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Positive Environmental News

The following is a compilation of positive environmental news that we found in the last few years or so*. A lot of people who care about the environment have given up, but now is the time when things are changing and technologies become available that can absolutely make a difference. The below cannot only give hope, but may also show you an opportunity where you can contribute and leave your own legacy, either by building on what has already been done, or by contributing to an already existing process, or by inventing something entirely new. Enjoy!

  1. Featured Environmental XPRIZES:

 

 

  2. What I posted on my own Linkedin page

     from various sources in the last 3 months or so (currently it  is October 2019):

 

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  • Removing excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere:“...the intriguing suggestion by Martin et al (1990) that much of the excess carbon dioxide could be removed from the atmosphere to the ocean sink of a few hundred thousand tons of iron could be made available to the phytoplankton of the equatorial Pacific Ocean, Southern Ocean, and the subarctic Pacific Ocean. All of these areas have been puzzling to oceanographers because they have high nutrient content but low chlorophyll. This enigma has led scientists to ask why there is such low biomass in areas with abundant nutrients and light. If Martin is correct, these photoplankton are limited in growth and photosynthesis by the lack of trace amounts of iron in the water. If iron were added, the increase in photosynthetic activity would be great enough to draw down the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.” Marine Biology, James W. Nybarken, p.488

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  • Standard Chartered is combatting money laundering that enables illegal poaching of animals - Sc.com/hereforgood

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  3. Other XPrizes (already awarded):

 

  • The $1.75 million Water Abundance XPRIZE, powered by the Tata Group and Australia’s Aid Program, challenges teams to alleviate the global water crisis with energy-efficient technologies that harvest fresh water from thin air. https://www.xprize.org/prizes/water-abundance (awarded)

 

  • The Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE was a $2 million global competition that challenged teams of engineers, scientists and innovators from all over the world to create pH sensor technology that could affordably, accurately and efficiently measure ocean chemistry from its shallowest waters to its deepest depths. https://www.xprize.org/prizes/ocean-health (awarded)

 

  • The Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup XCHALLENGE was a $1.4 Million competition designed to inspire a new generation of innovative solutions that will speed the pace of cleaning up seawater surface oil resulting from spillage from ocean platforms, tankers, and other sources. The one-year competition culminated in the fall of 2011, with competitive demonstrations taking place at OHMSETT, the National Oil Spill Response Research & Renewable Energy Test Facility. https://www.xprize.org/prizes/oil-cleanup (awarded)

 

 

  4. What we found on Singularity University’s website:

 

The environment is one of Singularity University’s global grand challenges (GGCs). In particular, at Singularity University we are striving to use exponential technologies to create a world with “sustainable and equitable stewardship of Earth’s ecosystems for optimal functioning both globally and locally.” […] For more information go to https://su.org/blog/singularity-university-and-the-environment-global-grand-challenge/:

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"We have a number of startups in our portfolio working every day to address the environment global grand challenge from multiple continents across various industries.

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Afforest4Future transforms deserts into forests through projects including smart dams, an innovation to convert mud from artificial lakes into topsoil, and wastewater processing.

Biko encourages people to ride bicycles instead of driving cars by awarding them with special discounts from businesses. The company is active in ten cities across four countries, improving the environment and reducing pollution.

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Bioverse Labs is using bioinformatics and artificial intelligence to digitize, classify, and even discover new biological and genetic diversity. Its database of life can then be used to monitor environmental and species’ health from the macro to the micro level. You can imagine this data will be able to power a nearly limitless number of applications across diverse industries.

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Blue Oak Resources collects and converts electronic waste into a sustainable source of metals and rare earth for future technologies.

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Getaround, a pioneer of the car-sharing industry, is helping decrease the number of cars on the road and thereby reducing pollution, traffic, and fossil fuel use.

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Hardera has created an environmentally-friendly way to process reforested wood to give it exceptional strength and durability similar to hardwoods and is, in turn, reducing deforestation. In addition, Hardera’s processes do not contain impurities, heavy metals, or potentially carcinogenic products that could create health risks for employees or consumers.

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Ixo Foundation uses blockchain to verify that social impact and sustainability projects are succeeding, such as one that’s reducing plastics to save the oceans.

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Justdiggit is restoring and regreening land by building hydrological corridors with active projects in Kenya and Tanzania.

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Modern Meadow is using biofabrication to create a new category of materials that do not harm animals and create a smaller environmental footprint. The company’s first biofabricated material is  “Zoa,” a leather alternative that can be grown in different shapes and textures and mixed with other types of materials.

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Optineo Group invests in efficient water management, air purification, sanitation, and clean tech energy solutions.

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SwiftATN is building intelligent transit systems for smart cities through elevated guideways that take cars off the street."

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In addition to Singularity University's portfolio companies, their Global Startup Program and other program alumni are active in solving the environment global grand challenge. In 2017, Singularity University ran its Global Solutions Program (now the Global Startup Program) with a special focus on climate change and the environment. Participants worked on a number of projects, including 3D printed ecovillages, analytics, and modeling projects to predict the impacts of climate change; coral reef restoration; and projects focusing on agriculture, food systems, and environmental sustainability.

According to SU's Web-site, alumni have also created companies such as Solubag, which has developed plastic bags and other types of plastics that dissolve when in contact with water; Majik Water, which is working to harvest water from the air; Biocarbon Engineering, which uses data and automated systems to plan, monitor, and restore environmental systems; and Sinai Technologies, which uses artificial intelligence to measure, price, and evaluate carbon risk.[…]

 

For more information go to: https://su.org/blog/singularity-university-and-the-environment-global-grand-challenge/

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5. Here are a number of really interesting articles on Linkedin in form of a presentation (about 2018 - 2020)

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Please download the pdf - it is in German, but a lot of the pictures and descriptions

of pictures are in English:  

 

We will add to this from time to time, so feel free to come back to visit!

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* None of these links are Affiliate links for us, i.e. we do not make any money referring you to these links, they are simply links that we found interesting and that generally come from sources we trust. However, we cannot take responsibility for these, nor can we guarantee that nobody else put their Affiliate links or anything else in the text. However, we clicked on all of the main links and our computer still works and speaks English.

 

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