discoveries of underground hydrogen deposits around the world – some found on purpose, some by accident, like a 46 million-tonne reservoir in France. This is white hydrogen, although an entirely different approach from that of the coalition.

It’s exciting because it is not a fossil fuel that takes millions of years to form. It’s carbon-free and constantly replenished by a water-mineral reaction, which makes it renewable. Underground reservoirs are eyed as bottomless wells of clean hydrogen. In Spain, for instance, Helios Aragón intends to start drilling later this year.

There are plenty of experts telling us why hydrogen will be difficult to use as a mainstream fuel source, not to mention the impacts of extraction. But it's early days, and it bears exploring further down that road.

OLD DOGS FOR THE FUTURE

THE NORTH AMERICAN POWER COLLABORATION

More and more, we’re hearing from innovators across the energy landscape who are taking their concepts to production through collaborations, from incorporating open-source design to leveling up by combining components from top specialists.

That approach was put to the test in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where Microsoft has a new data center. In frigid January temps, Caterpillar successfully demonstrated a hydrogen fuel cell backup power system, under the watchful eye of the Department of Energy, which analyzed safety, techno-economics and greenhouse gas impacts. A 1.5 MW hydrogen fuel cell from Ballard Power Systems went along for the revealing ride.

The goal of the 48-hour simulated event was to gain insight into system performance at both high elevations – 6,086 above sea level, in this case – and below-freezing temperatures, as Caterpillar Electric Power develops generators for energy-intensive operations that demand uninterrupted power supplies.

We know that cold can affect battery life. While it doesn’t bother hydrogen, testing reports generally show a small decrease in performance at altitudes, but Caterpillar is betting on that tech as a highly reliable backup to its backup. One of the reasons is trust in a fellow long-term innovator with a fully developed product on the leading edge.

Ballard has been around since 1979, when their development of lithium-ion battery technology made them pioneers. Caterpillar, a name synonymous with construction and mining equipment, is approaching a century. Call it old dogs learning new tricks, if you will, but there is a lot of inspiration and confidence to be found in that experience.

At Microsoft’s sprawling data center, Caterpillar used a microgrid controller to operate a pair of Cat Power Grid Stabilization (PGS) 1260 battery energy storage systems. Ballard’s hydrogen fuel cell was integrated into the data center’s electrical system to support critical load.

For Microsoft, the test outcomes are about staying on course for its 2030 carbon-neutral target.

“This project’s success provides an opportunity for hyperscale providers to drive innovations in the sustainability of power generation technologies,” Sean James, senior director of data center research at Microsoft stated in a press release.

OwlVoices spoke with Tim Sasseen, Director, of Market Development and Public Affairs North America for Ballard for an article in our upcoming magazine issue focused on Air. He provides an in-depth look at how the company evolved to hydrogen and has become a go-to supplier of fuel cell products for markets with heavy-duty applications like transit, including buses, trucks, trains and ships. It builds cost-effectiveness into its heavy-duty modules, that supply up to 200kW net power, to help drive the energy transition.

BTW - When it’s not on backup, that Wyoming data center is powered entirely by wind. Microsoft buys 59 megawatts worth of renewable energy credits from Black Hills Energy, with power supplied by the Happy Jack and Silver Sage projects. A contract with Allianz Risk Transfer brings another 178 megawatts from the new Bloom Wind project in Kansas.

FCEV GETS HEAVY

LONG-HAUL FEASIBILITY PROVEN IN THE FIELD

Range, range, range. No one wants an electric vehicle that conks out halfway there.

Your average driver can take or leave it when it comes to EVs, at least for now. But for industries like logistics, looking to meet corporate and mandated sustainability targets while staying on those critical shipping schedules, the struggle is real.

It’s big news that a Nikola hydrogen fuel cell tractor-trailer made the trip from Edmonton to Calgary, Canada without having to refuel, and then made the return trip, on that same fuel load. That’s a total of 519 kilometers (322 miles), and the driver didn’t even have to keep a close eye on the gauge. It used only 61% of the hydrogen on board.

That puts it well within Nikola’s stated range of up to 500 miles. But had refueling been required, it would have taken only 20 minutes, according to the Phoenix-based innovator.

Of course, the goal right now is to get emissions-free trucks on the road, doing real deliveries, without having to wait for a fueling infrastructure.

A driver from Bison Transport, with 27 years of experience, made the trip on January 24 for the Alberta Motor Transport Association, a nonprofit that works to advance safety and policy in the commercial transportation industry. The conditions were a test in themselves. Temperatures ranged from -11 to 0 Celsius (12 to 32 Fahrenheit) as the Class 8 made the total 6-hour drive on the Queen Elizabeth II Highway.

The 26,000 pound (11,793 kilograms) truck was hauling an empty trailer weighing 14,000 pounds (6,359 kilograms). The plan is to do it again with a full trailer.

It’s the first zero-emissions vehicle tested in Alberta and has proven to be up to the task of long-haul runs. It is expected to be able to handle the 80,000-pound maximum weight for U.S. highways.

Earlier in January, Nikola announced that, under the HYLA brand, it produced 42 Class 8 FCEVs last year, and had wholesaled 35 of them. The trucks are assembled in its Coolidge, Arizona plant, where serial production begins on July 3, followed by a commercial launch on September 28.

“What an effort by our dedicated and passionate team, to create — and deliver — what we believe is the only U.S. designed and assembled Class 8 hydrogen fuel cell electric truck on the road today,” Nikola Motors CEO Steve Girsky stated in a press release. “Our pioneering spirit is what made it possible to wholesale these 35 trucks to our dealers for customers in the U.S. and Canada. We thank our employees, customers and partners for this achievement, and look forward to delivering more trucks in 2024.”

Girsky also noted FCEV customer pilot programs were showing truck uptime at 98%.

Chances are that the first run would have sold out, but three are with a fleet partner that is conducting more field testing. Two are being used for customer demos and to train technicians to service them, and another two are in continued validation and engineering.

AMAZON CONTINUES STRONG

INVESTMENTS ARE TURNING TO FRUITION

Climate targets. If you’re in business, you know it’s much more than a catchphrase.

In 2021, the UN climate conference, COP26, was held in Glasgow, Scotland. Against the backdrop of a Global Green City working hard on recovery, it was time for the mandated 5-year stocktake for the 196 nations that had signed the Paris Climate Accord.

It’s designed as a pathway toward limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050, essentially requiring nations to make plans for climate-resilient development and allocate financial flows to make it happen. It’s a legally binding international treaty … that operates on an honor system.

Where did nations stand on the carbon neutrality commitments they’d made? Some of it was encouraging, but overall, the picture was not pretty. Poorer countries claimed they were not able to match the funding they had been sent, so they did little, or nothing. A world economic leader, and major greenhouse gas emitter, cried out that it couldn’t do its part, proclaiming itself an emerging nation.

We get it. Policy and regulations are not the most effective road to sustainability. It’s no surprise the industry is leading the way.

It’s not easy there, either. So, when we recently put the spotlight on Amazon’s efforts, it was nice not to get any flack like, “they owe the world because of their impacts.” The metrics of accountability are also hard, and yes, some should do more than others. Most of them are, whether driven by corporate ethos or increasing demand from investors and consumers.

But there’s also a point to be made that every company, every city and town, and every impactor has the ability to switch up, clean up and make substantial changes. Sometimes it just takes a little ingenuity and inspiration.

This update is mostly about just that. How a company literally puts their money where their mouth is.

Amazon’s portfolio of global solar and wind projects has surpassed 500.

Being the world’s largest corporate purchaser of renewables is part of its plan to reach its goal of 100% renewable energy use by 2030.

But it’s not working out as planned.

It is currently on track to hit that target next year.

We’re talking projects, in 27 countries, some utility-scale, and that will have a combined capacity to power the equivalent of 7.2 million U.S. homes. That’s about 5%.

Different perspectives

The scope and diversity of Amazon’s businesses needing to be transformed entails thousands of warehouses, fulfillment centers, corporate offices, data centers, retail stores and hundreds of thousands of vehicles, across nearly 60 countries.

Recently announced is an energy project built on a brownfield, otherwise restricted from use. That’s a precedent for bringing purpose and value back to the more than 450,000 abandoned properties in the U.S.

Those projects also generate economic growth, including jobs. By the numbers, $12 billion in U.S. investments created 39,000 jobs. In Europe, €2.4 billion invested added 3,900 jobs and grew the GDP by €723 million.

COMPUTING

THE ENERGY IMPACT IN THE AI ERA

When someone says cryptocurrency, people pay attention. It invokes curiosity. With all the groundbreaking crypto products emerging there’s little doubt that cryptocurrency is making a splash in many ways. But did you know that the process of mining crypto, which takes place in data centers, accounts for nearly half a percent of annual global electricity demand? 

Maybe that’s still not daunting to some even, so let’s unpack it further. We’re talking about the energy consumed when mining (not necessarily transacting) Bitcoin currency which by some accounts amounts to 0.4% to 0.55 % of global energy consumption. This happens to be about half of all global data center energy consumption, equivalent to ~110 terawatt hours (TWh). 

Intrigued yet? While a seemingly low percentile which to some may be insignificant, based on our back-of-the-napkin calculations, we estimate that 110 TWh may be the same as the energy required to power the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic venues 690 times over - and in spite of the fact that the Beijing Olympics are considered the first “green” Olympic games, who’d want the supercomputers that enable Bitcoin to continue to have that scale of energy impact, right? 

But the energy it takes to mine Bitcoin - while still relevant - isn’t the point we’re trying to get to, here. Frankly, crypto energy consumption is somewhat yesterday’s news.

Enter AI into the mix, and put simply, in this new AI era computing is using more energy than ever before.  

Considering the scale at which AI is being used, at unprecedented speeds, AI when combined with Crypto’s impact will undoubtedly increase energy use beyond our desired/optimal levels.  

We at OwlVoices are simply left pondering, are people talking about the implication of AI-era computing on energy efficiency, sufficiently? Are the decision-makers assessing the impact of these technological advances, deploying greater AI workflows, and also considering the implications of energy consumption at length?  

This is a worthy topic. As a matter of fact, according to Bloomberg, training a single AI consumes enough electricity to power 100 US homes for 1 year.  

Thus, regardless of who is the purveyor of AI, and whether or not they're dutifully conscious about the energy implications here, know that it’s highly likely that the resulting data center energy use will increase in the immediate future - and that this may affect your bottom line too. 

With data centers already consuming about 1.0-1.3% of total global electricity use (based on 2022 estimates per the IEA), there’s no doubt that computing in this AI era will have a significant impact on the collective demand for electricity. 

And this just in ... we learned that there’s a new generation of AI devices emerging that will enable more efficient smart homes - empowering customers to optimize their homes in ways that deliver greater energy efficiency.  Along this same vein, data center operators running advanced computing processing units, graphics processing units (and perhaps even quantum computers in the foreseeable future) require similar know-how, and all the means to properly monitor and optimize their data center energy consumption, which is expected to increase by 12 percent by 2030.  With energy already being a significant driver of cost within data center operations, energy efficiency and the cost savings it can yield will continue to be of utmost priority to many. 

We at OwlVoices seek to engage with you about just this, because exploring the energy implications of all computing - from the classical to the quantum, to that of the exact technologies enabling data centers to operate with AI, is important. To be more cost, operationally, and energy-efficient in this AI era is worthy of conversation. So, let's make it a point to continue the dialogue, and to explore ways in which we can collectively employ AI while also discussing the need for sustainable and environmentally friendly technology.

THE NEW SCHOOL OF IONICS

WATER BEHAVIOR DISCOVERED ANEW

Who knew there was more to know about the basics of water? Well, one group of researchers, at least.

Scientists at the University of Cambridge and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research tweaked the process of determining how electrolyte solutions, like saltwater, interface with the air.

They discovered behavior that is much different than what has been understood, and taught, to date.

It has to do with how water molecules align at saltwater surfaces during processes such as evaporation. That alignment is specific, and has implications for climate science and understanding how human behavior impacts the planet.

The study, “Surface stratification determines the interfacial water structure of simple electrolyte solutions,” was published in the journal, Nature Chemistry.

Their more complex method of studying various electrolyte solutions and how they behave where water and air meet, produced results that are being called revolutionary, and a paradigm shift in our understanding of environmental processes and atmospheric chemistry models.

We don’t need to fully understand the science to see how their findings change things up, but here’s a shot at an explanation, from a layperson’s perspective.

Until now, scientific findings upheld the theory that ions in saltwater molecules form an electrical double layer, orientating all the molecules in one direction.

Not the case, according to these researchers, who demonstrated that both positively and negatively charged ions were depleted in the transition from water to air.

And there’s more.

Ions in simple electrolytes can orient molecules in both upward and downward directions.

In case you were wondering, the scientists’ tweak was to the traditional method of measuring the strength of molecular vibrations at water/air interfaces; vibrational sum-frequency generation (VSFG). Their advanced version of that, heterodyne-detected (HD)-VSFG, uses computer modeling to eliminate the need to interpret data for things like determining if the vibration signals are positive or negative.

What does this mean?

According to co-first study author, Dr. Yair Litman, of the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry at Cambridge and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, the findings show a big difference in what was previously believed about a simple electrolyte’s surface and the way the ions are distributed. Above the predominate, bulk salt solution is an ion-rich layer topped by several layers of pure water.

It all boils down to a better, molecular-level understanding of liquid interfaces.

At the Max Planck Institute, (which has produced 29 Nobel Prize winners) Professor Mischa Bonn leads the Molecular Spectroscopy department, and offers insight into the practical applications, suggesting that applying their research methods to study solid/liquid interfaces has potential for applications in batteries and other energy storage.

Solid/air, liquid/air, and probably a lot of other interfaces are everywhere, making them a big piece of the environmental puzzle. Ions are electrically charged, and other groundbreaking research is leading to ways to turn those tiny bits of power into an energy source for external applications.

Also contributing to the study were Kuo-Yang Chiang at the Research Takakazu Seki and Yuki Nagata, all at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research.

SOLAR ATTITUDES

NO PLUG NO PROBLEM

Solar energy is getting a bad rap lately, in part because even in the face of a climate crisis, ROI remains a main driver of its use. More likely, it’s the mega installations, deemed inefficient, that evoke the wrath of would-be experts.

But we’re not here to debate that. This is a time to be giddy with all the goodies presented at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, billed as the world’s most powerful tech event, with more than 4,000 exhibitors, from startups with mind-bending ideas to global brands unveiling their latest.

We’re talking about a transparent TV, which LG says will be available later this year; masks made for privacy, but that includes, ironically, an advertising screen; a self-driving baby stroller; C Seed’s folding TV, tons of AI and WeHead (google it).

Capturing the energy of light was a wide array of useful gadgets that have the potential to bring solar energy closer to the people and make it feel essential again.

Roads that charge electric vehicles on the move are becoming an intriguing reality. For most of us, though, battery angst is about our devices. Ambient Photonics showed up with a solar cell the startup says will keep our devices going, as long as there is ambient light. If you’re old enough to remember calculators with charging panels, you get the idea, only with more power. Now, it’s about never having to look for new batteries for the remote.

Also grabbing all it can from the light around us Swedish startup Exeger. It is partnering with the likes of Adidas, Philips, and 3M to bring its patented Powerfoyle to market in a range of devices. It claims its lightweight, energy-converting material is the only fully customizable solar cell in the world, meaning it can be used in almost anything you want to power up.

It is intrigued with solar-powered headphones for all sorts of uses, including as protection in noisy work environments, and a bag made of Powerfoyle that charges devices dropped inside.

Squad Mobility traveled from the Netherlands with (not in) its solar-powered car, The Squad.

Style-wise, it’s shades of a Smart automaker’s little bug of an EV, and can be charged when there’s not enough sunshine to keep it going.

Marketed as a “city car,” the optimum weather takes you around 30 kilometers, or 19 miles on a single charge. You’ll be zooming along between the lights at a top speed of 40 km/h (25 mph). It even comes in a choice of two- or four-person models, and the company says there’s a lot of interest from the commercial sector, like service and food delivery providers.

In Europe, it costs about €8,500 and is probably best suited there. But the news in Vegas is that it’s headed for the U.S., where it is expected to sell for $6,250. Keep in mind that the price excludes sales tax, as well as options like air-conditioning and doors.

UNDERWATER INTERSECTION

A SUBSEA BUSBAR FOR THE WINDS

Floating wind, seaborne turbines that eliminate the need for costly, cumbersome, material- and deployment-intensive seabed-based construction are paving the way for the industry to thrive.

Ripe for development of offshore wind farms is off the east and west coasts of the U.S., where, of course, the most intense energy uses are. But the continental shelf drops off fast. The Department of Energy says about two-thirds of the country’s offshore potential is in areas where the water is too deep for fixed-bottom turbines.

Luckily, companies looking to address that issue are popping up as fast as new wind turbines need to in the face of a climate crisis. We already told you about World Wide Wind, in Norway, and its floating, counter-rotating vertical axis turbines, and Windlift, with its fascinating, tethered drones that fly on an AI-guided path and can be used on land, and how global energy companies are hitting their stride in the U.S. in recent weeks, sending the first offshore energy to Massachusetts and New York.

One of the things Windlift eliminated, right from the design phase, is the need for fancy quays and even fancier boats to install equipment. That’s a big step in an industry begging for profitability.

The infrastructure of a wind farm, even a floating one is far more than energy collectors, with lots of aspects where costs might be cut. Among them is how generated electricity moves.

The typical setup involves connecting turbines in a “daisy chain” configuration to combine their voltage and send it through underground cables, or trunk lines, to offshore and onshore substations.

Rethinking that is a project aimed at initially cutting the cost of connecting turbines by 10% for a one-gigawatt wind farm, using a central hub system called the Subsea Collector.

Norway’s Aker Solutions, with its extensive experience in oil and gas, now committed to sustainability targets, designed the star-shaped system. The METCentre (Marine Energy Test Centre) is piloting it at its offshore test facility. Two turbines are currently on site, with another five slated to be added by 2026.

The claim is that it is the first of its kind in the world. Savings come by way of a reduction in the amount of cable needed, which also saves on the expensive undertaking of undersea installations. It is also aimed at offering a lot more options when it comes to designing wind farms.

The METCentre expects it to be a game-changer. Its experts should know. They have been testing renewable marine technologies – wind, solar, and wave energy – since 2009. The very first floating turbine was installed there by Equinor back then. In 2019, it was Google Makani kites and soon after, the TetraSpar Demonstrator, a floating tubular steel structure with a suspended keel, planned as the start of major industry innovation...

OLIVES TO DASHBOARD

A CORONET FOR CAR MATERIALS

Here’s a new meaning for “extending an olive branch.”

Ford has teamed up with COMP0live to turn olive tree branches into auto parts.

During each harvest season, seven million tons (6.5 billion kilograms) of olive tree branches are pruned. Until now, there was no identified reuse for the wood, which is burned, creating CO2 emissions and air pollution, tying up land and contributing to water use.

Engineers at Ford-Werke GmbH in Köln (Cologne, Germany) were looking for ways to reduce the use of fossil fuel-based raw materials. Most of those go into plastics found throughout vehicle interiors and under sheet metal.

In Spain, the Andalusia region on the southern coast produces 80% of the country’s olives, and 30% globally, with 2.5 million trees devoted to making olive oil. A third of its residents work in the olive-growing or nearly 1,000 related industries.

Its tons of waste wood appear destined to be recycled into biocomposites; a combination of wood fibers and small pieces of recycled polypropylene plastic. An overarching goal is to support the EU’s efforts toward a more circular economy.

In the lab, the engineers were able to initially simulate injection molding to develop an ideal formula of 40% wood fiber and 60% plastic. The real prototypes they eventually created and tested were termed as, “lightweight, durable, and strong.” Ford is now evaluating the process of adding biocomposites to its vehicle production.

The recently announced project success really is a gesture of peace toward the planet.

The Comp0live project is also aimed at enhancing socioeconomic and environmental aspects in Andalusia, and developing an integrated technological product management system consisting of software and logistics infrastructure and services.

It plans to take composting to new levels right on farms, through remote sensors, digital tech and expertise to achieve a circular economy within the agri-food sector.

And those biocomposites? It’s exciting to hear that a broader range of applications is under consideration.

Ford’s commitment to sustainability is called The Road to Better.

The automaker, the world’s fourth largest in terms of revenue, says the recycled fibers give the end product a unique surface appearance. In interior uses, it will be an obvious hallmark of sustainability.

This leaves us with a couple of questions.

How much virgin plastic will those seven million tons of olive tree fiber offset within Ford’s 4 million plus annual vehicle production?

What other waste streams can be funneled into this or similar projects?

LOW IMPACT DEVELOPMENT (LID)

WHERE RIVERS RUN CLEAR AGAIN

Low Impact Development (LID). It’s a bit off-topic for OwlVoices, but slots in with the climate solutions we write about that use basic biological processes and common sense approaches.

It is exactly what the name implies. The same goes for Sustainable Urban Drainage solutions (SUD), which is called in Europe.

You’re driving on a scenic road, a sparkling river sparkling flowing alongside. Typically, more than 90% of
pollutants from the road are flowing unchecked into that river from storm drains, including oil, heavy metals, bacteria, and PCBs.

The solution can be as simple as slowing the runoff and filtering it through a root system. That’s LID.

It’s also about using tools like permeable pavers, rain gardens, and other vegetation at strategic spots, trenching, and green roofs.

Ground, and ultimately, water pollution is all about that runoff, which comes from humanmade, permeable surfaces. All of our structures and paved roads and driveways add up to a big, often ignored, impact.

Your home’s roof is constantly shedding contaminants it collects from air pollution, acid rain, materials used in its construction and bird feces, which likely contain bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Rain barrels that collect roof runoff have been linked to disease outbreaks. But most of us aren’t collecting rainwater, which means we should focus either on planted roofs that soak up water or being accountable for contaminated runoff.

Why is LID not a part of every construction plan? It’s such a no-brainer. Landscape design should always consider more than curb appeal. Research has shown that a remarkable amount of contaminates are filtered by tree and shrub roots, without harming the vegetation itself.

Here’s a lesson learned. Wastewater (sewage) treatment plants are built next to rivers so that the resulting clean effluent can be easily released. It’s extensively tested and probably cleaner than what comes out of our taps. So, how did one river section (at least one we know about) test high for contaminates like E. coli?

You guessed it. Runoff.

The theory was that trucks bringing septic system pump-outs to the plant were leaving “tips” behind on the paved driveway when hooking up to the facility. Not a lot, but it doesn’t take much. The plan was to filter runoff with a little engineered soil (layers of gravel, sand, and dirt) and blueberry bushes. It was a win all around. The river quickly cleared up, and birds and plant workers enjoyed healthy snacks.

If the “ick factor” is kicking in for you here, read what our innovative friends at SoMaxHTC have to say about it.

LID models nature. That should be “enough said.”

It’s a solution everyone can easily have a hand in. No excuses. There is no need to wait for regulations or new tech. Imagine the difference it would make if it simply became the norm. It fits right in as a piece of the puzzle and mirrors the approach our innovators take to create small circles of sustainability that ripple outward.