A new light brown paper made of sunflower pollen can automatically fold itself into a food container or straw when exposed to moisture in the air, breaking the mould for single-use packaging.
The intelligent pollen paper – created by scientists from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) – is created by adding potassium hydroxide to sunflower pollen grains.
After 24 hours, the pollen transforms into a gel that is moulded onto a petri dish, for example, and left to dry overnight. The dried pollen paper is then peeled from the mould.
The pollen paper can vary in thickness from 20 to 200 micrometres, similar to that of a strand of hair – but it is far from fragile.
In fact, pollen is known as the diamond of the plant kingdom as it is one of nature’s most durable materials, said the research team’s co-lead, Professor Cho Nam-Joon from NTU’s School of Materials Science and Engineering.
Prof Cho’s research includes turning pollen into plastic and metal alternatives.
The pollen paper can be made thicker or layered if it were to be folded into a container or straw. It can be used as a greener alternative to materials such as plastics and styrofoam for disposable products and packaging.
Pollen is also abundant and can be degraded in nature gradually.
“If we make the paper thicker, its properties will be more plastic-like. The original raw material itself is very strong. So, by modifying that, it can be stronger,” said Prof Cho.
The pollen paper comes to life when it is exposed to humidity, and after some toner – a powder that works like printer ink – prints lines and patterns on the brown paper. Toner acts as the ink in office and home laser printers.
To apply toner on the pollen paper, it goes through an ordinary printer, just like writing paper.
The pollen paper is then exposed to different humidity levels in a controlled environment.
While the pollen paper is sensitive to moisture in the air and curls up, the inked parts do not respond to water. These opposing behaviours cause the flat paper to morph into three-dimensional shapes as humidity drops.
How the paper folds or twists depends on the printed pattern.
For example, a piece of pollen paper cut into an outline of a box would automatically fold into a box when the folded hinges are printed with barcode-like vertical lines.
A strip of paper printed with diagonal lines would curl into a straw.
Pollen paper with an ink pattern printed on it. PHOTO: NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
Prof Cho said: “Products can be produced without manual folding, reducing the skill and time necessary for fabrication. The whole process is also eco-friendly and scalable.”
Coating the morphed paper with petroleum jelly or chitosan – a natural sugar found in the shells of crabs and shellfish – will prevent the product from unravelling due to humidity changes, and lock it in shape.
NTU president Subra Suresh, who co-led the research, said: “We combined easy-to-process pollen grains and cost-effective digital printing to develop a moisture-sensitive (material) that can morph on demand into… complex shapes depending on the patterns we print.”
(From left) Professor Cho Nam-Joon, NTU President Subra Suresh, and NTU research fellow Zhao Ze examining the pollen paper. PHOTO: NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
Prof Cho said this is the first time pollen is used to develop self-folding materials. The research team’s method was published in the scientific journal Proceedings Of The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America last month.
Packaging waste, including plastics, makes up about one-third of domestic waste in Singapore. Last year, about 200,000 tonnes of disposables – including carrier bags and takeaway containers – were thrown away here.
The NTU team is now working on optimising its pollen paper and method so that companies can eventually use the technology to manufacture greener products, including humidity sensors.
As the world warms, there is an urgent need to find ways to keep people cool. This year, several deadly records have been set in South Asia: in New Delhi, the highest July temperature in 90 years was recorded, at 43.6 degrees Celsius. In April in Karachi, mercury levels hit 44C — the highest in 74 years.
Last week, the climate analysis coalition Climate Action Tracker published research showing that even if the new pledges made by the world’s governments in the first week of COP26 are achieved, global temperatures would rise by more than 2.4C this century. This coincided with the publication of research showing that with just a 2C global temperature rise, a billion people will be affected by extreme heat stress.
Even at 1.5C of global warming (the aspirational target set by the Paris Agreement), studies have found that deadly heat stress could become common across South Asia. Despite pledges to control greenhouse gas emissions, scientists say the world could reach the 1.5C threshold in a matter of years.
There is therefore a pressing need for sustainable cooling technologies and practices that are both low-carbon and accessible to the poorest people — who are also most at risk of heatwaves. And, crucially, there needs to be grassroots support for the proposed solutions.
“We cannot agree on global multilateral solutions if we don’t have local, appropriate implementation,” said Carlos Alvarado Quesada, president of Costa Rica, speaking in Glasgow on 4 November at an awards ceremony held by Ashden, a UK charity that supports solutions to the problems caused by climate change. “Implementation has to be done locally, respecting women, respecting indigenous communities [and] working together with them.”
This year’s Ashden Awards, attended by The Third Pole, recognised the importance of sustainable cooling. Many of the projects highlighted below are recipients of finance via its Fair Cooling Fund, which aims to scale up “frontline fair cooling solutions”.
1. Empowering women through low-cost solutions
Houses in poor neighbourhoods are usually built from cement, often with plastic covers or tin sheets to keep the rain out. These materials absorb heat, and create hot and stuffy living conditions. As urban populations increase and the impacts of global warming become more apparent, the problems will worsen — with knock-on impacts for sanitation and health. Women are particularly exposed, as their work often takes place within the home.
Mahila Housing Trust (MHT) is a not-for-profit organisation based in Ahmedabad. It works in 10 cities across India to boost communities’ resilience to heat stress. It provides women with advice on how to cool their homes in ways that are easily implemented and affordable: to date, more than 1,600 women have been educated about climate change and how to deal with some of its effects.
The techniques focus on passive cooling methods — preventing heat from building up within people’s homes. One of the quickest and easiest to implement is painting roofs and sun-facing walls with solar-reflective paint, which can reduce indoor temperatures by 4-5C. According to the Global Cool Cities Alliance, when sunlight hits a light-coloured roof, 80 per cent of its energy is reflected, compared with 5 per cent for a dark-coloured roof.
A second easy step MHT advises is to grow potted plants and creepers on roofs, which the charity says can reduce indoor temperatures by 2.5C. Vegetation has been proven to have a cooling effect through shading and evapotranspiration. MHT has helped about 200 houses in Bhopal and Ranchi to do this.
MHT also advises on and helps with renovating roofs. The replacement structures have vents and are made from recycled materials that let more light in without trapping heat. According to MHT, these can reduce temperatures by 6-7C. Finally, the charity trains women on principles for reducing heat stress. For example, said Aneri Nihalani, MHT’s communications officer, considering the orientation of a building during construction can help reduce overheating. Taking these steps can help with the family’s finances as well as their comfort, as they need less electricity to cool their homes.
Since 2014, the Mahila Housing Trust has helped more than 2,000 families to adopt heat-resilient measures. In recognition of its work, MHT won the 2021 Ashden Award for Cooling in Informal Settlements, which was presented at COP26.
2. Geothermal air-conditioning
The temperature on the surface of the Earth fluctuates constantly. But below the Earth’s surface there is little change in temperature. The founders of GeoAirCon, a company in Pakistan, have harnessed this stability to cool homes down.
In a GeoAirCon system, a ‘loop’ of underground pipes filled with fluid is installed. Geothermal heat pumps move heat around the system. During the summer, these pipes draw heated water from the building and move it underground. (In winter, the opposite principle applies to warm the house.)
According to the company, the temperature of the earth about 8-12 feet below the surface in Pakistan ranges from 21-25C. GeoAirCon systems can therefore cool buildings to this range — a comfortable temperature for the human body.
GeoAirCon says geothermal systems are twice as efficient in cooling as the most efficient conventional air-conditioning system. Cooling capacity is influenced heavily by the insulation of a building, M Hassamuddin, chief executive of GeoAirCon, told The Third Pole, so use of passive cooling best practices is also advised.
A system costs US$260-460 to install, and costs significantly less to run than a conventional air-conditioning unit, according to the company. Hassamuddin said that though more suited to houses with outdoor spaces, the technology can be installed in densely populated areas, with an area less than a metre wide required to make the hole for the underground pipes.
So far, GeoAirCon systems have been installed in 12 buildings in Pakistan. GeoAirCon was runner up for the 2021 Ashden Award for Cooling in Informal Settlements.
3. Low-impact cooling systems
In 2015, eight million air conditioners were installed in India. That number is expected to grow by 200-300 million in the next 20 years. But traditional air conditioning is expensive, electricity-intensive and often uses greenhouse gases like HFCs, exacerbating the climate crisis.
CBalance, an Indian consultancy that has also received financial support from Ashden, is working to reduce the reliance on conventional air-conditioning. It promotes passive cooling design and ventilation, fostering cooperation between architects and urban communities through its Fairconditioning programme. Hasan ul Banna Khan, an engineer working on Fairconditioning, told The Third Pole that in most cases a building can maintain a comfortable temperature using just passive design techniques coupled with sustainable cooling systems.
Having reduced the requirement for artificial cooling as much as possible, it also promotes technologies that reduce the energy and greenhouse gas intensity of cooling.
These include:
• Evaporative cooling, which uses evaporated water to cool air. Unlike conventional air conditioning, this does not use refrigeration, and therefore requires a lot less energy. In one building in Pune, this system reduces the need for conventional AC by 40 per cent.
• Radiant or structure cooling, where cool water is circulated through a building. The technology has been used in 73 large buildings in India, including the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune.
• Use of solar power to chill water.
• Air-conditioning units that are more energy-efficient and emit fewer HFCs.
4. Cool roofs programmes
Under the Ahmedabad Heat Action Plan (HAP) in India, a partnership between the municipal corporation, Indian Institute of Public Health and the Natural Resource Defence Council, more than 7,000 low-income households’ roofs have been painted white. It is estimated that such initiatives save an estimated 1,100 lives every year.
On a bigger scale, the Million Cool Roofs Challenge is a US$2 million philanthropic initiative to rapidly scale up the use of solar-reflective roofs as a form of sustainable cooling in developing countries suffering heat stress. Ten teams are awarded grants of US$100,000.
In 2019, one of the finalists was the team from Bangladesh, a country with high humidity levels and where ambient temperatures are already reaching 40C. The Bangladesh team painted the roofs of two factories and 105 other buildings in Dhaka, including a nursery and a school, with average indoor air temperatures falling by more than 7C.
Architects and builders can also look to traditional materials, techniques and designs, which have kept occupants cool for centuries. In one project in Rudrapur, north Bangladesh, students and architects worked with local architects and craftsmen to create houses for low-income families. Using mud and bamboo alongside manmade materials, they installed openings for cross-ventilation, insulation made from coconut fibre and glass windows.
Traditional stilt houses, such as those found in Assam, also use passive cooling. The structures enable cross-ventilation and shading. The walls, which are left unplastered, promote natural ventilation. Recently, projects have started to combine traditional models with materials to enhance their resilience to extreme weather.
The importance of policymakers and urban planning for sustainable cooling
As global emissions drive temperatures to new highs, there is an urgent need to roll out these methods and technologies more widely, at the same time as taking urgent action to limit global warming. Both Aneri Nihalani from MHT and GeoAirCon’s M Hassamuddin told The Third Pole that finance is the main obstacle to wider adoption of the solutions their organisations offer.
Hasan ul Banna Khan from the Fairconditioning programme said there is still a lack of awareness of the impacts of conventional air-conditioning, as well as “a dearth of motivated and skilled architects and engineers in the sustainable building design sector”.
Beyond that, urban planners and policymakers need to step in. In Vietnam, the Hanoi City Master Plan 2030 builds the growing need for sustainable urban cooling into the country’s commitment to be net zero by 2050. It aims to prevent heat build-up throughout the city, using ventilation corridors of green and blue space.
As South Asia warms and urbanises, cities will need to put similar heat adaptation and mitigation measures at the heart of their development plans.
This story was published with permission from The Third Pole.
This year’s Ricoh Eco Action Day Forum will gather leaders from the worlds of business, government and civil society to explore ways to drive inclusive growth while sustaining the environment for generations to come.
The Covid-19 pandemic has dealt a heavy blow to the world of work. As nations continue to grapple with the short-term impacts of the economic slowdown, many have yet to grasp the imprint that the crisis may have left on the future of labour markets.
Lockdowns have sped up existing trends in remote work, e-commerce, and automation, upending forecasts of what tomorrow’s economy will look like. In the years ahead, it is estimated that 25 per cent more workers will potentially need to switch occupations than previously thought.
With such dramatic change come challenges, particularly for the world’s most vulnerable. Last year’s economic crash left more than 114 million people without jobs, but the United Nations (UN) estimates that a staggering 1.6 billion workers in the informal economy risk losing their livelihoods.
As the pandemic-induced inequality gap keeps widening, this underlines the importance for countries to build back better as they emerge from the worst recession facing the world since the great depression.
If governments are to create a fairer future, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 8, focused on achieving decent work and economic growth, will need to be front and centre of the global economic recovery. The question is, what’s the role of businesses in realising this vision?
This year’s Ricoh Eco Action Day Forum will seek answers to this question. Themed ‘The Future of Work’, the event will explore how companies can help policymakers make economic growth sustainable and inclusive, and offer productive employment and decent work for all.
Taking place on 26 August, the event will bring together business leaders, sustainability experts and government representatives to discuss the business models that firms can adopt to build better and safer workplaces while driving sustainability outcomes.
The gathering, which is co-organised by Japanese multinational digital services company Ricoh and Eco-Business, also ties in with Singapore’s wider push towards sustainability as the new engine for jobs and growth, encouraging more entrepreneurs, banks and industry to transition towards greener ways of doing business.
Coming on the heels of the recently unveiled Singapore Green Plan 2030, which charts a new course for Singapore’s sustainability agenda, the event will delve into the ways firms can create green jobs, buildings, and infrastructure to help transform how people live and work in support of the city-state’s sustainability commitments.
It is important for business, government and sustainability experts to come together and discuss how we can achieve a sustainable and inclusive recovery post-Covid, and create decent, inclusive and sustainable work for all. – Ben Chong, managing director, Ricoh Singapore
“The pandemic has disproportionately impacted those with limited digital access, lower skills and education, and who are of lower income. As countries enforced lockdowns and shuttered economies, these communities have been less able to continue studying and working from home, thus widening the social and economic inequality gaps,” said Ben Chong, managing director at Ricoh Singapore.
“As such, it is important for business, government and sustainability experts to come together and discuss how we can achieve a sustainable and inclusive recovery post-Covid, and create decent, inclusive and sustainable work for all,” he said.
“While it takes collaborative efforts to overcome inequity, the onus is on companies to ensure safe and fair work conditions for their employees,” he continued. Besides putting measures in place to curb the spread of the virus, this means using technology to remove barriers and ensure fair treatment and equal access to opportunities for everyone, he added.
Covid-19 has highlighted how dependent the global economy has become on digital technology. As the world emerges from the crisis, the shift in work patterns is likely to keep driving the surge in demand for digital services, said Chong.
“As the world recovers from the pandemic, we are slowly but surely returning to the office. However, the next generation of workers will require more flexibility in terms of working hours and ways of working,” he observed.
“As a digital services company, we are empowering businesses and their employees to work better and smarter with secure, innovative digital office tools and technologies so they can work seamlessly wherever they are,” he said.
The Ricoh Eco Action Day Forum is one of Singapore’s key sustainability gatherings. It is part of Ricoh’s larger Eco Action Day Campaign, which encourages individuals and organisations in Singapore to embrace a greener future.
Ministers are drawing up plans to impose carbon taxes on imports from abroad as part of efforts to hit Britain’s net-zero target by 2050, i understands.
The proposals emerged as a “civil war” broke out between ministers over the best way to ensure the public pays for the carbon emissions they produce.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to lay out new carbon taxes this autumn to help the country meet its obligations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while also raising money to repair public finances damaged by Covid.
Among the proposals being looked at is a carbon border adjustment tax, which will slap levies on goods arriving from abroad. Such taxes aim to prevent wealthy countries such as the UK from outsourcing their carbon emissions to the developing world – known as “carbon leakage”.
One minister told i: “Carbon border adjustment tax is definitely in the mix. Eventually people will have to tackle the question of consumption – they are going to need to decide if they are willing to consume less stuff imported from China or not.”
For any domestic industry that has a carbon price placed on it, the same price would be placed on imports to prevent cheaper goods flooding the market.
Which products would be targeted has not been undecided, but the EU’s plans for carbon levies on imports will focus initially on the most carbon-intensive sectors, such oil refineries, steel and other metals, and cement.
The measures are under consideration ahead of the UK hosting the COP26 UN Climate Change Council in November. Experts have warned that the Government currently has an “alphabet soup” of carbon taxes and urgently needs to fill the policy vacuum ahead of the meeting in Glasgow.
With the UK welcoming world leaders to COP26, the Chancellor will have little choice but to spell out plans for environmental taxes in an autumn Budget and Comprehensive Spending Review.
Westminster sources said, however, that any move towards a carbon border tax would have to consider the implications it would have with major trading partners, such as the US, and how problematic it would be for post-Brexit Britain to go out and strike trade deals.
Ministers are increasingly at odds over the best way to ensure the public pays for the carbon emissions they produce, with the Treasury in a stand-off with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and No 10.
One source said: “There is a civil war raging between departments as to how the Government can meet its commitments.”
i understands Mr Sunak is pushing for a simpler carbon pricing approach, which would set baseline prices according to which sectors carbon emissions are coming from, while Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng is eager to focus on regulation.
Boris Johnson is keenly aware he needs to lead the way on the issue, but “the PM likes to spend money more than he likes to tax people”, as one well-placed source put it.
What has become clear is that the burden of who will pay for carbon emissions is shifting from the corporate sector to consumers.
It is widely accepted that petrol and gas will become more expensive, and the idea of taxes on meat and dairy products have also been floated. At the same time, the Government’s attempts to persuade people to upgrade their homes to make them more energy-efficient have largely failed.
There is a growing recognition that ministers will have to do more to allow people to make greener decisions. One Whitehall source said that the Government was “looking at ways to help ‘fuel-poor’ families and incentivise a switch to low-carbon heating”.
A minister said that the Government may end up introducing new rules to speed up the retrofitting of old homes, if existing incentives do not prove enough. They told i: “Retrofitting is really hard. One option is that we could say that old houses have to be redone every time they go on the market, or every time they’re bought.
“But eventually, you’ll probably find that people just don’t want to live in draughty homes anyway.”
Experts have warned, however, that the Government can only hope to raise taxes to generate much-needed funds, while nudging people towards more environmentally friendly choices if there are “viable alternatives”.
Rachel Wolf, Founding Partner of policy institute Public First and co-author of the Conservatives’ 2019 election manifesto, said it suggests why a “meat tax” is a long way off.
“Agriculture and certainly meat will be the very last thing they price,” Ms Wolf said. “The problem the Government has is if they want to take people with them to reach net zero, they will have to make the costs bearable and there have to be viable alternatives right now, as there could be with electric cars. Telling people to just eat less meat is not viable.”
This is according to Francesco La Camera, director general of the International Renewable Energy Agency, based in Abu Dhabi.
Proven technology for net-zero energy production already largely exists today but it will take political will and nation-led action to reverse climate change, he told The National.
Mr La Camera took up his post in 2019 and is a little over halfway through his four-year term. He joined Irena at a decisive time for climate change and the achievement of the Paris Agreement. He is tasked by the agency to “redefine the structure and operations” to keep its 180 member countries actively engaged in the fight.
The inter-governmental body, now 12 years old, promotes renewable energy and technology and helps countries plan and carry out energy transitions.
“At the end of this decade, the world will know if the Paris Agreement will be reached or not,” said Mr La Camera. Political will around the climate change agenda “is much better” than when he took up his post two years ago, he said.
‘When we look at implementation, we notice it is very far from what is written down on paper”
Franceso La Camera, director general of Irena
Global renewable energy capacity rose by 10.3 per cent to 2,799 gigawatts in 2020, according to Irena. China and the US, the world’s two biggest economies, were the best-performing countries in terms of renewable energy growth.
Globally, more than 260 gigawatts of wind capacity were added, a 50 per cent increase compared with 2019. Solar energy made up more than 48 per cent of last year’s renewable capacity additions, accounting for 127 gigawatts.
“The reality is overcoming my expectations,” Mr La Camera said of the renewable energy capacity added in 2020.
Over time, countries are also increasing ownership of their climate agendas.
A key piece of the Paris Agreement are the “nationally determined contributions”, or NDCs. These are plans that outline climate actions and policies that each nation aims to enforce in response to climate change.
Central to the UN’s plan for the NDCs was the concept of national determination. But “a failure of the NDC was the big role of the consultants”, as well as the lack of real buy-in from governments, said Mr La Camera.
“When we look at implementation, we notice it is very far from what is written down on paper,” he said.
To that end, Irena is increasing its efforts to tailor recommendations and projects for regions and nations. In addition to its work with net-zero scenario planning, “there is support for national planning. Doing it in a way that we don’t do consultancy, we work together. It is really important that the planning is owned”.
As an agency that works among governments and the private sector, not as a political organisation, he said the rigour and objectivity of Irena’s analysis is what sets it apart from a crowded field of players aiming to set the agenda.
The “future of the agency”, Mr La Camera said, is on an online platform Irena unveiled in 2019 to connect renewable energy project owners, potential financiers or investors, services providers and technology suppliers.
Mr La Camera said the marketplace has fielded more than 200 ideas for projects since its start.
He likened it to zooming in a camera – from the global analysis done by the agency’s number crunchers, primarily based in Bonn, Germany, down to the planning and financing of a renewable energy project on the ground and monitoring its output once operational.
He pointed to the recent inauguration of one of the largest solar projects in West Africa and the first renewable energy complex in Togo, which became fully operational earlier this month.
The Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed solar photovoltaic power plant in Togo, one of the largest in West Africa, has the capacity to provide electricity to about 160,000 homes and small businesses. Courtesy: Abu Dhabi Fund for Development
The 50-megawatt Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed solar power plant, financed under the Irena-ADFD Project Facility, has the capacity to provide electricity to about 160,000 homes and small businesses, significantly reducing the country’s dependence on firewood, charcoal and fuel imports for energy consumption.
“This project is showing that in Africa this [energy transition] is possible,” said Mr La Camera.
Abu Dhabi financed the project and is a climate leader in the region, placing itself “in the middle” of the climate conversation, he said.
Over the past six years, the UAE has led the way in driving down the price of solar energy through some of the most competitive bids on utility-scale projects. Mr La Camera said he believes the region can help lead again in lowering the cost of hydrogen as well.
Record low tariffs for solar power projects among oil-exporting states of the Middle East could allow for the development of low-cost green hydrogen, which refers to the clean fuel produced entirely from renewable sources.
“Renewables are the cheapest source of power,” he said.
Declining costs for renewables are a challenge to coal’s dominance as a cheap source of fuel, particularly in developing economies.
Irena is also engaging with the world’s biggest economies. India, Indonesia, the US and China are of particular interest because they are “countries that are more like continents”.
This month, Irena and China announced that they will prepare a comprehensive energy transition road map to help China achieve its medium- and long-term national renewable and decarbonisation goals.
China, currently the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and biggest oil importer, pledged to hit its carbon dioxide emissions peak by 2030 and has vowed to become carbon-neutral before 2060.
Mr La Camera said the agency is “quite confident” in China’s ability to hit its goals.
Globally, Irena forecasts that the transition to net-zero carbon emissions will be dominated by renewable power from wind and solar, green hydrogen and bioenergy.
A combination of different technology is needed to keep the planet on a 1.5°C climate pathway – nothing entirely new is needed, but incremental improvements to efficiency and the will of markets and governments can go a long way in this “decade of action”.
Mr La Camera is also a firm believer that the market will not turn back. Investors and the private sector are anticipating the energy transition and are actively looking for investment, allocating capital away from fossil fuels and towards energy transition technology and sources such as renewables.
An analysis of the S&P Clean Energy Index in 2020 by Irena found that clean energy stocks were up by 138 per cent, as compared to the fossil fuel-heavy S&P Energy Index which was down by 37 per cent.
“Will climate change? The process is unstoppable,” said Mr La Camera.
But he said one questions lingers: “will we be in time to win the fight?
Compostable plastic can be turned into a foam that functions as building insulation, creating a potential solution to difficulties in recycling the material.
Polylactic acid (PLA) is a plastic made of fermented starch from corn or sugar cane. It is designed to break down into harmless material once used and disposed of, but doing so requires industrial composting, which isn’t available in all locations.
If PLA makes its way into the environment, it often won’t break down. Because of this, it is classed as compostable rather than biodegradable by the European Union.
Now, Heon Park at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand and his colleagues have developed a method to convert plastic knives, spoons and forks made from PLA into a foam that can be turned into insulation for walls or flotation devices.
Foam structures of various sizes made from recycled PLA plastic. Source: Heon Park
The researchers placed the PLA cutlery into a chamber filled with carbon dioxide. As they increased the pressure inside the chamber, the gas dissolved into the plastic. When they released the pressure, the gas expanded rapidly and turned the plastic into a foam. The process is entirely mechanical and involves no chemical reaction.
“Tweaking temperature and pressure, there is a window where we can make good foams,” says Park. “We found what temperature or what pressure is the best to make those non-foamable plastics into foams.”
Each time plastic is recycled it loses strength, but turning plastic into foam avoids any problems with strength as it is an inherently soft material.
Making PLA plastics directly recyclable in this way could be a better way to alleviate plastic pollution than industrial composting. PLA requires up to 12 weeks of composting at 57°C to break down, and must be carefully separated from other plastic waste, so this may not be the best option.
“If you’ve taken all of the energy and resources to make something, any product or packaging, then the very best thing that you can do with that is to try and keep those resources and turn them back into another item of product or packaging,” says Helen Bird at UK waste and recycling charity WRAP. “From an environmental perspective, if you look at the hierarchy of what’s preferable for the environment, composting actually is a little bit below recycling.”
Humanity is falling short of its climate goals. More investment is urgently needed—especially in the next decade—to transition to a low-carbon economy. The IPCC estimates that achieving a low-carbon transition will require US$1.6-$3.8 trillion annually between 2016 and 2050 for the supply-side energy system alone. Alongside ambitious emissions reductions from their own carbon footprints, funding from businesses—including carbon credit purchases, philanthropy, and impact capital—can be catalytic in scaling investment in the climate solutions necessary to achieve a just and sustainable 1.5°C future. The impact in play is enormous. For example, natural climate solutions have the potential for capital flows greater than $100 billion annually, with opportunity across the world and especially in the Global South.
Significant momentum exists: Many organizations and initiatives are already working with funding from businesses to deploy climate solutions. The BASCS offers an opportunity to help connect and support these initiatives and the surrounding community of practice by providing a central, neutral platform for businesses and experts to meet, learn, discuss, and act together.
The work will be grounded in core principles:
Emissions Reduction: BASCS members prioritize work to reduce their own emissions in line with a science-based target (e.g., through the SBTi) and pursue high impact climate investments that go even further to curb climate change. Members will seek scalable solutions to help make hard-to-achieve reductions feasible in the future. Climate solutions funding is a complement rather than a substitute for science-based emissions reductions.
Ambition to Action: BASCS members work to catalyze and deepen investments in global emissions reductions, avoided emissions and removals across and beyond value chains (e.g., mobilizing others in the corporate sector to invest alongside us).
Measurable Impacts: BASCS members support applying sound and verified methodologies to ensure high social and environmental integrity of investments. Carbon credits claimed by companies must represent additional, real, quantifiable, and verifiable emissions reductions or removals, and must not be double counted.
Co-Benefits: BASCS members support investments that deliver environmental and social integrity and co-benefits and have strong safeguards, in addition to driving real greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Members will seek investments that quantify these co-benefits when possible.
BASCS seeks to serve and engage all organizations working to scale and improve climate solutions opportunities for business investment. To learn more and engage with the Business Alliance to Scale Climate Solutions, please visit scalingclimatesolutions.org
Founder Commentary
Amazon “As part of our commitment to The Climate Pledge, Amazon is on our way to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, which is good for the planet, people and our business. We remain focused on driving decarbonization strategies throughout our business, as well as investing in additional and quantifiable natural climate solutions to remove carbon and tackle climate change. We look forward to continuing to work across sectors with BASCS to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.” – Kara Hurst, Vice President, Worldwide Sustainability
BSR “In this Decisive Decade, we need urgent climate action to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and achieve an inclusive net zero economy. BSR is proud to serve as the secretariat for the Business Alliance to Scale Climate Solutions, advising the initiative in its effort to unlock finance for much needed climate solutions. We believe collaborations such as BASCS are key to transforming climate ambition into meaningful action and scaling impact.” – Aron Cramer, President and CEO
Disney “The Walt Disney Company is committed to protecting the planet and delivering a positive environmental legacy for future generations as we operate and grow our business. Transitioning to a low carbon economy demands fundamental changes in the way society, including the private sector, operates and innovates. Collaborating with other members of BASCS will create opportunity to scale high quality climate solutions necessary to drive a more sustainable future.” – Vijay Sudan, Executive Director, Enterprise Social Responsibility, The Walt Disney Company
EDF “The time is now for companies to take bold action on climate change. We have 10 years to dramatically reduce emissions and there is no way we can achieve a stable climate without stopping deforestation. The Business Alliance to Scale Climate Solutions can help close the climate funding gap and speed resources to protect what is most valuable. It is the kind of visionary leadership and action we need from the world’s biggest and most influential companies.” – Elizabeth Sturcken, Managing Director, EDF+Business
Google “At Google, we were the first major company to become carbon neutral in 2007 and we’ve met this commitment for over a decade. We look forward to working with the BASCS to share our learnings and accelerate our collective work to decarbonize.” – Kate Brandt, Google Sustainability Officer
Microsoft “The climate crisis is the defining challenge of our lifetimes. If we are to achieve a 1.5-degree Celsius future, we will all need to work together. Today, we are joining the Business Alliance to Scale Climate Solutions, working with other members to accelerate the maturation and scale of a range of climate solutions.” – Elizabeth Willmott, Carbon Program Manager, Microsoft.
Netflix “Netflix has committed to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2022. We will get there by reducing our internal emissions in line with climate science and by investing in the power of nature to retain and reduce emissions from the atmosphere, starting with natural ecosystems like forests above-and-below water. Scaling up the highest quality projects to “retain” and “reduce” emissions is best done collaboratively, which is why we look forward to this timely collective effort taking flight.” – Emma Stewart, Netflix Sustainability Officer
Salesforce “The time for climate action is now. Every business, government and individual must step up to the urgent challenge of climate change and to create an inclusive and sustainable future for all. At Salesforce we believe that business can be one of the greatest platforms for change. That is why we are proud to be a founding member of BASCS, an initiative to rapidly scale and improve climate solutions funding from businesses.” – Patrick Flynn, Head of Sustainability at Salesforce
UNEP “Drastically reducing deforestation and simultaneously restoring forests is the single largest nature-based opportunity for climate mitigation. UNEP is therefore proud to be a co-founder of the Business Alliance to Scale Climate Solutions, supporting the private sector’s climate ambitions for deep cuts in their own emissions – working towards high-integrity outcomes for carbon neutrality by 2050 or sooner.” – Susan Gardner, Director of the Ecosystems Division
Workday “We are committed to a 1.5 degrees Celsius science-based target, but we know there is still much more work to be done, and one of the most powerful ways we can accelerate climate action is by coming together with other organizations. This alliance is an opportunity to collaborate with others who share our vision to increase the scale and impact of climate solutions funding, so we can achieve a zero-carbon future.” – Erik Hansen, Senior Director, Environmental Sustainability, Workday
WWF “To tackle the climate crisis, we need to act immediately to drive climate emissions down. BASCS highlights that business must set science-based targets for their own emissions while bringing the investment in solutions to scale. WWF is excited to help found this clearing house for collaborative learning and support companies to make impactful investments to tackle the climate crisis.” – Marcene Mitchell, Senior Vice President for Climate Change
Can sustainable and luxury fashion really go hand in hand?
When we think of the term ‘sustainable fashion’, words like cruelty-free, ethical, organic, and recycled spring to mind. The word ‘luxury’ however isn’t an idiom we tend to associate with the phrase ‘sustainable fashion’. Thankfully, spurred on by consumer demand and in part the pandemic, this is all set to change.
In fact, a whole host of luxe sustainable fashion brands are sashaying their way down Paris Fashion Weeks (albeit virtual) runways, making themselves known as champions for our planet’s dwindling resources, opting instead to use sustainable threads and manufacturing processes that have less of an impact on the world and the people in it.
This guide features everything you need to know about sustainable luxury fashion today, as well as the low-down on the latest luxury lines to embrace ethical fashion and the new eco-luxe labels who have seized sustainability from the start.
Even though Paris Fashion Week has been a quieter, more virtual, affair this year, the sustainable message has been at its heart. Photo by Dimitri Kuliuk from Pexels
Can High-end Fashion truly be sustainable?
There are many ways in which the fashion industry impacts the environment. From fabric sourcing to manufacturing, to distributing, sales, and dealing with returns. Sustainable fashion brands must ensure their design journey is one that avoids exploiting the planet and the people in it.
Despite what many think, with the right motivation from designers, sustainability and high-end can go hand in hand. Top luxe brands, including the famed Stella McCartney and Vivienne Westwood, are just a handful of the high-fashion houses producing ethical clothing ranges today – creating trends that not only complement our wardrobes, but our planet too – focusing on embracing quality working standards, organic materials or the latest sustainable fibre inventions.
This isn’t purely down to a luxury brands’ good nature, of course. A greater percentage of high-end shoppers are beginning to ask questions about the sustainability and ethics behind their favourite labels. If they are paying a premium, they want to know brands are also paying the appropriate premium to the people and planet they profit from.
A greater number of shoppers are starting to ask questions about sustainability and ethics when shopping. Photo by Heidi Fin on Unsplash
Joining the dots between luxury and sustainability
If, like many, you’re failing to join the dots between a high-end brand and it’s sustainability credentials, you’re not alone. Research shows that more and more of us are willing to pay a premium for sustainable clothing, but many of us don’t know what the word sustainability now entails.
There is so much noise in the industry now, such as false sustainability claims and contradictory data on a brands eco-credentials that it can be overwhelming. Many consumers who try to do their research end up with analysis paralysis. Even Stella McCartney said recently in her latest Spring presentation that she ‘Barely knows what sustainability means anymore’. So it’s not just consumers that are getting confused!
“I barely know what sustainability means anymore” – Stella McCartney
However, whether you’re a luxury shopper embarking on a greener journey, or a seasoned sustainability pro entering the luxury market, we can all do our part to ensure this segment of the fashion industry leads the way in the fashion revolution.
Be it learning more about the latest initiatives or lobbying our favourite eco-luxe designers to embrace their ‘green game’ in the most effective manner. As consumers, we hold the power.
Consumers hold the power to influence the fashion industry through their purchases. Photo by kyonntra on Getty Images Signature (Canva)
Sustainability Issues Facing Luxury Brands Today
High-end fashion brands are now, more than ever, facing a plethora of challenges. External stakeholders in the industry have expanded their attention from fast fashion to include designer brands. Challenging them to address sustainability issues through experience, innovation and collaboration.
Because of this, more and more of the big-name brand designers are getting on the sustainability train, fashioning garments that promise to outlive the fast-fashion pieces in our current wardrobes. The top improvements in luxury sustainable fashion brands is either through an amalgamation of innovative textile inventions, progressive production techniques or taking it back to the roots of traditional slow fashion production.
However, ensuring the wellbeing of customers, employees, and supply chain communities isn’t an easy feat, especially amidst a pandemic. The pressures to seem like a sustainable brand can lead to claims that are not 100 percent honest.
With high-end fashion comes power and money, and some brands will use their ample resources on campaigns to make them appear philanthropic and eco-friendly, while often cutting corners. This is when knowing what to look for is key to a sustainable investment.
Greenwashing
Put simply, greenwashing is a method used by many luxe brands to convey misleading information about how their products are manufactured and distributed. In a nutshell, companies using this method are making you believe that they are doing more to safeguard our planet than they are.
With a huge amount of greenwashing going on, it can be almost impossible to know which ethical clothing brands are 100 percent ‘ethical’, and which high-quality labels are putting what they preach into practice.
From clothing that features eye-catching labels to clever wording that suggests the threads you are about to buy are ethically sourced – words like clean, earth-loving, quality, happy, and green are being used to trick consumers into thinking they’re doing their bit for the planet.
Misconceptions of luxury vs sustainable fashion
When it comes to high-end clothing, many shoppers are under the misconception that the higher the price, the more ethical the attire. This is far from the truth. In most cases, you are paying for the label and not the quality or quantity of the fabric.
Other factors used by powerful labels to delude buyers into thinking they are sustainable is the introduction of small sustainable ranges to make them look like they are doing their bit for the environment.
Similarly, using recycled bags or packaging is a great sustainable incentive, but of little use, if the garments being housed in this packaging are made from a poly fibre or other non-degradable material.
Many ethically-created sustainable luxury fashion brands believe one of the biggest issues preventing their growth is this sustainable smoke-screen that large powerful labels create. This leads to a lack of understanding among consumers or an unwillingness to pay more for sustainable brands if a high-street brand is selling at a lower price and also (wrongfully) claiming sustainability credentials.
However, even though the majority of eco-labels’ price margins are slightly higher, these products are likely to last a lot longer, meaning you’ll spend less in the long run on replacement garments.
Before we go into our list, it’s important to remember that the most sustainable option is to not buy anything at all! If you are in need of a new purchase however, here is some advice on keeping your carbon footprint down when buying fashion.
How do I reduce my carbon footprint through buying fashion?
So, what can we do to lower our carbon footprint? Even if you’re already shopping for ethical and sustainable labels, there are several other things you can do to lower your footprint.
These include:
Supporting ‘circular’ or zero-waste labels
Investing in labels who support social and environmental organisations
Opt for in-store pick-up options if locally based and opt-out of speedy shipping
Prolong your favourite purchases by following aftercare guides, hand washing clothes and using eco-detergents
Pick clothing created from high-quality materials like organic cotton or community silk, which cause less harm to the planet
Try to reduce your clothing consumption in general by making your clothes last longer through repair and/or upcycling
So now to the list! One more quick point, if you find the majority of luxury brands on this list a little over your price limit, don’t worry, be sure to check out our article on how to shop ethically on a budget.
Top Luxury Sustainable Fashion Brands
From low luxe to high-end, many companies are doing their bit for the environment, incorporating innovation into their manufacturing and distribution methods to embrace brand sustainability in the fashion industry.
Thanks to these sustainable luxury fashion brands, who have taken it upon themselves to tackle flaws within the industry’s manufacturing methods, it’s easier than ever to keep sustainability firmly on our radars and invest in designer, conscious attire. Change starts at the top, and these guys are definitely at the top of their games!
As well as manufacturing clothing and products that are kind to the environment and sustainably sourced, a number of these green brands also support environmental organisations and fair trade working conditions.
By investing in these eco-luxe labels, you too are doing your bit to support the environment, ensuring we’re on the right track to embracing a more sustainable fashion industry in the future.
When it comes to sustainability, this is a designer label that won’t compromise on quality, constantly pushing boundaries and embracing new technologies to create an on-trend brand that is as stylish as it is sustainable.
In 2014, Stella McCartney launched Clevercare, an easy-to-understand, five-step labelling method, helping to educate consumers on clothing care and how to prolong the life of their favourite pieces. The result? A lot less waste, and probably the reason many fashionistas own at least one vintage Stella McCartney item.
To ensure the brand is always ahead of the game, regular audits are conducted to measure environmental impact.
In addition, the McCartney label is a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative, which ensures the careful selection of ethical-renowned suppliers, as well as collaborations with several environmental conservation organisations and NGOs, including Parley for the Oceans and Wildlife Works.
2. The Social Outfit
Eco-Luxury Values | Social responsibility, community engagement, waste reduction
Sustainable Materials | Repurposed and reused fabrics, donated deadstock
Australian-based brand, The Social Outfit, are a social enterprise and charity with an amazing mission. The label provides employment and training to refugees and migrant communities in all aspects of the fashion world, from clothing production to marketing. In many cases, working at The Social Outfit will be their first paid job and the first step of integrating into the Aussie way of life.
They also take their sustainability seriously. With a focus on waste reduction, they have saved tonnes of waste from landfill, through their goal to repurpose and reuse fabrics destined for the skip. So far they have partnered with over 28 Australian brands in this mission, including Alice McCall and Bec & Bridge!
3. Vivienne Westwood
Eco-Luxury Values | Environmental and human rights campaigns, cutting-edge sustainable technologies
Practising exactly what she preaches, Vivienne Westwood’s legendary label is setting an example to fashionistas across the globe by slowly transforming her brand into a sustainable masterpiece. How? Through adopting recycled and eco-friendly fabrics and using the label’s voice to educate people on Human Rights and Climate Change.
Her latest initiative is one that embraces modern-day sustainability, using collaborations and catwalk events as platforms to create awareness, encouraging ethical fashion fans to protect Mother Earth. The campaign focuses on three areas; Quality V Quantity, Gaia and Arts & Culture.
Eileen Fisher has been creating elegant and ethical womenswear since 1984. She designs luxury sustainable pieces with a focus on minimalism and inclusivity, that flies in the face of constantly changing fashion trends.
Always leading from the front, her company started their first recycling programme back in 2009, taking back old purchases to repair, clean and sell at discounted prices. Now a Certified B Corp corporation, the brand has a strong focus on supporting women, the fair treatment of workers and creating a circular fashion economy that reuses and replenishes the resources involved.
5. Rare & Fair
Eco-Luxury Values | Sustainable natural fibres, social responsibility, community engagement, transparent supply chain
This boutique slow fashion brand focuses on the promotion of handmade clothes and accessories, created by artisans using sustainable, raw materials. Their aim? To embrace the ethical treatment of workers, use planet-friendly materials and reduce waste.
Their hand-loomed, natural clothing and products come straight from the hands of the artisans, then directly to you. Opting for this method allows Rare & Fair to fully back artisan communities and handloom weavers.
The styles, despite embracing traditional methods, boast modern designs, allowing customers to look and feel great, knowing that they’ve done their bit towards supporting these ancient production techniques.
6. Reformation
Eco-Luxury Values | Local production, carbon neutral, waste reduction
Sustainable Materials | Repurposed clothing, upcycled fabrics and salvaged deadstock
LA based contemporary fashion label, Reformation, was doing sustainable before sustainable was…well, fashionable! All of their production stages, from design to shipping and everything in between, takes place at their innovative eco-facility in downtown Los Angeles.
Each collection is made using salvaged deadstock, offcuts, upcycled fabrics, repurposed vintage clothing or new sustainable materials. Their gorgeous new leisurewear, Ref Active, is produced using recycled plastic bottles.
It’s always been a problem finding sustainable office wear, especially that also ticks the comfort box as well. Dai’s creator, ex investment banker Joanna Dai, was so unimpressed with her workwear that she decided to create her own. Setting out on collections that delivered performance, versatility and function but which she was as comfortable to wear as her yoga pants!
The brand is also big on the sustainability front. 88% of their textiles are eco-certified and their Eco Luxe Essentials range is made from trees certified sustainably managed forests, meaning biodegradable and compostable. On top of that, they pay all of their staff above the London Living Wage.
8. Acne Studios
Eco-Luxury Values | Sustainability targets and reporting, External monitoring of labour conditions
Celebrated for their contemporary, uber-cool style, Acne Studios increased their collection in 2020 with the addition of a sustainable line titled ‘Repurposed’. Using a series of discarded offcuts and recycled fabrics, which otherwise would have gone to waste, the Swedish brand has created a variety of capsule lines, which have since been launched quarterly.
Acne Studios have been a member of the Fair Wear Foundation (FWF) since 2008, who supports the brand to monitor and improve labour conditions, including an external and independent ‘Brand Performance Check’. This means the brand is open to their faults and constantly trying to improve year on year, all of which can be found in their annual sustainability report.
Sustainable Materials | Recycled and repurposed demin, cotton and upcycled mixed fabrics
Re/Done, another guilt-free, sustainable brand, offers on-trend pieces made from recycled materials. They first hit the scene in 2014, and have been renowned for upscaling worn Levis into bespoke, contemporary styles ever since.
The eco-conscious brand is extremely focused when it comes to adopting the latest tech to create the best sustainable fashion results. Since its launch, their offering has grown in a big way. On top of their celebrated jeans, they now design high-quality t-shirt styles, sweats and dresses, as well as a select few suits.
Often seen hanging off celebs, this cult sustainable brand is a must buy if you’re looking for a guilt-free, chilled vibe with affordable price points.
Maggie Marilyn is a New Zealand based designer who creates glamorous luxury designs using organic cottons and ethically produced silks. All manufacturing is done in her home country of New Zealand. She is on a mission to transform the fashion industry to one that is “transparent, circular, regenerative and inclusive”.
What we love about this brand is that they don’t just talk the talk. They produce their own sustainability strategy in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as well as a suppliers code of conduct. This isn’t a box ticking exercise for the brand, with regular updates on the performance of their strategies and new targets set annually.
Hopefully you’ve managed to find your next perfect ethically-made luxury item within this list. It would be great to hear from you what is your favourite eco-luxe label or the latest sustainable initiatives from your favourite brand. Comment below!
By Maxime Ducker (Founder and Chief Editor, Our Good Brands)
Australia, one of the world-leaders in household rooftop solar panel uptake, has once again broken its own record for the number of solar panels installed in a year. In 2020, installations were up nearly 30 percent from the year before, according to an analysis from Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO.
The data, compiled by energy efficiency experts and reported in a CSIRO statement, come from Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator, a national body tasked with reducing the country’s carbon emissions and accelerating its use of clean energy.
It shows that while their federal government leaders are lagging behind on climate action, everyday Australians are doubling down on renewable energy, installing more rooftop solar panels than ever before and beefing up the size of their rooftop arrays.
“Sustained low technology costs, increased work from home arrangements and a shift in household spending to home improvements during COVID-19 played a key role in the increase of rooftop solar PV systems under the SRES,” said Clean Energy Regulator senior executive Mark Williamson, referring to a national scheme in Australia that allows homeowners and small businesses to recoup some of the costs of putting the panels on their roofs.
The record-breaking year is really just another one for the books for the sun-soaked country, which has seen installations rise year on year as the cost of renewables has fallen. In 2018, rooftop solar installations jumped almost 60 percent from 2017.
“We lead the world in PV capacity on a per capita basis at 591 watts per person which is almost eight times the worldwide average,” he said.
Photovoltaics, or PV, is what scientists often call solar panels, which are made of solar cells stacked together to capture the Sun’s energy and turn it into electricity. Capacity is the amount of electricity a solar system can produce at its peak.
“The [latest] solar PV installation data shows how quickly PV systems have been taken up across Australia and the increasing size of the PV arrays,” Ambrose said.
Data used in the CSIRO analysis from Australia’s federal Clean Energy Regulator showed that in 2020, a record-high 362,000 solar panels were installed and certified under the scheme for small-scale renewables.
At the year’s end, Australia had a total of over 2.68 million rooftop solar systems on homes – which means one in four households are now soaking up sunlight and converting it to electricity.
And the country’s rooftop solar capacity is only expected to grow, with installations already trending higher in 2021 based on early data.
But amidst the fanfare, there are bigger questions that need tackling: can Australia’s aging electricity network cope with the huge influx of solar energy – it’s old and really needs to be upgraded – and could solar panels coupled with household batteries in fact keep the grid stable and bolster electricity supplies in the event of extreme weather, such as lightning strikes.
“How these systems behave when sitting on our rooftops can have material impacts on the broader electricity grid,” renewable energy researcher Naomi Stringer from UNSW told Renew Economy.
“Impacts of rooftop solar can be particularly acute during disturbance events when the grid is already strained, posing new risks to power system security,” she said.
“However, there are also important opportunities to harness rooftop solar capabilities to help restore power system security.”
When we take a step back though, some researchers say that Australia is playing catch-up to other renewable leaders such as Germany.
Australia might be building new renewable energy infrastructure, including large solar arrays and wind farms, at a per capita rate ten times faster than the global average, in recent years. But it still trails behind other countries in the total amount of energy it generates from renewables.
“Denmark is generating about two-thirds of its electricity from renewables – non-hydro renewables – and it has a population a fifth of Australia, so their per capita annual generation is many times that of Australia, and similarly for Scotland,” renewable energy expert Mark Diesendorf from UNSW Sydney told the Australian Associated Press in early 2021.
All the while, solar cell scientists have been testing new-fangled configurations with materials other than silicon that can capture more parts of the light spectrum and could be used to build more efficient solar cells – and they’re smashing record after record, too.
Chemical engineers at UNSW Sydney have found a way to make ‘green’ ammonia from air, water and renewable electricity that does not require the high temperatures, high pressure and huge infrastructure currently needed to produce this essential compound.
And the new production method — demonstrated in a laboratory-based proof of concept — also has the potential to play a role in the global transition towards a hydrogen economy, where ammonia is increasingly seen as a solution to the problem of storing and transporting hydrogen energy.
In a paper published today in Energy and Environmental Science, the authors from UNSW and University of Sydney say that ammonia synthesis was one of the critical achievements of the 20th century. When used in fertilisers that quadrupled the output of food crops, it enabled agriculture to sustain an ever-expanding global population.
But since the beginning of the 1900s when it was first manufactured on a large scale, production of ammonia has been energy intensive — requiring temperatures higher than 400oC and pressures greater than 200atm — and all powered by fossil fuels.
Source: https://www.greencarcongress.com/
Dr Emma Lovell, a co-author on the paper from UNSW’s School of Chemical Engineering, says the traditional way to make ammonia — known as the Haber-Bosch process — is only cost-effective when produced on a massive scale due to the huge amounts of energy and expensive materials required.
“The current way we make ammonia via the Haber-Bosch method produces more CO2 than any other chemical-making reaction,” she says.
“In fact, making ammonia consumes about 2 per cent of the world’s energy and makes 1 per cent of its CO2 — which is a huge amount if you think of all the industrial processes that occur around the globe.”
Dr Lovell says in addition to the big carbon footprint left by the Haber-Bosch process, having to produce millions of tonnes of ammonia in centralised locations means even more energy is required to transport it around the world, not to mention the hazards that go with storing large amounts in the one place.
She and her colleagues therefore looked at how to produce it cheaply, on a smaller scale and using renewable energy.
“The way that we did it does not rely on fossil fuel resources, nor emit CO2,” Dr Lovell says.
“And once it becomes available commercially, the technology could be used to produce ammonia directly on site and on demand — farmers could even do this on location using our technology to make fertiliser — which means we negate the need for storage and transport. And we saw tragically in Beirut recently how potentially dangerous storing ammonium nitrate can be.
“So if we can make it locally to use locally, and make it as we need it, then there’s a huge benefit to society as well as the health of the planet.”
OUT OF THIN AIR
ARC DECRA Fellow and co-author Dr Ali (Rouhollah) Jalili says trying to convert atmospheric nitrogen (N2) directly to ammonia using electricity “has posed a significant challenge to researchers for the last decade, due to the inherent stability of N2 that makes it difficult to dissolve and dissociate.”
Dr Jalili and his colleagues devised proof-of-concept lab experiments that used plasma (a form of lightning made in a tube) to convert air into an intermediary known among chemists as NOx — either NO2- (nitrite) or NO3- (nitrate). The nitrogen in these compounds is much more reactive than N2 in the air.
“Working with our University of Sydney colleagues, we designed a range of scalable plasma reactors that could generate the NOx intermediary at a significant rate and high energy efficiency,” he says.
“Once we generated that intermediary in water, designing a selective catalyst and scaling the system became significantly easier. The breakthrough of our technology was in the design of the high-performance plasma reactors coupled with electrochemistry.”
Professor Patrick Cullen, who led the University of Sydney team, adds: “Atmospheric plasma is increasingly finding application in green chemistry. By inducing the plasma discharges inside water bubbles, we have developed a means of overcoming the challenges of energy efficiency and process scaling, moving the technology closer to industrial adoption.”
STORAGE SOLUTION
Scientia Professor Rose Amal, who is co-director of ARC Training Centre for Global Hydrogen Economy, says in addition to the advantages of being able to scale down the technology, the team’s ‘green’ method of ammonia production could solve the problem of storage and transport of hydrogen energy.
“Hydrogen is very light, so you need a lot of space to store it, otherwise you have to compress or liquify it,” says Professor Amal.
“But liquid ammonia actually stores more hydrogen than liquid hydrogen itself. And so there has been increasing interest in the use of ammonia as a potential energy vector for a carbon-free economy.”
Professor Amal says ammonia could potentially be made in large quantities using the new green method ready for export.
“We can use electrons from solar farms to make ammonia and then export our sunshine as ammonia rather than hydrogen.
“And when it gets to countries like Japan and Germany, they can either split the ammonia and convert it back into hydrogen and nitrogen, or they can use it as a fuel.”
The team will next turn its attention to commercialising this breakthrough, and is seeking to form a spin-out company to take its technology from laboratory-scale into the field.
Jing Sun, David Alam, Rahman Daiyan, Hassan Masood, Tianqi Zhang, Renwu Zhou, Patrick Cullen, Emma Catherine Lovell, Ali Rouhollah Jalili, Rose Amal. A hybrid plasma electrocatalytic process for sustainable ammonia production. Energy & Environmental Science, 2021; DOI: 10.1039/D0EE03769A
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