Category Archives: Environment News

Environment News, News

Green robotics start-up raises £1.6m

Drone tech reduces cost of wind turbine maintenance by up to 30%

A green robotics company slashing the cost of maintaining wind turbines is flying high after securing £1.6million in its latest funding round.

Perceptual Robotics uses autonomous drones to map turbines, before passing the images onto a cloud-based artificial intelligence system which processes them to detect damage.

The company’s founders, who met at the University of Bristol, believe their technology is two thirds cheaper than existing methods of detection and can reduce the total cost of wind turbine blade maintenance by up to 30%.

Now, five years after Perceptual Robotics launched, they have secured £1.6million to take the business to the next level.

L-R: Perceptual Robotics COO Dimitris Nikolaidis, CTO Kevin Driscoll-Lind and CEO Kostas Karachalios

Kostas Karachalios, CEO of Perceptual Robotics, said: “We already work with some of the world’s biggest wind power providers and we have been steadily growing our revenues.

“This funding will allow us to increase headcount, continue to mature our ground-breaking technology and drive the scale of our sales and marketing activities on the back of our recent successful programmes with clients across Europe.

“Perceptual Robotics started with a simple aim: to use the very latest technology to reduce the costs associated with green energy.

“We hope that with this money we will attract exceptional people to join our offices in Bristol and Athens. The future is bright and exciting.”

The global wind energy market could be worth $127.2billion (£92billion) by 2027, more than double its value in 2019, according to a recent industry forecast.

Perceptual Robotics says its technology is more reliable, efficient and cost effective than current methods, which mostly rely on rope access specialists abseiling down the turbines in search of damage.

The idea for the company was born when three students on the University of Bristol’s Mechanical Engineering Masters course realised that their extensive robotics knowledge could reduce costs in the wind industry.

They spent time working in energy, hardware and large-scale software firms before launching Perceptual Robotics in 2016.

In 2017 they joined the Bristol Robotics Laboratory Incubator, an incubator jointly run by the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England (UWE).

Those students – now alumni – are Chief Executive Officer Kostas Karachalios, Chief Operating Officer Dimitris Nikolaidis and Chief Technical Officer Kevin Driscoll-Lind.

Along with the widespread implications for the wind power industry, they believe the technology could be expanded to reduce costs in other industries.

Tom Richardson, Professor of Aerial Robotics at the University of Bristol, supervised the trio during their time at Bristol and became a board member when the company was launched. He said: “Perceptual Robotics is an exciting start-up operating in the field of autonomous inspection.

“It is brilliant to see three graduates of Bristol University support the green energy revolution, and it has been a privilege as part of the Board to watch them grow the company.”

The £1.6m funding round was led by TSP Ventures, a venture capitalist firm focussing on environmental technologies.

Chris Smith, CEO at TSP Ventures, said: “We are delighted to be joining the team at Perceptual Robotics. Their mission, to reduce costs and improve efficiencies in the wind turbine inspection market is helping the whole of the wind industry become more efficient and cost effective.

“At TSP, we love enabling technologies that can help accelerate the transition to renewable energy and a cleaner future for our planet. We look forward to supporting Kostas and the rest of the team as they scale operations internationally.”

The round is joined by Humble Holdings, an impact investments firm, existing investors Metavallon VC and other strategic angel investors.

Environment, Environment News, Environmental News, News

Elliott’s commitment in moving to a Net Zero economy

As the world emerges from the global pandemic, we will continue to champion sustainability and circularity within our business and support our customers as they do the same.

Modular solutions for the circular economy

Sustainability and circularity are at the heart of Elliott’s modular solutions. Our business model provides a low-carbon solution for the circular economy. Through our services, projects, and client portfolio, we have integrated sustainability and ESG factors into our vision, purpose, and everyday business.

  • To achieve long-term success, we are transitioning to a sustainability strategy with circularity at its core, providing modular space for people to work, learn and live.
  • Working in collaboration with our stakeholders to create and develop a shared value for people and the planet. Creating products that make a positive difference to society while contributing to our ongoing success.
  • Developed our ongoing sustainability strategy around three key pillars: Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG), with circularity, adaptability, and leasing at the core.

 

Aiming to be carbon neutral by 2050

  • In 2021 we’ll continue to report to Board progress on Net Zero Strategy through the ESGS committee (4 reviews per annum)
  • In 2022 we’ll establish science-based targets
  • In 2023 we’ll source 100% Renewable Electricity for the Group where available
  • In 2025 we’ll reduce waste to landfill by 50% per typical unit (vs baseline 2020), reduce water consumption by the Group by 10% and reduce Group total gross emissions in metric tonnes CO2e by 10%, (vs baseline 2020)
  • In 2030 we’ll transform the new product portfolio to Net Zero carbon
  • In 2050 we aim to be Net Zero carbon of our end-to-end supply chain by 2050 and implementing our circular, ‘Loops within Loops’ model.

 

Environment, Environment News, Environmental News, News

With One Million Plastic Bags Thrown Away Per Minute Green Bell Packaging Provides an Alternative to Protect the Earth

As part of Plastic-Free July, UK based sustainable packaging provider Green Bell Packaging is championing the global movement against plastic.

The company offer an alternative plant-based solution for companies wanting to embrace long-term change that has the potential to save the planet.

With plastic usage on the rise and the rate of recycling declining, Founder M Vahid Nagori is warning against the issues caused by excessive pollution; affecting both land and sea. In the UK alone, it is estimated that five million tonnes of plastic is used annually, nearly half of which is packaging, while the recycling rate sits at around 45%.

Vahid said: “Plastic-Free July is a great awareness-raising campaign that many environmental advocates will get behind with a shared aim to create a better, cleaner world. The statistics around plastic waste are shocking – it’s eye opening to hear that around one million plastic bags are thrown away every minute. When you think of that over a year, or ten years it’s extremely concerning.

“This month, we want to educate people and raise awareness of the plastic-free products that are out there that have the potential to change our course and save our land and marine environments. It’s by no means a simple task, but every company that makes the change is taking us a step closer to that end goal.”

It’s Green Bell Packaging’s mission to ultimately end plastic waste pollution and educate people on plastic-free solutions, demonstrating that companies have so much to gain from making the change. It’s become a priority for many following a recent survey that suggests 80% of Britons are calling for the government to focus on the introduction of refillable products as part of its strategy to tackle plastic.

The company specialises in the manufacturing and production of plastic-free and plant-based packaging that is eco-friendly and completely home compostable, using natural elements such as paper, jute and cotton to name a few.

It is the only UK provider of the BioBag, a unique 100% plant-based alternative that uses specialist technology to create a lookalike material with just as much strength and durability regular carrier bags. Despite it looking and feeling like plastic, the product is safe for the environment and will degrade naturally in a matter of weeks, without the use of industrial facilities to break down the composition.

The material can be used for a variety of applications including the likes of food packaging, carrier bags, mailing bags, waste bags and more and has already been used by nationally recognised companies across e-commerce and the high street.

Vahid added: “There are so many benefits to switching from plastic to plants. Not only is it the obvious choice when it comes to protecting the Earth as we aim to reverse some of the damage we’ve caused as a society, but it’s also a beneficial business move in this day and age. Consumers are more conscious in their decisions and a brand that promotes plant-based alternatives is actively playing a role in supporting a much bigger effort. Since switching to our packaging, our clients have reported a positive response from staff and customers alike.

“Legislation is constantly under review, and we predict that it won’t be long before plastic use is heavily reduced by way of the law. Companies shouldn’t wait for that day but need to be proactive and make that change now.

“The great thing about the plastic-free technology that we use at Green Bell Packaging is that it’s completely adaptable so we can work with almost any business or service to provide a solution that works and at the same time is at an exceptional level of quality too. Plastic-free doesn’t mean you have to compromise.”

App News, Environment, Environment News, Environmental News, News

SKOOT latest fundraise to drive growth and offset vehicle carbon as lockdown eases

SKOOT, a new mobility app which enables drivers and businesses to automatically offset and reduce carbon from their car journeys has announced it aims to raise a minimum of £300K through a new crowd-funding campaign. The funds will support SKOOT’s ongoing growth, global expansion and its commitment to plant one million trees to offset motorists’ carbon emissions as lockdown eases and car journeys begin to increase, with a free tree planted every drive.

SKOOT generates multiple revenue models from B2C users and a B2B subscription for ESG-focused companies which use the app to support the goal of achieving carbon net zero by 2030. Friends and co-workers can also use SKOOT to share lifts and also split costs of car journeys as the app calculates the amount and enables cashless payments (which includes a small SKOOT processing fee).

SKOOT has joined forces with Eden Reforestation Projects (Eden), a global non-profit re-reforestation organisation with the forthcoming fundraise being partly used to support Eden in delivering SKOOT’s ‘1 Million Free Tree Challenge’, which aims to create and restore sustainable and manageable forests in some of the world’s poorest nations. If overfunded, the additional funds will be channelled into the global growth of the SKOOT app, additional new features and continued engagement of its user base.

The company is currently working on several transport-related projects with a global facilities management company and has also set up strategic partnerships with a number of UK football clubs, including Bolton Wanderers and the world’s greenest football club, Forest Green Rovers. These are designed to re-unite fans sharing a lift when returning to the game and helps the clubs navigate to a more sustainable future.

Greg Gormley, CEO and Co-Founder of SKOOT, said:  “We are fundraising to accelerate SKOOT’s growth. As the world’s first green navigation app, we believe passionately that we cannot afford to let the carbon time-bomb explode. We have already seen traction for our carbon negative mobility solution, even during lockdown, and our patent pending technology offers a simple way for every motorist and every business to drive in a fully sustainable and responsible way – in fact the more journeys completed on the platform the better it is for the planet as SKOOT makes them 110% Carbon Negative. 

“Our investors benefit from being part of our strong sustainability agenda, and the race to Net Zero, which is becoming one of the most important issues for businesses, Governments and now drivers themselves. SKOOT are putting themselves at the forefront of the ESG agenda through technology.” 

Mark Stringer, CMO and Co-founder of SKOOT, added:

“Part of our fund raise is focused on SKOOT’s ‘1 Million Free Tree Challenge’ which aims to alleviate the sense of guilt that motorists share as many people continue to avoid public transport due to Covid concerns and lockdown eases. 

“In 2019 UK motorists clocked up 278 billion car miles, equating to 58.3M tonnes of carbon – even in 2020, during the pandemic, this number still exceeded 200 billion. Most drivers will be unaware that they need to plant a tree for approximately every 25 miles travelled in their cars to offset carbon emissions. SKOOT’s technology automatically plants a tree for every journey and helps nudge people to lift-share to help out colleagues, friends and neighbours creating cheaper, safer travel. Alongside your virtual forest, which reflects the numbers of real trees planted for you, leader-boards and gamification all help to incentivise the reduction of both carbon and congestion.”

For more information about SKOOT, visit: www.skootride.com

Environment, Environment News, Fashion, News

Plastic Free July: Men’s sustainable fashion brand provides tips on how to make more sustainable packaging choices for your business.

With this month being Plastic Free July, it highlights the importance that we need to reduce the use of plastic globally to protect the environment. There are many ways we can do this collectively and business owners may not be aware of the small ways that they can cut out unnecessary plastics and play their part. 

Nick Fletcher, founder of sustainable British men’s clothing brand, Absolutely Bear (https://www.absolutelybear.com/), has provided his tips on how to make more sustainable packaging choices for your business.

The brand has made the most important packaging advancements which are cutting out plastic from the packaging process by using brown paper mailing bags made from sustainable materials that are plant-based, plastic-free and 100% recyclable, reusable and compostable. Alongside this, the garment bags themselves are ‘Leave No Trace’ bags, that are not only biodegradable and water-soluble, but break down harmlessly to non-toxic biomass in soil and sea. On top of being sustainable, it is also a member of the global 1% For The Planet movement and gives 1% of its gross annual earnings to environmental non-profits to create a healthier planet and a more sustainable future. 

This is something many businesses, especially in the fashion industry can adapt to, here are Nick’s other tips for reducing plastic use in businesses. 

  1. Substitute plastic for string 

This change is effortless and affordable. String is significantly more environmentally friendly than little plastic clips and tags and many would agree it looks better too. 

Nick explains: “We have been using plain old string for a while now to attach our swing tags to our clothing and have got rid of the little plastic clips that are the industry norm. Who needs them? And let’s face it, string looks much better anyway.”

  1. Make the switch to organic cotton 

Organic cotton is not only more sustainable than regular cotton but it also comes with many hidden benefits. 

Nick explains that: “Conventional cotton is one of the most widely grown crops in the world and one of the most chemical-­intensive. These highly toxic chemicals have a tremendous impact on the Earth’s air, water, soil, and the health of people in cotton-growing areas. In contrast, organic cotton is grown without the use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides or defoliants, using methods and materials that have a low impact on the environment. It also uses a staggering 91% less water than conventional cotton, which usually comes from rainwater rather than irrigation. Organic production systems replenish and maintain soil fertility and build biologically diverse agriculture. Organic cotton is of a higher quality than standard cotton, so not only is it more durable and will last longer, but it is also softer and kinder to the skin. It is also kinder on the people who produce it.”

  1. Join the Fair Wear Foundation 

The Fair Wear Foundation supports workers in the garment industry, ensuring they know their rights and are working in safe conditions as well as receiving a legal working wage. 

Nick explains: “We think the fashion industry has for too long acted without proper care and consideration for the awesome people who go to work every day to make our clothes and so an organisation that works to protect and promote the rights of garment workers around the world takes on legendary status for us. The basis of the collaboration between Fair Wear and its members is the Code of Labour Practices. The core of this code is made up of eight labour standards derived from the UN’s Declaration on Human Rights. They include no discrimination in employment, no exploitation of child labour, payment of a living wage and safe and healthy working conditions.”

Any way you can reduce plastic is a step further to creating an eco-friendly business that the environment needs. Transitioning over to a fully plastic-free business doesn’t happen overnight, but making many small changes will make a big difference in the long run.

Energy, Environment, Environment News, Environmental News, News

The role of SMA technology in the fight against climate change

Written by Dr. Kevin O’Toole, Managing Director and Co-founder of Exergyn

Shape memory alloys (SMAs) are a unique group of metals which have the potential to revolutionise the heating, cooling and air conditioning (HVAC) sector and more. The global HVAC sector is a multi-billion euro industry, which is growing annually by over 5 percent. However it currently has a big problem: traditional HVAC systems, such as your home air conditioning system, utilise special gases called ‘refrigerants’ to perform the heating and cooling work. Whilst these refrigerants are very efficient, they also come with a downside, namely their highly detrimental impact on the environment. The Rocky Mountain Institute, a thought leader in climate change policy, has identified refrigerant management as the number one problem which industry as a whole must address if we wish to arrest or reverse the global warming pattern [1]. 

To give some context; an indexing system measuring the global warming potential (GWP) of a refrigerant gas is used to classify and rank their impact on the environment. A GWP of 1, for example, equates to a single molecule of the refrigerant having the same impact as a single molecule of the already vilified CO2 molecule if released into the atmosphere. These refrigerants are gases, and their leakage either while being in use, or at end of life, is common and unstoppable. This is why your car needs to have its refrigerant topped up every so often, because it escapes into the atmosphere. It may surprise you to hear that almost all of the common refrigerants in use today have GWPs in the thousands! The workhorse of industry and air-conditioning is a refrigerant which goes by the name of ‘R134a’. This has a GWP of 1430. So, in effect it is one thousand four hundred and thirty times more potent than CO2 when released into the atmosphere. This is a major problem for the industry. 

Luckily, government bodies and regulators are aware of these issues. Today’s current batch of refrigerants are what we call HFCs and their GWPs range from the high hundreds to over 9000 in some cases. These came after CFCs, famously known for causing a hole in the ozone back in the 1980’s and 1990’s until their regulated removal. The GWPs of CFCs were in the tens of thousands. Regulators have laid out a roadmap over the next 10-15 years where the world will transition to the new generation of lower GWP refrigerants mostly made up of HFOs [2]. HFOs have a lower GWP (however they are still in the 10’s and 100’s), but come with the added penalty of increased toxicity, explosivity, lower efficiencies, or a combination of all three. Regulators have a tough decision as they either must choose between allowing people to live comfortable lives in air-conditioned spaces in an increasingly warm world, or potentially causing irreversible damage to the environment in the longer term, which in turn requires more cooling. It’s an impossible situation. 

Working in conjunction with our global HVAC partner, we have proven that SMA can match the performance of R134a as a HVAC material, and that viable alternative HVAC systems can be developed using SMA. Currently we have a 50kW demonstrator unit in operation. For reference, a 50kW system is large enough to provide heating and/or cooling to up to 20 standard 2-bed apartments. Crucially, SMA based systems have zero GWP, meaning they have no detrimental impact on the environment. They also offer other advantages such as silent, safe operation. They are non-toxic and non-flammable. Rudimentary calculations show that if all of the refrigerants in the world’s HVAC systems were replaced by SMA, we could knock up to 1oC off global temperatures. In a world where we are trying to limit temperature rises to less than 2oC as a best case scenario, this is huge! 

Using SMA for heating and cooling provides regulators with the ideal solution to their dilemma, one that allows for comfortable living combined, with efficiencies (and therefore costs) in line with current systems, and with zero environmental impact.  We haven’t even considered the possibilities for the technology in other related fields such as automotive, aerospace and power generation, all of which are suffering from similar environmental issues. The opportunities are numerous.

SMA’s themselves are a super interesting technology. They are metal alloys primarily made of Nickel and Titanium and which exhibit two distinct states – one called Martensite and the other, Austenite. From the outside both states look the same, but at a micro level, they are almost like two different metals. By applying and releasing an external load onto the material, we can force the material to cycle between these states. This causes the cyclical release or absorption of a huge amount of heat, which in turn results in a heating or cooling effect. So, in a lot of ways, they do what refrigerants do, only SMA does it as a solid, leak-free, zero GWP, clean material. 

We haven’t even scratched the surface of what’s possible with SMA yet. In many ways, the world of SMA is akin to the wild west. There are some well understood SMA blends, but there are many many more awaiting discovery. Our current systems and predictions of future performance are based solely on the few well understood blends available to us today. These already compete with the best performing refrigerant based systems today. However, who is to say that these are the most optimum blends? A minor change, for example, in the ratios of the metals in the SMA can have a profound impact on its behaviour. Our teams are actively scanning the blend landscape everyday, in doing so they are peering into the future. New blends are emerging all the time with unique advantages which can be retrofitted into the existing design, causing an uptick in efficiency. 

Our goal is to inspire industry to choose the cleaner, more environmentally friendly SMA option – not because they feel they must, but because it makes the most business sense to do so. My feeling is that this logical appeal to the pockets of global businesses, coupled with regulators realising they have options, will drive a cleaner environment as a by-product of its adoption. It’s a win-win for everyone.

 

[1] https://www.drawdown.org/solutions/refrigerant-management/technical-summary

[2] https://www.icscoolenergy.com/guide-to-f-gas-regulation-and-the-hfc-phase-down/

 

Environment News, ESG Investments, News, Sustainability

Pensions Consulting firm Quantum Advisory launches environmental scheme & sustainability challenge

Quantum Advisory, one of the UK’s leading actuarial and pension consulting firms, has launched its environmental programme with a ‘30 Days to Sustainable Ways’ challenge.

Throughout April, Quantum has set their workforce a sustainability challenge to complete every day in a bid to operate in a more ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) friendly manner.

Inspired by Albert Goodman’s similar challenge last year, the team at Quantum are invited to complete as many challenges as they can within the month in fun and creative ways, with the potential to win a prize for documenting their sustainability.

With tasks such as growing a fruit, vegetable or flower from seed, repurposing something that would have otherwise been thrown away and going dairy free for a day, each day gives the opportunity for staff to learn and change their habits, whilst getting creative and competitive.

The challenge is the first in a series of events that Quantum will complete in order to be more ESG friendly, and this month is all about individuals reducing their carbon footprint by making small changes that make a big difference.

Hayley Beynon, Office Manager, said: “It’s a great challenge to kick start our environmental programme as it gets everyone involved in some fun activities that will help us learn more sustainable ways of working and living.

“We’re trying to get everyone at Quantum involved, even if that’s swapping the tasks around to suit their settings or just picking a few tasks, as long as we’re all making an effort to be more sustainable. And, of course, we want everyone to have fun whilst doing so!”

Quantum Advisory, which has five offices across the UK, including Amersham, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, and London, provides pension and employee benefits services to employers, scheme trustees and members. For more information about your pensions, visit www.quantumadvisory.co.uk.

Environment News, News

Keysource Commits to Planting a Tree for every Order Received

Keysource, the global datacentre and critical environment specialist, has partnered with Tree-Nation and committed to planting a tree for every order it receives in a move designed to offset CO2 emissions on behalf of the company and its clients. Clients will have the opportunity to plant their tree and receive a ‘Tree Planting Certificate’ detailing the plantation project, Species of Tree and the all-important lifetime CO2 offset.

Tree-Nation’s mission is to reforest the work by planting trees, one of the most efficient solutions to fight climate change.  This helps not only to restore forests but also create jobs, support local communities and protect biodiversity. Since their inception in 2006 more than 6 million trees have been planted using their platform. Keysource has chosen to initially support the Eden Projects in Nepal as some of its colleagues are from that region and will consider other projects throughout the year, including some in the UK.

Jon Healy, Operations Director at Keysource, said: “We are committed to supporting our clients’ sustainable goals, whatever their drivers.  All eyes are on the corporate green agenda and it is imperative that businesses take the opportunity to reduce their carbon footprint, among other planet saving efforts. This is not just good business sense, it is also morally the right thing to do and our decision to partner with Tree Nation forms an important part of our ongoing CSR programme.”

App News, Environment News, News

UK smart charging firm hopes to break down barriers to electric vehicle adoption

With a projected 10 million EVs on UK roads by 2030, intelligent charging has potential to save UK motorists £2.8-£3.5bn per year compared to dumb charging

Ohme App, the free smart charging app for electric vehicles, enables EV owners to save hundreds of pounds every year, while delivering invaluable insight to energy operators to help them balance the grid.

Launching today, Ohme App is the latest technology from Ohme, the intelligent electric vehicle charging company and represents a major milestone in the company’s mission to lower the barriers to EV adoption and accelerate the transition to clean energy.  By offering many of the capabilities of smart charging through a free app, Ohme is providing more EV drivers access to intelligent, low cost charging by giving them the ability to control how much they pay to charge their vehicle from their smartphone. There is no need for additional hardware, the app communicates directly with the car: EV owners simply download the app and start taking control of their charging immediately.

Combining Ohme App with a time-of-use tariff brings the cost of driving 10,000 miles down to just £160-£210 – an annual saving of £275-£350 compared with dumb charging, and £1,300 compared to petrol powered vehicle traveling 36 miles per gallon. With 10 million EVs expected on UK roads by the end of the decade, this equates to a potential £2.8-3.5 billion of savings per annum for UK motorists in 2030, compared to using a standard charger on a fixed rate tariff.

As well as lowering the barriers to EV adoption, the app offers invaluable insights into EV charging patterns and usage. This is crucial for energy companies seeking to better understand EV owners’ behaviour, enabling them to manage demand more intelligently and protect the National Grid as the UK moves to a low carbon economy.

Ohme App was developed to integrate with the company’s portfolio of intelligent charging solutions. The app is key to driving Ohme’s momentum and expansion into new markets after the business grew by a factor of ten in 2020. With the company already present in nine global markets, the app is central to Ohme’s ambition to further expand its European footprint in 2021.

The app will initially support Tesla vehicles, before rolling out to at least three other manufacturers in the coming weeks.

David Watson, CEO of Ohme, said, “Last year the UK government made the bold decision to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030. We welcome the ambition, but we must also acknowledge the scale of the challenge. The two biggest short-term obstacles to EV adoption are cost and energy capacity. While prices of EVs are falling, they won’t be as affordable as petrol vehicles for a few years. Meanwhile, our energy grids were not designed to support millions of future EVs and will not be able to cope unless energy demand is carefully managed in the future.

“Ohme App demonstrates how a single, smart solution can meet both challenges head-on. By taking advantage of time-of-use tariffs, we can help drivers make significant savings on the cost of charging their vehicles. This also benefits energy operators by spreading demand more intelligently and providing crucial insights to help them future proof the grid.”

Environment News, News

The next steps to protect coastlines and waterways

Written by Chris Reeder, Regional Business Development Manager, Ecocoast

The marine environment is facing unprecedented change as a result of direct human activity and climate change. Marine pollution is a global challenge, which needs to be addressed from multiple angles, both behavioural and technological, and from prevention to restoration. The marine environment is under threat from climate change, pollution and over-fishing. It is vital that we are proactive in taking advantage of new technology opportunities to drive change.

Based on current projections, these challenges if not met, will have major implications for global biodiversity, infrastructure, human health and wellbeing, and the productivity of the marine economy.

The current state

Globally, at least 24 million tons of plastic end up in the oceans every year, and make up 80 per cent of all marine debris from surface waters to deep-sea sediments. This is an issue because marine species ingest or are entangled by plastic debris, which causes severe injuries and deaths. Plastic pollution also threatens food safety and quality, human health, coastal tourism, and contributes to climate change.

However, plastic is not the only issue. Many pesticides and nutrients used in agriculture end up in the coastal waters, resulting in oxygen depletion that kills marine plants and shellfish. Factories and industrial plants discharge sewage and other runoff into the oceans. Oil spills pollute the oceans, though water-sewage treatment plants discharge twice as much oil each year as tanker spills. Invasive species have entered harbour waters and waterways and disrupted the ecological balance. We also need to consider silt, sediment, pollutants and other debris that enter the waterways and oceans through construction, development and everyday living.

As a restoration measure, marine booms were developed to aid debris and pollution control at vulnerable sites where a constant risk exists. These include industrial areas, nature reserves, harbours or marinas, pumping stations, water treatment works, and dam spillways, just to mention a few. Our innovation has focused on creating fully flush faced debris booms because the design ensures they are self-clearing when installed at a suitable angle to the current flow. Easy debris collection, or deflecting debris away from sluices or intakes to stop them from getting blocked, makes them more effective in the battle to reduce the impact of pollution on the marine environment.

What is next?

The future sea will be busier, with new technology opening it up for greater exploration and exploitation. Its resources will be more in demand from a growing global population. Ocean warming of 1.2–3.2°C, depending on emissions, is projected by the year 2100. Evidence shows that this causes decline in cold-water fish species, coral bleaching, and is likely to lead to new species in unfamiliar waters. Plastic in the ocean is projected to treble between 2015 and 2025. Chemical pollution is an ongoing issue, as pollutants can persist in the oceans for decades after their use is restricted by legislation. This list of chemicals deemed to be persistent organic pollutants (POPs) continues to grow.

The shores will continue to develop. In the last 30 years, 12,741 m.sq. has been added to the coastline, with this rate set to accelerate due to reclamation activity and climate change. Future reclamation activities include the luxury tourism islands of The Maldives as well as a brand-new development in The Red Sea, set to develop 50 new islands. Continuing into the future, effecting the marine environment is port development activities such as the deep-water port at Ndayane, Senegal to serve as a major logistics hub and gateway to West and North-West Africa. These developments, critical to e-commerce and human development must work in harmony with the marine environment which will see a tightening of marine protection regulations to protect marine ecosystems against the effects of these developments. Another positive development is the growth of sustainable industries such as aquaculture to curb overfishing commercial habits and the increased investment and reliance on sustainable energy sources such as floating solar farms, offshore wind power and hydropower.

New technologies can help to sustainably meet the long-term challenges associated with growing resource demand. For example, marine biotechnology has the potential to provide solutions to food production, cleaner fuel, and the development of new pharmaceuticals and could even be used to genetically engineer coral to be more resilient to bleaching. Autonomous debris collection devices are also one area in which engineering is working hard to find solutions to difficult challenges at sea.

Using an autonomous, environmentally-friendly floating device, floating plastic pollution can be scooped out of rivers before it reaches the sea and help battle linear economies. One such project can be seen in Flanders, Belgium. DEME has implemented the longest Bolina boom which serves as a floating funnel that covers part of a river to catch and collect floating debris. The debris, once ‘caught’, is transferred to the riverbank for collection and processing. Initiatives like 24-hour plastic catchers are helping to clean European waterways and provide a solution for river pollution.

A call to commitment

In the face of increasing pollution from plastic to pesticide run-offs, current commitments are not enough to effectively mitigate the crisis we are facing. These commitments would only have a substantial impact if water contamination was halted completely. Therefore, a fundamental transformation of the waste economy and water environment is essential, while also developing an effective cleanup strategy, for removing what is already in the water. With a history built on innovation and delivering new ways of protecting marine environments, the engineering community – including Ecocoast – has ensured that the science and technology exists to deliver this. Looking ahead, corporate enterprises and governments need to join in and universally commit to protective schemes that will support our oceans and waterways for years to come.