Recycling

RESEARCH CENTRE SEEKS TO RECYCLE CO2 INTO SUSTAINABLE RAW MATERIALS

The Novo Nordisk Foundation has awarded €84.7 million for a new research centre to help reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and create CO2 recycling technologies.

The Novo Nordisk Foundation CO2 Research Centre will be based at Aarhus University in Denmark with six satellite institutions in the United States, Norway, Germany and the Netherlands.

Curbing the rise in global temperature requires more than reducing emissions of CO2. It is also necessary to extract CO2 from the atmosphere and recycle it in products that are currently based on carbon extracted from fossil fuels such as oil and coal.

The Centre will look at innovative solutions which will enable CO2 to be captured, processed and recycled as raw materials in new products.

Its interdisciplinary platform will combine various scientific fields such as chemistry, the life sciences and systems analysis, paving the way for scalable technologies that can efficiently capture and recycle CO2. Currently, there is no comparable research centre in the world.

For example, researchers will look at producing precursors for plastic from water, CO2 and electrons created by processing the captured CO2 with bacteria and electrochemistry. This may help replace fossil feedstocks such as oil and coal in producing plastic.

A facility will also be developed that uses microorganisms to convert CO2 into fuel. In this case, CO2 could also replace the use of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas.

It is hoped the Centre will accelerate developments in these areas so that technological solutions that currently look like distant dreams can become reality within a few years.

Foundation CEO Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen said: “The Novo Nordisk Foundation CO2 Research Centre sets out to become a powerhouse in our struggle against the global climate crisis. We need to act quickly and develop solutions that can help not only to reduce the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere but also convert the harmful CO2 into valuable raw materials that can replace oil and coal, thereby creating negative CO2 emissions.”

Funding has been approved for the next seven years. Work starts on the Centre shortly and it is expected to become operational from January 2022.

The Novo Nordisk Foundation is an independent Danish foundation with corporate interests. Its vision is to contribute significantly to research and development that improves the lives of people and the sustainability of society. More information at novonordiskfonden.dk/en

CIRCULAR ECONOMY START-UP JOINS COHORT X

Edinburgh-based circular economy start-up, Reath, has been awarded a coveted spot in Elemental Excelerator’s portfolio - the global non-profit accelerator for climate technologies.

Based in the U.S., Elemental operates globally and is led by CEO Dawn Lippert. This year, just 19 companies were selected for Cohort X, including Reath, which has developed the world's first Open Data Standard (reuse.id) to help companies adopt reusable/refillable packaging systems.

Recognising the cutting-edge research Reath has conducted to date on the urgent need for standardisation in creating scalable reusable packaging systems, Elemental will invest $300,000 to help Reath deploy and scale its pioneering technology. The investment comes as Reath continues to gain traction among reuse brands like Bower Collective and international retailers such as Marks & Spencers, which it is currently helping to transition its zerowaste grocery system from paper-based to fullydigital systems - saving time and increasing accuracy.

Backed by Innovate UK, Tech Nation and Founders Factory, Reath recently raised a pre-seed funding round from Techstart VC and CVC Philanthropy.Co-founder Claire Rampen said: “We are looking forward to being part of the Elemental Cohort X, and leveraging Elemental’s support to help more businesses transition from linear to circular economy systems.”

SEAWEED IS RADICAL NEW WEAPON AGAINST CO2

A UK-based aquaculture business aims to remove billions of tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere each year by growing and harvesting floating seaweed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Seafields is developing and testing new technologies focused on growing and capturing Sargassum, a seaweed that has escaped its normal environment in the Sargasso Sea and exploded in growth in the last two decades. The company has set out how it intends to remove over 1Gt (one billion metric tonnes) of CO2 from the atmosphere each year by 2025.

Its approach, which will be showcased at COP26, will radically tackle the challenge of climate change. It includes the tracking, harvesting, baling and storage of Sargassum grown in aqua-farms in the South Atlantic Ocean gyres.

Baling and storing large quantities of the seaweed in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, if done correctly, will trap its physical carbon away for thousands of years. Research is currently ongoing to define the best way to do this without damaging the ecosystem. Once the process is set up, it will tackle past as well as ongoing emissions, which Seafields plans to sell via offset credits in the voluntary carbon market to help reach a net zero society.

The company will also extract valuable products from the seaweed - before sinking it - to substitute currently fossil-fuel based products and avoid emissions. To support this process, Seafields has announced a strategic partnership with Puerto Rico-based C-Combinator, industry leaders in refining seaweed for use as alternatives to plastic, building materials, furniture filler, rubber and other consumer products.

Following COP26, Seafields will focus on developing a pilot project in Cape Verde to test upwelling pipes which transport ocean nutrients from the deep sea to the surface, a crucial aspect in growing Sargassum. The company, which is due to launch an investment round later this year, then plans to begin aquafarming operations by 2023.

Seafields’ founder Sebastian Stephens, who also set up SubSea Environmental Services, devised the idea after seeing the impact of thousands of tonnes of detached Sargassum washing up on the shores of the Caribbean. The company’s executive team is comprised of top global scientific and business figures, including Randall Purcell, who managed the UN Food Programme’s largest climate adaptation programme; Dr. Mar FernándezMéndez, a marine microbiology expert who has participated in several ocean research expeditions including artificial upwelling experiments; and