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Tag: low-emission

Coldplay work towards net zero on sustainable tour

Posted on by dishanth
Coldplay work towards net zero on sustainable tour

Live concerts and performances generate 405,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year, according to the Tyndall Centre for Climate Research.

Founded in the late 90s in London, Coldplay have been touring the world since 2000, and are revolutionizing touring to reduce their negative impact on the environment whilst maintaining positive interactions with fans globally.

Environmentally conscious touring

Their current world tour, Music of the Spheres, utilizes a range of new technology, company and charity partnerships and industry defining developments to combat their environmental influence.

The sustainability initiative is guided by three principles:

  • Reduce — less consumption, more recycling and cut CO2 emissions by 50% (in comparison to the 2016-17 tour)
  • Reinvent —support new green technologies (including kinetic dance floors) and develop new sustainable, super-low carbon touring methods
  • Restore — fund projects and draw down more CO2 than the tour produces

The journey to sustainable touring has been overseen by Green Nation and Hope Solutions.

“Playing live and finding connection with people is ultimately why we exist as a band. At the same time, we’re very conscious that the planet is facing a climate crisis,” say Coldplay.

“So we’ve spent the last two years consulting with environmental experts to make this tour as sustainable as possible, and, just as importantly, to harness the tour’s potential to push things forward. We won’t get everything right, but we’re committed to doing everything we can and sharing what we learn.”

Renewable energy powering the future of live music

A selection of different sustainable energy sources are utilized to power the world tour:

  • Coldplay have partnered with BMW to develop a mobile, rechargeable battery that can power 100% of the show with renewable energy, anywhere in the world. Created using recycled BMW i3 batteries, the battery is the first of its kind.
  • Fan power in the form of kinetic dancefloors and static bicycles is being harnessed. Energy Floors have created tiles especially for the tour that are durable, portable, and use the audience dancing power to charge the batteries running the show.
  • Sustainable biofuels for vehicles, solar photovoltaic panels to charge the batteries and where necessary make up the rest of the renewable, low-emission energy used to power the show and tour.

SAF: Providing sustainable flight options 

“Although the tour has been carefully routed and pre-planned to minimize air travel, some flying is unavoidable,” Coldplay’s sustainability pledge reads.

“For all flights, commercial and charter, we pay a surcharge to use or supply Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).”

The fuel is created from waste including used cooking oil, and can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from air travel by up to 80%.

Audience commitment to net-zero goal

Audience members are given reusable LED wristbands as part of the show. The bands are made from 100% compostable materials, and wristband production has been reduced 80% through collecting, sterilizing and recharging them after use.

Coldplay have collaborated with One Tree Planted to plant one tree for every ticket sold to the Music of the Spheres world tour, reducing the impact of the crowds.

The tour is also working with the non-profit organization Kulture City to make the tour inclusive for audience members with sensory issues through providing sensory bags and access to a mobile sensory room.

Partnering with SAP to reduce audience travel impact 

33% of the 405,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions generated by live concerts each year is from audience travel.

Coldplay are combating this through a free app, developed in partnership with software development company SAP. The app, which has had over 350,000 downloads since its launch in March 2022, encourages fans to use low carbon transport options and offers rewards through discount codes.

“With our technology and solutions, we empower organizations worldwide to drive sustainable change,” says Christian Klein, CEO of SAP.  “Coldplay and SAP share a common and profound commitment to sustainability, and we are thrilled to join forces to make their tour as environmentally friendly as possible.”

Coldplay’s sustainability goals — mid-tour review

The band have recently issued a statement regarding their sustainability goals so far through their tour, as reviewed by MIT’s Environmental Solutions Initiative.

“On a show-by-show comparison, the Music Of The Spheres Tour has so far produced 47% less CO2e emissions than our last stadium tour (2016-17),” the statement reads.

The update lists achievements so far, but is also realistic that it hasn’t hit its 50% target, and that there is still room to grow and improve.

What is the future for Coldplay’s sustainability initiatives? 

There seems to be no end in sight for the lengths that Coldplay will go to in an effort to reduce their environmental impact.

Alongside their direct actions, 10% of their income from all avenues going to the Good Causes Fund, supporting charities including:

  • The Ocean Cleanup
  • ClientEarth
  • One Tree Planted
  • Global Citizen

Whether you’re a fan of their music or not, it’s hard to deny that Coldplay are pioneers for the future of sustainability in live music.

 

 

Innovate UK preps £16m of low emission food funding

Posted on by dishanth
Innovate UK preps £16m of low emission food funding

Innovate UK and BBSRC announce new £16 million competition to drive forward novel, resource efficient, low-emission food production systems.

This new funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Innovate UK is a joint investment as part of their new strategic partnership announced last month. The partnership will support UK businesses to engage with and benefit from the UK’s excellent research base to grow and scale innovations.

 

Healthy sustainable diets

As outlined in Innovate UK’s plan for action, the secure supply of safe, nutritious and affordable food supports good health. Changing consumer trends, ageing society and concerns over diet-related disease continues to drive changes to our diet.

This new competition will support the development of novel food production systems that create new sources of resource efficient, low-emission foods, particularly proteins to deliver healthy and sustainable diets.

We welcome proposals that have the potential to significantly shift the current state of the art in at least 1 or more of the following 6 priority areas:

novel plant based products or production systems
acellular food production
cellular food production
novel aquaculture systems
new food production systems
total controlled environment agriculture systems

 

Low emission food production systems

Dr Tom Jenkins, Deputy Challenge Director for the Transforming Food Production Programme at Innovate UK, said:

This funding will enable UK companies to partner with our world-leading science-base to develop innovative, low emission food production systems that meet rising consumer demand for products like alternative proteins.

Producing food in new environments can help take pressure away from traditional land-based systems while also supporting our transition towards net zero.

 

A rapidly evolving sector

Dr Lee Beniston, Associate Director for Industry Partnerships and Collaboration at BBSRC, said

This joint BBSRC and Innovate UK investment will support incredibly important capacity building, research, innovation and business-led commercialisation to help develop alternative, more sustainable protein sources.

This will help to ensure the UK continues to be at the forefront of what is an innovative and rapidly evolving sector in the UK and globally.

 

 

 

 

Source Businessgreen

 

This robotically fabricated structure aims to promote low carbon construction

Posted on by dishanth
This robotically fabricated structure aims to promote low carbon construction

A team of students and researchers from the University of Michigan have created a robotically-fabricated structure made entirely from timber.
They aimed to promote low-carbon construction, creating a complex architectural structure from local materials.
The designers hope it can serve as an example of how robotic construction can enable more sustainable forms of construction and minimize waste.

A team of students and researchers has shown how, with the help of robots, it’s possible to build an intricate pavilion using only small pieces of timber.

The Robotically Fabricated Structure is the result of a project by the Adel Design Research (ADR) Laboratory at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning.

 

The robotically fabricated structure was built using only small pieces of timber. Image: ADR Laboratory

 

The ambition was to promote low-carbon construction, by showing it’s possible to create complex architectural structures using wood that is sourced from the local region rather than imported.

Custom algorithms were used to calculate the optimal arrangement for the timber 2x4s, removing the need for any larger beams within the structure.

 

Robots assembled the components into a series of prefabricated frames, which were then delivered to site and slotted together by hand.

“The coupling of custom algorithms and robotic fabrication enables the feasible realisation of bespoke building components that are otherwise difficult or costly to achieve through conventional means and methods, with minimal construction waste,” explained ADR, which is led by professor Arash Adel.

“Short elements enable the use of indigenous trees that cannot easily produce full-length building elements, construction and manufacturing off-cuts, and lumber elements reclaimed from the deconstruction of buildings, ultimately contributing to a more sustainable practice,” said the team.

 

The tunnel is made up of 20 robotically fabricated frames. Image: ADR Laboratory

 

Robotically Fabricated Structure has been installed in the Matthaei Botanical Gardens in Ann Arbor, where it can be used as a place of rest and shelter, or host exhibitions and performances.

Raised on an oval-shaped timber platform, it takes the form of a curved tunnel with an integrated bench seat wrapping on of its edges.

The tunnel is made up of 20 robotically fabricated frames, which themselves are made up of various components. Each one is slightly different, which gives the structure its undulating shape.

As each piece of wood has the same thickness, it was possible to design these frames so that they slot together. This helped to reduce the need for screw fixings.

The design is longlisted for Dezeen Awards 2022 in the small building category.

The designers hope it can serve as an example of how robotic construction can enable more sustainable forms of construction and minimise waste.

 

Robots assembled the components into a series of prefabricated frames. Image: ADR Laboratory

 

 

Source World Economic Forum

John Lewis Partnership funnels £1m raised through plastic bag charge into circular economy innovations

Posted on by dishanth
John Lewis Partnership funnels £1m raised through plastic bag charge into circular economy innovations

Launched last November as part of the retail giant’s partnership with environmental charity Hubbub, the funding was set aside using money raised through sales of plastic bags for life. It forms part of John Lewis Partnership’s work to develop and scale permanent buy-back or take-back schemes for all product categories by 2025.

The John Lewis Partnership and Hubbub have today (16 May) announced which four projects will receive a share of the funding and revealed that 245 applications were made to the fund.

The first successful applicant was Pip and Henry, which is developing solutions to minimize wasted children’s shoes. Pip and Henry research has revealed that children under the age of seven replace their shoes, on average, every four months. As most shoes are not designed for easy recycling, 85% of children’s shoes thrown away in the UK are sent to landfill or incineration.

Pip and Henry’s solutions are to design shoes that can be expanded as children grow, and to design shoes that are easier to recycle. The brand has already had success designing shoes made from organic and recycled materials.

Also in the fashion space, funding will be allocated to the University of Leeds’ ‘Polyester Infinity’ programme. Researchers are investigating low-water, low-emission methods of recycling waste polyester. Recycled polyester used by big-name fashion brands is typically made using plastic bottles, as it is challenging to remove dyes from polyester fabrics.

According to the Changing Markets Foundation, global polyester production has doubled globally since 2020. Most garments sold on the high street now include polyester blend or pure polyester components. This poses challenges regarding lifecycle emissions, garment durability, garment recyclability and microfibre shedding.

The other two projects receiving a share of funding are from period product brand DAME and the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC).

DAME will use the funds to develop and launch a new digital platform which educates and supports people as they make the switch from disposable menstrual products – tampons and sanitary pads – to reusable menstrual cups. Duquense University School of Nursing estimates that, without reusable solutions, the average woman will use at least 9,120 tampons or sanitary towels in her lifetime. Most of these products contain plastics.

Finally, the SLIC is working to launch up to ten ‘lend and mend’ spaces at libraries across Scotland. The spaces will be staffed by volunteers and people will be able to come along to lend out household items they use rarely, and access advice on repair. This is similar to the ‘Library of Things’ movement in England and the ‘People’s Workshops’ in Norway.

“Our throw-away culture and the waste it generates are unquestionably among the biggest challenges we will face in our lifetime and tackling them will require a different kind of thinking,” said the John Lewis Partnership’s director of ethics and sustainability Marija Rompani.

“All these inspirational projects have the potential to create real impact and will provide valuable learnings in promoting the urgent need to adopt a more circular way of living.   With the funding awarded for the year ahead we want to help these amazing ideas to thrive for the long-term benefit of us all.”

John Lewis Partnership, through Waitrose & Partners, has previously worked with Hubbub to allocate £1m to innovators working to solve the plastic pollution crisis.

 

 

Source edie