Industry Europe – Issue 32.3

VOLUME 32/3 – 2022

ABB MOTION SERVICES APPLING INSIGHT FROM DATA HOLDS THE KEY TO ENERGY EFFICIENCY TRISTONE MOVING FORWARD TOGETHER

ARE SYNTHETIC MEATS

THE FUTURE?

EDITORIAL

STEVENGISLAM

|

Meat and Machines T

hrough the swelter and heat of the glorious weather, we bring this summer’s edition of Industry Europe. As ever, it comes packed with cross-sector news, features, and interviews, this time with a special focus on Consumer Goods and Healthcare.

Synthetic Meats – Are they the future?

The first focus comes courtesy of our star reporter Ash Jones, and it looks at the rise of synthetic meats and asks the question; are they the future?

While the concept of alternative meats has been around for a long time, it wasn’t until 2013 when the first-ever lab-grown meat was served up at a conference in London at a cost of $300,000.

The industry has come a long way since then, recently being valued at around $500 million by Polaris Market Research.

The decline in animal-based meat products happens to come at a time when more and more people are switching to vegetarianism or veganism, or simply cutting down on meat in their diet.

Considering that just 20 years ago, meat was a staple on the plates of most households, it can truly be described as a revolution in the food industry, caused by increased awareness of the environmental impact that the meat sector has. Deforestation, methane, carbon emissions, not to mention animal welfare – anyone who has seen one of those slaughterhouse videos online will tell you how stomach churning that part is.

Meat alternatives are almost certain to grow in popularity – and in labs. Nonetheless, only time will tell whether or not it will take over from the traditional meat industry.

Read the full story on page 6

Four ways AI and Tech are transforming Healthcare AI and tech are increasingly being adopted by a sector that millions of people place their trust in every single day – healthcare. From bespoke medical implants to wearable tech, to cancer treatment, to drug discovery, the applications for artificial intelligence in the sector are growing fast.

In our next focus feature, I took a look at four of the main developments that AI and

technology has brought to the healthcare sector over the past few months and years.

One of these areas is drug discovery, something which traditionally took years, even decades, and with a price tag running into the billions, using AI to discover new drugs has sped the process up considerably. It has also democratised the sector, which was previously only accessible to major pharmaceutical companies because of the sheer cost involved.

Another area I take a look at is robotics, in particular in surgical settings. A number of surgeons have taken to using robots to do the work in the operating theatre because they are more precise than a human could ever be. By combining this precision with the surgeon’s know-how, many are expecting robotic surgeons to be a staple of hospitals before long.

AI is also being used for disease detection, in particular, cancer, largely because of its accuracy in predicting tumour growth, detecting breast cancer during screening, cutting hospital error rates and reducing the waiting time for results.

Last but not least, AI and robotics have the potential to improve the quality of life for millions of people, especially those with debilitating diseases or physical health problems.

Read the full story on page 8

“Europe has not been smart” Back in April, as the world was still reeling from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, I spoke to Prof. Marco Taisch of the Politecnico di Milano, where he teaches Advanced and Sustainable Manufacturing Systems, and Operations Management to get his take on how the war will impact Europe, China and beyond.

By now, we have all seen our energy bills rise, not to mention the cost of food in the supermarkets. This is, however, just the tip of the iceberg.

According to Taisch, we all got a little bit too used to the cost benefits that supply chains based on lean principles brought with them, and those halcyon days of cheap products may be coming to an end.

This doesn’t have to be a bad thing necessarily. A younger, more environmentally aware generation of consumers is starting to enter the workforce across the world, and it’s one that values sustainability over low prices.

Taisch argues that the war in Ukraine has already begun accelerating the move towards circular economies and, more crucially, digitalisation, which he believes is critical for the green transition.

Read the full story on page 10

The healthcare tech that can help the energy transition There is currently a huge gap in the market for real-time data processing and it could open new avenues to deal with sustainability issues that would typically go under the radar.

In our final main focus, Ash Jones spoke to Mika Tienhaara, the CEO of Finnish tech firm Rocsole, who believes that tomography – the technology used in healthcare for imaging – can help businesses reach net-zero.

Repurposing tomography to the factory floor can bring a wealth of sustainability benefits to manufacturers, especially in the areas of optimisation and energy savings. By filling that gap in the market for data processing, Tienhaara believes that it can be used to monitor and fix “harsh and dirty” conditions within the sector.

The process can be especially useful in hardto-abate industries like fossil fuels, which are crying out for optimisation.

Read the full story on page 12

Cyberselves’ Animus: The ‘teleportation’ tech that may spark a robotics revolution And if all that isn’t enough for you, in the magazine’s Technology & Innovation section, you’ll find a bonus interview, which (if I do say so myself) is probably one of the most interesting interviews I’ve conducted in a long time.

UK-based robotics company Cyberselves don’t make robots, putting them in a unique positon in the sector. What they have made, however, is Animus – an Operating System that can work with any robot, on any platform, in any programming language.

I spoke to CEO Daniel Camilleri and COO Michael Szollosy, co-founders of Cyberselves about Animus and its myriad applications.

The tech can be used to “teleport” users into a robot’s body on the other side of the world, giving them control over the machine, allowing them to feel physically present and have control over its movements, which as well as having some incredible applications for industry, especially in dangerous environments, throws up some pretty brain-stretching questions with it.

Read the full story on page 64 Industry Europe 3

INDUSTRY EUROPE

CONTENTS

VOL 32/3

Comment 3

Managing Partner & Production Director Stephen Moore

Editorial Director Steve Gislam Editorial Manager Ash Jones Social Media Manager Elizabeth Gregory

Operations & Finance Director Tania Balderson Head of Sales & Advertising Oliver Clements

Profile Writers Romana Moares Barbara Rossi Dariusz Balcerzyk Edina Beale Philip Yorke Emma-Jane Batey Eugenia Fiusco Piotr Sadowski

Sector Managers

Katarzyna Pozoga Art Director Leon Esterhuizen

Editorial Meats and Machines

Focus on Synthetic meats

6

The rise of synthetic meats: are they the future?

Focus on Medical A.I. 8

4 ways AI & tech are transforming healthcare

Focus on Consumer Goods 10

“Europe has not been smart”: IE meets Prof. Marco Taisch

Focus on Healthcare 12

How this healthcare tech can aid in the energy transition Rocsole

Aerospace & Defence 14

Aerospace & Defence news The latest developments in the sector

Chemicals & Biochemicals 18 22

Pushing for a Greener World Nuova Solmine Chemicals & Biochemicals news The latest developments in the sector

Construction & Engineering 26

Construction & Engineering news The latest developments in the sector

Consumer Goods 30 34 38

Leader in materials science Avery Dennison Time for glass Şişecam Consumer Goods news The latest developments in the sector

Industry Europe PO Box 3750, Norwich NR7 7GZ, United Kingdom Tel: Fax: Email: Web: Twitter: LinkedIn:

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Energy & Utilities 42 46

Applying insight from data holds the key to energy efficiency ABB Motion Services Energy & Utilities news The latest developments in the sector

Healthcare 50

Healthcare news The latest developments in the sector

Metals & Mining 54

Metals & Mining news The latest developments in the sector

Politics & Economics © Industry Europe 2022 No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form for any purpose, other than short sections for the purpose of review, without prior consent of the publisher.

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Politics & Economics news The latest developments in Politics and Economics

Technology & Innovation 62

Technology & Innovation news The latest developments in Tech and Innovation

Transportation FOCUS MEDIA GROUP LTD.

4 Industry Europe

66 70 74

Moving forward together Tristone Moving the earth for a greener tomorrow Sampierana Transportation news The latest developments in the sector

FOCUS ON – SYNTHETIC MEATS

THE RISE OF SYNTHETIC MEATS: ARE THEY THE FUTURE? The concept of alternative meats has existed for nearly a century, but it isn't until 2013 that the first example of lab-grown meat was made a reality when a beef burger was served up at a conference in London.

by Ash Jones

S

ince then, the industry has come a long way, with a recent report from Polaris Market Research forecasting the entire sector could be worth nearly $500 million by 2030, offering a number of key benefits over its livestock-based alternatives.

Meat alternatives tend to come in two flavours: cultured meats, which are created in a lab by taking cells from animals by using tissue engineering typically seen in regenerative medicine, and plant-based meats, which have existed far longer and are often the key point for discussion when looking into the subject.

Both offer significant advantages, but primarily that they both offer alternatives to the rearing of livestock, which is currently a massive source of greenhouse gas emissions, most notably methane. The goal for many activists for decades has been not to eliminate meat consumption entirely, but to encourage people to cut down.

6 Industry Europe

Since the first $300,000 patty hit plates a decade ago, the process has since been applied to other types of meat, ranging from fish to chicken to pork sausages.

Those in the industry also believe it could be scaled up, which would also allow it to become more affordable for the average person.

Looking at the subject empirically, there is no doubt that the meat and dairy industries are actively contributing to climate change in a significant way. 90% of the food and beverage industry's greenhouse gas emissions come from livestock and many large companies in the sector are looking to reduce the amount of livestock across their supply chains.

Some studies have also suggested the industry could rival oil giants in terms of raw emissions.

It is also commonly accepted that certain meats, such as red meat and processed meats, are linked with the ongoing obesity crisis.

Cultured meats take a slightly different approach from their plant-based alternatives in that they are real meat, but instead of slaughtering animals, they are grown in a test tube. The technology is still relatively rudimentary, but it is expected that, as tissue engineering comes more sophisticated, the disparity between meat from livestock and its lab-grown cousin will continue to shrink.

Plant-based meats, on the other hand, are far more sophisticated and include seitan, a high-protein meat alternative made from wheat gluten, jackfruit, soy (which comes with its own environmental issues) and others that attempt to mimic the texture and flavour of meat.

UK readers may be familiar with Quorn, a famously high-in-salt meat substitute that has been available since 1985, and the industry is continuing to grow.

According to The Guardian, large meat producers are looking at getting into this

burgeoning market by "gobbling up" producers of plant-based alternatives.

Impossible Foods, which could be considered one of the true pioneers of this type of cuisine's slogan is "Eat meat. Save the planet", which is quite open about how, while consumption habits should change, our pallets do not need to be radically altered in order to be more sustainable.

It claims altering your diet can be "better than getting solar panels, driving an electric car, or avoiding plastic straws", claiming its products use 87% less water, lead to 89% less greenhouse gas emissions and use 96% less land than livestock.

A big advantage to meat alternatives is a significant reduction in deforestation. 70% of all deforestation is to make way for agriculture to grow palm oil, soy, rear livestock or for the commercial timber industry.

More trees mean more carbon dioxide absorption, which can make the scale-up of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies far easier. One study from last year concluded the Amazon rainforest - the place with the heaviest deforestation - now emits more CO2 than it absorbs, and this is a problem.

People may not realise it, but many environmental issues are often interlinked, and tackling one often has benefits outside of its immediate industry.

The question this article has to answer though, is: are meat alternatives the future?

Statista estimates there are around 1 billion cattle in the world as of 2022, seeing a population rise of 4 million since 2021.

Livestock alone accounts for around 14% of global emissions. Much of this is methane, which is denser and more pollutant than carbon dioxide.

Many people would have you believe these alternatives are the future, and significant reductions in livestock populations would have obvious environmental effects.

But what do people themselves think?

Industry Europe spoke with Kevin McGeough, the CEO of Canadian plantbased foods firm, More Than Protein (MTP), which is hoping to specialise in localised food supply chains in its home country, reportedly seeing a 90% emissions reduction compared to beef.

He feels that as the human population continues to grow, meat alternatives, and more specifically, protein alternatives will be more necessary in order to alleviate potential food shortages.

"I think the answer is pretty simple: we need more sustainable protein for global food security. We've seen this throughout the coronavirus and with the recent RussiaUkraine situation", he said.

"Land use is also a huge issue for the industry, as is raw labour costs, particularly for the meat and dairy sector. Here in Canada, for instance, a large meat processing plant will require 3,000 people to operate, and pandemics or natural disasters and other crises will only make operations more difficult.

"Disruptions can make manufacturing more inefficient, which can also have an impact on the environmental impact of a business".

However, it's not just a matter of public health or security, it's also about logistics.

More Than Protein's founder believes food chains should be localised, something Industry Europe recently quizzed Intel Energy Manager Mike Bates about regarding the future of urban farming.

Many believe it to also be to the benefit of food security and minimising supply chain disruptions as well as other passive benefits such as reducing transport emissions.

However, outside of increasing how bad the meat and dairy sector is for the environment, McGeough also believes that it is inevitable that plant-based firms such as his will break into the market. "[Meat alternatives] clearly are the future and they should happen sooner rather than later before issues were seeing come into the foreground now get too out of hand or we face another crisis on the scale of the pandemic", he added.

But people are not going to switch to the alternatives if the product is nothing like the original. And plant-based meat firms know this.

Impossible Foods prides itself on its fake chicken nuggets, which it recently launched in the UK - selected specifically for its love of fried chicken joints such as KFC. It claims there is "little difference" between plantbased meat and the real thing.

Meat alternatives have to compete gram for gram with the protein found in traditional

chicken nuggets. For reference, Impossible Food's nuggets contain around 13g of protein, compared to 16g from McDonald's. However, the alternatives are made using non-battery farmed chickens and contain no cholesterol.

This means the environmental impact is lower, no animals are being mistreated, and it's better for your personal health.

Alternative meat firms work hard on ensuring their product is comparable to the real thing.

"A big part of the project is looking into what makes our product better than the real thing - and there are issues that constantly crop up in industry: what does it taste like? what's its texture like? What colour is it? How can the plant be used? What will it substitute?", McGeough adds, affirming that his company spend a good year working with engineers and scientists to come up with good substitutes.

"It's come a long way since the first soy alternatives. We need to think about what I call 'Protein 3.0' - or how these can directly compete with or surpass the meat and dairy industry".

Because these ingredients are often being built from the ground up, the people behind them can also control what does and doesn't get in - control you cannot get with traditional meat - which could make them even healthier. This could also apply somewhat to cultured meats.

The entire plant-based meat market is expected to reach $8.3 billion by the year 2025, and it will only grow from there as consumers continue to become more sustainably focused, such as we've seen since the pandemic, despite the rising cost of living.

But if that isn't enough, there's also another angle to think about. A simple equation. Sustainable living versus effort input. Simply put, if consumers do not have to alter their eating habits exponentially because future substitutes could taste nearly identical while also helping out the environment, then it's a win-win.

So, are meat alternatives the future? In many ways, yes. They're better for the environment, better for you, and better for your local community. That being said, it is unlikely to entirely replace the meat and dairy industry.

People are, often, slow to change.

However, as the tech behind cultured meats becomes more advanced, sees scale-up, and eventually becomes affordable, and with quality plant-based alternatives also on the horizon, many people may have n the option to cut down.

Industry Europe 7

FOCUS ON – MEDICAL A.I.

4 WAYS AI & TECH ARE TRANSFORMING HEALTHCARE AI and tech are increasingly being adopted by a sector that people place their trust in every day – healthcare.

From bespoke medical implants to wearable tech, to cancer treatment, to drug discovery, the applications for artificial intelligence in the sector are growing fast. Here, we look at some of the main developments that AI has brought to healthcare over the past few months and years.

by Steven Gislam

W

hen former Google employee Blake Lemoine recently made claims that the tech giant was secretly harbouring an artificial intelligence that was showing signs of being self-aware, half the world ignored the claims, brushing them off as the bitterness of a disgruntled employee, the other half took to the conspiracy forums.

Whether or not Lemoine’s claims are true – and if they are (big if) then it’s truly groundbreaking – what it does show is that AI has not yet won full public trust. Not surprising considering the number of cautionary tales that Hollywood has produced over the years.

Nevertheless, AI is increasingly being adopted by a sector that people place their trust in every day – healthcare. From bespoke medical implants to wearable tech, to cancer treatment, to drug discovery, the applications for artificial intelligence in the sector are growing fast. Here, we look at some of the main developments that AI has brought to healthcare over the past few months and years.

Drug discovery Traditionally, drug discovery and the process of bringing it to market is a lengthy process, 8 Industry Europe

often taking more than a decade and at an average cost of $2.6 billion per medicine according to the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development.

AI is able to study chemicals in ways that humans simply cannot, automatically predicting complex protein structures and designing new drugs, despite actually having no real scientific understanding.

The tech also has the power to democratise drug design, as it is no longer limited to the major pharmaceutical companies.

With the right algorithms, startups can invent thousands of new molecules in just a few hours. Using machine learning, parts of the design process are being automated, helping scientists develop new drugs for notoriously difficult diseases such as cancer, HIV/AIDS and Alzheimer’s, as well as rare genetic conditions.

In April 2021, Oxford-based Exscientia began Phase I trials using its experimental Alzheimer’s treatment, becoming the first company to use an AI-designed molecule in human trials.

The following month, the company entered into an agreement – potentially worth over $1.2 billion – with New York-based pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb to accelerate

drug discovery in a number of therapeutic areas including immunology and oncology.

The same month it also announced its AI had discovered two more molecules, which are also undergoing trials In November of the same year, Google's parent company Alphabet Inc. decided to get in on the act and launched Isomorphic Labs, a new artificial intelligence company specialising in the discovery of new drugs.

The company leverages technology developed by its sister company DeepMind to, in its own words “accelerate drug discovery, and ultimately, find cures for some of humanity’s most devastating diseases".

DeepMind made waves last year when it revealed how its AlphaFold2 technology can be used to predict the shape of each and every protein in the human body with neartotal accuracy.

All of the AI-developed potential drugs are, however, still in the earliest stages of human trials, and it will take some years to ascertain whether they work or not, while medical regulators have yet to approve an AI-designed drug, at the time of writing.

Nonetheless, pharmaceutical investors are putting billions of dollars into AI and machine learning-based research in recent

years, with many believing these technologies are set to become the next frontier in drug development and medical innovation.

Robotics While the use of robotics in surgery first dates back to the 1980s the use of AI is relatively recent, though its impact has been huge.

Robotic surgery is typically less invasive and enables human surgeons to perform complex operations with greater control and precision compared to conventional methods. Statistically, it also leads to fewer complications.

In October 2021, Ireland-based US healthcare company Medtronic revealed its surgery assistant robot, Hugo, had received clearance for use in urologic and gynecologic surgeries, including hysterectomies, in several European countries.

Robotics is even being used by the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK, a country which has often been accused of being sceptical of automation. In February 2020, the Versius surgical robot carried out its first NHS treatments.

The first procedure was carried out in Edinburgh, followed shortly after by another at Milton Keynes University Hospital. Both the procedures were colorectal operations to treat patients with severe bowel disease or bowel cancer.

In May 2022, Professor Mike Reed and Dr Justin Green from the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust became the first surgeons in the country to utilise data science and machine learning to create bespoke surgical risk profiles. These profiles aim to allow those on waiting lists to make a more informed decision about potential risks when considering whether to go ahead with a particular surgery or not.

But it’s not just surgery where robots could revolutionise healthcare. In January 2021, Sophia, an AI-controlled "social robot" created

by Hong Kong’s Hanson Robotics was being prepared for mass rollout during the Covid-19 pandemic with the hope it could look after the vulnerable and elderly in the difficult time, without the risk of getting infected itself.

A new technology called Animus from the UK’s Cyberselves, also has applications in the healthcare system, enabling people who are far from hospitalised loved ones to make a “visit” using a combination of robotics and virtual reality.

Detecting diseases One especially interesting and potentially life-saving development is the increased use

of AI in early disease detection. In recent years the use of AI in cancer detection, in particular, has been gaining both interest and investment because of its accuracy in predicting tumour regrowth, detecting breast cancer during screening, cutting hospital error rates and reducing result waiting times.

In May 2021, the NHS began using an AI system name CADU, which was developed by researchers at the University College London. The tech can help doctors detect oesophageal cancer – one of the deadliest forms of cancer - during its early stages when it is still treatable.

In April, Japan’s SoftBank investment group led a $63 million investment in AI Medical Service Inc, a company which makes AI software that can aid in the diagnosis of stomach cancers.

Gastrointestinal cancers currently account for one in four cancer cases and one in three cancer deaths globally, making them highly common and deadly, meaning the investment has the potential to save millions of lives every year.

But it’s not only cancer, in January 2022, a new robotic system designed by the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences was also said to speed up Covid-19 diagnoses.

Agamede, as it was named, is able to process as many as 15,000 samples per day, according to the parameters entered by the programmer.

This June, Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool with Microsoft and Mindwave unveiled a "hospital without walls". The digital platform provides a "hybrid point of access" for patients and aims to revolutionise how care is delivered to young people through both digital and physical care.

The tech was developed with the main goal of tackling the problem of hospital capacity and limited community resources and providing care to the most vulnerable people.

Quality of life AI and robotics also have the potential to improve the lives of millions of people with debilitating diseases or physical health problems.

Advances in powered medical devices are helping to mobilise patients with less physical support. For example, exoskeletons, which were originally created to prevent strain in factory workers, are becoming increasingly common in the healthcare sector to help patients regain movement in rehabilitation therapies.

Exoskeletons have controls, sensors and motors to mechanically move parts of the body, with an accompanying battery pack that is worn on the patient’s back. Some models require the use of crutches, but those without have to be bulkier to provide additional support.

In January 2021, the Moment, a hearing aid made by Widex that uses artificial intelligence engines to improve real-time listening for people with hearing loss, was awarded the Tech for Change Award at CES 2021.

The Moment was chosen by the judges for having reduced the sound delay from 7-10 milliseconds to 0.5 milliseconds, significantly faster and providing the wearer with the most natural hearing experience to date.

The following month a robotic glove based on AI technology received financial support from Edinburgh Business School’s Incubator and could soon be helping people recover muscle grip in their hands.

The glove is aimed at the millions of people who suffer from hand weakness because of muscle mass loss as they age or due to illnesses like Multiple Sclerosis, Motor Neurone Disease and carpal tunnel syndrome. It is able to aid in a wide range of day-to-day tasks including opening jars, driving and pouring a cup of tea.

Then in March 2022, 3D Systems and Enhatch partnered to 3D print bespoke medical devices and integrate them into the latter's smart surgery networks.

These implants will likely be utilised in cranial or orthopaedic surgeries, meaning potential reconstruction will not deviate too much from how the patient originally looked, will minimise the risk of implants not fitting, and could even increase its longevity, all while cutting the time taken for the procedure and minimising risk to the patient.

Conclusion While many of these technologies are still in their nascent stages in the necessarily cautious healthcare sector, their potential is clear enough for investors to pour in billions, suggesting that they are confident of seeing a return on investment.

Indeed, Fortune Business Insights valued the medical devices market at $488.9 billion in 2021, and projected growth to as much as $718.9 billion by 2029.

And while there will almost certainly be some reticence among some of the public, as it becomes more common, this will most likely fade away. After all, saving a life is perhaps the ultimate trust-building exercise. n Industry Europe 11

FOCUS ON – CONSUMER GOODS

“EUROPE HAS NOT BEEN SMART”: IE MEETS PROF. MARCO TAISCH IE speaks to Prof. Marco Taisch about supply chains, the war in Ukraine and how producers can reach the demands of the emerging generation of Sustainability Natives...

by Steven Gislam

J

ust as Europe was daring to imagine a return to normality after two years of Covid restrictions and lockdowns, Vladimir Putin surprised everybody and ordered the Russian army to invade Ukraine. While the unquestionably devastating humanitarian implications of the war are understandably the immediate focus of the news, the wider reverberations are likely to be felt for several years to come.

With every disaster, however, comes opportunity and many experts, already trying to fix the flaws in our supply chains that were laid bare by the pandemic, are concerned that Putin’s war is exacerbating an already difficult situation.

IE spoke to Prof. Marco Taisch of Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI), where he teaches Advanced and Sustainable Manufacturing Systems, and Operations Management to get his take on how this will impact Europe, China and beyond.

10 Industry Europe

“Supply chains have not been lucky in the last few years. First, they were affected by the pandemic. We all know what happened because we have a global supply chain.

When a lockdown was announced in Wuhan Province, the whole world was affected,” says Taisch. “For the last 20 years, we had a purposely designed lean and global supply chain, but now it’s no longer acceptable.”

Hoping that the worst is over in terms of Covid, transport and logistics experts began drawing up plans to redesign supply chains, making them more resilient, more reliable, and crucially, more regional for post-pandemic demands.

What logistics managers had already begun doing, according to Prof. Taisch, was to redraw their supply chains along the lines of three macro-regions: the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), and Asia-Pacific.

“What is happening in Ukraine and with Russia is showing the need for this more and more. The other thing that the war is showing is that we cannot allow ourselves to have one source of supply anymore, whatever kind of supply we are talking about.”

He points out that we, as a society, had gotten used to the cost benefits made possible by supply chains built on lean principles. To keep prices low, sources along the supply chain were often provided from one place. Which, when it worked, it did so superbly, but all it took was one big disruption, like a pandemic, and the whole thing began to buckle.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has meant that neither country is able to export in the same way it could before. Even if the war ends soon, sanctions on Russia are likely to last far longer, making the whole nation almost impossible to trade with. If it doesn’t, then this only serves to prove the point even further.

“What we are experiencing now is the fact that even if we go regional with our supply chains, this is still not enough,” says Marco.

“We need to create space for redundancy in the supply chain in order to avoid this kind of disruption, on the way to redesigning them.”

The challenges to logistics the war presents do not end there. Reports that thousands of Ukrainian truck drivers working in mainland Europe and the UK are now returning to Ukraine to take up arms against Russia have been just another headache for logistics planners and further demonstrated the need for regionality.

Another interesting factor in all of this, says Prof. Taisch, is one which thus far has remained somewhat unaccounted for, quite probably by its own design - China.

“China is on one hand against the war because they need stability in the global economy. On the other hand, I think they will be well-placed to take advantage of the problems that many Russian companies will have. You know, with the sanctions, the currency is being affected and now Russian companies will suffer.

It would be very easy for a country like China, which is in a good position to buy Russian companies, to extend its political and economic influence westwards.”

“Europe has not been smart, not in general.

We were not really looking into the long term. If you are too dependent on one country, somehow sooner or later, it means instability.”

He is, however, quick to point out that this may be beginning to change. Last year, the EU finally passed the Chips Act in a push to reduce dependence on imports of semiconductors from East Asia, and Germany has cancelled Nord Stream 2 and taken steps to start weaning itself off Russian gas.

Nonetheless, these are not solutions for the short term and prices continue to rise in the meantime.

“Inflation was already very high in the US in December and January, and the same started to happen in Europe. So, the trend was already there due to supply chain disruptions from the longer-term effects of the COVID pandemic.

When the end of lockdown came, not only did we have to fulfil normal demand but also replenish stocks and supply chains all over.

“Prices are not going up necessarily because of a lack of raw materials, but because of the lack of logistics. Shipping containers are becoming the bottleneck for many sectors. So, buying metals for example is not expensive per se, but transporting metals is increasingly expensive. And because Europe is importing, it is suffering from this bottleneck.”

While Prof. Taisch suspects that prices will return to “a kind of normality”, he points out the damage done to the markets on a psychological level. Just as the all-important enthusiasm in markets was starting to return as countries opened up again, the war in Ukraine created further uncertainty, both for consumers and investors. Nonetheless, lessons have been learned on all sides.

“While it was very nice to have global, lean supply chains because that meant very low costs and low prices, I think consumers are learning to have reliability in the delivery of the product, they need to pay a premium price. If you want to be sure to get your product within 24 hours, you need to pay for it. That means reliability, flexibility, and resilience of the supply chain. And that costs. I think consumers are learning that they need to pay for that.”

He also points to the increasing importance of sustainability among consumers, in particular the younger generations.

“Sustainability doesn’t come for free. If you want a green product along green supply chain, you have to pay. It's a compromise, and young people I think are ready to pay more.

“We should think not only about digital natives, but also sustainability natives.

Teenager or even kids are very sustainability oriented. And in few months or years, they will be consumers. They will take their own decisions with their own salary, and they will be a very tough customer to serve. A very demanding customer and we need to provide them resiliency and very short-term delivery.

“They want everything the day after.

This means back-shoring or near-shoring; bringing factories back to Europe. And with the sustainability natives’ mindset, it also needs to be green and sustainable, which is a huge pressure on, on producers, factories, and the entire supply chain.”

Sustainability, he argues, comes in two ways. The first involves the circular economy of materials, as well as designing new ones. For example, car engines which consume less fuel than they did twenty years ago. However, this will only go some way to achieving that end goal of true sustainability.

This is where the second part comes in – digitalisation.

“Digital technologies are the enabler of sustainability. We cannot have a fully sustainable world without digital tech. And it doesn’t work the other way around. You can have digital transitions with, without ecological transition, but you cannot have the ecological transitions without the digital transition.

“The blue is the enabler for the green.”

Ultimately, Marco Taisch is upbeat, despite the horrors occurring in Ukraine. He points out that whenever there is a disruption, lessons are learned.

“I think we will have a more reliable economy in the future. Both the pandemic and the war have taught us a lot. I really think we will see a huge redesign of the overall global supply chain, and this is what we’ll be working on over n the next three to five years.”

Industry Europe 11

FOCUS ON – HEALTHCARE

HOW THIS HEALTHCARE TECH CAN AID IN THE ENERGY TRANSITION Industry Europe speaks with Rocsole about how tomography can help industry optimise to reduce emissions and prevent shutdowns.

by Ash Jones

A

ll roads lead to Industry 4.0 and the increases in digitalisation and optimisation may have greater roles than just making supply chains more efficient. But what if we told you they could play a role in aiding companies' transitions to net-zero?

There is currently a huge gap in the market for real-time data processing and it could open new avenues to deal with sustainability issues that would typically go under the radar.

This gap could be filled by tomography.

Typically used in the healthcare sector for imaging of the deep, internal structures of the body (such as in CT scans), some pioneers have looked to introduce this kind of mapping technology onto the factory floor, which could help in optimising systems or faults that would normally be difficult to detect.

This was the hypothesis of Finnish tech firm Rocsole, who told Industry Europe the process could be used to monitor and potentially fix "harsh and dirty" conditions within manufacturing processes. They took this idea and integrated it into their AI and deep learning platforms.

"Tomography [in healthcare] is a life-saving technology because it provides key data from 12 Industry Europe

our bodies and gives insight into when you need to take action in emergency situations, and can aid in detecting diseases and sickness, but typically operates in a clean or sterile environment, such as a hospital," Rocsole CEO Mika Tienhaara said.

"Our idea was to take this technology and apply it to the harshest conditions you can imagine."

One example is "electrical tomography" which will give insight into how much electrical admittance - essentially, how easily a current will flow - a medium has. In essence, this allows manufacturers to sort potential hitches in technology such as automation and amend errors that could lead to less energy waste or better-optimised operations.

These require constant monitoring, which is where AI-powered platforms like this come in handy. While they likely still require some supervision, it significantly reduces manpower.

He states the largest problem with industry today is that these companies "lack data" about what is going wrong, how they can fix it, and prevent it from happening in the future.

Rocsole claims its tech can increase yields, reduce deferred production and

extend cleaning cycles in sectors such as oil & gas.

However, tomography as a concept has far wider uses than monitoring currents.

Tienhaara described the technology as "novel" and explained that the company, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary, is currently scaling it up to work in various industries. Their ultimate goal is to provide data and insights into how operations can run smoother, which can prevent issues further down the line, which will ultimately aid in both the energy and digital transitions.

"While companies will still have to take measures to lower emissions and other forms of environmental damage, there may be blind spots. Manufacturers tend to run a lot of operations simultaneously, many of which are at risk of failure due to a lack of data or faulty sensors that give wrong signals which could lead to unwanted shutdowns," he added.

"The goal is to operate reliably and safely but also to understand how processes perform under very complex or stressful conditions.

"Every industry has issues and needs to clean up to reach net-zero, be it through optimisations leading to reduced fuel usage,

Mika Tienhaara is the CEO of Rocsole

lowering air pollution, or reducing waste. We have a lot of work to do."

Even more difficult-to-abate sectors, such as fossil fuels, are not immune to optimisation.

One sector that reportedly lacks a lot of data regarding operations is the oil and gas industry, which means there is significant room for improvement regarding efficiency gains.

For example, Mika suggests that for oil companies working in the US Gulf Coast - where a lot of fossil fuels are processed - 75% of emergency shutdowns are unplanned, which can cause production numbers to drop, resulting in costly errors or even, as he stated, cause an increase in emissions owing to excess processes.

For these industries, Rocsole started by looking at critical processing equipment like multi-phase separators.

A lot of the time, these are analysed manually and may often fail due to faulty sensors, which can often hinder the ability to plan ahead. However, companies will still often want to operate at maximum capacity despite the risks of failure, which can be dangerous, Tienhaara added.

There are also a lot of byproducts in oil production that can cause pipe blockages, which must be dealt with to prevent failures.

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) is also playing a more important role than ever.

Many investors are now looking at applying non-financial factors to their analysis, and it is leading them to want to keep better track of their systems and make them more efficient as it will often increase financial performance.

Outside of this, even a marginal efficiency boost can aid in the reduction of emissions.

When applied to something like an oil field, even a minor efficiency increase could remove emissions equivalent to thousands of cars, which can help even more carbonintensive industries do their bit.

The energy transition will not happen overnight, and Mika is a strong believer that these traditional energy sectors should

try to make the best of what they have, and attempt to cut emissions, no matter how fractional.

However, ESG issues do not just apply to emissions. The semiconductor industry is a heavy user of water, which, as the climate crisis worsens, could become more scarce.

According to Chinese non-profit CWR, the chip industry can use as much as 20,000 tonnes of water per day - the equivalent of a city of over 50,000 people.

For this industry, tomography can help in several ways.

"Reusing water can be a challenge for the chip industry, as they often put some very aggressive chemicals in the water, which can cause things such as Silicon deposits that need to be tracked and removed to allow for reuse," Mika said.

The chip sector will only grow as consumer demand for electronics and electric vehicles does, and so optimising processes will become imperative for cutting costs.

"Chip production uses a lot of minerals and metals that can plug pipelines and ultimately cause toxic pollution, and so detecting and unclogging these is imperative.

"The companies also have massive carbon footprints, which offers another area for optimisation," he added.

Rocsole styles itself as a "disruptor," a challenger to the status quo, which has become something of a buzzword for the modern tech sector. It maintains there are always gaps in industry to fill and always areas for improvement.

Even sectors as benign as food packaging could see improvements from tomography, from ensuring the water vegetables are washed in is clean and safe for use, to ensuring machines used for wrapping are working as intended to prevent shutdowns.

We're now entering pure speculation territory, but there are other potential applications for this technology.

Tienhaara said: "There are so many angles to the challenges faced by industry. We want to provide insight to allow for quality control or we do manual inspections, but it is possible to automate and make most things more efficient and ensure it's better in the long run."

Tomography could also see use in the construction sector, from conducting geosurveys on areas you are going to build on, to providing data on how the building will be supported or whether the land is safe to build on.

It could also be used to check for potential structural weaknesses both in terms of the foundation and once the building is complete.

Having a good way to manage operations also makes dealing with future challenges easier. Keeping track of issues and how to deal with them can save a lot of time and money.

GlobalData suggests that North America sees the highest rate of refinery maintenance, with 41% under either planned or unplanned maintenance.

Tackling the issues of unplanned shutdowns is the best way to ensure operations run smoothly. Loss of production can mean a potential loss of billions in revenue.

Tienhaara believes AI solutions are the best way to tackle these issues. Not only can AI run countless calculations at once, but it can also come up with answers to challenges incredibly quickly.

He claims they can gather data up to 1000 times faster with AI. This all works towards the ultimate goal of preventing unplanned shutdowns. And the tech will only get better as it becomes more advanced.

In the future, ab large amount of planned shutdowns could be prevented as predictive software become more sophisticated.

"People believe Industry 4.0 will save us but think: what is it actually solving? What tools do you need? Do you have data gaps?

This type of tech can help cement the future and help prevent failures and I'm glad to be n a part of it," Tienhaara concluded.

Industry Europe 13

NEWS

New developments in the Aerospace & Defence

World's navies need green transition, says white paper

by Steven Gislam

D

ecarbonisation of the world's naval forces presents a unique set of challenges due to their defensive purpose. The question of how to minimise a navy's environmental impact without increasing its operational vulnerability was the focus of a new white paper from energy advisor DNV. While navies are generally not subject to the same levels of scrutiny as the commercial shipping sector, in recent years, societal pressure to reduce their climate footprint has grown. Command structures are increasingly aware that, sooner or later, they will also have to face the challenge of maritime decarbonisation.

However, to fulfil their defensive purpose, naval vessels must also meet specific requirements, complicating their search for the most sustainable fuel types. Potential global challenges impacting logistics and creating supply chains disruptions could further compound that complexity with impacts on fuel availability.

The DNV white paper, Alternative Fuels for Naval Vessels, said that the issue has wideranging implications for future vessel design and

that developing green "drop-in" fuels alone may not be a sufficient solution.

Recent years have seen a number of advances in propulsion technologies and alternative fuels for use in the private shipping sector. While these are of value to the military, the vessels must have the ability to operate under direct threat, at high speeds, and for extended periods of time without refuelling.

"Alternative fuels are the most effective measure to fully decarbonise in the future, but practical considerations such as logistics, fuel availability, fuel change flexibility and design impacts are critical factors in determining the feasibility of the different low- or zero-carbon fuels for the naval segment," said Christian von Oldershausen, DNV Maritime Segment Director for Navy.

"The new paper evaluates different fuel options to provide a solid decision support for newbuilds and vessels in operation."

DNV say the white paper is the result of a "wide range" of public domain sources, as well as a survey conducted among 130 stakeholders from 12 countries to ascertain current trends and expectations.

It takes into account recent technological developments; discusses current and emerging fuel choices including their technical and military implications; looks at other carbon abatement and efficiency-enhancing measures; and analyses the current navel fleets and their respective uptake of alternative fuels.

A differentiation is made between the needs of combatant and auxiliary, non-combatant vessels, as well as the unique set of requirements for submarines.

The paper claims that there is "significant potential" for the adoption of the alternative fuels that are already available and being increasingly adopted by the merchant fleet, especially for non-combatant vessels.

It also looks at the pros and cons of nuclear propulsion, something that the US Navy has used for decades because of the speed and endurance it gives to combatant ships.

"This white paper provides an excellent starting point for us to work together to protect our environment and at the same time ensure the operational readiness of our navies," said Jan Christian Kaack, Vice Admiral, Chief German Navy, Commander Fleet and Supporting Forces.

Visit: www.dnv.com

Mercury Systems & Lockheed Martin partner on sensor tech

by Romana Moares

M

ercury Systems, a US-based producer of mission-critical technologies for aerospace and defence, and the aerospace giant Lockheed Martin have agreed to cooperate on sensor processing technology in Switzerland.

The two companies announced that they had signed an agreement to collaborate on the development and manufacture of new sensor processing technologies at Mercury’s Geneva, Switzerland facility for a wide variety of applications such as radar signal processing, multi-sensor data fusion, artificial intelligence and situational awareness.

With a potential lifetime value of $40 million, the contract supports Lockheed Martin’s offset agreement with the Swiss government as part of Switzerland’s planned procurement of 36 F-35A Lightning II aircraft related to the Air 2030 program.

This cooperation between Lockheed Martin and Mercury will help provide Switzerland and other nations with some of the most advanced airborne defence systems in the world. The local industry in western Switzerland will also benefit from new opportunities and additional market access in the long term.

Paul Tanner, Mercury’s vice president of international growth operations, commented: “We believe this project will be important to Switzerland and its economy, as it benefits Swiss national security through military aerospace and defence use.

"Further, it will continue to support our international growth as well as strengthen our product capability. It’s a great example of connect14 Industry Europe

ing cutting-edge commercial technology to defence, to address the A&D industry’s rapidly changing mission-critical needs.”

Patrick Nyfeler, managing director, Lockheed Martin Switzerland, added: “Together with Mercury, we intend to work closely with the Swiss government to select the best possible projects over the lifetime of this agreement, enhance Switzerland competitively in the global economy, creating jobs and enhancing local labor market skills well beyond the 10-year life of the contract.”

As part of this agreement, the companies will seek to bring the next generation of embedded processing technology to bear on safetycertifiable systems through the design, development, and manufacturing of complex products, purpose-built for the aerospace and defence industry to meet sensor processing requirements for a variety of fixed-wing and rotary-wing airborne platforms.

Visit: www.mrcy.com

AEROSPACE & DEFENCE NEWS

INDUSTRYNEWS China accelerates plans for first solar panel station in space

by Elizabeth Gregory

C

hina has brought forward plans to build a solar panel station in space by two years. Now, it plans to launch the energy project in 2028, when a trial satellite will be sent out to orbit at around 400 km (250 miles) above the earth.

The South China Morning Post said that the Chinese satellite will "convert solar energy to microwaves or lasers and then direct the energy beams to various targets, including fixed locations on Earth and moving satellites".

Solar panels in space are supposed to be much more effective than those on Earth: not only will they be able to absorb the sun’s rays 24 hours a day and without weather restrictions, but the intensity of the sunlight they receive is likely to be much increased.

An independent 2021 British study into space-based solar power (SBSP) showed that satellites in geosynchronous orbit receive the sun’s rays 99% of the time.

The concept is seen as a major step forward in the expansion of renewables as nations around the world move to try and achieve ambitious net-zero targets and find alternative and greener energy sources.

There are, of course, technological hurdles that still need to be ironed out. Directing

microwaves over such a distance will require incredibly powerful technology, such as a giant antenna, for example.

But the British study showed that although the required antenna will be extremely large, it is likely that it will be possible to construct them from a large number of modules – and therefore they can be mass-manufactured, aiding the renewable projects.

This is not the first time countries have looked to space for renewable solutions: In March it was announced that the UK had begun research into whether a £16bn British version could be launched into orbit by 2035.

Science minister George Freeman said that he would support initiatives driving towards the project, though also added that that didn’t mean the government would “write a cheque” for it – yet. It was also reported that NASA first floated a similar concept over two decades ago, but the idea was not pursued.

China’s president set out for the country to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, and so far the country looks to have been fulfilling its objectives: In May, figures showed that China had tripled its investment in solar power in the first four months of the year, which confirmed China as the largest renewables market in the world.

Then, in March, China said it would be building the biggest ever solar and wind power generation capacity in the Gobi desert.

“China is now the undisputable global leader of renewable energy expansion worldwide,” said an International Energy Agency head in 2019. This latest move to expand into space only seems to prove this sentiment.

There are however a few counterbalancing factors. For example, China is currently planning to build as many as 43 new coal plants and 18 new blast furnaces.

Read more at: www.gov.uk

Giant catapult that launches satellites into orbit to get NASA test

by Steven Gislam

A

n innovative new method of launching payloads into orbit is set to be tested by NASA and could be a game-changer for the sector, improving space accessibility and driving down emissions.

The US space agency has signed a Space Act Agreement with Californian space startup SpinLaunch to develop its Suborbital Accelerator Launch System with an eye to holding the first orbital test flight in 2025.

Comprising of a 91 metre (300 ft) diameter steel vacuum chamber with a large rotating carbon fibre arm inside. The test will see a NASA launch vehicle containing a satellite propelled skywards at speeds of up to 8,000 km per hour (5,000 mph), making it faster than rockets.

SpinLaunch claims that the hypersonic launch speeds are achieved through leveraging existing hardware and commonly available materials, without the need for technological advances and using 70% less fuel than a rocket would.

Once in the stratosphere, the satellite given the necessary push to be positioned into orbit using a "small, inexpensive" propulsion system.

If the trial is successful, it would achieve the rare feat of not only slashing emissions and journey time but significantly reducing the cost of putting payloads into orbit.

"SpinLaunch is offering a unique suborbital flight and high-speed testing service, and the recent launch agreement with NASA marks a key inflexion point as SpinLaunch shifts focus from technology development to commercial offerings," said Jonathan Yaney, Founder and CEO of SpinLaunch.

"What started as an innovative idea to make space more accessible has materialised into a technically mature and game-changing approach to launch."

SpinLaunch conducted its first test flight in October 2021 from Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert. Since then, regular tests have been held where payloads have been catapulted into the sky at speeds of more than 1,600 km per hour (1,000 mph), though no attempts have been made to reach orbit yet.

Low Earth Orbit constellations of small, inexpensive satellites are in increasingly high demand for global communications, disaster monitoring, national security and weather prediction and the market is almost certain to keep growing.

"Through these turnkey space solutions, SpinLaunch is helping customers eliminate the cost, time, and complexity constraints currently driving space-related business models – ultimately delivering less expensive, scalable access to space," said SpinLaunch in a press release.

Visit: www.spinlaunch.com Industry Europe 15

NEWS

New developments in Aerospace & Defence

Aidro to supply 3D printed aluminium helicopter parts for Leonardo

by Romana Moares

P

ower system manufacturer Aidro will supply 3D printed aluminium flight parts for Italian aerospace, defence, and security company Leonardo through its helicopters division.

Aidro produces next-generation hydraulic and fluid power systems using metal additive manufacturing (AM). A subsidiary of Desktop Metal, it has become a qualified supplier of aluminium flight parts for aerospace, defence, and security company Leonardo through its helicopters division and is one of only two suppliers to receive the Declaration for Qualification of Process for Additive Layer Manufacturing with Leonardo.

Tommaso Tirelli, CEO and VP of Business Development of Aidro, said: “The components we are producing for Leonardo are parts that require extensive knowledge in managing fluids and fluid power, which has always been Aidro’s main competence.

"This is a great opportunity for our company to demonstrate how end users like Leonardo can leverage additive technologies to achieve significant weight savings and reduce the number of components.”

Leonardo offers an extensive range of modern helicopters for the commercial, public services, security and defence industries deployed in more than 150 countries worldwide.

The company manages all stages of research, design, development, production, customer support and training for its advanced vertical flight solutions – from the 1.8-tonne single-engine category to 16-tonne three-engine aircraft – to enable operators to carry out their missions efficiently and safely.

“Leonardo is committed to introducing and expanding the use of additive manufacturing on its rotorcraft products, taking advantage of the opportunities offered by its unique capabilities,” said Dario Bonanno, Industrial Engineering Manager for Leonardo.

“The availability of a qualified supply chain is a fundamental requirement to support the industrial sustainability of the Company’s technological road map.”

Visit: aidro.it

Airbus to build cryogenic fuel innovation centre in UK

by Ash Jones

A

erospace company Airbus has revealed it will be building an innovation centre in the UK to research the feasibility of hydrogen-based technologies such as cryogenic fuels.

The Zero Emission Development Centre (ZEDC), set to be based in Bristol, will help the airliner release its first fully zero-emission aircraft, the Airbus ZEROe, which is currently on the drawing board, by 2035 at the latest.

This comes as part of the British government's plans to increase investment in green aerospace technology in a bid to bring the sector in line with its decarbonisation goals. By 2050, the government is hoping that all industrial sectors will be net-zero.

To this end, a record £685 million has been granted through its Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) programme, set to aid the development of technologies over the next three years.

In total, the industry could see well over £1 billion in funds towards greener engines.

“Establishing the ZEDC in the UK expands Airbus’ in-house industrial capabilities to design, develop, test and manufacture cryogenic hydrogen storage tanks and related systems for the ZEROe project 16 Industry Europe

across Airbus’ four home countries", Airbus CTO Sabine Klauke said in a statement.

"This, coupled with our partnership with ATI, will allow us to leverage our respective expertise to realise the potential of hydrogen technology to support the decarbonisation of the aviation industry", she added.

The plant will continue the work conducted

by Airbus engineers overseas, such as in its innovation centres in Spain and Germany, both of which are focusing on cells and the development of liquid cryogenic hydrogen.

It is being developed due to the hydrogen being able to be stored at a low temperature, which means it can be stored for significant lengths of time. This can lead to bulk production and a substantial decrease in transport costs.

While cryogenic fuels in general typically contain release fewer emissions than their traditional counterparts, cryogenic hydrogen - depending on how it is generated - can be entirely emissions-free.

Another advantage is that cryogenic fuels are also typically non-pollutant, so potential spillages will not be as hazardous.

Airbus hopes its first functional hydrogen tank will be ready to unveil to the public by next year with mass production planned for 2026.

With the fuel sorted, the airliner can then move onto the development stage of the ZEROe craft.

Airbus has been toying with the idea of using hydrogen jets for a few years now, first unveiling concepts back in September 2020.

Since then, it has formed a joint venture with aviation firm CEM International for the development of hydrogen combustion jets as part of its plans to become net-zero within two decades.

Hydrogen has several key advantages over electricity for heavier and longer-haul vehicles such as planes, trucks and ships - the primary one being that they can travel for far longer than most current electricity cells can offer.

As such, the development of hydrogen technologies is considered a key technology for decarbonising some of the most difficult-toabate sectors.

Visit: www.airbus.com

AEROSPACE & DEFENCE NEWS

INDUSTRYNEWS Scandinavian firms team up to turn alcohol into jet fuel

by Ash Jones

A

round 400,000 metric tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) made using alcohol could be developed per year as part of the national government's Fossil Free Sweden scheme to decarbonise hard-to-abate industrial sectors.

Spearheaded by COWI in partnership with Swedish Biofuels, the initiative will see three new plants constructed to handle the production of the jet fuel, with the first set to be located near Stockholm Arlanda Airport - with the potential to cover 40% of its fuel needs.

This first plant, located in Brista roughly 34km away from the airport, will be responsible for roughly 20,000 tonnes and is being overseen and supported by the European Commission.

It is expected to begin production of Swedish Biofuel's SAF formula by 2025.

At this plant, SAF will be developed through two methods: the first will use sustainable ethanol as feedstock, while the second will see both green hydrogen and off-gases gases that result from a chemical reaction used to make jet fuel.

In addition, the existing systems at the plant could also be used to make green diesel and petrol, should the need arise.

The plant will generate a lot of excess heat and energy, which will be fed through to nearby Stockholm and used to power "entire districts."

"This is an extremely important project with the potential to change the whole aviation industry and its dependency on fossil fuels," says Karin Genemo, SVP, Industry at COWI. "We have chosen not to work with projects within fossil fuels and instead use our knowledge about fuels to work with customers as Swedish Biofuels.

Within three to five years, all our revenues will come from projects related to moving customers towards a sustainable direction."

She described the tech as "novel" and makes "a complete replacement of fossil aviation fuel possible."

"COWI will contribute to funding and provide its expertise in project management, planning, and construction of the plants," she added.

Swedish Biofuels developed its alcohol-to-fuel formula back in 2004 and has been certified for use in its native Sweden, Germany, the UK and US.

Chemically, SAF is very similar to traditional jet fuels, but it is often made using materials that give off relatively little carbon. Its blend, in particular, is noted for "its high energy density," the firm claims.

As its name would suggest, outside of SAF, Swedish Biofuels produced biofuels from biomass, including grain, agricultural waste, as well as wood and forestry waste. All are used in the transport industry.

It also claims its formula is "the first-ever commercial production of fully formulated, green, and sustainable aviation fuel in the world," according to its CEO Dr Angelica Hull.

"We believe it will be a total game-changer within the aviation industry because it will allow us to end the use of fossil fuels," she said.

"The implementation of such technology is an important step towards a greener environment and achieving self-sufficiency goals. We will end our dependence on foreign fossil oil while simultaneously caring for the environment," she concluded.

No information has been given about when construction on the other plants is set to begin, although it is expected to be relatively soon.

BAE Systems to participate in NASA's hybrid aircraft programme

by Romana Moares

U

K-based defence company BAE Systems will design, test, and supply energy management components for NASA’s hybrid-electric aircraft technology demonstrator.

The company was chosen by GE Aviation to provide energy management for the recently announced hybrid-electric technology demonstrator programme. As part of the NASA research project, BAE Systems will design, test, and supply energy management components for electric aircraft in the megawatt power class.

NASA’s Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD) project aims to progress hybrid-electric flight technologies for commercial aviation. The project includes ground and flight-test demonstrations to be conducted over the next five years.

“We are harnessing our expertise in energy management systems and flight critical controls to support the development of electric propulsion systems for the future of flight,” said Ehtisham Siddiqui, vice president and general manager of Controls and Avionics Solutions at BAE Systems. “This effort continues our longstanding relationship with GE.” In addition to energy storage, BAE Systems will provide high-integrity controls and cables for the demonstrator’s power management system, which will be tested on CT7-9B turboprop engines. The company says it will also leverage

"its investment in aircraft electrification and expertise in flight-critical systems to provide guidance for electric flight certification requirements".

BAE Systems has over 25 years of experience developing and integrating electric propulsion systems for buses, boats, heavy-duty trucks, and military vehicles. The company also has more than 40 years of experience in controls and avionics for military and commercial aircraft.

Visit: www.baesystems.com

Industry Europe 17

PUSHING FOR A

GREENER WORLD

Nuova Solmine, a major producer of sulphuric acid and oleum in Italy and the Mediterranean basin, is enhancing efforts to minimise its carbon footprint. The company has recently entered into a partnership with Enel, ab Italian multi-national manufacturer and distributor of electricity and gas, to capture excess thermal energy and transform it into emissions-free electricity.

18 Industry Europe

CHEMICALS & BIOCHEMICALS

W

ith roots going back to the early 1960s, Nuova Solmine, part of the Italian Sol.Mar Group, is a well-established specialist in its sector – its high-purity sulphuric acid has many uses in industrial processes across a variety of sectors, from water purification and pharmaceuticals, to explosives, paper, detergents, fertilisers, the iron and steel industry and many more.

Nuova Solmine’s key market is Italy, but a large part of its output is sold in export markets, particularly in the Mediterranean basin, covering several countries – France, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Israel, Turkey and Greece. Further afield, the company has customers in Portugal as well as Central and South America, where sulphuric acid plays a major part in metals processing and fertiliser production.

Nuova Solmine is associated with leading international organisations in its sector. It is a full member of the European Sulphuric Acid Association, a division of the European Chemical Industry Council, bringing together European sulphuric acid producers, as well as the International Fertiliser Industry Association.

It also subscribes to the General Confederation of Italian Industry, the Italian Federation of the Chemical Industry and the Italian Electrical Association. The company also actively participates in the Responsible Care Programme and SET (Emergency Transport Service).

Indispensable for modern living Sulphuric acid is the most widely used base chemical in the industrial world, a compound that is commonly used as the catalyser in

Industry Europe 19

chemical processes such as alkylation, sulphonation, nitration, and oil refining. It is used in almost all manufacturing processes, particularly the production of pigments, fertilisers and plastics.

Sulphuric acid has many applications both in laboratories and in industries including fertiliser production, mineral treatment, chemical synthesis, oil refining, wastewater treatment as well as in iron and steel production.

It is also used in the food industry, textiles, paper mills, detergents, car battery production, the pharmaceutical industry, in paints and pigments, pesticides, resins and silicone plastics, and in glassworks.

With two manufacturing plants in Scarlino (Grosseto) and Serravalle Scrivia (Alessandria), Nuova Solmine is the largest producer of sulphuric acid in Italy, with around 670,000 tonnes produced every year. The company also produces around 110,000 tonnes of oleum a year; complementary products are demineralized water, steam and electricity.

Modern base The company’s main operational facility is the Scarlino plant, spread over some 140 hectares, with an annual capacity of approximately 600,000 tonnes. The plant is classified as a ‘basic inorganic chemistry’ industrial process and falls within the category of high-accident risk processing plants as it stocks fuming sulphuric acid – oleum that contains free SO3.

The Scarlino site has a direct pipeline connected to a pier for charging vessels, as well as a railway junction for acid and oleum to be transported by train in special containers to the company’s clients.

The other, smaller production plant is in Serravalle Scrivia and produces approximately 75,000 tonnes of sulphuric acid and oleum per annum through the treatment of waste containing sulphur and by regenerating spent acid.

20 Industry Europe

CHEMICALS & BIOCHEMICALS

Scrivia is the only plant in Italy to work on the heat treatment of liquid and solid waste containing sulphur. Spent sulphuric acid is also regenerated here.

In addition to its own production, Nuova Solmine also buys sulphuric acid from both domestic and foreign producers as needed by its customers, giving a total product availability of about 1 million tonnes/year.

further projects in compliance with Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles, with the aim of accelerating the sustainability process of the Tuscan company, making it a point of reference for the territory. We have projects in the research phase for the development n of electromobility and the production of green hydrogen.”

New partnership Aware of the growing focus on sustainability and CO2 reduction, the company has taken active steps to make its production more environmentally friendly. Nuova Solmine has just recently partnered with Enel Group’s innovation arm Enel X on a project to capture excess thermal energy and transform it into emissions-free electricity.

The initiative will see the design and installation of an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) plant in a sulphuric acid production facility, which the companies say will be the first of its kind; an approach that will save up to 75,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions over the 20-year life of the plant.

Electricity production from similar technologies was piloted last year in Canada by Siemens Energy and TC Energy Corporation. The waste heat-to-power facility uses an advanced Rankine cycle and supercritical carbon dioxide as the working fluid to convert waste heat into power.

Luigi Mansi, President of Nuova Solmine, said: “The synergy between Enel X and Nuova Solmine will lead to the implementation of

Industry Europe 21

NEWS

New developments in the Chemicals & Biochemicals

Borealis receives €810m binding offer for its nitrogen business

A

ustrian chemical company Borealis has received a binding offer from Czech conglomerate Agrofert for the acquisition of Borealis’ nitrogen business.

Borealis, one of the world’s leading providers of advanced and circular polyolefin solutions and a European market leader in base chemicals, fertilisers and the mechanical recycling of plastics, has received a binding offer from Agrofert for the acquisition of Borealis’ nitrogen business including fertiliser, melamine and technical nitrogen products.

The offer values the business on an enterprise value basis at €810 million.

Agrofert is a Czech-based group active in a number of industries in Central Europe, with activities spanning from chemicals and agriculture to food production. Generating a consolidated turnover of €7.5 billion in 2021, the group comprises more than 200 companies and employs approximately 31,000 people.

Agrofert is also one of the leading European nitrogen fertiliser producers, with manufacturing facilities in Germany, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia.

By adding Borealis’ production assets in Austria, Germany and France as well as a comprehensive sales and distribution network utilising the Danube River, this business combination would well complement Agrofert's existing capabilities in serving its customers across Europe.

Borealis will initiate mandatory information and consultation procedures with employee representatives shortly. The transaction is also subject to certain closing conditions and regulatory approvals, with closing expected for the second half of 2022.

Borealis will continue to focus on its core activities of providing innovative and sustainable solutions in the fields of polyolefins and base chemicals and on the transformation towards a circular economy.

Visit: www.borealisgroup.com

Biodegradable bamboo wet wipes could tackle plastic pollution

by Ash Jones

A

new type of biodegradable wet wipe has been unveiled at the Interclean Amsterdam 2022 event which could help address one of the most underappreciated causes of plastic pollution.

Koala Wipes, created by the aptly named Hygiene Company, is looking to tackle the mounting problem of wet wipe pollution by ditching the plastic containers, which will likely end up in a landfill in favour of an environmentally-friendly alternative that can be reused.

Every aspect of the wet wipe's design, from the wipes themselves to the bag to its container, is designed to be sustainable. The bag is made from recycled plastic and the box the wipes are stored in is both reusable and made from recycled materials.

The wipes themselves are made from either bamboo or wood pulp and viscose and are also biodegradable, which allows them to be disposed of without risk of long-term harm to the environment.

Wet wipes are terrible for the planet. Typically made out of plastic or fabric and stuffed into a plastic container, they are one of the leading causes of modern plastic pollution - and it is particularly problematic in the UK. 22 Industry Europe

The Guardian reported in November 2021 that "islands" formed by wet wipes were clogging and changing the shapes of rivers which led to discussions in the House of Commons over banning their sale.

The problem comes when wet wipes, which are often used as toiletries, are flushed. A 2017 report from Water UK revealed that an influx of flushed wipes has caused sewer blockages, also known as 'fatbergs', and there have been campaigns by environmental groups such as Friends of the Earth to discourage people from using them.

The same Water UK reports that 90% of sewer blockages involved wet wipes.

The plastic containers are also often disposed of in landfills. Being made of plastic they take thousands of years to biodegrade.

Because of this, the Hygiene Company has always valued reusable containers for its wipes, although changing industry trends have facilitated it to shift away from using plastic dispensers.

The company's founder Johnathan Bradford admits he is "still amazed by the number of manufacturers and customers who use wet wipes packaged in unsustainable plastic tubs and buckets".

When compared to its plastic counterparts, once disposed of, the cardboard container can decompose in a matter of months.

To ensure the wipes remain fresh and moist within the cardboard dispenser, Koala Wipes are contained in a sealed bag that is both biodegradable and recyclable.

The firm also claims the wipes are "better for your skin" than traditional wet wipes due to some of the ingredients packed into the wipes that make them soft, antimicrobial, and hypoallergenic.

They are also thicker than typical wipes.

"By launching Koala Wipes, we look towards a brighter future that doesn’t abuse the planet, while inspiring individuals and businesses to make eco-conscious choices for a healthier lifestyle", Bradford added.

Visit: https://koalawipes.co.uk

CHEMICALS & BIOCHEMICALS NEWS

INDUSTRYNEWS Danone & LanzaTech to turn captured carbon into plastic bottles

by Steven Gislam

A

consortium of companies including sustainable fuel company LanzaTech and food giant Danone has discovered a new method for the production of monoethylene glycol (MEG), a key component for making sustainable PET plastics, resin, fibres, and bottles.

The carbon capture technology uses a specially engineered bacterium to convert carbon emissions directly into MEG through fermentation. This bypasses the need for an ethanol intermediate and simplifies the MEG supply chain.

The technology converts carbon emissions sequestered from steel mills or gasified waste biomass directly into MEG. Then, the carbon capture tech uses a specially engineered bacterium to convert carbon emissions directly into MEG through fermentation, bypassing the need for an ethanol intermediate, and simplifying the MEG supply chain.

The companies say that the process has been proven and verified on a laboratory scale.

While no known natural organism produces MEG, through this proof-of-concept stage, LanzaTech has used synthetic biology and AI to discover several novel pathways to make MEG directly from carbon emissions. By combining and prototyping various sets of enzymes identified from different sources in novel ways, LanzaTech has managed to reprogramme its ethanol-producing bacteria to fix and channel carbon into MEG. By producing MEG directly, the new technology cuts down the number of processing steps required to convert ethanol into ethylene, then ethylene oxide and then to MEG. LanzaTech anticipates that when scaled successfully after a multiyear development phase, the direct production process will lead to PET bottles and PET fibres with a reduced environmental impact.

"We have made a breakthrough in the production of sustainable PET that has vast potential to reduce the overall environmental impact of the process," said Dr Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech.

"This is a technological breakthrough which could have a significant impact, with applications in multiple sectors, including packaging and textiles."

LanzaTech said in a statement that it would be continuing its partnerships with other firms to make packaging more sustainable and reduce its impact on the environment, adding that this proof-of-concept phase would lead to a scalingup phase of the direct-to-MEG tech.

"We have been working with LanzaTech for years and strongly believe in the long-term capacity of this technology to become a game-changer in the way to manage sustainable packaging materials production. This technological collaboration is a key enabler to accelerate the development of this promising technology," said Pascal Chapon, Danone R&I Advanced Techno Materials Director.

Visit: www.danone.com

Compost worms could help reclaim brownfield sites

by Ash Jones

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rownfield sites are a prime area for redevelopment, either by providing land for new renewable energy projects or space for new buildings, and a Washington State-based chemicals company has come up with a simple but clever way to remediate them.

Organix, Inc is planning to deploy billion of worms at a dairy wastewater site in Walla Walla in the hopes that worms, which are often used in composting, can help absorb the toxic chemicals and organic waste that is often left behind in similar land.

After 18 months of action, the filter has left behind thousands of yards of land in need of cleaning up, which is where the worms come in.

Following the composting, the owners of the land can then "amend" the soil, allowing it to be used for other developments as if it had never been previously built on.

“There is no question among the scientific community; vermiremediation always works at some level,” claims Russ Davis, President of Organix.

“The goal is to determine what the potential is and define the methodologies and protocols required to maximise effectiveness at a commercial scale for remediation.

"It’s hard to get much greener than worms for soil remediation – worms are a primary contributor to what makes soil biologically viable,” he added.

The US Federal Government is looking into greener methods for remediation - or remedying of land. In early 2022 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) updated its guidelines on the process, which can stop potential harmful chemicals, or other kinds of dangers leftover from industrial use, from affecting local communities.

Remediation simply refers to removing harmful substances from anything following use, be it land, water or sediment. It is considered a vital step in helping reclaim the land or use or stopping it from harming local ecosystems.

Brownfield sites have long been touted as a prime area for redevelopment and could provide crucial land in the energy transition for the construction of new onshore renewable energy projects.

The most common types of brownfield sites include disused factories, landfills and petrol or gas stations.

Early trials conducted by Organix suggest as many as 95-98% of Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) - a toxin banned in the US in 1978 - are removed from wastewater by the process. Further trials are expected to test its viability.

The firm currently boasts "20,000 yards of vermisubstrate" across its operations and claims to have processed around 4 billion tonnes of organic material since its founding in 2001.

"Vermi" is short form for vermiform, meaning worm and substrate being the base for which the worms live, in this case, soil.

“Our goal is to determine how many contaminants we can either break down, sequester, contain, or control. Aside from PCBs, we are also targeting various hydrocarbons," Davis added.

The firm typically uses two methods to remove toxins from wastewater: using the worms in a biofilter or employing vermisubstrate taken from a non-polluted source.

The firm ultimately hopes this type of remediation can be used on a larger scale to prepare brownfield sites for redevelopment. This will also allow sites to be remediated, which could lead to even more land available for reuse within a timely manner Industry Europe 23

NEWS

New developments in the Chemicals & Biochemicals

Using satellites & AI to measure plastic pollution

by Steven Gislam

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lastic pollution has become one of the most urgent threats facing the planet, presenting a threat to the health of humans and animals alike.

Now, in a world first, a new digital platform has been developed by Australian non-profit Minderoo Foundation that maps out plastic pollution across the globe in near real-time.

Global Plastic Watch combines artificial intelligence and remote sensing satellite imaging to create an open-source, high-resolution map of plastic pollution with the aim of enabling authorities to better manage it and prevent plastic leakage into marine environments.

The digital tool uses freely available data from the European Space Agency and a specially-designed machine learning model created in collaboration with Earthrise Media, an environmental digital product agency to determine the size and scale of land-based plastic waste sites, itself a major contributor to the rapidly growing problem of it ending up in rivers and oceans.

It is estimated that between 8 and 14 million tonnes of plastic waste end up in the oceans every year, and the data gathered by the project is probably the most authoritative insight into the problem.

So far, the project has detected over 2,800 sites in 25 countries including all of South-East Asia, Australia, and the top 20 countries in annual plastic leakage into the oceans according to the scientific publication Science Advances.

Dr Andrew Forrest AO, Chairman and Co-Founder of the Minderoo Foundation said that data and transparency were important tools in the battle against plastic waste, however it has been difficult to accurately identify and measure its build up in a systematic way, until now. Most data currently comes from estimations and modelling data.

24 Industry Europe

“Generally, the world has no idea how dangerous plastic waste is to the organic environment, particularly humans. The destination for every piece of plastic is nano-plastic, which has both poisonous and cutting attributes able to mutilate cells and even penetrate the human blood-brain barrier,” Dr Forrest said.

“Preventing illegal and legal plastic waste stockpiles entering the oceanic environment is critical to limit this harm. Once in the ocean, through both mixing, absorption and ingestion by animals, this plastic will officially enter the human environment.”

The tool is aimed at providing support to country-level efforts to understand the scale and effects of land-based plastic waste sites.

Many of the sites mapped by Global Plastic Watch were hitherto undocumented and Dr Fabian Laurier, Lead for Technology and Innovation, and Ocean Conservation at Minderoo Foundation, said that the number of sites is far higher than expected. It also found that 22.1% of the sites are located within 250 metres of a waterway, with 8.1% being within 100 metres.

“We know that land-based leakage contributes up to 91 per cent of the plastic waste that enters the ocean,” Dr Laurier said. “Global Plastic Watch has revealed that many large-scale waste sites across the first 25 countries we have mapped were previously undocumented and the number of sites is much higher than expected.

Minderoo Foundation is working with the government of Indonesia to increase its recycling capacity to double recycling rates through developing capacity for an additional one million tonnes per year by 2025.

Dr Nani Hendiarti, Deputy for Environment and Forestry Management Coordination, Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Indonesia, welcomed the launch.

“Global Plastic Watch is very helpful for identifying undocumented or illegal waste dump sites in Indonesia,” Dr Hendiarti said. “That has enabled us to prioritise areas in need of better waste management policies and actions. Therefore, it plays an integral role in accelerating the government’s waste management achievements across all regions in the country.”

Global Plastic Watch comes almost a year after Minderoo released the Plastic Waste Makers Index which found that 20 companies were responsible for more than half of the world’s plastic pollution.

It is projected that the world will see an increase in single-use plastic production of 30% over the next five years. Minderoo has predicted that such an increase will lead to another three trillion items of disposable plastic waste by 2025.

Earlier this year, researchers at the UK’s Hull York Medical School found microplastics in human lungs for the first time. A similar study by Dutch researchers this year found microplastics in human blood. Microplastics are defined as being less than 5mm in dimension, with many being invisible to the naked eye. They are formed as larger plastic items slowly degrade and break apart in the natural environment.

Global Plastic Watch says that it will continue working with partners and refining the AI to further improve accuracy and expand coverage to new sites and countries throughout the year.

Visit: www.minderoo.org

CHEMICALS & BIOCHEMICALS NEWS

INDUSTRYNEWS

ALPLA unveils long-life ‘returnable’ plastic bottles

by Ash Jones

A

s the battle to tackle plastic waste rages on, ALPLA has teamed up with Austrian mineral water company Vöslauer to create a lightweight “returnable” plastic bottle, reportedly developed with 30% fewer emissions - the first of its kind in the country.

Weighing in at just 55 grams, the litre bottle has been designed to save on resources during production, which could decrease the potential environmental harm from each bottle.

The new bottles, each of which comes marked with the Austrian Ecolabel, continues the partnership between the two Austrian firms that has been going since at least 2018, when the pair launched a plastic bottle made entirely of recycled plastic.

It was first unveiled to Austria’s Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler and Alexander Egit, Managing Director of Greenpeace in Central and Eastern Europe on April 20, 2022.

Reducing material use has slimmed the bottles down by around 90% when compared to their glass-based alternatives.

By making the switch from its traditional bottle line, it is estimated that Vöslauer could save approximately 400 tonnes of material per year and reduce its carbon emissions by around 420 tonnes.

“Returnable bottles” typically refer to bottles that can be returned to a retailer to allow for the bottles to be recycled, which would be confirmed with the return of a deposit placed when the bottle was purchased.

A similar scheme has been in place in Germany for several years, where customers pay a €0.25 levy on plastic bottles purchased from retailers, which is returned when the bottle is. Through similar schemes, these bottles will be returned to ALPLA. In Austria, some form of this scheme has been in place since 1990 - specifically targeting refillable plastic bottles - with a 2021 government bill extending this to single-use plastics.

The light weight of the bottles also allows for more to be transported at once. The firm claims that “at least 30%” of the plastic used in the bottle can be salvaged during the recycling process.

It also estimates a single bottle could go through around 12 use cycles, giving it a cumulative shelf life of three-to-four years on average.

These types of bottles are apparently in demand in Austria, which styles itself as a hotbed for plastic recycling.

Vöslauer’s two managing directors, Birgit Aichinger and Herbert Schlossnikl suggest the “majority of Austrians want to see returnable containers on the supermarket shelves.”

They confirmed the new returnable bottle will replace the firm’s previous one-litre two-way plastic bottle that was purchased with a similar levy.

“Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is the environmentally sensible addition... We are the first company in Austria to create a light and practical alternative,” they added.

PET plastics are the most common type of thermoplastic in circulation today. It is also by far the easiest to recycle as it involves being broken down with chemicals.

So-called “conscious consumption,” in which people are more likely to take sustainability into account when deciding on which brands to buy

from, has been on the rise in recent years. This has only been increased by the coronavirus pandemic, which saw both health-conscious and environmentally conscious thought increase amongst the general population.

Industry Europe spoke with analyst firm Accenture about this very phenomenon back in May 2021.

“People want to consume sustainably,” said ALPLA’s managing director for Central and Eastern Europe, Rainer Widmar, who claims that despite it being the “optimal solution” for the packaging sector, “there wasn’t a single product of this kind in the Austrian market until now.”

“The returnable bottle illustrates how demand, a sense of responsibility, a hunger for innovation and technological expertise can aid in sustainability,” he added.

ALPLA is looking at expanding its recycling throughput in Europe, and following its acquisition of Texplast, is looking to recycle around 75,000 tonnes of plastic bottles per year in Germany alone.

Much of the world’s plastic ends up in the world’s oceans, where it can be incredibly difficult to reclaim.

Until better solutions are developed, it may simply be better to control where the plastic bottles used by consumers end up to prevent the potential harm to marine ecosystems that plastic waste presents.

Visit: www.alpla.com

Industry Europe 25

NEWS

New developments in the Construction & Engineering

Could wood replace steel in wind tower production?

by Steven Gislam

A

new partnership between forest products specialist Stora Enso and Swedish wood technology company Modvion is looking to establish wood as the go-to material for wind turbine towers, at a time when the EU is pushing to simplify the permitting process for renewables projects and reach its climate goals.

Modvion builds wind turbine towers using laminated veneer lumber (LVL), which proportionate to its weight is stronger than steel, and of which Stora is a major supplier.

The Finnish company is one of the world's largest private forest owners with forest assets of around €8 billion. Last week, Stora Enso was ranked joint second place in Europe for biodiversity reporting in the Ecogain Biodiversity Index.

Modvion wind towers are built using lightweight modules allowing for easier transportation on public roads, requiring no special permit requirements for highways, and crucially, enabling the construction of taller towers. Taller towers reach stronger winds, which means more cost-efficient energy production.

According to a UN Food and Agriculture Organization (UNECE) report from November 2021, the lockdowns of the pandemic were an "opportunity for people to gain a greater appreciation of forests and their diverse roles and benefits."

"For many, experiencing nature and rediscovering forests and their possibilities has been one of the most positive effects of the pandemic," the report said.

Also, with both time and money not otherwise being spent elsewhere, many people turned to DIY and home repairs, with the construction sector performing strongly and the demand for wood products recovering quickly after Q1 2020.

Wood as a construction material is also gaining more appreciation in recent years, thanks to its inherently sustainable nature, absorbing and storing CO2 as it grows. It can also easily be reused in other wood-based products.

The idea of using wood in the construction of satellites is even being looked at in Japan in a bid to cut down on space junk.

"We are proud to enter into partnership with Modvion who, like us, strive to push boundaries and demonstrate the possibilities with wood," said Lars Völkel, Executive Vice President of Division Wood Products at Stora Enso.

"As one of the largest sawn wood producers and private forest owners in the world, we play an important role in the transformation to a greener society. By contributing our expertise to Modvion we can further help make a difference in mitigating

climate change and supporting the EU's drive to increase renewable energy production."

The partnership comes in the context of an energy crisis in Europe and an unprecedented scramble to diversify supplies and decarbonise.

While the number of new wind farm installations across the EU is rising, in a 22 February open letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson and the CEOs of five wind turbine manufacturers claimed that the bloc was lagging well behind if it was to meet its own climate targets.

Two days after the letter was sent, Russia ordered its troops into Ukraine, sending already record-high energy prices skyrocketing, and hitting home the heavy reliance that many countries such as Germany and Italy have on oil and gas from Moscow.

Last week, the European Commission unveiled its REPowerEU strategy to reduce and ultimately eliminate Russian oil and gas from the bloc's energy mix by 2027. One of the ways Brussels aims to do that is by relaxing permitting processes and reducing red tape around the development of new renewables projects.

If the Commission's plans go ahead, wooden wind turbine towers could become a common sight in Europe and beyond.

"To solve the climate crisis, we need more renewable energy as well as increased use of sustainable, wooden constructions. Together with Stora Enso, we can enable both," said Otto Lundman, the CEO of Modvion.

Visit: www.storaenso.com

Husqvarna to acquire German tool producer

by Romana Moares

H

usqvarna’s Construction division, a producer of machinery and diamond tools for the construction and stone industries, is to acquire German diamond tool manufacturer Heger.

Founded in 1908, Heger has its headquarters and manufacturing facility in Heitersheim, Germany, as well as sales offices in Germany and the Netherlands.

It employs 45 people and generates annual sales of around €9 million. Heger supplies wall, floor and road sawing equipment to contractors in Europe.

Henric Andersson, President and CEO of Husqvarna Group, said; "The acquisition of Heger will strengthen and complement our core Concrete Sawing & Drilling business in Central Europe."

Karin Falk, President of Husqvarna’s Construction division, said Heger’s short delivery times and high-performance products "will add significant value to our offer to customers in the Central European diamond tools market and fits well into our growth strategy.

26 Industry Europe

"Our combined strengths create an excellent platform for further growth in the diamond tools market for professional contractors."

The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of this year.

Visit: www.husqvarnagroup.com

CONSTRUCTION & ENGINEERING NEWS

INDUSTRYNEWS Construction group FIEC calls for European bridge mandate

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urope needs a common approach to bridge safety inspections to prevent collapses and closures, according to the European Construction Industry Federation (FIEC).

The Federation specifically called for an update to the EU's TransEuropean Transport Network (TEN-T) policy. FIEC argued that a common European approach for inspections and quality ratings for TEN-T infrastructure should be developed, whereby individual nation-states are held accountable for bridge maintenance.

FIEC said that the revision of the TEN-T Regulation should "contain concrete obligations for Member States to invest in the maintenance of existing parts of the network".

TEN-T is an EU-backed transport network covering roads, railways, airports and water infrastructure across the bloc. It aims to improve transport connections for people and goods throughout the continent and to encourage sustainable mobility in the bloc by encouraging a shift from road to rail.

FIEC made the calls for an update to TEN-T at last week's Bridge Maintenance & Safety in Europe Conference, where it also reiterated its concerns regarding the threats posed by ageing infrastructure, in particular bridges.

"The overall lack of proper level of investment in maintenance of infrastructure has led to the deterioration of transport infrastructure as demonstrated by the collapse or frequent closure of bridges", it said in a statement.

"It is crucial to guarantee the funding of infrastructure maintenance by earmarking specific tax revenues, mobilising grants, implementing road pricing schemes or exploring public-private partnerships (PPP), and to adapt project contracting to include maintenance activities".

It also pointed out that continuous maintenance of existing infrastructure is necessary to ensure the quality level of the TEN-T network remains of an adequate standard.

Regular maintenance can also contribute to the circular economy in the sector by prolonging the infrastructure's lifetime and therefore reducing consumption of raw materials, waste generation, and cutting CO2 emissions.

FIEC is made up of 32 industry bodies across the 24 EU member states, plus Norway, Switzerland and Ukraine, as well as construction companies of all sizes that carry out building and civil engineering activities.

Engineers develop new 3D printing method

by Ash Jones

A

dvancements in 3D printing have come a long way in recent years, but current limitations in the tech can make the process of printing itself slow. But it doesn't have to be.

A potential new method of 3D printing has been developed by a team of engineers at Stanford and Harvard Universities which involves printing an object within resin that could potentially save time and effort during the printing process.

Typical 3D printing is done by printing layers on top of one another. This new method allows the model to be added to from any angle, which could save significant amounts of time and materials.

This removes the need for support structures during printing and makes it easier to print more intricate designs.

“The ability to do this volumetric printing enables you to print objects that were previously very difficult,” said Dan Congreve, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at Stanford.

“It’s a very exciting opportunity for threedimensional printing going forward.”

A 3D printed boat figurine made during the trial.

The process involves using a laser into a gelatinous resin which hardens on contact with blue light, but the team couldn't shine a blue laser into the mixture as it would cure along the length of the beam. Instead, they had to use a red laser and use nanomatter scattered through the resin to disguise the light.

Congreve's team specialises in converting a wave of light into another, so the process was relatively simple for them to conduct.

The team is currently exploring ways to refine the printing process so it can be used for larger and more intricate designs, as well as looking into whether they can use multiple lasers at once to speed the process up further.

The team also say nanomaterials could see use outside of 3D printing as well, such as in making solar panels more efficient.

By creating low-energy light solar cells can collect, helping researchers study biological models triggered by light, or even aiding in the delivery of localised treatments into the human body.

“You could penetrate tissue with infrared light and then turn that infrared light into highenergy light with this upconversion technique to, for example, drive a chemical reaction,” Congreve added.

“Our ability to control materials at the nanoscale gives us a lot of really cool opportunities to solve challenging problems that are otherwise difficult to approach.”

Industry Europe 27

NEWS

New developments in the Construction & Engineering

China is going to 3D print a dam with AI-controlled robots

by Ash Jones

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hina is set to push industrial engineering to its limit by 3D printing a 590-foot dam in Tibet using robots that could provide up to 5 billion kilowatt-hours of hydro electricity per year - and the entire process is set to be automated using artificial intelligence.

The team of engineers behind the projects are set to put the hypothesis of a recent research paper to the test, with the planned construction of the Yangqu plant expected to last around two years.

3D printing has been used for some crazy things in the past: printing prostheses, medical implants, organs, and even food or, more ambitiously, houses. But this new project, if it goes through, could really put the technology to the test.

The news, which was first broken by the South China Morning Post, claims the entire project is set to be unmanned and that everything, from the printers, to the bulldozers, pavers and rollers, will be autonomously controlled by AI. Sensors on the bulldozers will allow the AI to monitor the stability of the structure as it is printed. Like most other types of 3D printing, it will be printed in layers.

For the entire printing process, unmanned machinery is set to deliver materials to the construction site. This could, as the paper reports, remove “human error” from the equation.

When complete, the dam will be nearly half as tall as the world’s tallest dam, the Nurek Dam in Tajikistan, which clocks in at a whopping 300

metres (984 feet). Arguably the most famous dam in the world, the Hoover Dam, located in Nevada, is around 221 metres (726 feet) fall and the structure could last for around 10,000 years.

Not much information about the logistics or specifics of the dam has been revealed yet and construction has not begun.

The idea of automating huge structures such as this forms one of the key pillars of Industry 4.0 and using robots to replace humans in jobs that are potentially dangerous or where human error could cause a chain reaction.

However, this has also seen significant backlash, with critics arguing that robots replacing humans could lead to higher levels of unemployment or requiring significant reskilling initiatives.

Milestone for world’s longest rail tunnel under construction beneath Alps

by Steven Gislam

I

talian construction and civil engineering group Webuild has announced the completion of a 24.1 km tunnel through the southeastern Alps, part of what is set to become the longest railway tunnel in the world.

The Brenner Base Tunnel (BBT), named after the mountainous pass that it is built beneath, will connect the town of Fortezza, Italy, with Innsbruck in Austria.

When complete, the BBT will connect with an existing Austrian tunnel to form the total 64 km

28 Industry Europe

tunnel length, which developers say will slash journey times between the two places by 70% from 80 to 25 minutes.

In addition to high-speed rail trains, the project will also incorporate a 230 km (143 miles) network of tunnels and spaces, 151 km (94 miles) of which have already been excavated. These tunnels, the deepest of which lies 1,700 km below the mountain peaks, will carry passenger trains at speeds of up to 250 km/h (155 mph) and cargo trains at 160 km/h (100 mph).

“A breakthrough in a challenging stretch of excavation is always something to celebrate. And excavation using drilling and blasting is a significant challenge. We thank the miners and our employees for their exceptional work”, said BBT CEOs Martin Gradnitzer and Gilberto Cardola.

“Linking up these two construction sites to create a larger construction area, we have reached an important milestone in the construction of the BBT infrastructure project.”

The project is part of the EU’s Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), the high-speed/highcapacity network which aims to improve transport connections for people and goods throughout the continent and to encourage sustainable mobility in the bloc by encouraging a shift from road to rail.

The Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor, of which the BBT will be a part, is set to connect the transport system between the port of Narvik in Northern Norway and Valletta in Malta.

Webuild is more heavily involved in the construction of the BBT than any other firm and is currently working on four lots for the project, employing as many as 1600 workers.

One of the most difficult aspects of tunnelling beneath the Alps is crossing the Periadriatic Sea, an S-shaped, 1000 km long geological fault running from the Tyrrhenian Sea to Hungary.

The company is working on a total of 15 TEN-T projects in its native Italy, comprising around 500 km (310 miles) of roads and rail lines connecting Calabria, Puglia and Sicily.

CONSTRUCTION & ENGINEERING NEWS

INDUSTRYNEWS Cement giant to face charges of complicity in crimes against humanity in Syria

by Steven Gislam

A

French court of appeal has issued a precedent-setting ruling that global cement giant Lafarge must face charges of “complicity in crimes against humanity” in Syria during the height of the country’s brutal civil war.

The ruling is the latest development in the long-running legal case - about to enter its sixth year - and has caused a public storm in France.

Lafarge is a flagship of French industry and the court ruling marks the first time that a company, as a public entity, has faced charges of such magnitude in the country.

The case revolves around the Ar-Raqqah cement plant in Jalabiya, in northeast Syria.

Lafarge had invested €680 million in the facility, which opened in 2010, just a year before the civil war broke out, and which remained operational for more than three years after - a long time after all its western counterparts had left.

Other charges of “endangerment of the lives of others” were also upheld by the court, pertaining to €13 million that was allegedly transferred via middlemen to ISIS and other jihadist groups in 2013 and 2014 in return for the factory staying open.

It is also alledged that Lafarge bought raw materials from various extremist groups, and negotiated safe passage for its workers as part of the deal.

Despite this, nine factory employees were taken hostage in 2012, for which the company then paid an alleged €200,000 in ransom money.

In 2014, the cement maker finally left Syria after ISIS seized the facility.

Lafarge contends that it has no responsibility for the money-making its way into the hands of terrorist organisations.

The payments preceded Lafarge’s €41 billion merger with Switzerland’s Holcim in 2015, which made it the world’s largest cement company.

“We strongly disagree with the Court of Appeal’s decision to retain complicity in crimes against humanity within the scope of the investigation of Lafarge SA,” said the Holcim Group in a statement, adding that the company intends to appeal against the decision in the French supreme court.

The investigation into Lafarge’s Syrian activities was first launched in 2017 after criminal complaints were made by 11 former employees of the plant and two NGOs, Sherpa and the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR).

In 2019, the charges of “complicity in crimes against humanity” were rejected by an appeals court, though the other charges were upheld. In September 2021, the French supreme court set a legal precedent by ruling that knowingly transferring large sums of money to an exclusively criminal organisation was sufficient to constitute complicity, regardless of commercial interests.

“One can be complicit in crimes against humanity even if one doesn’t have the intention of being associated with the crimes committed,” the ruling stated.

“Knowingly paying several million dollars to an organisation whose sole purpose was exclusively criminal suffices to constitute complicity, regardless of whether the party concerned was acting to pursue a commercial activity.”

It does not mean however that the firm will automatically face a trial. The court instead referred the matter back to investigating magistrates to reconsider the charge as well as the other charge of “endangering the lives of others”.

“This ruling should be a strong wake-up call for companies doing business in conflict zones.

Companies can no longer justify their involvement in criminal actions for financial reasons. If they enable or fuel crimes – even if they only pursue commercial purposes – they might be complicit and should be held accountable”, said Cannelle Lavite, co-director of ECCHR’s business and human rights program.

Visit: www.aggregate.com

Implenia wins €94m tunnel contract in Stockholm S wiss construction company Implenia has been awarded a major contract to design and build a tunnel for the Stockholm metro in Sweden.

The rock tunnel consists of approximately 2,000 metres of track tunnel and a 500-metre-long underground parking area for trains. It is being built in a densely populated urban area, close to other railway tracks using blasting technology.

Implenia will also equip the tunnel with the required installations for electrical and telecommunication systems, control systems, ventilation and fire sprinklers.

“We are very proud of being chosen for this large, complex and multidisciplinary infrastructure project, fully in line with our strategy,” said Christian Späth, Head Division Civil Engineering and member of the Implenia Executive Committee.

“We are looking forward to a fruitful collaboration on the project and are glad to bring in our longstanding tunnelling expertise as well as our skills in project management and sustainability.”

Implenia will plan and build the tunnel according to CEEQUAL sustainability standards, one of the client’s requirements. Planning and realisation will be based on a BIM model (building information modelling) and delivered using the Lean Construction method.

Visit: implenia.com

Visualisation of the BIM model of the connecting tunnel for the Stockholm metro

Industry Europe 29

US-based Avery Dennison is a specialist in the design and manufacture of a wide variety of labelling and functional materials, delivering intelligent solutions with the utmost respect for the environment. Romana Moares reports.

LEADER IN

MATERIALS SCIENCE

30 Industry Europe

CONSUMER GOODS

T

he original Avery company was founded in Los Angeles in 1935

by Ray Stanton Avery, the inventor of the world’s first selfadhesive label for object merchandising. Fifty-five years later, in 1990, the company merged with Dennison Manufacturing to form Avery Dennison.

Over the past eight decades, the company has grown from a single bright idea into a global Fortune 500® corporation that continues to advance quality and innovation in materials science. Today, Avery Dennison employs over 35,000 employees in more than 50 countries. In 2021, the company achieved $8.4 billion in sales.

Avery Dennison’s products include pressure-sensitive materials for labels and graphic applications; tapes and other bonding solutions for industrial, medical, and retail applications; tags, labels and embellishments for apparel; and radio frequency identification (RFID) solutions serving retail apparel and other markets.

The company’s labelling and functional materials enhance branded packaging, carry or display information that connects the physical and the digital and improve customers’ product performance. They are used in nearly every major industry worldwide, including home and personal care, apparel, e-commerce, logistics, food and grocery, pharmaceuticals and automotive.

Sustainable solutions – strategic priority Innovation focused on sustainable solutions has long been a key strategic priority of the company. In its 2030 Sustainability Goals, Avery Dennison announced that 100% of its standard products will contain recycled or renewable content by 2030. The company is also working toward a goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.

Last year, the company intensified its focus on sustainability and development of eco-friendly materials. Innovative launches include Avery Dennison’s WB0030 wash-off adhesive that has been approved by bottle deposit systems Returpack in Sweden and Infinitum in Norway for recycling PET bottles.

The label performs like any other conventional PP label and offers resistance against water whitening as well as printing performance with TC7007 topcoat. However, the adhesive washes off in a 65 0C caustic bath and leaves no residue behind. Any adhesive that remains on the label does not reactivate at lower temperatures.

Another product, C4500, has achieved BioPreferred Certification from the USDA (US Department of Agriculture). This new hot-melt adhesive offers brands new opportunities to promote sustainable packaging to their customers by replacing petroleumderived products with renewable agricultural resources. Engi-

Industry Europe 31

neered for cold temperature performance, the new adhesive is suitable for a broad range of food and beverage applications, including cold packaging, fresh meats, weigh scale, cheeses and functional beverages.

However, it is not only about new product development – Avery Dennison’s environmental activities have a far wider reach: early this year, the company launched AD Stretch, a first-in-the-labels-industry programme aimed at partnering with start-up innovators to solve key challenges and create new opportunities within sustainability, customer experience and value chains.

32 Industry Europe

The programme will be launched by regional cohorts starting in Asia Pacific and Latin America, then rolling out in Europe and the US later this year. The core themes will focus on connecting consumers to brands through new experiences, creating sustainable, responsible and efficient (SRE) value chains and the development of materials and packaging 2.0.

Growing in challenging times In addition to new product development, the company has also invested heavily in business expansion – during 2021 Avery Den-

CONSUMER GOODS

nison deployed $1.48 billion for acquisitions. New companies acquired include Vestcom, a market-leading provider of pricing and branded labelling solutions; TexTrace, an innovator in integrated RFID products; and Rietveld, a leading full-service provider of embellishment solutions and application and printing methods for performance brands and team sports in Europe.

All through 2021, the company continued to manage a dynamic supply and demand environment and to leverage its global scale and work closely with customers and suppliers to minimize disruptions caused by materials, freight and labour availability constraints.

These efforts were reflected in outstanding financial results. Mitch Butier, Chairman, President and CEO of Avery Dennison summarised the company’s performance: “2021 marked the company’s tenth consecutive year of strong top- and bottom-line growth. We delivered 19% revenue growth on a constant currency basis and 25% adjusted earnings per share growth, while generating record free cash flow.

“Our strong performance comes at a challenging time as the global health crisis continues, supply chains are tight and significant inflationary pressures persist.

“2021 marked an important milestone for the company, as the final year of measurement for the five-year financial targets we com-

municated in early 2017,” he added. “I’m pleased to report that we achieved our long-term goals for this period. I want to thank our entire team for their tireless efforts to keep one another safe while still delivering for all our stakeholders.”

He further affirmed that for 2022, management expects to again deliver strong top- and bottom-line growth and is targeting continued progress toward the company’s 2025 goals. n

Industry Europe 33

34 Industry Europe

CONSUMER GOODS

TIME FOR GLASS

Founded in 1935, Şişecam is one of the largest glass manufacturers, not only in Europe, but throughout the world. With its increased focus on sustainable materials, the company has promising prospects, and has continued its expansion into new markets.

T

urkey-based Şişecam is one of the world’s largest glass producers, with production facilities in 14 countries on four continents, and some 22,000 employees. Founded to meet Turkey’s need for basic glass products, the company has evolved into one of the most powerful industrial conglomerates in the country and a global player in its sector. Şişecam is the only global producer operating in all three key areas of the global glass industry: flat glass, glassware and glass packaging. It ranks among the world’s top two producers in glassware, and among the top five global producers in glass packaging and flat glass. Şişecam is also one of the top three largest producers of soda and is a world leader in chromium chemicals. Additionally, Şişecam has assumed a pioneering role in its mining, energy and recycling business lines.

Combining its deep-rooted experience with a forward-looking vision, Şişecam adds value to all its stakeholders with a peopleoriented and environment-friendly approach, in line with its strategy of sustainable growth that creates value.

Sustainability in investment The last two years, a challenging time for many, have been a period of growth for the Turkish manufacturer, and one that continues. In February 2022, the company announced the acquisition of the Industry Europe 35

Italian Refel company, one of the world’s leading refractory materials manufacturers.

This strategic step was made to ensure its new furnace investments and cold repairs are unaffected by today’s disrupted global supply chain. The Refel acquisition will also further bolster Şişecam’s strategic position in the global glass industry, making Şişecam a major player in the fast-developing and growing refractory industry. Şişecam Chairman of the Board Prof. Dr Ahmet Kırman commented: “The world has entered a period of great change. No country or sector has escaped unscathed after the onset of the global pandemic. This new era is characterised by volatile conditions globally. The ability to adapt effectively to changing conditions is now one of the most important competencies, one that we should all have.”

Emphasising that one of the most critical issues for the timely implementation of glass furnace investments is eliminating the risks

36 Industry Europe

of refractory supply, he stated: “The acquisition of the refractory manufacturer Refel will play a major role in eliminating any supply risks that Şişecam may face in its future glass-manufacturing investments and is clearly in line with Şişecam’s sustainability approach to its investments.”

New facility in Hungary The acquisition was not the only important event cementing the company’s leading position. In March 2022, Şişecam laid the foundation stone of its first European glass packaging facility in Hungary.

Prof. Dr Ahmet Kırman delivered a speech at the ground-breaking ceremony, pointing out that Şişecam records most of its international sales in the European market.

“Europe accounts for a quarter of the total global glass packaging market. This fact offers major opportunities for the rapid develop-

CONSUMER GOODS

ment of the industry and for the expansion of our company’s current production footprint. Şişecam’s positive experience in Hungary to date has played a major role in prioritising the country when planning our glass-packaging production facility investment in Europe.”

The Hungary investment is a product of Şişecam’s vision of valuecreating sustainable growth: “Once complete with a €255 million investment, our Hungarian facility will have an annual production capacity of 330,000 tonnes, responding to the glass-packaging demands of both Hungary and foreign markets across a wide geography, while also boosting Hungary’s exports.”

main component of many different and new applications in the future thanks to its unique transparency, formability, hardness, low cost, widespread availability, and sustainability features.” “Şişecam is boldly taking responsibility and moving forward to protect, empower and transform its ecosystem. This understanding and sense of responsibility underlie Şişecam’s committed efforts for the declaration of 2022 as the International Year of Glass by the UN. We have maintained steady support for this important designation with all our stakeholders and plan to work on further boosting the n global focus on glass.”

Material of the future The company’s growing position reflects current market developments, and its wide-ranging experience, formidable track record and expertise are establishing the foundations to accommodate increased demand.

In a world where the importance of sustainability is increasingly recognised and embraced, the strategic role of glass becomes ever more prominent. 2022 was declared the “International Year of Glass” by the United Nations, with the contribution of Şişecam – at the opening ceremony of the International Year of Glass 2022 held in February in Geneva, Prof. Dr Ahmet Kırman delivered the closing speech.

He said: “Glass promises to be one of the strategic materials of the future with its sustainability-oriented features. There is no doubt that glass, already indispensable in its traditional uses, will be the Industry Europe 37

NEWS

New developments in the Consumer Goods

Animal-free dairy startup plans 2023 launch, secures $28m funding

by Ash Jones

A

s the world continues to shift toward more sustainable living, animal-free dairy startup Imagindairy has secured $15 million in a new funding wave as it seeks to launch its first wave of "guilt-free" dairy products by next year.

Led by investment firm Target Global and the Israeli firm's other major shareholders, the latest round brings its total worth up to $28 million, already making it one of the highest earners in the market for alternative dairy proteins.

Imaginary is one of many recent arrivals looking to tackle ethical and sustainability challenges within the food and beverage sector. Its breadand-butter is the creation of milk proteins using the fermentation of microorganisms - think the creation of gluten in bread.

In essence, it is still nearly identical to milk taken from animals, but without any ethical concerns.

The milk can then be used for a variety of foodstuffs, ranging from raw milk to cheese without directly involving animals. This synthesis of technology and food strongly suggests that people may not need to drastically alter their eating habits to take better care of the world around them.

Imagindairy claims its proteins are not genetically modified (GMO), are cholesterol-free, and possess the same flavour, texture, functionality, and nutritional value as their cow-based counterparts.

It also claims it is a cost-effective way of producing dairy products due to its process supposedly "amplifying protein expression", meaning it can likely make a large amount from a single source.

Objectively speaking, the meat and dairy sectors are actively contributing to global warming.

Agriculture is the leading cause of methane emissions - denser than air and carbon dioxide - and analysis suggests the sector may rival oil and gas giants in terms of emissions produced.

Imagindairy founder Eyal Afergan claims this early success with funding shows that the private sector has faith in the company's vision.

He said the money will help the team make dairy analogues a "day-to-day reality" and will go towards funding its first product launch in 2024.

This second round's earnings will be used primarily in R&D, where the firm will develop a range of dairy products while allowing it to expand its workforce.

“We are excited to be able to back the Imagindairy team who have made incred-

Brussels eyes late 2024 for common phone charger

by Steven Gislam

T

he EU has agreed on a target date of Autumn 2024 for the USB-C to become the common charger for mobile phones, tablets and cameras across the bloc, in a bid to reduce electronic waste.

The practice of including chargers with every new device has long been a source of frustration across the EU, which is looking to cut waste and its environmental impact. The agreement, made between the European Parliament and EU Council, would see the establishment of one single charging solution for all small and medium-sized portable electronic devices.

Regardless of the manufacturer, all mobile phones, tablets, e-readers, earbuds, digital cameras, headphones and headsets, handheld videogame consoles and portable speakers that are rechargeable via a wired cable will have to be equipped with a USB-C port.

There is also a 40-month window after the common charger comes into force allowing for laptops to be adapted to the new requirements.

The proposal also requires that charging speed be harmonised for devices that support fast charging, which means that consumers will charge their electronics at the same speed regardless of the individual charger.

38 Industry Europe

ible inroads in creating dairy products that don't rely on industrialized animal agriculture but offer the same level of functionality and nutrition,” says Shmuel Chafets, Executive Chairman and Founder at Target Global.

“It is becoming increasingly clear that, given the climate crisis and growing shortage of food, our dietary patterns and habits must change.

"Animal-free dairy has the potential to become one of the most environmentally impactful industries on the planet.

"We are strong believers that the Imagindairy team’s vast experience in manufacturing at scale, paired with the cutting-edge technology they have built, will be transformational for this space." Target Global’s contribution to this round marks one of its first investments in the foodtech industry", he added.

Cellular engineering has been used to make a number of foodstuffs, from beef burgers to fish.

Cultured meat, which is grown from animal cells, operates on a similar premise to dairy analogues, by showing that, while reliance on livestock should be severed, it does not mean human pallets have to become blander.

Read more at: www.industryeurope.net

According to a 2019 study by the European Commission, 84% of consumers had experienced phone charger-related problems in the previous two years.

The proposed directive would also require that clear information is available to consumers on the charging capabilities of new devices, and buyers will be given the choice of purchasing new electronics with or without a charger.

It is expected that the measures would encourage the reuse of existing chargers, saving consumers as much as €250 million a year, according to EU figures.

The bloc estimates that around 11,000 tonnes of unused and old chargers are thrown away annually.

There are also provisions allowing the Commission to adapt the directive's scope as new technologies arrive on the market, particularly for wireless charging.

The measures must still be formally approved by both the Parliament and the Council, something not expected to happen until after the summer recess.

Assuming it goes through, the provisions will apply after 24 months, and would not apply retroactively.

The EU Parliament has been pushing the issue of a common charger for over a decade, and while some companies did introduce voluntary measures, the EU says that they were not enough to meet its targets on e-waste reduction.

The proposal was first presented by the Commission in September 2021.

CONSUMER GOODS NEWS

INDUSTRYNEWS

Cellular engineered fish is coming to a plate near you soon

by Elizabeth Gregory

I

f you ordered a fish at a restaurant, would you always expect it to be fresh, caught from the sea? What if it had been grown directly from cells?

This is the vision of Israeli startup Wanda Fish. Its mission is to help marine biology and contribute to the reduction of water pollution and overfishing by changing the way that fish makes it to our plates. They are making sustainable fish fillets from cells. In order to do this, the startup has collaborated with David Kaplan, a researcher at the prestigious Boston research university, Tufts.

Kaplan will help Wanda Fish refine their technology, so that fish production will no longer need to include fishing, transportation and processing.

Instead, it will include cell collection and expansion and tissue maturation.

“Marine biodiversity is critical to the survival of people and our planet.

But overfishing, as well as water pollution, is damaging the vast and vital ocean ecosystem. Many wild fish populations are sadly in decline,” said Daphna Heffetz, CEO of Wanda Fish. Heffetz has been establishing and working in biotechnology companies for over 20 years.

Kaplan is the Stern Family Professor of Engineering, chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Tufts and is a cellular agriculture specialist. Together with his team, he has spent years working on reproducing the characteristics of ‘real meat’ using alternative substances and cellular engineering.

Recently, he was awarded funding from the US Department of Agriculture to create the first-ever US centre dedicated to research in this area.

Now, fish has become one of his latest projects and according to Heffetz, progress has already been made in creating the first product prototype.

Overfishing creates unbalance in marine biodiversity, causing shifts in centuries-old ecosystems, and putting particular strain on coral reefs. It means that oceans are less abundant and fewer fish reproduce. Around 200 million people are employed either directly or indirectly by marine fisheries and 3 billion people rely on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihood.

Alt-proteins have been around for years, but it is an ever-growing sector – in 2020 alone the industry raised $3.1 billion (€1.2 billion) in investments, three times the sum of any previous year. Alt-proteins are usually meat, egg or dairy replacement products that have been cultivated in some way, derived from fermentation, plant-based, or a combination of the above.

While some squirm at the idea of foods that have been made using science and cells, the engineering process allows for producers to remove harmful substances in fish – for example, microplastics, mercury, or other chemical toxicities – that can often be found in wild catches.

Wanda Fish also says its products have an improved shelf life and nutrient levels remain high, despite being an ‘alt-protein’. The company boasts no byproducts made during production and high efficiency. The idea is to produce fillets that will mimic the textures and flavours of a variety of fish.

Visit: https://wandafish.com

What was on the EU's most unsafe products list in 2021?

by Steven Gislam

T

he European Commission has published its annual 'Safety Gate' report on dangerous non-food products with motor vehicles, toys and electrical appliances coming top of the list.

The report covers alerts made throughout 2021 and the actions taken by authorities in response. As Covid continues to rumble on, personal protective equipment such as face masks also accounted for a substantial number of product alerts.

As a response to the shift to shift towards online shopping seen during the pandemic, the Commission also announced the launch of a new online surveillance tool dubbed "web crawler", which it said can help national authorities to better detect offers of unsafe products online and remove them from the market.

The Commission said that the web crawler would "harmonise the current fragmented approach and address the challenges of monitoring the online sales of dangerous products," and that it would lead to improved consumer protection.

Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders described Safety Gate as a vital tool for keeping consumers safe, and that he was proud of the system upgrade.

"It is very important that the Safety Gate is adapted to fit into the new consumer environment. This way, we can ensure that the Safety Gate can remain an efficient tool for the Single Market, protecting consumers in all circumstances," he said, adding that it had also helped ensure standards of medical equipment throughout the pandemic.

The report's main findings showed that 2142 alerts were exchanged across the system last year. It was the first time that the "motor vehicles" category received the largest number, though it was pointed out that these alerts were largely related to what it described only as "technical problems".

Of more concern, however, alerts about toys - which received the second-highest number largely focussed on the presence of dangerous chemicals and button batteries.

"Electrical appliances and equipment" came in at number three with most of the alerts pertaining to overheating issues or the exposure of live parts.

The report also identified the five overall most common reported risks as personal injuries, chemicals, fire, choking and electric shocks.

First established in 2004 as the European Rapid Alert System, the name was changed to Safety Gate in 2018. It records all notifications made throughout 2021 about unsafe non-food consumer products, such as cosmetics, clothing, childcare products, and professional products such as trucks and machinery. Medical, pharmaceutical and food are covered by their own specific alert systems.

All 27 EU Member States are part of the system, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

Industry Europe 39

NEWS

New developments in the Consumer Goods

Unilever-backed project to 3D print the ‘perfect’ chocolate bar

by Ash Jones

Chocolate and similarly easy-to-mould foodstuffs have been used in 3D printing ever since the tech became complex enough to utilise it and has led to some interesting designs as seen with these 3D printed cups.

3

D printing has seen all sorts of unconventional applications, but a team of researchers are looking to utilise the technology to make the “perfect” piece of chocolate.

Scientists at the University of Amsterdam and Delft University, with backing from consumer goods company Unilever, have come together to prove that the properties of edible products can be designed just like any other materials, which could pave the way for everyday foods that can be tailor-made to be more enjoyable to eat.

These artificial structures, or “Metamaterials,” as they are known, do not occur in nature but can be created in a lab. In this case, the building block for the printing process isn’t wood or concrete, but chocolate.

Using topology optimisation, the team have been able to print edible products designed to snap in the mouth in certain ways, which they determined would make them more pleasurable to eat.

The research was published in the Soft Matter journal and could represent a new type of fine dining.

As anyone who has ever tried to work with chocolate will know, it needs to be properly tempered or its properties, taste or texture may be ruined by simply heating it up or cooling it. Therefore, the first hurdle the team had to overcome was fully understanding their building material and how to print it without it being ruined.

3D printing chocolate is hardly new. Alongside the fact its liquid and solid forms can be easily controlled, its extravagance as a product often means it is moulded into many different shapes, but these can come at the cost of making them more difficult to eat.

40 Industry Europe

Using 3D printing, mathematics and the engineering process, designing the “perfect” piece of chocolate may be possible.

The team claim to have been able to make the substance more malleable - without ruining it - by carefully heating it up, adding more chocolate, and cooling it down before adding it to the printer.

This allowed them to ensure the product would take any desired shape while guaranteeing the chocolate retained the same qualities.

Their first major print was a batch of S-shaped pieces of chocolate.

Curved shapes present the toughest challenge as the chocolate could bend and break easily.

However, it being brittle but firm and not ruining the overall product was all part of the plan.

A small sample team taste-tested the chocolate, primarily to see how the chocolate would snap during biting. They determined that more cracks indicated a better quality product and looked to replicate the process.

Having shown that such an experience can be designed, the researchers now tried some different structures, searching for a structure where the number of cracks can be ‘programmed’ into the material.

They found that spiral patterns offer more “snapping” opportunities.

They even developed a mathematical model to attempt to find the best possible eating experience.

They ultimately hope this process could be used to allow for the overall eating experience to be increased, both by mathematically calculating pleasurable parts of eating such as the chocolate cracking but also by making the food easier to eat.

Using this process, particular types of luxury foodstuffs could be optimised to provide the “ultimate” dining experience. At the very least, the food we consume will become more enjoyable to eat.

The team also claims that study into edible metamaterials has never really been conducted, and further research could help “optimise” the interactions between humans and matter.

Visit: www.unilever.com

The team tried to calculate the shape that allowed for the greatest number of cracks when being bitten down on, which they determined would make it more pleasurable to eat.

CONSUMER GOODS NEWS

INDUSTRYNEWS How tomatoes could help battle droughts in California

by Ash Jones

U

p to one billion litres of freshwater squeezed from tomatoes could be used to alleviate water shortages in drought-prone areas such as California.

Spearheaded as part of a partnership between Ingomar Packing Company and Botanical Water Technologies (BWT) - a sister company of the revolutionary Australian plantbased bottled water brand AquaBotanical - the scheme hopes to tackle the growing agricultural and urban needs in the state.

Set to be delivered to Merced, Fresno, Stanislaus, and Madera counties, some of the areas worst affected by droughts, the two firms may plan an expansion into other hard-hit areas in the US’ most-populous state.

The water can be administered to customers through a number of schemes, such as community water sources for schools and mobile homes, water tanks for private homes, used as an ingredient by mineral water companies, groundwater and municipal water replenishment and even used for agricultural or hygiene needs.

The tomatoes for the project will be delivered

by Ingomar, which is amongst the largest suppliers of fruit in the US. Much of the fruit and veg we consume on a daily basis contains as much as 95% water and extracting it is relatively easy.

BWT takes harvested fruit and presses it to extract juice, which is then evaporated into sugar or concentrate, and then condensed into the water.

The firm claims a lot of water is made “in the process” and, until recently, the concentrates were discarded, often to the detriment of the environment.

It claims, rather ambitiously, that up to 100 million people could be given access to clean water through this and similar methods by 2025, although true numbers will be hard to gauge for now.

It also claims that, globally, the equivalent of 3 trillion litres of water is discarded each year, and tech such as this could make a massive difference as the scarcity continues to grow.

The US is responsible for around 40% of the global demand for tomatoes, with the country producing around 1.4 million metric tonnes per year as of 2018. California is by far the single largest producer, accounting for over 80% of the total.

They are primarily grown in the Sacramento Valley and San Joaquin Valley areas and are

Ingomar’s tomato production facility in Los Banos, California, USA.

typically grown in late January-early June with harvesting taking place in early Autumn.

Typically, they have a growing period of a little over 90 days.

Water shortages are only going to become more common due to climate change. Arid areas will see longer dry spells and currently lush areas may experience desertification.

According to the UN, as much as 40% of the global population is at risk of water shortages, with two-thirds of the population - around four billion people - experiencing water scarcity for at least one month of the year. It is estimated that half of the people on Earth could live in areas with worse shortages by 2025.

As such, finding fresh and clean sources of water is vital for the well-being of much of the planet, especially as the population continues to grow.

BWT claims it could produce as much as “3 trillion litres” of plant-based water by 2025 with the partnerships it has forged around the world.

Ingomar CEO Gregg Pruett claims they are “set to become the first company to grow plantbased drinking water in America.”

“California is facing a water crisis and we are honoured to be making a difference.

“Ingomar strives to be globally recognised as the premium supplier of industrial tomato products by consistently demonstrating their commitment to their employees, customers, and community,” he added.

Ingomar has been making strides towards sustainability since at least 2010. Since then, it has

significantly reduced waste and pollution in growing tomatoes, and has minimised the use of landfills.

It is very important that projects that strive to aid in environmental or sustainability efforts do not end up causing more harm than good.

It claims as much as 1 billion litres (260,000 gallons) of water can be derived from its average 90-day harvesting season.

It will also help alleviate the depletion of natural water sources and can even do its part to meet the global demand for drinking water.

“Reducing all wastage from industrial processes is a key pillar of a circular economy. We are on an exciting journey to create up to three trillion litres of the world’s first plant-based water and give clean drinking water to 100 million of the world’s most vulnerable people by 2025.” Terry Paule, CoFounder & CEO of BWT said.

“We want to be harvesting, purifying and delivering botanical water within a 200-mile radius to further reduce our environmental footprint.”

The firm’s name comes from its foundation to bring water to vulnerable people across the world.

“The Botanical Water Foundation exists to deliver our botanical water to people who need it most, at no cost. Our foundation will then work with many charitable organizations and impact partners across the globe who have existing infrastructure. We can provide them free water, via charitable organisations and other impact partners. In doing so, we can reach the world’s poorest people and positively impact millions of lives,” Paule added.

Industry Europe 41

APPLYING INSIGHT FROM DATA HOLDS THE KEY TO ENERGY EFFICIENCY With Net Zero targets in place and energy costs rising, leaders at industrial firms are under pressure to save energy without reducing output. Adrian Guggisberg, President of ABB Motion Services, explains how businesses can use expert analysis of data from digitally-connected motors to pinpoint where to target energy efficiency investment.

42 Industry Europe

ENERGY & UTILITIES

T

here is huge potential to improve the efficiency of the motordriven systems that are used across industry. This will free up energy resources while also cutting costs. According to the International Energy Association (IEA) World Energy Outlook 2018 report, around 70% of the world’s industrial electricity is consumed by motors, which power fans, pumps, conveyors and other machines.

These applications offer plenty of scope to save energy. Many motors do not meet the latest efficiency standards or are “overdimensioned”, meaning that they use more energy than required.

Upgrading to a more modern, high-efficiency motor is one of the best ways to reduce both energy consumption and carbon emissions. Another energy-saving tactic for some motors is to fit a variable speed drive (VSD) to control their speed to match the load.

When we surveyed 2,294 industrial companies around the world in February 2022, we found that 97% are already investing in energy efficiency and 65% are choosing to upgrade to equipment with bestin-class efficiency.

However, it can be hard to know where to target investment due to the sheer number of electric powertrains, which are made up of a motor, VSD and possibly also gears and bearings.

This is where a new breed of data-driven service comes in to offer expert analysis based on rich data from the field.

Digital technology is expanding the potential for analysis Traditionally, many operators have used basic energy efficiency appraisals to identify potential for energy savings – and 51% of those surveyed were planning to do this. However, the drawback

Industry Europe 43

ENERGY & UTILITIES

is that this requires an expert to visit site to gather data manually before making recommendations.

Because this type of survey is time-consuming, it is usually only applied to a few of a site’s largest motor-driven systems, which are typically regarded as having the highest potential for improving energy efficiency. Therefore, these traditional appraisals can overlook the huge untapped potential for improving efficiency on smaller, inaccessible or less obvious powertrains.

The latest advances in digital technology are overcoming this issue. It is now possible to deploy plug-and-play condition monitoring solutions on powertrains.

At one level, this supports remote monitoring and maintenance.

However, it can also take monitoring to the next level by enabling analysis of energy performance across entire fleets of motors.

This data can be analysed by an expert in motor efficiency (without the need for a major investment in time) to reveal the electric motors with the most energy-saving potential across an entire plant. It may be possible to save energy by changing a motor’s usage schedule or changing its load if it is the wrong size.

It may be necessary to upgrade another motor or match it with a drive to conserve energy. In addition, by comparing the cost with the energy savings, the expert can also calculate the payback period and enable the operator to prioritise the biggest wins.

44 Industry Europe

It is an approach that can be deployed regularly over the long term for consistent improvement in efficiency. It may even benefit new or recently-installed motors, thanks to recent advances in motor design and in the case of incorrectly-sized units.

Swedish pulp mill upgrades six motors One of the first industrial operators to experience this new type of energy efficiency appraisal is Waggeryd Cell, a Swedish pulp mill that was already leading its industry in efficiency and wanted to further improve its performance.

It asked ABB to evaluate energy efficiency using data harvested from its condition monitoring system, which covers its refiners, process pumps, fans and conveyor belts. Our energy efficiency experts reviewed the data under the framework of our new digital powertrain energy appraisal and identified the ten motors with most energy-saving potential.

After considering the business case, Waggeryd Cell took the decision to replace six of these to cut operating costs and carbon footprint.

Saving energy while maintaining output With energy costs rising, demand set to increase, and Net-Zero targets getting closer, energy efficiency has vast potential to benefit industrial businesses. This type of data-driven approach is a smart way for them to pinpoint and prioritise untapped energy-savings. n

Industry Europe 45

NEWS

New developments in Energy & Utilities

Skyrocketing solar costs could scupper Brussels' REPowerEU plans

by Steven Gislam

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russels' REPowerEU initiative could potentially add 420 GW of solar energy by 2030, but the soaring costs of solar raw materials could become an obstacle to the programme's goals, said global research consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

The firm expects global installations of solar to grow by 8% annually between 2022 and 2031 to more than 3500 GW capacity. It is anticipated that Europe will account for more than 9% - around 331 GW - of installations within that period. Wood Mackenzie says that the REPowerEU initiative has the potential to more than double that number.

"The global push to phase out fossil fuels and move to cleaner energy sources has driven innovation and policies that have resulted in tremendous cost reduction in the solar PV sector over the last two decades", said Wood Mackenzie senior analyst Theo Theodorou.

"However, last year, a perfect storm of Covid disruptions, rapid recovery in demand from solar installations, fast-increasing freight rates, and high solar raw materials prices have pushed module prices more than 20% higher. Global prices for key raw materials such as polysilicon, silver, aluminium, copper and steel have all reached multiyear highs".

The price of polysilicon, the main feedstock for producing wafers used in crystalline silicon solar cells, has roughly tripled over the past 18 months due to Covid-19 lockdowns and China's energy problems which have led to delays in new capacity coming online.

While new polysilicon production capacity in China could potentially rebalance the market, prices are expected to remain at elevated levels throughout 2022.

Europe's main producer, Germany's Wacker Chemie, manufactures around 60,000 tonnes of polysilicon annually, the vast majority is exported to China, as Europe does not have the downstream capacity to consume this amount.

In order for the region to use all its current polysilicon production, it would need to up the

production of wafers and ingots by a factor of 10, as well as downstream manufacture of solar cells 21-fold, and modules 3-fold, Wood Mackenzie says.

Furthermore, to achieve the goals of the REPowerEU initiative and create a local solar supply chain, current capacities need even more aggressive expansions at 3-times more polysilicon, 20-times more wafers, 42-times more cells, and 6-times more modules.

On top of that, the cost of antireflective ultraclear glass, the main material used for the front side cover of solar modules, is also likely to rise as a result of the increasing price of natural gas and tin.

Plant materials such as galvanised steel, aluminium and copper have all seen price rises of over 30% since last year and, Mackenzie says there is no way to reduce usage intensity in the short term.

"Europe is called to transform its energy system in the wake of the Russia/Ukraine war, with the REPowerEU initiative envisioning at least 420 GW of new solar capacity by 2030.

"But as more sanctions are on the way against Russia, and with electricity and fuel prices showing no sign of slowing down, Europe needs to navigate this high price environment and act fast to develop a local solar supply chain to achieve its targets", added Theodorou.

Greece to build new LNG terminal to wean off Russian gas

by Steven Gislam

G

reece has begun construction on its first floating liquefied natural gas storage terminal in the Aegean Sea which is set to create a new route for gas in Europe and help the continent wean itself off Russian gas in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.

Since the February 24 invasion, the US and its allies have imposed the most severe set of sanctions in modern history on Russia. Moscow has said that it will take appropriate action in response and last week stateowned gas company Gazprom cut off the supply to Poland and Bulgaria for the countries' refusal to pay in roubles. Gas prices continue to soar over fears that more nations could be hit.

The Greek project will be located around 17km off the coast of the port of Alexandroupolis and is expected to be completed and operational by early 2024. EU officials hailed the news as being a significant step towards bolstering Southeast Europe's energy security and independence.

In a speech at the construction launch ceremony, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis described the LNG terminal as an energy gateway for Greece and the Balkans, adding that the project, along with other similar projects, would mean that Russian gas could soon be substituted with gas from other sources.

46 Industry Europe

He said that the terminal was "a project that helps the economies of all our countries, a project with a significant geopolitical footprint, a project that – due to the turn of events and international circumstances as well as the violent Russian invasion of Ukraine – acquires a special geopolitical significance in this world which is changing at such a rapid pace.

"The recent blackmail by Moscow concerning natural gas renders this cooperation not just necessary but – I would say – also urgent," added Mitsotakis.

Also at the ceremony were the Prime Minister of Bulgaria Kiril Petkov, the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić and the Prime Minister of North Macedonia Dimitar Kovachevski, as well as European Council President Charles Michel, who said that a new dawn for European energy independence was underway.

"This is a very straight and a very positive step for our common political project because it will help to diversify our gas supply. It will help to bolster our energy infrastructure and to phase out our dependence on Russian fossil fuels, which will make us stronger and more secure," said Michel, adding that it was a geopolitical investment in a geopolitical moment.

The €363.7 million project is set to have a capacity of around 153,500 cubic metres of LNG and is estimated to supply around 5.5 billion cubic metres per year. It will be connected to Greece's National Gas Transmission System via a 28km long submarine and overland pipeline.

ENERGY & UTILITIES NEWS

INDUSTRYNEWS Plans for North Sea "green power plant of Europe" unveiled

by Steven Gislam

E

nergy ministers from four EU countries have unveiled plans to create the "Green Power Plant of Europe" in the North Sea as the continent steps up its efforts to cut emissions and reduce reliance on Russian gas imports.

Belgium, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands pledged to build as many as four artificial islands in the North Sea where wind turbines would produce energy, some of which could be turned into hydrogen.

The quartet said they intend to quadruple offshore wind output in the North Sea - previously a major hub for oil and gas - to 65 GW by 2030, equivalent to the capacity of 30 nuclear reactors.

One of the artificial islands, BrintØ, which translates literally as "Hydrogen Island", would be established in the Danish North Sea and could convert 10 GW of offshore wind power into hydrogen. The project was proposed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), a fund management company.

“The Danish, German, Dutch, and Belgian ambitions for the North Sea show the rest of the world how the green transition can be turbocharged if you dare to think big, internationally and in integrated systems," said Thomas Dalsgaard, Partner at CIP. "Green energy will be harvested on a large scale-out at sea, tied together by energy islands, converted into green hydrogen, and transported across borders via offshore hydrogen infrastructure. The opportunities are significant, and the Danish BrintØ is the first step in that direction."

In February 2021, Denmark announced it had approved proposals to construct an artificial energy island in its North Sea waters, its biggest-ever construction project. The island, named VindØ, would have an initial capacity of 3 GW offshore wind by 2033 and would connect with Belgium and Denmark.

In May 2021, Belgium revealed a similar project of its own. This multifunctional energy island would connect the country's wind turbines, allow for the storage and production of green hydrogen, and act as an international interconnector. It is expected that the tender for the project will be awarded by the end of the year.

Transmission cables connecting offshore wind to land constitute one of the most expensive parts of such projects. Connecting such wind farms to artificial islands, where the energy is collected and converted into green hydrogen would significantly cut the costs of cabling. With much of the best close-to-shore sites having been already taken, future offshore wind projects will be built ever further into the sea, further driving up cabling costs.

Germany is also looking at the possibility of building energy islands and a feasibility study is currently being conducted by CIP and Allianz Investment Management. According to CIP, the country has some of the best natural conditions in the world for offshore wind with a combination of relatively low water depth and high wind speeds.

The Netherlands is looking at ways of connecting the Danish islands with its own energy hub and also ways to produce green hydrogen offshore. The country is also set to establish at least 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030, bringing it up to 40 GW by 2035 and 70 GW by 2045.

In a statement, the four countries said they would coordinate the development of the islands and continue to develop energy-sharing deals.

"We will begin planning for multiple energy hubs and islands by undertaking a screening of the potential for offshore wind, and where relevant green hydrogen production, in our entire North Sea territory," said the statement.

The potential for offshore wind in the North Sea has become especially more attractive for many European leaders in light of the war in Ukraine, which has seen energy prices skyrocket. Even so, the artificial islands and offshore wind farms will take up to a decade to complete. The EU has even said it may have to increase coal consumption to replace Russian gas.

Iberdrola launches startups competition for greener grids

by Ash Jones

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panish energy firm Iberdrola has set up a competition for tech startups to develop more sustainable energy grids to help bring about the green transition.

Organised through its PERSEO scheme, the firm will be looking for companies to develop new materials, designs, manufacturing and construction ideas for electrical substations and very high voltage lines, specifically designed for clean energy to bolster its portfolios in the US, Spain, the UK and more.

It is likely that smarter, greener energy grids will be essential in the energy transition, allowing for multilateral generation, both from the private sector, government and "prosumers" consumers who also self-generate.

Outside of the changes in infrastructure, innovative new technologies will also be required to make the road to net-zero possible within the timeframes that many governments have set.

Not only will these grids make powering homes possible, but also other methods for the decarbonisation of industry, such as EV charging, urban farming, or storage for sectors like construction.

Outside of developing new methods, Iberdrola's competition will also look to optimise current techniques, likely to reduce operational emissions or reduce disruptions and delays in production in addition to bringing costs down.

Increasing safety and time investments would also be a significant boon.

The scheme will be based at its new innovation centre, allowing prospective startups to engage with Iberdrola's engineers and technicians as well as those from other companies.

Iberdrola currently owns around 4,500 highvoltage substations across the globe, with 1.6 million medium-to-low-voltage transformers at electrical hubs. All of this is connected through 1.2 million kilometres of power cables.

Projects that cut material use, or replace inefficient or less eco-friendly materials, will likely see a great amount of success in the scheme. Other criteria include soil improvement and reducing plant suppression for agricultural technologies, or contributing to overall safety by minimising human intervention in dangerous conditions in sectors such as energy, construction or manufacturing are also being sought.

As Iberdrola is seeking these technologies to make its own offering more efficient, successful applicants could see their technologies "scaled up" through contracts with the energy firm.

Since 2008, the PERSEO scheme has invested roughly €100 million into sustainable businesses.

Iberdrola claims it analyses data from around 300 companies per year and has "an ecosystem of around 7,000 entrepreneurial companies", according to a statement announcing the latest round.

This equates to around 25 technology tests per year. In the last two years alone, more than 700 startups have been considered.

Visit: www.iberdrola.com Industry Europe 47

NEWS

New developments in Energy & Utilities

US startup develops world’s first rechargeable alkaline battery

by Ash Jones

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he creation of alkaline batteries has the potential to become almost entirely self-sufficient thanks to a new rechargeable battery supplied to an EverZinc plant in Eijsden, Netherlands, by US startup Urban Electric Power (UEP).

The 20kWh battery, which derives its power from the reaction between zinc and manganese dioxide, is the company’s first foray into Europe, with the installation being completed by Belgian energy firm Enersol.

EverZinc supplied the supply of zinc metal for the battery, which was developed by the US company. The battery is set to be paired with a 6kW solar energy system to store excess power, to be discharged when needed.

This project is the first of several planned in a partnership between the two firms, with the metals supplier hoping to reduce carbon emissions “across its portfolio” by utilising solar power and energy storage.

“This is our first European installation, and one of several high-profile installations we’ll be announcing in the coming months,” said Sanjoy Banerjee, Urban Electric Power’s founder.

“Supporting solar power is one of many applications for which our products are cleaner, safer, and more affordable than other available technologies.”

UEP has been selected as a finalist in Amazon Web Services’ Clean Energy Accelerator 2.0 programme - one of only 12 companies to make the cut.

It made the cut due to its apparently low-cost energy storage and its recharging batteries, claiming it will be able to develop rechargeable alkaline batteries at “one-third the cost” of lithium batteries by 2030.

There are concerns a surge in lithium demand could lead to shortages later in the decade, driven by the energy transition, electrification and the rise in popularity of consumer electronics.

In addition, the ongoing semiconductor shortage, which has throttled the supply of electronic products and caused production pitfalls for automakers looking to shift to EVs, is causing suppliers to rethink the use of lithium in the creation of chips.

Some chip developers are looking at altering chemical formulae to use less lithium. Others, such as UEP, are cutting it out entirely. Unless metals and battery recycling sees significant investment, its likely demand may never be met by supply.

Zinc may prove a viable alternative for certain sectors, such as energy.

EverZinc CEO Vincent Dujardin said that the installation of a battery energy storage system at the Eijsden plant shows his company’s commitment to “accelerate the adoption of zinc-based technologies.”

“Furthermore, this project is fully aligned with our vision to reduce the carbon footprint of the zinc materials produced in our premises in the coming years,” he added.

Enersol CEO Samuel Bragard claims that Zinc offers “the most sustainable and performant energy storage” and that zinc batteries could offer a decent alternative to the standard lithium-ion batteries.

He stated he was excited to continue working with the two partners on these “first-of-its-kind” projects.

Visit: www.everzinc.com

Europe’s top 400 companies ranked on biodiversity reporting

by Steven Gislam

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ow do the largest businesses in Europe report their impact on, their dependence on and their work with biodiversity? The Ecogain Biodiversity Index (EBI) has released its report on how 400 of Europe’s largest companies report on biodiversity.

Top of the list is Swedish state-owned energy giant Vattenfall, followed by France’s Engie and Finland’s Stora Enso in joint second place, and French fashion brand Louis Vuitton coming in third.

It is the second year that Vattenfall took first place, though last year only the Nordic and Baltic countries were examined.

“Being in the top of this year’s biodiversity index is truly a recognition of our long-term and persistent work by many Vattenfall colleagues. It is of the highest priority to continue reducing our biodiversity footprint by delivering on our climate targets and by creating positive impacts through our biodiversity projects and R&D investments.

“The energy transition is crucial in order to halt the biodiversity loss and we do our utmost to ensure that our investments are done in co-existence with nature,” said Vattenfall CEO Anna Borg.

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There is a strong tendency for industries that have a direct impact on biodiversity to have higher EBI scores than those where the impact is further down the value chain. But this year, more than 50% of the audited companies have set goals for biodiversity. For example, British American Tobacco is high on the list.

“For this type of company, the impact and dependencies on biodiversity are less obvious than for companies with a direct land impact, for example in the forest or mining industry. The relatively high figure we now see in consumer goods, therefore, testifies that these companies have identified biodiversity as an important factor in their value chain.

“All organisations have dependencies and impact on biodiversity somewhere in their operations. Identifying and mapping these, is the first step toward creating a strategy for biodiversity. This means that companies also can take measures to secure their business model in the long term,” said Fredrik Höök, CEO of Ecogain.

The upward trend for biodiversity in the business and industrial sectors is showing a slow

but steady increase. In the 2020 report, none of the Swedish companies examined had set concrete goals in line with science for biodiversity. This year, that figure is 10% for Swedish companies and for the whole of Europe slightly higher at 14%.

The process of incorporating biodiversity into operations is still slow with 31% of the companies surveyed for this year’s Ecogain Biodiversity Index not mentioning biodiversity in their sustainability reports at all. This autumn, the report will be expanded to include the largest companies in the United States.

Visit: www.en.ecogain.se

ENERGY & UTILITIES NEWS

INDUSTRYNEWS

Norwegian start-up raises €100m for gigafactory

by Romana Moares

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orwegian battery start-up Morrow Batteries has secured €100 million in an investment round led by Siemens Financial Services and ABB. Morrow plans to operate the first phase battery cell factory in Arendal, south Norway, in 2023. This will be the first commercial battery cell production facility in Norway. The company says that from day one it will be fuelled by renewable energy and manufacture some of the most sustainable batteries in the world.

The first phase of the factory will have the capacity to manufacture more than 1 GWh battery cells per year. When all phases of development are completed in 2028, the Morrow Gigafactory in Arendal will have an annual production capacity of 43GWh battery cells.

The company has completed a €100 million capital raise with Siemens Financial Services, ABB, Nysnø Climate Investments and Arendals Fossekompani.

“Bringing in long term, solid and competent capital from some of the leading industrial companies in

Europe with a global reach will be of great value on our path to manufacture the most sustainable and cost-effective batteries. Together with the backing from the Norwegian state-owned Nysnø Climate Investments, this brings us into the top tier of battery manufacturers in Europe,” said CEO of Morrow, Terje Andersen.

Morrow, founded in 2020, has the ambition to become the world’s greenest battery producer, with a negative carbon footprint.

”With our development program of more sustainable batteries, and the steep increase in global demand for batteries, we are perfectly positioned to deliver profitable and sustainable jobs that we need to make the Norwegian, European, and global economy greener,” concluded CEO Terje Andersen of Morrow Batteries.

Visit: www.morrowbatteries.com

Europe’s largest floating solar farm to open in Portugal in July

by Steven Gislam

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vast, 12,000-panel floating solar farm roughly the size of four football pitches has been moved into place on the Alqueva reservoir in Portugal, as the country pushes ahead with plans to reduce reliance on fossil fuel imports.

Built by the country’s main utility EDP on the largest artificial lake in Western Europe, which is itself used for hydropower, the floating panels will produce 7.5 GWh of power per year and are to be complemented by 2 GWh of lithium battery storage and will be switched on in July.

With its many hours of sunshine, lengthy coast and Atlantic winds, Portugal has made great leaps in its energy transition. Although the country uses almost no Russian hydrocarbons, its gas-fired power stations are still hit by rising fuel costs.

EDP group director for the solar project Miguel Patena said that the energy produced would cost a third of that from a gas-fired plant. The floating farm will supply renewable energy to 1,500 homes, or one-third of nearby towns of Moura and Portel.

Installing floating solar farms on reservoirs used for hydroelectricity is especially cost-effective as they are able to connect to the grid using existing links. Excess energy will be stored for later use or used to pump water up into the lake.

EDP executive board member Ana Paula Marques said that the Russian invasion of Ukraine had demonstrated the need to speed up the shift to renewable energy.

She said the Alqueva project was part of EDP’s strategy “to go 100% green by 2030”, with hydropower and other renewables now accounting for 78% of EDP’s 25.6 GW of installed capacity.

EDP was something of a pioneer in seeing the potential for how hydro and solar could complement one another. In 2017, the company set up a pilot project, installing a floating solar farm of 840 panels on the Alto Rabagao dam, the first of its kind in Europe.

In April, EDP secured the right to build a second floating farm with 70 MW installed capacity.

Visit: www.fresher-project.eu Industry Europe 49

NEWS

New developments in Healthcare

SoftBank invests €59m in AI cancer-detecting technology

by Elizabeth Gregory

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oftBank investment group is leading a $63 million (€59 million) investment in AI Medical Service Inc, a company which makes AI software that diagnoses stomach cancers.

The AI software won’t solely diagnose the potential gastrointestinal (GI) issues but will boost the work of medical professionals by producing faster, earlier and more reliable diagnoses.

This is the third SoftBank Vision Fund 2 investment in the Japanese conglomerate’s home country since November. Vision Fund 2 is an offshoot of SoftBank’s Vision Fund – the world's largest technology-focused investment fund with $100 billion.

AI Medical Service is a Japanese company dedicated to the early detection of GI cancers – though there is the potential that its technology can be applied to other areas of the body.

According to AI Medical Service Inc, Japanese endoscopes already account for 70% of the world’s share of equipment so this could be seen as a natural expansion of this medical export.

AI Medical “is a company that has the potential to take its business to the global market, not just Japan,” said Kentaro Matsui, SoftBank Vision Fund’s Managing Partner.

Gastrointestinal cancers currently account for one in four cancer cases and one in three cancer deaths globally.

SoftBank has been systematically expanding its portfolio over the last year, despite reports that a slow in investments would follow a tech holdings crash.

In November, SoftBank invested in Aculys Pharma LLC and lead a $220 million (€208 million) investment in Agile Robots last year, while the SoftBank Robotics arm joined forces with smart building systems leader Inforgrid in January and announced it would be buying a 5% stake in Hong Kong-based Avalon SteriTech in April.

In recent years the use of AI in cancer detection has been gaining both interest and investment because of its accuracy in predicting tumour regrowth, detecting breast cancer during screening, cutting hospital error rates and reducing result waiting times.

America’s National Cancer Institute, for example, taught an AI machine to detect precancerous lesions using 60,000 cervical images.

The study found that over the subsequent seven years after the analysis, the AI results produced more accurate predictions of the lesions, than other methods.

Visit: www.ai-ms.com

New material could pave the way for 'electric' medication

by Ash Jones

E

lectronic medicines could soon be a reality thanks to new research that led to the creation of signals to capture and release biomolecules that could help tackle the growing issue of expensive medication.

A team of scientists at Chalmers University of Technology claims to have created a polymer surface that can both capture and release molecules through an electric charge, claiming this new and efficient method of delivery could pave the way for the future of biomedicines, including new forms of medicine and drug implants.

This surface could have several key applications in medicine, including the separation of medicines from other biomolecules - a chemical compound found in living organisms - created by human cells that could drive costs down.

Biomedicines, the team claims, are currently incredibly expensive as there is no cheap or efficient way to separate medicines from these biomolecules. This technique could allow for higher drug yield, which can reduce overall costs, giving the medicine more widespread use.

Typical separation techniques such as chromatography, which requires strong chemicals to bind molecules to the surface often have smaller yields, which is the result of the shortages of these medi50 Industry Europe

cines. Many others are also incredibly sensitive to the chemicals used, which can also have an effect.

The results of its experiments were published in the Angewandte Chemie journal.

"Our polymer surfaces offer a new way of separating proteins by using electrical signals to control how they are bound to and released from a surface, while not affecting the structure of the protein", said Gustav Ferrand-Drake del Castillo, the lead author of the study.

The polymer can also act as a balancer, containing fluids that can prevent a change in pH. If this can be replicated, it could allow for other types of medicines or implants and electronic pills that could be placed into the body and activated by an electronic signal.

“You can imagine a doctor, or a computer program, measuring the need for a new dose of medicine in a patient, and a remote-controlled signal activating the release of the drug from the implant located in the very tissue or organ where it’s needed", del Castillo continued.

"Being able to control the release and uptake of proteins in the body with minimal surgical interventions and without needle injections is, we believe, a unique and useful property. The development of electronic implants is only one of several conceivable applications that are many years into the future.

Research that helps us to link electronics with biology at a molecular level is an important piece of the puzzle in such a direction.

"Electronics in biological environments are often limited by the size of the battery and the moving mechanical parts. Activation at a molecular level reduces both the energy requirement and the need for moving parts", he added.

The process of activating these medicines requires very little energy. The polymer's thin layer means it responds to weak signals when activating the medicine.

Localised and activated medicines exist today for procedures such as administering drugs to the GI tract, but in most cases, the pH cannot be altered. This usually means more specific medicines have to be used in each procedure.

There also exist methods of targeting which allow for surgeons or doctors to specifically target a small area of the body for treatment.

HEALTHCARE NEWS

INDUSTRYNEWS Cousteau's Proteus: "The promise of the ocean is the answer for our future"

by Steven Gislam

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elebrated aquanaut, ocean explorer and environmentalist Fabien Cousteau, grandson of Jacques Cousteau, has unveiled his plans for Proteus, described as the most advanced underwater scientific research station and habitat in the world.

The project aims to address some of humanity's most pressing issues including food sustainability, medicinal discoveries, and the impacts of climate change.

Developed by the Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Center (FCOLC), Proteus is being billed as the subsea equivalent of the International Space Station and is set to be a global collaborative platform for researchers, academics, companies and government agencies to advance scientific endeavour and work towards the future of the planet.

"As our life support system, the ocean is indispensable to solving the planet's biggest problems. Challenges created by climate

change, rising sea levels, extreme storms and viruses represent a multi-trillion-dollar risk to the global economy. Proteus, contemplated as the first in a network of underwater habitats, is essential to driving meaningful solutions to protect the future of our planet", said Cousteau.

"The knowledge that will be uncovered underwater will forever change the way generations of humans live up above".

Proteus is being proposed as "the largest and most technologically advanced underwater station ever built" and will enable marine scientists a space to conduct year-round data collection.

Cousteau said the project will also enable the discovery of new marine life species, create a better understanding of how climate change affects the ocean, and allow for testing of green power, aquaculture and robotic exploration technologies.

Labs in the underwater research station will allow for the processing of organic samples in

Introducing Europe's first drug discovery & biotech SPAC

by Steven Gislam

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new major player in biotech and drug discovery has launched in Europe with the aim of becoming a one-stop boutique manufacturing network for companies that need smaller batches of medicines.

The company, eureKING, is a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC), with plans to raise €150 million, and is the continent's first "blank cheque" company specifically focused on hoovering up companies that produce medicines for the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors.

As a SPAC, it is a publicly listed shell company which exists with the purpose of raising funds to merge with a private company, thus going public whilst avoiding the scrutiny that comes along with a traditional IPO. EureKING will list on Euronext Paris with up to 15 million shares at €10 each and has already identified 40 target contract development and

real-time. Previously such specimen samples would have to be taken on the long journey back to the surface, where they could rapidly degrade or die.

In a press release, the FCOLC said that onsite experimentation would result in an "advanced pipeline" for the development of new medical developments such as cancer treatments, vaccines and antibiotics.

"Living underwater gives the gift of time and the incredible perspective of being a resident on the reef. You're not just a visitor anymore", said marine biologist, explorer and Ocean Ambassador of the FCOLC, Sylvia Earle.

Proteus will be located off of the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao, at a depth of 18 metres (60 feet), in richly biodiverse marine-protected waters.

Dr Ivan Steve Martina, Minister of Economic Development for Curaçao, said: "We are delighted to be home to Proteus. Our incredible Caribbean Sea holds immense riches yet to be fully discovered. The economic potential of having the first underwater space station located in Curaçao's waters is enormous, from job creation to tourism".

The underwater research station will also feature a continuous live video stream for educational programming purposes.

Proteus' strategic partners include Northeastern University, Rutgers University, and marine NGO, the Caribbean Research and Management of Biodiversity (CARMABI). The initial concept design was co-conceived by industrial designer, Yves Béhar and his firm fuseproject.

manufacturing organisations (CDMOs) that make cell and gene therapies, biologics, or biotherapeutics (biological products containing live organisms such as bacteria to prevent, treat or cure cancer).

According to eureKING, just over 25% of the market is covered by the top CDMO players such as Lonza, Catalent, Samsung Biologics and WuXi Biologics, with the remaining 75% being shared by over a thousand companies.

"The creation of a new European biopharma CDMO champion will target a booming yet highly fragmented industry. Led by a seasoned management team, eureKING will act on well-identified targets allowing a timely and successful execution of the investment strategy," the company said in a statement.

EureKING CEO Michael Kloss, formerly of Bayer's diabetes arm, said his company had plans to acquire around three CDMOs making about €50 million in annual revenues over the coming years.

The ultimate aim is to scale up manufacturing to meet the rapidly burgeoning demand for advanced therapeutics on the European market, which eureKING describes as a "critical sector ripe for consolidation".

Visit: https://eureking.com Industry Europe 51

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New developments in Healthcare

11 trade suicides a week: Iconic photo recreated for Mental Health Awareness

by Steven Gislam

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he iconic 1932 ‘Lunch atop a Skyscraper’ photograph, featuring eleven construction workers casually sitting on a steel girder far above the streets of New York, has been recreated with eleven mannequins, to raise awareness of the number of tradespeople who commit suicide each week in the UK. The display was organised to mark Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK by IronmongeryDirect as part of its annual campaign to raise awareness of mental health amongst the UK trades.

Its 2022 report found that more than four in five (82%) UK tradespeople deal with some form of mental health problem due to work, and sadly, many take their own lives as a result.

Data from the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that there are 589 suicides in the industry each year, which works out at an average of 11 per week.

To visualise this tragic statistic, IronmongeryDirect positioned 11 mannequins along a platform, which was then hoisted 30 metres into the air by a crane that was donated by Bandshire Crane Hire, in a recreation of the iconic New York image.

This year marks the 90th anniversary of the original skyscraper photo being taken, and the number of construction workers in the scene matches the weekly suicide figure.

As part of its campaign, the Essex-based ironmongery supplier has partnered with the mental health charity, Basildon Mind, and is donating over £3,000 to support its crucial services.

Emma Mamo, Head of Workspace Wellbeing at Mind, said: “In maledominated industries such as construction, employees are often less willing and able to open up about their mental health and ask for support. This can be problematic because mental health problems often become worse if left untreated, and the consequences can be fatal.

“We urge employers to create cultures where employees can speak openly and honestly about their mental health.”

The campaign hopes that the recreated image can resonate in a similar way with a modern audience connecting it with a modern problem. Mental health still suffers some stigmas despite being on the verge of epidemic proportions.

Dominick Sandford, Managing Director at IronmongeryDirect, said: “The Lunch atop a Skyscraper image is famous for its message of hope and camaraderie between workers, so it’s heartbreaking to think that the same number of tradespeople seen in the photo die from suicide every single week.

“Unfortunately, our research found that almost nine in ten individuals don’t feel comfortable talking about their mental health, yet this is one of the most positive steps people can take to start addressing any issues.

“We hope that by raising awareness of mental health in the trades, this stigma can be removed and the situation can start to improve.”

Learn more at: www.mentalhealth.org.uk

Two NHS Surgeons are using AI to warn patients of surgery risks

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s NHS waiting lists continue to ramp up and be a problem for thousands of people, two surgeons are using new technologies in artificial intelligence to scan waiting lists and warn patients of the risk of surgery.

Professor Mike Reed and Dr Justin Green from the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust are utilising data science and machine learning to create bespoke risk profiles which should allow those on waiting lists to make a more informed decision as to whether they want to go through with a particular surgery.

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Working alongside Microsoft, using its Azure cloud-based software and its machine learning and AI dashboard, the information appears to work both ways.

Not only does it allow patients access to easy information, but it also allows healthcare professionals to reorganise waiting lists and place people respective to their associated risks.

This effectively allows them to reshuffle waiting lists based on who needs the most immediate medical attention and suggest alternate methods of treatment for those at high risk of death or illness from surgery.

“This is a really exciting project that we hope can help the NHS nationally at a time when the service is facing increased demand and a backlog of operations”, Professor Reed said.

“This technology can give us a better indication of how patients will fare so we can have much more meaningful conversations with them and better plan for their surgery”.

In a video posted to the NHS Northumbria YouTube channel, Reed said the programme will “predict the risk” someone has from surgery,

hinting that it will also allow them to know if a patient is likely to recover from said surgery.

The AI looks into patients’ prior health problems, their age and other medical records to determine the best care options for them and could also allow for the successful prediction of the outcome of any surgery they go through with.

The two doctors hope this type of technology can become a “routine part” of the consultation process.

Dr Green described it as an “easy tool” for medical treatment and discussing the options for surgery.

One of the key advantages of using AI is to allow the NHS to deal with a significant backlog that has built up over the last few years, allowing for professionals to get patients through the surgeries in a far quicker and safer way.

“Having so much additional information analysed in a really sophisticated way can make for much deeper patient interactions. We hope this will actually make the delivery of healthcare more personal and efficient,” Green added.

“It should also help us, as clinicians, understand just how unique people are and provide more individual surgical care.”

HEALTHCARE NEWS

INDUSTRYNEWS Game On! VR therapy gets first trials

by Ash Jones

T

hose who have anxiety about seeing a therapist in person could soon have their fears allayed as automated virtual reality (VR) therapy has just entered first-stage clinical trials.

Pioneered by Oxford University startup Oxford VR and supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the Oxford Health NHS Trust, the research looks to tackle a common issue found in people diagnosed with psychosis: the fear of being outside in everyday situations.

These fears can often manifest into agoraphobia - the fear of being outside, which can severely disrupt relationships or the ability to work. The results of the trial were published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal.

Known as “gameChange,” the VR platform is designed to treat this type of agoraphobia and help patients re-engage with everyday activities.

Funded as part of the NIHR’s Invention for Innovation (i4i) scheme, which specialises in developing new technologies for areas with high patient demand, it brings together functional therapy with the new frontier of gaming technology.

“Over the past 25 years, VR has been used in a small number of specialist mental healthcare clinics.

It has supported in-person therapy delivered by a clinician. However, with gameChange, the therapy

is built-in, so it can be overseen by a range of staff,” Professor Daniel Freeman, the lead researcher and a Consultant Psychiatrist at Oxford Health said.

There are a number of methods for delivering the therapy to the patient, including from their own homes. Freeman states the early trials have shown promising results, particularly in those with more difficult-to-treat disorders, in helping them partake in everyday activities.

OxfordVR research has found it to be particularly effective for patients with severe agoraphobia or those suffering from anxiety, depression, or hallucinations. It also reports that it is more engaging and leads to fewer drop-outs.

The therapy is designed to allow patients to engage in everyday activities such as shopping or going out for coffee to help them overcome their anxieties. These goal-based activities add a reward system that can help reduce anxiety and encourage patients to get back out there.

Every activity in the gameChange simulation is done in the presence of an automated mental health professional.

“Using today’s affordable and easy-to-use consumer VR equipment, we think [VR therapy] will lead a transformation in the digital provision of psychological therapy, with deployment at scale for treatments that really work,” he added.

There are a number of issues plaguing the NHS’s mental health units, with the most prominent being a staff shortage. This can lead to long waiting lists which can put patients more at risk.

NHS policy means they aim to get patients seeking mental health consultation to a professional “within 18 weeks,” and reports suggest as many as two-thirds may have to resort to emergency options. 64% of respondents reported waiting at least 4 weeks to be seen.

People are willing to go into therapy but are unable to be seen by a specialist. Automating the process means the shortage can be directly addressed, allows for physical mental health specialists to reduce their workload and can cover while many sectors look to hire more professionals.

‘The gameChange program provides an engaging, active therapy,” according to Dr Felicity White, a researcher and clinical psychologist.

“In a safe place, patients learn by doing, practising real-life activities such as buying a coffee or getting on a bus, which helps them develop the confidence to take on real-world challenges.

Patients who used the programme have reported being more confident in themselves, being able to re-engage with the outside world, and generally feeling less anxious.

The study also reports that patients suffered less stress in everyday situations while also indicating “reduced levels of paranoia” in some subjects.

Breastfeeding support app raises £1m in funding wave

by Ash Jones

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owadays, there’s an app for pretty much anything you may need, and the startup behind breastfeeding and early parental care app LatchAid has secured around £1 million (€1.19 million) to fund its growth.

Secured through seed funding and a £510,000 (€610,444) grant through Innovate UK, the money will help the firm bring its app to new mothers, helping them with issues such as post-natal depression, breastfeeding support and loneliness.

Founded by former visual effects artist-turned R&D specialist Dr Chen Mao Davies, the app was born out of her own difficulties in early motherhood.

She said it “can be difficult” to initially secure funding for a women’soriented healthcare app, “but if you can find the right investors, great ideas and a great team will ultimately attract funding.”

The UK has among the lowest rates of breastfeeding in the world, with as many as 90% giving up before they want to owing to physical pain. Only 48% continue breastfeeding past 6-8 weeks and a 2016 study suggests only 0.5% of mothers in the UK continue for a year after the birth of their baby.

It has already won grants from several places, including a Covid-19 Fast Response grant, a Sustainable Innovation Fund grant, the prestig-

ious Women in Innovation Award from Innovate UK and grants from NHS Improvement, UnLtd, the EU, and the Health Foundation.

The app offers interactive 3D models to teach new skills or can integrate users into peer-to-peer support groups where they can exchange advice, support, or guidance. The app also has an AI-controlled chatbot that can provide any relevant links or aid or connect users with experts.

The latest wave of funding will almost entirely be used to bolster its B2B offerings, primarily to healthcare providers, as a licensed app and to insurance companies.

Other goals include adapting the services of the app to include a 1000-day support package - from as close as possible to conception until the baby is two years old - enhancing the 3D model renders and adding cross-platform capabilities for iOS and Android.

“Chen has already achieved so much with such limited resources. I am convinced that, with this funding and the support of such a great group of investors, LatchAid will grow to be an amazing force for good in this critical health area, first in the UK and then across the world,” said lead investor Dan Cobbley, former head of Google UK and co-founder of ClearScore and Salary Finance.

It recently completed a pilot with 12 NHS Trusts and the HCRG Group which reportedly demonstrated “positive health economic benefits.”

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NEWS

New developments in Metals & Mining

Schaeffler signs historic first European rare earth supply deal

by Steven Gislam

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erman automotive supplier Schaeffler has signed a rare earth magnets supply deal with Norway's REEtec to drive plans for the rapid growth of its electric vehicle motor business.

It is the first deal made by a European automaker or supplier to source the raw materials from within the continent.

The news comes at a time when the European Union, the US and Britain are racing to reduce their reliance on China, which in 2021 accounted for over 60% of the world's rare earth production. Used in wind turbines and EV batteries, securing the supply of rare earths and super strong magnets is vital for EU to achieve the goals of its European Green Deal and "Fit for 55" package.

The aim is to improve the sustainability of electric motors along the value chain by securing supply from a company such as REEtec, which uses more sustainable production practices. Manufactured using rare earth metals like neodymium, powerful permanent magnets are used to produce optimum magnetic flux in electric motors.

Schaeffler, which has been producing EV motors on a large scale since 2021, usually purchases pre-manufactured components for its motors from subcontractors known as Tier 2 suppliers.

The company's drive to cut emissions in its supply chain by 25% by 2030 had led it to start sourcing raw materials for the first time, instead of ready-made magnets. Schaeffler aims to be carbon neutral by 2040.

"Rare earths play an important role in the automotive and industrial segments. Schaeffler is focusing on achieving sustainability along the entire value chain and is systematically gearing its activities to the use of materials produced cleanly and sustainably," said Schick.

REEtec, which has been separating rare earths on a large scale since 2019, will process raw materials produced by Australian miner Vital Metals at its facility in Nechalacho in the Northwest Territories of Canada.

"We are delighted to have signed a five-year contract with Schaeffler and to be partnering with a globally successful market leader that prioritises sustainability and

transparency in the supply chain,” said Sigve Sporstøl, CEO of REEtec.

He added that the deal had allowed REEtec to construct its rare earths separation facility in Herøya, near Porsgrunn in southeast Norway.

With the automotive sector across Europe gearing up for a leap in EV production, companies have been signing contracts with miners for the raw materials necessary for battery production such as lithium, cobalt and nickel but so far such deals had been limited in the rare earth sector.

Last year, General Motors and General Electric signed a deal covering North America but this is the first of its kind in Europe.

Despite the name, rare earths are not rare, but the ore does require complex processing, which can generate toxic waste, in order to be separated into the 17 individual elements and produce the alloys used in a wide range of consumer electronics, as well as EV batteries.

Sporstøl says that REEtec uses a less energy-intensive technology under which nearly all the chemicals used in processing are recovered and reused.

No details regarding the value of the transaction or the production quantity, have been provided.

Visit: www.schaeffler.com

ArcelorMittal acquires majority stake in voestalpine’s HBI facility

by Romana Moares

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teel company ArcelorMittal is to acquire an 80% shareholding in voestalpine’s Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI) plant located in Corpus Christi, Texas, valued at $1 billion.

The state-of-the-art plant, which was opened in October 2016, is one of the largest of its kind in the world. It has an annual capacity of two million tonnes of HBI, a high-quality feedstock made through the direct reduction of iron ore which is used to produce high-quality steel grades in an electric arc furnace (EAF), but which can also be used in blast furnaces, resulting in lower coke consumption.

In parallel with the transaction, ArcelorMittal has signed a long-term off-take agreement with voestalpine to supply an annual volume of HBI commensurate to voestalpine’s equity stake to its steel mills in Donawitz and Linz, Austria. The remaining balance of production will be delivered to third parties under existing supply contracts, and to ArcelorMittal facilities.

ArcelorMittal CEO, Aditya Mittal, said: “This is a compelling strategic acquisition for our company. It accelerates both our progression into producing high-quality metallic feedstock for EAFs and our global decarbonisation journey. The facility is world-class and is ideally located, with its own deep-water port. There is also unused land on the site which provides interesting options for further development."

The Corpus Christi facility is located in an optimal coastal position with direct access to a broad and deep shipping channel which enables costeffective transportation to the Americas and Europe.

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The plant has the potential to transition to 100% hydrogen, with the Texas coast presenting advantageous weather conditions to produce renewable energy powered green hydrogen. DRI/HBI is expected to play a prominent role in the decarbonisation of the steel industry, a process ArcelorMittal intends to lead.

Visit: https://corporate.arcelormittal.com www.voestalpine.com

METALS & MINING NEWS

INDUSTRYNEWS "Radical and urgent shifts" are needed in mining says new industry report

by Elizabeth Gregory

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new Responsible Mining Foundation (RMF) report says that radical and urgent shifts are needed to close the gaps between current practices and societal expectations.

The research organisation’s newly-released ‘Closing the Gaps’ report says that while some companies are making commendable steps in implementing responsible practices, “tens of thousands of large and small companies, operating countless mine sites, show little sign of ESG awareness”.

It goes on to say that in order to accelerate industry progress, “responsible mining can only happen with intentional and collective action by all key stakeholder groups”.

The report highlights continued issues, which include the “conflict of conscience between the need for the products of mining and the potential harm caused by extraction”, power disparities, government reluctance to regulate and geopolitical changes.

However, the report doesn’t just work as a piece of analysis, as the RMF tries to offer solutions, directing readers to four indicators that can be used as ways to show progress in industrial mining.

These four indicators are: ESG-led business models, information sharing, a rights-based approach to harm prevention and “an international instrument on responsible extractives”.

“What is needed most from companies is courageous leadership on the part of mining executives to go beyond industry norms and incremental improvements,” says Closing the Gaps.

The Responsible Mining Foundation is an independent research organisation based in Switzerland that tries to encourage extractive industries to pursue UN Sustainable Development Goals, respect environments, improve lives and benefit economies – but it also accepts that companies should be able to make a viable return.

Hélène Piaget, CEO of RMF, said: “Ultimately, it is up to all of us to make sure that society’s demand for metals and minerals does not continue to come at the cost of harm and injustice to people and environments.”

The report comes on the 20th anniversary of the Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development (MMSD) initiative that carried out research and analysis into the ways the mining industry could help to develop and conducts sustainable practices globally.

Then, as the mining industry pivots to more green practices, similar care needs to be enacted as the energy transition will see a huge rise in the mining of metals lithium, cobalt, graphite, indium and vanadium.

Kitty van der Hijden, Director General of World Bank's International Cooperation said, "Without Climate-Smart Mining practices, the energy transition risks making a significant contribution to global emissions.

Negative impacts will affect vulnerable communities and environments, potentially endangering progress on tackling climate change".

In 2020 a McKinsey report said that climate change was also changing the physical challenges of mining operations, with "climate hazards such as heavy precipitation, drought, and heat will get more frequent and intense".

InoBat Auto & Green Lithium sign sustainability partnership

by Steven Gislam

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lovakian electric vehicle battery maker InoBat Auto and mineral processing firm Green Lithium, which is planning the UK's first large-scale commercial lithium refinery, have signed a partnership which aims to accelerate the development of a 'cradle-to-cradle' battery value chain in the country.

As part of the deal, Green Lithium will supply InoBat with battery-grade lithium chemicals. Financial details of the partnership were not disclosed.

In a statement, InoBat Auto said that the partnership combined the company's "expertise in innovative battery technology with Green Lithium’s ability to increase, diversify and secure the European supply of low-carbon batterygrade lithium chemicals".

Lithium is a key raw material in the production of EV batteries and with bans on the sale of new combustion engine cars looming in the UK and other countries, automakers are scrambling to secure a steady supply.

According to Statista, in 2021 Australia was the world leader in terms of lithium mine

production, with an estimated output of 55,000 metric tonnes. Chile and China ranked second and third, with lithium production totalling 26,000 and 14,000 metric tonnes, respectively.

It is increasingly recognised within the sector that battery production is only truly sustainable if it covers the entire battery life cycle, from mining to recycling, hence the partnership's 'cradle-to-cradle' value chain goal. Creating a circular economy also reduces European reliance on exports.

The two companies will also collaborate in achieving their strategic business goals.

InoBat is looking to expand its UK presence and develop a gigafactory network across Western Europe throughout 2024.

"InoBat and Green Lithium share ambitions for a greener world and this agreement is an important step forward in our journey towards net-zero. In partnership with Green Lithium, we will accelerate the global rollout of green battery technology using low-carbon, battery-grade lithium hydroxide to create, what we believe, to be the most innovative and advanced batteries

on the market", said Marian Bocek, CEO and Co-Founder of InoBat Auto.

"Green Lithium’s mission is to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles and sustainable energy storage by increasing the supply of lowcarbon battery-grade lithium chemicals", said Sean Sargent, CEO of Green Lithium.

"In InoBat, we have found an organisation with whom we will not only have a commercial supplier relationship but one with whom we can work together as part of a wider partnership to create a sustainable battery supply chain and further our shared sustainability ambitions", he added

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NEWS

New developments in Metals & Mining

Study: How many metals are needed for Europe’s energy transition?

by Ash Jones

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urope’s energy transition requires 35-times more lithium and between 7 to 26-times more rare earths than its current supply, and there is skyrocketing demand for the other types of metals also needed for the energy transition, according to a new study from KU Leuven.

Other problematic metals, such as cobalt and nickel, also need to see significant supply increases due to the demand for electric vehicle batteries and consumer electronics, and suppliers will have to get ahead of the curve to negate further disruptions like those seen with the ongoing chip shortage and supply chain issues associated with the coronavirus pandemic.

The “Metals for Green Energy” study, commissioned by the European association of metal producers Eurometaux, states that greater supplies of copper (a 35% increase on today’s use), silicon (45%) and aluminium (33%) will also be vital in the production of the wind and solar energy and hydrogen infrastructure that form the backbone of the European Green Deal.

However, regardless of the relatively bleak news that Europe’s supply of metals is lacking, the data also suggests at least 75% of this demand could be met through metals recycling by 2050 - the net-zero deadline - with the potential to save the bloc billions of euros. The data suggests as many as two-thirds of Europe’s cathode demand could be met through recycling.

In addition, by the time materials reach the recycling stage, much of their negative environmental effects will have been spent, which is another way the sector could see overall reductions.

That being said, the EU will face other significant pitfalls should mining, refining and recycling products not be able to provide enough metals for the various projects. Reliance on imports will be very expensive.

With the bloc having revealed plans to wean itself off Russian gas, insights into alternative energy sources such as heat-to-energy and geothermal being in their early stages and some political opposition to nuclear energy, especially in Germany, the EU has a number of challenges to overcome if it is to meet its climate goals.

In addition, the International Energy Agency (IEA) issued a warning in 2021 about the role “critical minerals” will play in the building of new infrastructure.

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This is doubly so given the current energy crisis, that was originally linked with the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine war.

More specifically, the study reveals the European Green Deal will require the following: • • • • • • • •

4.5 million tonnes of aluminium 1.5 million tonnes of copper 800,000 tonnes of copper 400,000 tonnes of nickel 300,000 tonnes of zinc 200,000 tonnes of silicon 60,000 tonnes of cobalt 3,000 tonnes of the rare earths metals neodymium, dysprosium and praseodymium

“Although the EU has committed to accelerate its energy transition and produce a great deal of its clean energy technologies domestically, it remains import-dependent for much of the metal needed,” the study says.

“And there is growing concern about the security of supply,” it adds.

While this may seem like a simple task of importing, many of these materials, particularly cobalt and nickel, are considered “conflict minerals” - minerals mined in conflict zones, often through the use of both child and adult slave labour - which many Western companies have actively begun boycotting.

This had led to schemes such as “controlled zones” in a bid to source these metals ethically.

In addition, shortages of nickel, cobalt, lithium, rare earths and copper, in particular, could cause significant production delays from

2030 onwards and the study predicts demand will peak by around 2040.

Europe has seen some strides in battling lithium demand in the face of the shortage.

Projects such as Zinnwald Lithium mean supply from within the bloc can start to be addressed.

In addition, many chipmakers, such as Intel, have invested significant funds into upping the supply of semiconductors, which are used in EV batteries and electronics products. Optimisations of manufacturing or overhauling of chemical formulae could lead to a reduction in demand for these critical minerals.

“Europe needs to decide urgently how it will bridge its looming supply gap for primary metals. Without a decisive strategy, it risks new dependencies on unsustainable suppliers,” Liesbet Gregoir, the study’s lead author said.

With an interim goal of reducing emissions by 55% by 2030 on the table, change will need to happen rapidly.

“A paradigm shift is needed if Europe wants to develop new local supply sources with high environmental and social protections. Today we don’t see the community buy-in or the business conditions for the continent to build its own strong supply chains. The window is narrowing; projects really need to be taken forward in the next two years to be ready by 2030,” she added.

China and Indonesia will dominate the refining market, the study suggests, and Europe is still heavily reliant on Russia for aluminium nickel and copper. The data suggests domestic mines could cover a significant portion of its metal needs - particularly regarding lithium and rare earths.

Metals mined in Europe also mean fewer emissions on transport and shipping.

Partnering with responsible suppliers may be key, and this change should happen quickly, it adds. Overall, all of these metals account for 3% of global emissions, which may be something else to consider.

However, technological developments over the next decade and beyond could change several of the variables listed in the study, particularly the amounts of minerals required. As such, it is imperative that studies into transparency continue as global powers look to implement climate goals.

Visit: www.kuleuven.be

METALS & MINING NEWS

INDUSTRYNEWS World has 14 million EVs’ worth of lithium, nickel in 2023, claims study

by Steven Gislam

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he world has enough available lithium and nickel to produce 14 million electric vehicles in 2023 even without Russian supplies, according to a new study by clean transport campaign group Transport & Environment (T&E).

The study, titled ‘Why Europe can secure enough critical raw materials’ and based on BloombergNEF data, urged governments in Europe to do more to shore up access to key metals to secure plans for the energy transition.

“War in Ukraine has shown that we must wean ourselves off oil. The best way to do this is to go electric. Despite what people say, there is no shortage of lithium or nickel in Earth’s crust. It is only a shortage of political will that leaves Europe vulnerable to supply squeezes,” said Julia Poliscanova, senior director at T&E. The campaign group also said that shifting to electric vehicles would be the “best way to punish the Putin regime for its illegal war in Ukraine”, arguing that both nickel and lithium - unlike oil - are largely mined in democratic countries.

According to Statista, in 2021, Australia was by far the world leader in lithium production with an estimated output of 55,000 tonnes. Chile ranked second with 26,000 tonnes, with China coming third with 14,000 tonnes.

In terms of nickel, Statista found that in 2021, Indonesia was the world leader, producing 1 million tonnes. Ranked second was the Philippines with 370,000 tonnes, with Russia ranked third with 250,000.

While some have argued that there are not enough raw materials to switch to EVs in the short term, a problem that has been exacerbated by sanctions on Russian nickel, T&E disputes the claim.

The T&E study shows that there would be enough lithium and nickel metals to make up to 14 million EVs globally in 2023 – 55% higher than the current market projections. In 2025, even if raw material supplies tighten and remain below battery factory capacity, T&E claims that 21 million EVs could still be produced – almost 50% more than market estimates.

Global EV sales more than doubled to 4.2 million vehicles in 2021 from just over 2 million in 2020.

Automotive consultancy LMC has forecast global EV sales will hit 9 million in 2023 and 14.2 million in 2025.

Prices of EV battery metals have skyrocketed over the last year with nickel reaching new records following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia the third-largest producer of the metal.

T&E urged policymakers in Europe to strengthen diplomatic ties with other democratic nations like Australia, Canada, Indonesia and Chile and to begin talks with mining companies operating in those jurisdictions. The group calls for the creation of a dedicated EU authority to ensure a secure supply of sustainably sourced raw materials.

The effect of a tight commodities market on battery prices has caused genuine concerns about the effect it will have on the price of batteries - already the most expensive part of an electric vehicle. A long period of low prices has led to underinvestment in new metals mining, with pressure on prices exacerbated by supply chain disruptions caused by Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine.

Nonetheless, T&E says that this situation is not expected to last for long, with mining and recycling companies reacting to the inflated prices by announcing expansions which should help stabilise prices in the coming years.

Epiroc to use SSAB green steel in mining equipment

by Ash Jones

L

ess than a week after the HYBRIT scheme secured EU funding, Swedish miner Epiroc contracted SSAB for green steel to be used in new mining equipment as both sectors face continuing pressure to become more sustainable.

SSAB is planning on launching its first wave of fossil-free steel products by 2026 - an industry first - with it already having supplied some green steel to partners. The partnership could help the mining sector decarbonise amid criticism the sector is not doing enough to meet climate goals.

The steel sector currently accounts for around 8% of global emissions, with it being the single highest emitter in Sweden. The group claims it accounts for roughly 10% of Sweden’s emissions, and 7% in neighbouring Finland.

“Sustainability is integrated into everything we do, and we are committed to halving our CO2e emissions by 2030 and this partnership with SSAB will support us and our customers on the journey to our climate goals,” says Helena Hedblom, Epiroc’s President and CEO.

“It is clear that our innovation agenda goes hand-in-hand with our customers’ sustainability agenda,” she added.

HYBRIT green steel is created by replacing coal-firing with hydrogen generated through electrolysis. SSAB works alongside iron ore producer LKAB and energy company Vattenfall to produce the steel.

Initially, the steel will be used in a prototype for underground mining machines at its plant in Örebro, Sweden, with it ultimately paving the way for greener mining in the future.

Epiroc will also look to halve emissions in transport and from suppliers by the end of the decade while also looking at ways to tackle emissions during the mining process itself.

The firm recently announced it had partnered with other mining giants for EU-sponsored lowcarbon mining.

Dubbed the “Nexgen Sims”, the project is specifically designed to push forward carbon-neutral mining methods, equipment and full optimisation using Industry 4.0 solutions such as 5G.

The entire sector has been facing mounting pressure in recent years due to public and stakeholder perception the industry is not doing enough to meet climate calls with some watchdogs suggesting many miners’ goals are completely arbitrary.

The Responsible Mining Foundation found in a recent report that, while a lot of goals had been set, there has been relatively little action among mining firms in reaching net-zero.

Recent crises such as the Juukan Gorge incident or miners being embroiled in a number of public lawsuits over supposed negligence have also soured opinions on the mining sector.

Visit: www.ssab.com

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NEWS

New developments in Politics & Economics

Biden will wave tariffs on solar panels hit by investigation for 24 months

by Elizabeth Gregory

T

he US President is set to wave tariffs on solar panels entering the country from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam for two years. The decision comes after an investigation by the Commerce Department froze the green imports, stalling as many as 300 solar projects across America.

The Commerce Department investigation was concerned that China was using subsidiaries in the four Southeast Asian countries as a way to avoid US tariffs. It began its investigation on March 25 after Californian-based Auxin Solar filed a petition asking for an investigation into the matter. So far, officials have not found any evidence of trade infringements.

The four countries provide as much as 82% of the panels that are used in the US. According to the New York Times, within weeks, the freeze was already causing companies to consider layoffs as projects were postponed and cancelled.

The investigations can take as long as 5 months, making the standstill all the more concerning as companies feared retroactive tariffs of as much as 250%. Biden’s decision to wave the tariffs should put some of these concerns to rest.

It was reported by Reuters that Biden would use executive action and draw on the 1950 Defense Production Act (DPA) to enact the waiver and further drive US solar panel manufacturing, as well as other green technologies.

The DPA gives presidents the power to instruct US industries to expand production or prioritise certain contracts for the national interest.

A source told Reuters that the waiver would only apply to the four countries and would run alongside the investigation – which is being

conducted independently of the government. It was also reported that any imports over the 24 month period will not be subject to duties, no matter the outcome of the investigation.

The tariffs on Chinese solar panels began in 2012 under the Obama administration, in an effort to boost domestic production as China was dominating the market. The tariffs were then extended by Trump in 2018, and again by Biden in February this year.

In response to the China tariffs, over the last decade, US companies have been buying solar panels from the four other Southeast Asian countries.

In 2021 as many as 24 gigawatts of new solar capacity were installed across the US, but around just 20% of the solar panels were manufactured in the US. The rest were mainly imported from the four Southeast Asian countries involved in the investigation.

Biden’s decision to waive the solar panel tariffs can be seen as part of a larger ambitious environmental agenda and a move to boost the US industry.

For example, earlier this month the administration said it would be cutting costs in half for wind and solar energy projects. This month the Environmental Protection Agency also moved to return power to states to veto gas pipelines and the government banned the disposal of mining waste in Alaska in May. This is not the first time the President has used the DPA: In April it was reported that the administration would be using the act to encourage domestic production of domestic electrical vehicle battery material production, and during the earlier days of the pandemic it was invoked to bolster vaccine production.

Cross-border tax complexities cost UK manufacturers £24 billion

by Elizabeth Gregory

C

ross-border tax complexities cost UK manufacturers as much as £24 billion (€28.26 billion) in 2021 says a new report from American tax compliance technology company Avalara and its research partner, the UK economic consultancy Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr).

The damning report showed that 18% of manufacturers that are currently exporting to the EU envisage exiting from at least one EU market in the future, while 46% said that they had reversed plans to sell goods in the EU due to fears of being fined for tax compliance.

The report contained answers from 250 UK businesses that are based in the UK but which export to the EU. Further analysis revealed that if the EU was part of the domestic market, exporters should have made approximately £300 billion (€353.19 billion) in revenue last year, but instead they made £252 billion (€296.68 billion). The report also showed that as much as 58 Industry Europe

£386 million (€454.68 million) had been lost due to augmenting administrative costs.

With tax compliance directives not set to change anytime soon, Avalara and Cebr found that UK manufacturers could expect further losses of as much as £4.4 billion (€5.18 billion) by 2026.

In the report, as many as 65% of interviewed business leaders shared that they feared the legal consequences of making tax compliance mistakes, while 42% shared that they were apprehensive about the complexity of the new terms and conditions.

Post-Brexit tax compliance requirements include completing an export declaration, providing key documents to their freight forwarder, and analysing and quantifying payable customs duty. Brexit has changed ten major trade hurdles, which include customs duty cost and compliance, VAT, systems, data and processes, transfer pricing and case law.

Alex Baulf, Avalara’s Senior Director of Global Indirect Tax said that due to the Brexit-based regulation changes, alongside the uncertainty of the pandemic, “anxiety levels have been skyrocketing

in the manufacturing sector as tax complexity has become a major red tape headache.”

He added that the compliance burdens were “becoming almost unmanageable” and that they were “hampering growth opportunities for British exporters”.

Cebr Chief Executive Nina Skero added that as well as the report’s findings of £50 billion (€58.90 billion) loss in earnings and the £386 million administrative losses.

“These firm-level losses are impacting economic growth prospects, preventing an estimated £8.7 billion worth of investment which could support GDP by a further £16.1 billion in the longer term.

The report was conducted by Cebr in collaboration with Sapio Research, a British market research agency. Questions posed to the firms covered the effects of firm revenues, tax administration time costs, the effects of non-people costs and marketplace sales value.

Not only focusing on the micro issues, Cebr and Sapio then analysed the wider impact of the tax compliance policies, analysing the larger economic effects of the reforms as well as how they will affect the businesses being impacted.

POLITICS & ECONOMICS NEWS

INDUSTRYNEWS After 18 months, the Covid waiver war may be over

by Elizabeth Gregory

A

Covid-vaccine patent waiver has been agreed upon by the United States, the European Union, India and South Africa in a new World Trade Organization (WTO) "outcome document".

For over a year and a half, activists, drug groups, and representatives from countries around the world have been battling over the patents for Covid-19 vaccines. At present, countries must pay a licence fee to Pfizer, Moderna and other pharmaceutical companies – which increases the prices of vaccines, and acts as a major hurdle to expanding rollouts, especially in poorer countries.

Now, a document has been agreed upon by the European Union, India, South Africa and the United States, in a move to waive the patents.

The new agreement document lays out plans to authorise the use of patented subject matter without the right holder's consent. It awaits the approval of the rest of the World Trade Organization’s 164 members.

In the past, the WTO, which deals with global trade rules, has laid out important policies, such as providing agricultural subsidies, but this is arguably its most important policy proposal yet.

It has far-reaching consequences: 32.9% of the world’s population is still unvaccinated – that’s approximately 2.3 billion people.

There are massive variations in vaccine rollouts around the world. The population of rich countries such as South Korea, Australia, Canada and Portugal are as much as 80% vaccinated, while for Madagascar, Nigeria and Syria, this figure stands at less than 10%.

WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has made vaccine equity her top priority over the last 18 months. At the virtual White House Global Covid-19 Summit in September, she said: “We have a choice.

Either we converge downwards by allowing the virus to drag us all back down, or we converge upwards by vaccinating the world.”

The Multilateral Leaders Task Force on Covid-19 – a joint initiative from the International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, World Health Organization, and World Trade Organization – has also been trying to accelerate access to Covid-19 vaccines, particularly for low- and middle-income countries.

Part of its goal is to remove all barriers to supply chain operations, as well as barriers to the export of ingredients and finished vaccines.

In February, the EU was accused of putting profit before people, when major disagreements arose at the sixth European Union-African Union Summit in Brussels, over Europe’s refusal to waive the patents on Covid vaccines.

In a July 2021 report by the People’s Vaccine Alliance, a group of 90 organisations and networks, “supported by Nobel Laureates, health experts, economists, Heads of States, faith leaders” that campaigns to get the vaccine made free, said that Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna are charging as much as $41 billion (€38.58 billion) above the estimated cost of production.

Even with a licence, the costs of the vaccines vary hugely throughout the world. For example, figures from March 2021 showed that ​​the Pfizer jab cost £22 per dose in Israel, while it cost £15 in the UK. Similarly, Moderna cost £10.86 in the US and between £24 and £28 in the UK.

Russia suspends Japanese fishing rights citing deal payment issues

by Elizabeth Gregory

R

ussia has suspended an agreement that gave Japan permission to fish near disputed Southern Kuril islands after accusing the nation of failing to make deal payments.

In a statement, the Russian foreign ministry said: “In the current situation, we are forced to suspend the implementation of the 1998 Agreement until the Japanese side fulfils all its financial obligations".

The dispute between the two countries has been ongoing since the end of World War Two when the islands – which are called the Northern Territories by Japan and the Kurils by Russia – were first seized from Japan.

The fishing deal was made in 1998 and allows Japanese boats to fish around the disputed islands. The sea is a hot spot for octopus, pollack and mackerel. Prior to the deal, Japanese boats were sometimes shot at or captured by Russia.

In May, Japan announced further economic sanctions against Russia, which included banning exports of certain cutting-edge technologies that were set to be delivered to some Russian scientific research institutions.

This week, Japan and NATO also stepped up further military collaboration.

Russia’s decision to relinquish the fishing rights is seen by some as a response to Japan’s sanctions.

However, on Wednesday Hirokazu Matsuno, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary criticized Russia’s decision but cited Japanese development funding of projects on Sakhalin – a large Russian island that sits just north of Japan – as the reason Russia had withdrawn the fishing rights.

He said it was “regrettable that Russia one-sidedly announced it is suspending the cooperation in this manner” but admitted that Japan had not made its latest payment for the project.

“We will do our utmost to protect the safety of the Japanese fishing operation", Matsuno added.

On Sakhalin, there are ongoing oil and gas projects in which the Japanese government and Japanese companies have stakes. In a statement in March Japan said that the projects were important for its energy security.

At the time, Shell and Exxon Mobil said they would be exiting some of the Sakhalin projects as part of sanctions against Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.

The 1998 deal is just one of four fishing industry related deals between the two nations that concern the disputed waters. The second and third were negotiated this year and covered rights over salmon and seaweed. The fourth is set to be made in December and will decide upon fishing quotas.

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NEWS

New developments in Politics & Economics

REPowerEU: Commission pushes to quit Russian gas by 2027

by Ash Jones

A

s the war in Ukraine continues to exacerbate the energy crisis and increase tensions between Russia and Europe, the EU has unveiled a strategy to remove its reliance on Russian fossil fuels entirely.

Some €210 billion in funding is being allocated to help remove Russian gas from the energy mix by 2027 as the bloc looks to pivot in the direction of green energy in a bit to bring the goals of the EU Green Deal and Fit for 55 package closer to reality.

40% of Europe’s gas comes from Russia, and EU leaders have been looking at other partnerships to fill this gap, including with Africa and the US, which have allowed it to import “record levels” of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The Commission has also toyed with the idea of passing a new law requiring natural gas storage in Europe to be kept to 80% capacity by November to ensure the energy crisis does not cause energy poverty over the winter period.

The REPowerEU scheme’s plan is threefold. It will see pushes in energy savings, diversification of energy supplies, and accelerated roll-out of renewable energy to replace fossil fuels in homes, industry and power generation.

The bloc claims energy savings are the cheapest and easiest way to tackle the energy crisis. To this end, the energy efficiency target under the Fit for 55 package is being increased, from 9% to 13% to further ensure energy savings before the next winter.

Sectors such as freight and transport will have their own action plans in a bid to cut emissions and increase energy efficiency.

In addition, there will be “short-term behavioural changes” within the bloc to cut oil and gas demand by around 5%, to be presumably replaced in renewables for generation.

Contingency measures will also be put in place in the case of severe disruption, although no information was given.

Currently, around 37% of the EU’s energy generation is handled by renewables, and this new scheme should see significant strides in diversifying the bloc’s energy mix.

Accelerating the development of renewables will be essential in the bloc meeting its goals, with the bloc having raised its interim 60 Industry Europe

emissions reductions goal from 40% to 45% by 2030, with plans still in place to completely decarbonise by 2050.

This will include a plan to have 600GW in solar energy, to be met by requiring new commercial and public buildings to have solar panels integrated and doubling the rate of heat pumps to allow for solar and geothermal generation.

In addition, the bloc plans to reduce bureaucracy regarding the development of new renewable projects. Getting the green light from new renewable projects has throttled attempts to increase the renewable share in the past, which the Commission appears to want to tackle head-on.

Also on the agenda are plans to set a target of around 10 million tonnes of green hydrogen imports by 2030, which could be used in particularly hard-to-abate sectors such as shipping, heavy industry and transport - replacing coal and lignite.

Finally, the bloc has laid out plans to increase biomethane - a synthetic analogue for natural gas - through financial incentives to increase production to 35bcm by 2030.

The Commission is set to roll out carbon contracts for difference to support the uptake of green hydrogen by industry and specific financ-

ing and will also offer guidance on setting up new renewable contracts.

It is also suggesting major players set up an industry-wide Solar Alliance and skills partnership to ensure workers are prepared to switch away from fossil fuel infrastructure while being better equipped to work with solar energy.

The €210 billion in funding for the scheme will be raised through private sector investments, EU-wide and regional funding. To support the scheme, €225 billion is already available in loans under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), which will support member states in their goals. €100 billion will be allocated to renewable energy projects, including hydrogen. €56 billion will go towards energy savings and heat pumps, and €29 billion will go towards power grids.

However, some investment in fossil fuels will be necessary for the time being, the Commission has stated. €10 billion will be invested into trans-European energy networks in a bid to interconnect the EU’s gas networks and make them more resilient.

A further €2 billion will be given to countries for oil, primarily targeting Eastern European nations that are reliant on oil, but cannot get access to non-Russian supply.

POLITICS & ECONOMICS NEWS

INDUSTRYNEWS EU greenhouse gas emissions rebound to pre-pandemic levels

by Ash Jones

G

reenhouse gas emissions in the European Union have reached their highest levels since the end of 2019, according to the EU’s official stats office, Eurostat.

Driven by an economic rebound after the global economy ground almost to a halt owing to lockdowns in 2020, greenhouse gas emissions reached over one billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent for the fourth quarter of 2021, with numbers expected to continue to climb for this year.

Put simply, greenhouse gas emissions for Q4 2021 saw an 8% increase from Q4 2020, by which time many national lockdowns had come to an end with falling cases.

Emissions increased in all member states when compared with the same quarter in 2020, with Estonia (+28%), Bulgaria (27%), Sweden (+14%), and Latvia and Belgium (both +13%) registering particularly large spikes, especially when compared to the decrease registered between 2019 and 2020.

Other states, such as Cyprus (+0.3%), the Netherlands and Slovenia (both +2%) and Luxembourg (+3%) still registered net increases, albeit far lower. This is likely due to an increased share of renewables in energy generation or lower overall demand.

Eurostat looks at greenhouse gas emissions - including carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, sulphur hexafluoride and various hydrocarbons generated through industry, business and households.

All are calculated to their equivalent carbon-dioxide emissions - the “gold standard” for measuring pollution.

By far the largest single emitter was households (21%), which primarily generate emissions through air conditioning or heating, followed closely by the manufacturing sector and electricity generation (both 21%), agriculture (12%) and transport (11%).

All sectors recorded across-the-board increases over 2020, likely due to the demand slump seen during the pandemic, with mining, transport and electricity seeing the largest spikes.

Energy prices in 2020 sunk to an all-time low towards the end of 2020, but the end of 2021 was met with an energy crisis linked with a shortage of natural gas, which has only been exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine war.

As such, the EU has pushed the green transition into gear, vowing to increase the market share of renewables and other lower-carbon fuels, including gas, in a bid to not only quit fossil fuels but also Russian gas.

Despite greenhouse gas emissions reaching their highest levels since 2019, the Commission claims emissions are still down year-on-year and have seen overall decreases since 2008.

For example, in 2020, emissions stood at 24% lower than 2008 numbers, although 2021 will see a lower net gain due to emissions being on the rise again.

Europe also appears to be exceeding its renewable energy targets, having more than doubled since 2004, and taking up a larger amount of the energy mix year on year.

That being said, there are still significant strides to go before any country in Europe reaches net-zero. Industry Europe has an ongoing series looking into the net-zero goals of countries and how close they are to their climate goals.

Norway and Iceland have by far the largest share of renewables, according to Eurostat, whereas countries such as Belgium and Luxembourg have significantly lower levels of renewables generation.

In addition, other nations, such as France, have especially high levels of nuclear generation, which could prove an effective alternative to renewable energy.

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NEWS

New developments in Technology & Innovation

Smart glasses bring video calls to the next level

by Ash Jones

S

mart glasses are often considered the "next big thing" in consumer electronics and could provide a number of benefits for industry.

They can host audio, give information on scenery or products, host facial recognition and some even provide rudimentary forms of augmented reality - and like smartphones, provide easy portable communication.

Tech firm Iristick, which is developing smart glasses for manufacturing and healthcare, has launched Microsoft Teams on its smart glasses that could allow workers on the factory floor to host important calls, and offer hands-free remote assistance, virtual inspections and remote maintenance.

The glasses are controlled via voice commands that allow for users to take advantage of the various services collaboration software such as Teams offers, allowing for live streams, taking and sharing pictures, camera controls and troubleshooting.

With the rise of remote working, the use of platforms such as Zoom or Teams has risen sharply and the interconnectivity has become an increased part of work-life.

The firm hopes this same technology can be applied to industries in which remote working is more difficult.

Smart glasses could allow for faster technical assistance and diagnostics in the case of malfunctions. Decreased need for travel can also help deal with labour shortages and help reduce commuting emissions. ‘‘Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been a significant, 44% increase in the number of professionals using collaboration tools," Iristick CEO Johan De Geyter claims.

Due to direct collaboration with Microsoft, the glasses come equipped with all the mobile device management its systems offer, including its security tools.

More specifically, the glasses make use of Microsoft Azure, its cloud computing service. ‘‘Iristick supports this increased demand by launching a widely used video conferencing solution on our smart glasses.

‘Microsoft Teams on Iristick’ is an application that connects frontline professionals in every industry to empower them in a digitised future," he added.

Increased interconnectivity is a key part of Industry 4.0, in which increasing production efficiency through data sharing and diagnostics is a core theme.

Due to their status as a burgeoning technology, a number of tech giants have begun

investing in smart glasses. Gaming peripheral company Razer recently launched its first smart glasses range, and Chinese startup Nreal is set to launch its augmented reality glasses soon.

Iristick believes that so-called wearable tech "will be the future of manufacturing" by leveraging technology at their fingertips to "enhance" the workforce.

Increased diagnostics and simulations could also be very good for the healthcare sector, as these tools could help doctors to plan the best approach for care or run simulations on surgeries in a risk-free environment.

It could also revolutionise therapy. The University of Oxford is currently trialling VR therapy, and smart glasses tech could easily connect those who need it with mental health professionals. ‘‘Extended Reality and smart glasses are an undeniable part of Industry 4.0, the smart factories of tomorrow and digital health," said Joris Aeles, the Azure Business Group Lead at Microsoft.

Aeles believes that companies utilising Azure will take away a lot of the legwork for them, as they will not have to design their own software and operating systems.

"Leveraging these technologies and their remote assistance solutions will help companies gain competitive advantages and provide them with a better chance to position themselves at the forefront of their respective industries," he added.

MakerBot & Ultimaker to merge to accelerate global adoption of 3D printing

by Steven Gislam

T

wo major players in desktop 3D printing have announced they are to merge in a deal they say will accelerate the adoption of additive manufacturing by providing a comprehensive desktop 3D printing ecosystem of hardware, software, and materials.

The US' MakerBot and the Netherlands' Ultimaker will merge into an as-yet-unnamed entity, backed by existing investors, NPM Capital and Stratasys, and will benefit from a planned cash investment of $62.4 million (€60.1 million) to fuel innovation and expansion into new markets.

The new company will be led by Nadav Goshen, current MakerBot CEO, and Jürgen von Hollen, current Ultimaker CEO, who will act as Co-CEOs, with Nadav managing operations and R&D and Jürgen managing the commercial functions.

“This merger marks an important milestone for Ultimaker and MakerBot,” said Jürgen von Hollen, CEO of Ultimaker.

“Innovation and growth are both critical to bringing desktop 3D printing from a specialty technology into mainstream business adoption. The new company will leverage and expand its combined global footprint with sales and operations in the Americas, EMEA and APAC.” “Technological innovation is paramount in growing the availability of easy-to-use professional 3D printing solutions,” added Nadav Goshen, CEO of MakerBot. 62 Industry Europe

“By combining our teams and leveraging the additional funding, we can accelerate the development of advanced solutions to provide our customers with a broad portfolio of hardware and software solutions to serve a wide spectrum of customers and applications."

The new company will aim to offer easy-to-use and accessible desktop 3D printing solutions for any application and says it wants to inspire the industry to a future state of responsible and sustainable manufacturing.

The new company will maintain headquarters in both The Netherlands and New York. The transaction is still subject to consultation of appropriate employee representative bodies and regulatory approvals, with closing currently expected over the course of the second or third quarters of 2022.

TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION NEWS

INDUSTRYNEWS

Atos Exhibition examines link between art and industry

by Steven Gislam

F

rench IT company Atos has revealed the upcoming dates and locations of the Atos Art Exhibition ‘22, a touring series of events that looks to highlight the connections "between art, design, imagination and industry".

Over its lifetime, the event has evolved from focusing solely on manufacturing into a global, cross-industry event with a broad appeal.

Atos described the Exhibition as "an opportunity for business and technology leaders to experience automated machines, coding and simple materials can achieve in the hands of those with vision and inspiration".

The event is open to the general public and brings together renowned multi-disciplinary artists such as Andy Warhol, Syd Mead, Stuart Semple, Raymond Loewy and others from the past 50 years with an aim to demonstrate the links between creativity and technology. It will also feature artists producing super-black pigments, sculptures that draw pollution from the air, and innovations in computing and 3D visualisation.

"The goal of the exhibition is to encourage business leaders to draw inspiration from the art world to address the key modern industrial challenges of decarbonisation, digital business operations, cloud computing and cybersecurity", said Atos in a statement.

The Atos Art Exhibition ‘22 opened at the Atos Business Technology and Innovation Center (BTIC) in Bezons, France on March 31, 2022. It was recently hosted at Atos offices in Munich, Germany, and will travel to four other world cities throughout 2022.

The next stop is London, on June 7, followed by other major cities across Europe and North America.

The exhibition is also available for viewing as an immersive virtual gallery. Atos is offering attendees the opportunity to arrange personalised innovation workshops on topics including decarbonisation, digital transformation, cloud computing and cybersecurity.

Atos has invited all business and senior technology professionals to learn more and register for an upcoming in-person or virtual, costs-free tour of the exhibition.

Visit: https://atos.net

One-third of organisations using digital twins for sustainability

by Steven Gislam

D

igital twins are rapidly becoming an evermore integral technology as businesses across all sectors push toward emissions cuts and sustainability objectives, with 34% of organisations having already implemented the tech, a new report from digital transformation consultancy Capgemini has found.

The ‘Digital Twins: Adding Intelligence to the Real World' report also revealed that 60% of organisations that had already invested in the technology said that sustainability was one of the key drivers for the investment.

A digital twin is a virtual replica of a physical system that can be used to simulate, monitor, analyse and continually optimise its real-world counterpart, acting as a digital testing ground. It functions as a tool for experimentation with different scenarios and to assess the potential impact of new decisions without having a real-world impact. The tech can help businesses lower costs, improve safety in the workplace and improve time to market.

In terms of sustainability, digital twins are increasingly being used for better utilisation of

resources, reductions in carbon emissions and optimisation of supply chains and transportation networks.

The new Capgemini report also predicts that the implementation of the technology is set to increase by 36% over the next five years, suggesting there is a fast-growing appetite for digital twinning tech across all major industry sectors including automotive, energy, aerospace, and life sciences, as businesses look to accelerate their digital transformations.

Organisations surveyed in the report said that the main two factors in digital twin investments were cost-saving benefits (79%) and technological advancement (77%).

Capgemini also found that 57% of organisations believed that digital twin tech is vital for improving sustainability efforts, itself a reflection of the growing trend in business of all kinds to deliver on Environmental Social Governance (ESG) agendas.

The report also found that the consumer goods and energy and utilities sectors were leading the way in terms of implementation of the digital twins for sustainability purposes, at 52% and 50% respectively.

Those that have already implemented the tech are seeing an average improvement of 16% in sustainability metrics, the report claimed.

"By bridging the ‘physical-digital’ gap, digital twins help organisations to unlock value, bring synergies across data, technologies, and business processes, and are at the core of Intelligent Industry transformation", said Roshan Gya, Global Head of Intelligent Industry at Capgemini.

"Digital Twins offer a unique opportunity for organisations looking to accelerate their journey towards intelligent operations while increasing profitability and enabling a sustainable future".

Industry Europe 63

NEWS

New developments in Technology & Innovation

CYBERSELVES’ ANIMUS: ‘TELEPORTATION’ TECH THAT COULD SPARK A REVOLUTION IN ROBOTICS

Daniel Camilleri (far left) and Michael Szollosy (front). Credit: Cyberselves

To explain more about telepresence IE spoke to Daniel Camilleri and Michael Szollosy, co-founders and CEO and COO of Cyberselves, a software development company that, in its own words, is “realising the true potential of robotics”...

by Steven Gislam

T

he word “teleportation” conjures up images of a Star Trek-style machine that dematerialises its occupants into an energy pattern before rematerialising them on the surface of some exotic planet.

While we are still some way off being beamed up

by Scotty, a Sheffield-based startup could be on the verge of revolutionising telepresence, essentially “teleporting” the user into the body of a robot, where they feel physically present, and even have control over its movements.

The questions that such a technology poses are far-reaching, and at times, frankly, a little confusing. What would it feel like to teleport into a robot and then tap yourself on the shoulder?

To explain more about telepresence we spoke to Daniel Camilleri and Michael Szollosy, co-founders and CEO and COO of Cyberselves, a software development company that, in its own words, is “realising the true potential of robotics”.

“Telepresence is like a regular video call, but then taken up a couple of notches. With a regular video call, you’re using vision, hearing, and voice. With telepresence our vision is coupled with our movement,” explains Camilleri.

64 Industry Europe

“You can look around the scene where you are placed. You can touch and you can even have a sense of how your body is positioned. It’s about upgrading a regular video call to a more physical interaction”.

“It gives the user the feeling of being in the same place as you and I could control where I look. I could reach out and shake your hand and feel myself shaking your hand. It basically increases emotional engagement and would give us more of an emotional connection”, adds Szollosy.

Cyberselves stands out among robotics startups because they don’t make any actual robots. What they have made, however, is Animus, a universal robotics framework that works with any robot, on any platform, and in any programming language.

Animus was created to be the basis of any robotics application, ranging from those with zero autonomy, where a human is in charge of all robot actions, all the way to fully autonomous applications hosted on the robot or in the cloud.

The applications for Animus are myriad. For example, in healthcare, a person could leverage the inbuilt telepresence application to “visit” a loved one in hospital, cutting out distance barriers and sidestepping quarantine restrictions. It

could also be used as a tool to combat isolation and loneliness, especially among elderly people, or those in remote areas.

There is also plenty of scope for defence applications. Cyberselves has already been awarded two contracts by the UK government’s Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) to develop Animus for use in on-land and subsea bomb disposal and nuclear decommissioning.

In terms of distance, Animus’ record so far is around 7000 km, from Sheffield to Doha, and the company is currently in talks with a firm in Singapore, which would push that number up to almost 11,000 km.

They’ve also cut latency time to 150 milliseconds, a vast improvement on the 300-400 millisecond delay of a normal video call. Though they are quick to point out that this is dependent on factors like bandwidth and distance.

“We’ve got the latency down to a point where it’s possible to directly control a robot without experiencing VR sickness for a high percentage of people. It’s not quite as high as VR games are at, which is roughly 98%, but I’d say probably 80-85% of the population would be comfortable using it”, says Camilleri.

TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION NEWS

INDUSTRYNEWS The duo even argues that as satellites become more ubiquitous in orbit, the scope to use Animus in space is likely to become more viable. As an app that is all about not putting people in harm’s way, its potential in space – arguably the ultimate hostile environment should require no explanation.

Though for now, Cyberselves is working largely with the manufacturing sector. “We feel that Animus augments a lot of the value that a robot delivers. It can increase a robot’s value because then you’re providing your users with something universal”, he adds.

Animus provides developers with a means for creating applications and robot skills that target the entirety of the robotics market instead of just one specific robot. Animus also allows existing and upcoming robot hardware manufacturers to use the apps created by others in their robot without extensive re-engineering as is currently the case thus significantly reducing their time to market.

One stumbling block for the company in its native UK has been a cultural hesitancy towards automation, which is slowing down its adoption, with the US, Asia, and other European countries all being far larger markets for the robotics sector.

While this is slowly changing, the company has experienced “a smaller risk appetite” among UK investors, who are used to imagining robots as a complete package, including both software and hardware. The problem was echoed last year

by International Federation of Robotics (IFR) chief Susanne Bieller in an interview with IE at GMIS2021 last November.

For now though, says Michael Szollosy, it’s a case of continuing to showcase Animus’ benefits. “The idea of a software that’s robot agnostic is very new and can be hard for many people to get their heads around”, he says.

Truly explaining telepresence to someone who hasn’t tried it is like “explaining what the colour orange is to a blind person”, Daniel explains. “It’s more like a fundamental experience”.

Like with many new experiences, humans are usually quick to learn. “Technically, you’re in two places at once. Which does take some getting used to, but the brain adapts quickly. When you’re in a robot for over an hour, you forget about your own body. You do feel like you’re in another place, and the senses quickly adapt to one of the variations”, says Szollosy.

The company provides a VR experience at the science and tech conferences they attend, where

users can get used to being “in” a robot, working out how it operates and the feeling of being there.

Once the basics are picked up, users move on to basic tasks, like picking up cubes.

The company is starting to get attention from some big names. In November 2019, Cyberselves used Japanese tech giant SoftBank’s iconic Pepper robot to demonstrate Animus’ abilities.

They’ve also landed a place in the finals of the ANA Avatar XPrize, a four-year competition aiming to push the boundaries of telepresence tech, with the final taking place this November in Los Angeles.

Cyberselves has plenty of reasons to be cheerful. They’ve created a universal robotics framework for robots at a time when Industry 4.0 is beginning to morph into Industry 5.0, and the fragmented robotics sector is crying out for something to pull it together.

“It took the Windows operating system to unite all the hardware platforms to spark the PC revolution. It took the Android operating system to unite all the hardware of the mobile phone revolution”, Szollosy surmises.

“So, let’s say, Animus is the Android and Windows to spark a revolution in robotics.”

Visit: www.cyberselves.com

Lightsmith Group leads $60m investment in climate-focused agritech company

by Elizabeth Gregory

I

nvestment firm Lightsmith Group has led a $60 million (€57.11 million) investment in the Brazilian AgriTech company Solinftec.

Solinftec’s mission is to build technology to “create responsible agriculture for the future of the planet.” They plan to do this by using AI to facilitate data collection on every front: from field management to logistics, to operations – so that the agriculture process can be streamlined.

According to Solinftec, its AI programme, Alice, holds the largest agriculture library in the world, with half a billion pieces of data collected from the field every day. Data is received in real-time, 24 hours a day, and 27 million acres can be managed at any given time, from plant to plant.

So far Solinftec’s technology is in high demand: it is employed in 11 countries across the world, including China and the United States, and manages nine million acres in real-time. The company, which was founded in 2007, also operates 80% of the sugarcane operations in Brazil.

Part of its success derives from the company’s major gains in sustainability. By using its technology, Solinftec boasts, there is a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions equal to “50 million trees planted, 60k soccer fields reforested or 1 million electric cars”.

In March, at the American World AgriTech Summit in San Francisco, Solinftec also announced a collaboration with Growmark that would bring a new AgriTech robot to the market. The robot will autonomously drive around fields, checking for plant nutrients, health, pests and weeds.

Solinftec’s AI expansion is part of a larger growth pattern, as an increasing number of robots, drones and artificial intelligence are being deployed globally to work on farms. Agriculturists are grappling with how to make enough food for a growing global population – which is set to increase to around 10 billion by 2050 – while also working towards climate goals.

Not only is there an augmenting issue with food scarcity, but there is a deficit of an available, young, workforce too. According to TechCrunch, the average age of an American farmer is around 58 years old, while farm labour in the US remains in short supply. In India, millions of people, are exiting the labour force completely, while young people around the world are moving from their rural communities to pursue new opportunities in the city – leaving farming work to ageing relatives.

Then, while resources are becoming ever-more scarce, food has also become a cheaper commodity. Farmers must now produce higher yields with lower profit margins, which is where AI and other similar technologies can help.

Cambridge University’s Asaf Tzachor added to Daum’s concerns in a February 2022 paper, where he warned that the issues around using AI should not be ignored, citing a catalogue of risks, such as destabilising ecosystems, that need to be considered as a science as agriculture becomes ever-more mechanical.

Visit: https://lightsmithgp.com Visit: www.solinftec.com Industry Europe 65

MOVING FORWARD TOGETHER Tristone Flowtech Group, a major global Tier-1 supplier and development partner for engine and battery cooling and air charge applications for the automotive industry, has emerged from the challenging pandemic years unscathed, with sustained supply chain stability and improved financial performance.

66 Industry Europe

TRANSPORTATION

D

espite significant volatility and headwinds in the global automotive market over the last two years, Tristone Flowtech Group, a specialist in research, development, production and sales of rubber and plastic products for the automotive industry, increased global turnover by nearly 10% in 2021, heading for a new record in sales revenue.

Furthermore, and according to Tristone´s overall market and product strategy, 77% of the total new business awards received in 2021 were in the battery cooling product family, clearly materialising its alignment with the market and the OEM´s continued strive to promote sustainability by reducing emissions.

“After a very turbulent 2021 with substantial challenges coming from the tensions in the raw material markets, major volatility in incoming orders from some of our customers, and the continuing impact of the global pandemic, Tristone has managed to maintain supply chain stability in all regions and sustain positive earnings before tax, based on our unaudited 2021 financials,” said Ignacio Salazar, President & CEO of Tristone Group.

“A solid and healthy distribution of our customer base and product offering has been key for Tristone to keep our growth and stability during the difficult 2021. Our market positioning with the right products in vehicle electrification has clearly supported our growth and results.”

Ahead of trends Headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, and part of the Chinese Zhongding Group since 2017, Tristone is one of the leading automotive supplier groups worldwide for fluid applications in battery cool-

ing, engine cooling, as well as turbochargers, with manufacturing and development locations in China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Slovakia, Spain and Turkey.

The Group significantly strengthened its position in 2020 by acquiring its second plant in China – Anhui Zhongding Rubber Hose Products Co. Ltd., Ningguo – focusing mainly on engine and battery cooling hoses as well as air charge hoses supplied to local Chinese OEMs. The acquisition broadened the product portfolio, and made Tristone a full system supplier and design partner to its global OEM customers in China as well as local Chinese OEMs. On a global scale, Tristone is the benchmark when it comes to tailor-made fluid solutions. With its broad portfolio of innovative technology, Tristone offers complete and integrated flow technology solutions with high added value.

Its engine and battery cooling systems are state-of-the-art technology, made to provide customers with maximum reliability, weight and cost reductions. In the field of air charge, Tristone has come up with innovative technologies, applying a unique mix of smart thinking with a wide range of materials, which are specifically demanded for the fields of noise absorption, high tech-materials and in meeting the ever-increasing Euro VI requirements.

Joined forces In today’s fast-evolving marketplace, Tristone is clearly benefiting from the trend towards a reduction in space and fuel consumption with the introduction of polyamide materials as well as the introduction of new powertrain concepts with hybrid and electrical cars and the integration of fluid motor and battery cooling systems.

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TRANSPORTATION

Commenting on last year’s excellent performance, Ignacio Salazar said: “We´re very thankful to our customers, allowing us to maintain our growth even in these difficult times and acting as real partners with us. Without their trust in our company, we would not be able to reach our targets. Being a full design partner to the OEMs allows us to provide the necessary added value and helps us to promote new products and technologies linked to the very fast progress in vehicle electrification.”

Similarly, support from the supply chain has been equally invaluable, and building strong and lasting partnerships is a key element of future business growth. “Any product is only as good as its components. Material, structural, technical components as well as the thinking behind those.”

“At Tristone, we see our supply partners as catalysts, generators and motivators behind our own work. When developing a new product or refining our existing range, they often are sparring partners, accompanying us while building our common future goals and clearly defined communication and technical strategies; it is then far easier to maintain the highest level of quality standards.”

As the company states, the outlook for 2022 remains positive.

Tristone Group is expecting steep year-on-year sales growth of 19% in 2022, with revenues forecast at more than €420 million. This growth will be driven by ongoing start-ups in China, Europe, North America, and India, including new products and applications with new patented technology, confirming the company as a market n leader in its sector.

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MOVING THE EARTH FOR A GREENER TOMORROW

Sampierana, the Italian compact construction equipment manufacturer, is looking to expand its eco-friendly range as well as its global footing under a new owner.

T

he Italian manufacturer of Sampierana tracked undercarriages, Eurocomach mini excavators and compact loaders, and retailer of Berco and Sampierana spare parts, has stepped into a new era – at the end of last year the company’s 90% capital stock was acquired by CNH Industrial, a major Italy-based capital goods company specialising in equipment and services for agriculture and the construction industry. The acquisition of the remaining 10% of the transaction will take place over the next four years as part of the transition plan.

The acquisition will enable CNH Industrial’s Construction Equipment business to integrate Eurocomach mini and midi excavators, Sampierana undercarriages and spare parts into its current prod70 Industry Europe

uct range alongside those of its existing third-party OEM partners. Becoming part of a strong industrial group will help Sampierana place its products on new markets and will secure sufficient funds for expansion.

Three pillars Sampierana’s exceptional portfolio of industry-leading products has long made the company a prime player in the excavator and earth-moving machine sector. Founded in the 1950s as a small, family-run workshop for steel working, today the company offers a truly bespoke technology designed and made to suit individual

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customers’ needs. A wide dealer network helps to make the brand known around the world, supporting the ‘Made in Italy’ reputation which stands for passion, reliability, and innovation.

Sampierana is headquartered in San Piero in Bagno in the Emilia Romagna region and the main site represents the heart of the company. Here, ideas come to life and products take shape. In 2017 a second branch in Modena was opened with over 6,000 m2 of warehouse capacity for undercarriage spare parts to accommodate the Sampierana and Berco brands.

Sampierana has been producing fixed and extendable undercarriages since the 1980s: over 100 standard models and a full range of products are available, for many applications such as drilling, excavating, mining, cranes, crushers, forestry and more, thanks to solid partnerships with other OEMs worldwide.

The production of mini-excavators, compact loaders (tracked and wheeled) and articulated backhoe loaders started in 1993, under the Eurocomach brand. Today Sampierana offers a wide range of machines including mini-excavators from 1 to 10 tonnes in weight

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– a range recently expanded to the 4–5.5 tonne segment – and compact wheeled and tracked loaders.

Last but not least, Sampierana also offers original spare parts for undercarriages within its U/C Spare Parts Division, its newest business line. In addition to original parts, the company also functions as an authorised dealer for Berco Original Parts, a leading producer of spare parts for repairing and overhauling undercarriages and undercarriage components.

Fully electrified Technical progress is bringing innovative solutions to earthmoving machinery thanks to electromobility, aiming to meet the demands of machine manufacturers for compliance with regulations on ecomobility, emissions and efficiency even in the most severe of operating conditions.

Like any vehicle manufacturer, Sampierana has increased its focus on researching alternative fuels. After years of research and development, the company has introduced the first example of an electric mini-excavator: the brand-new 15X.

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This compact model has a lithium battery integrated into the rear compartment and is equipped with an on-board battery charger for domestic users (slow charging) and an external battery charger for construction site users (fast charging). The 15X is the first fully electric model in the Eurocomach range, ideal for working indoors, underground construction sites or sensitive places where its low noise level and absence of emissions are particularly appreciated.

The machine can be used for the whole of the working day, with a fast recharge potentially during lunch break. The hydraulic oil – the only fluid on board – is fully biodegradable and allows high performance with radically reduced maintenance costs and times.

The first electric model is expected to be launched in 2023 and the range is planned to be further developed to include models at least up to the 5 tonne segment.

Continuing the path The Sampierana Group traditionally records a positive profit trend, being renowned for its reliability, quality and innovative technology. The extensive product portfolio, high customisation capacity and novel machines will carry the company forward under its new owner.

The Managing Directors of Sampierana S.p.A., Cesare and Moreno Para, the two brothers whose father started the business in 1950 and who were, until recently, the sole business owners, affirmed that Sampierana will continue to grow, enjoying all the advantages that a large industrial shareholder can provide.

“Investments in our plants in San Piero in Bagno, Modena and Cesena will continue in line with the agreement that production lines will be expanded in 2022, and with CNH’s plans to strengthen all our sectors. Our brands and commercial network will also be preserved. Together with our families we will continue to support the new management, guaranteeing the continuation of the path that n we have built together over the past decades.”

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NEWS

New developments in Transportation

Gebrüder Weiss: Around the world for the third time on a bicycle

by Steven Gislam

O

n April 1, Austrian logistics company Gebrüder Weiss launched a bike campaign entitled “Cycling around the World", open to cyclists globally who used an app to record and count the kilometres covered through to the end of September.

The original aim of cycling a total distance of 40,075 kilometres (24,901 miles) - the same as the length of the equator - was reached in just 45 days.

The Earth was circled for a second time in mid-June, so Gebrüder Weiss set a new goal of doing it for a third time covering a total of 120,225 kilometres.

The cycling project is being held for the benefit of a reforestation project in the West African nation of Togo. For every 40 kilometres cycled, Gebrüder Weiss, in cooperation with the campaign partner natureOffice, pays for the planting of a tree.

Two thousand trees are now set to be planted, and after covering enough distance to go around the world three times, the 'corporate forest' will grow by 3,000 trees.

"We are delighted by the great response to the bike campaign. We certainly believed that the participants would manage to circle the globe together. Still, we never thought they would manage it so quickly", said Frank Haas, Head of Corporate Brand Strategy & Communications at Gebrüder Weiss.

"As a logistics company, we are very supportive of people who set themselves sporting targets and get things moving of their own volition.

The campaign also dovetails well with our sustainability strategy of promoting environmentally-friendly mobility. Gebrüder Weiss has also been very close to cycling for many years, being a logistics partner in numerous cycling events," Haas added.

Cyclists from both inside and outside the company have been invited to take part in Cycling around the World, which will last until the end of September. Participants can choose from six challenges of different lengths, covering distances between 60 and 6,000 kilometres. Gebrüder Weiss is offering prizes for each of the challenges.

Visit: www.gw-world.com

Autonomous AI-driven solar ship Mayflower crosses the Atlantic

by Steven Gislam

A

solar-powered, AI-driven marine research vessel has completed its journey across the Atlantic, recreating the Mayflower's historic journey 400 years ago.

The Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) completed the 4,400 km (2,700 miles) trip from Plymouth, UK, to Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada, making it the first crewless ship to make the voyage.

The 40-day journey began on April 29, and was originally intended to end its journey in Massachusetts, USA, but was diverted to Halifax to investigate issues it encountered while at sea.

The vessel would likely remain in Halifax for the next week or two, project bosses said, before going on to its original destination, and then to Washington DC. The MAS was first launched in September 2020 following two years of design, construction and AI modelling by marine research NGO ProMare with IBM as the lead technology and science partner.

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IBM provided automation, artificial intelligence, and edge computing tech to power the AI 'Captain', which guided the vessel to its destination and made real-time decisions throughout the trans-Atlantic voyage.

The ship features six AI-powered cameras, over 30 sensors and 15 edge devices, all of which provide input for the AI Captain to interpret and analyse.

IBM says the tech allows the AI Captain to adhere to maritime law and make split-second decisions, such as rerouting around hazards or marine life, all without human intervention.

In a similar way to which machine learning is applied across other industry sectors, IBM says the AI Captain was able to learn from data, postulate alternative choices, assess and optimise decisions, manage risk and refine its knowledge through feedback, all while maintaining the "highest ethical standards".

"The journey she made across was arduous and has taught us a great deal about designing, building and operating a ship of this nature and the future of the maritime enterprise", project

director Brett Phaneuf told the BBC, adding that the IBM tech "remained functioning as intended" despite the issues it encountered.

The solar-powered ship was also equipped with special equipment which collected data on the health of the ocean and surveyed the tides and waves as well as marine life.

The original Mayflower ship was a 30 metre (100 feet) wooden vessel with three masts, canvas sails and a top speed of three knots (6 km/h). The ship carried 102 passengers on the infamous two-month journey from Plymouth to Cape Cod, Massachusetts in the year 1620.

The Mayflower Autonomous Ship arrives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

TRANSPORTATION NEWS

INDUSTRYNEWS Yellow to green: Renewables power Coldplay's new world tour

by Ash Jones

S

ustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel are currently propelling British superstars Coldplay across the globe, with them having partnered with Finnish energy company Neste to slash touring emissions by 50%.

The band, which is currently playing shows in the US as part of its "Music of the Spheres" world tour, has also launched an app to provide fans with information on low-carbon travel as the energy transition gets into full swing.

The app was unveiled during the Central American leg of their tour, but is being emphasised as they travel North America, marking three years of development since they paused touring in 2019 until they figured out how to do more sustainably.

Touring for many bands was also temporarily halted by the coronavirus pandemic.

During the break, the four-piece explored low-carbon options such as alternatives to power aircraft, power generators and road vehicles necessary for a successful world tour, eventually settling on SAF and green diesel.

Neste's renewable diesel is made from recycled and renewable raw materials, such as

cooking oil, and is currently helping them slash emissions as they tour North America.

“We're really happy to partner with Neste to make our Music Of The Spheres World Tour as sustainable as possible. Their low-emission renewable fuels will play a major part in our efforts to minimise the tour’s climate impact," Coldplay said in a statement.

“We’ve tried to put sustainability at the centre of this tour because it just feels like the only option,” frontman Chris Martin added.

Neste's SAF can reportedly reduce flight emissions by 80%. As one of the largest music artists in the world right now, Coldplay's actions could resonate with other artists and inspire change in the scene.

However, the band has been criticised in the past for taking private jets on tour, which led to significant backlash from both the public and other music artists.

Chris Martin has since defended their use on tour, which critics have pointed out as hypocritical.

"The world needs these kinds of changemakers to lead the way towards a more sustainable future,“ says Minna Aila, Senior Vice President for

World's first flying taxi hub opens in Coventry, UK

by Steven Gislam

U

K eVTOL infrastructure developer Urban-Air Port has officially opened Air-One, the world's first demonstration of a hub for flying taxis and autonomous cargo drones in the city of Coventry.

With backing from the UK government and additional support from air mobility specialist Supernal, Air-One will operate for "at least one month" from its site at Westminster car park in the heart of Coventry.

Urban-Air Port says that the project will set out the blueprint for over 200 planned vertiports across the world over the next five years.

The advanced air mobility (AAM) market is set to skyrocket, with a forecast of 9% annual growth to reach $1 trillion within the next two decades. Despite this boom in the market, and the high levels of development in eVTOL vehicles beginning to enter commercial operations, the lack of ground infrastructure remains an obstacle to further growth, according to a 2018 NASA report.

Urban-Air Port said in a statement that the Air-One vertiport will be a showcase for the future of flight and will demonstrate how purpose-built ground infrastructure for eVTOL can "unleash the potential of AAM" to decarbonise transport, cut air pollution and reduce congestion.

Among the first flights operated from the site will be the local West Midlands Police force as well as drone

Sustainability and Corporate Affairs and member of the Neste Executive Committee at Neste.

“We at Neste are excited and proud to join forces with Coldplay to help reduce emissions from their world tour concerts and tour-related transports with our renewable fuels," she added.

Fans who clock in low-carbon travel using it will be gifted with discounts for the band's merch. The app is available on iOS and Android.

The app itself contains various behindthe-scenes videos, AR experiences and audio livestreams of the upcoming European leg.

It will also “measure total fan-travel carbon emissions so that the band can drawdown these impacts via high quality nature-based solutions, such as reforestation and soil regeneration," allowing the band and fans to gauge the amount of emissions cut.

Visit: www.neste.com

maker Skyfarer. The former is to demonstrate the use of vertiports as "sky protection", and the latter as a showcase for high-value cargo deliveries.

Flights of large cargo drones will also be demonstrated by UK-based drone developer, Malloy Aeronautics. It will be the first time a drone of this size has flown in such a dense and built-up urban environment.

The city of Coventry was chosen as the site for Air-One due to its accessibility. Located in the centre of the UK, the city is within four hours of most parts of the country.

"From design, through to fabrication and now into operation, UrbanAir Port has delivered Air-One in just 15 months, setting the standard for deployment globally and opening up a world of possibilities for rapid response air mobility," said Ricky Sandhu, Founder and Executive Chairman of Urban-Air Port.

"Air-One is just the first model in our infrastructure fleet and our order book is not only open but already growing. The interest is turning into recognition of the need for our technology and into demand."

The company says that following the Coventry demonstration, Air-One will be redeployed to other locations in the UK and internationally to undertake demonstrations in different settings and environments.

The aim is for the vertiport to become established as a global standard for eVTOL infrastructure around the world.

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TRANSPORTATION NEWS

INDUSTRYNEWS

New developments in the Transportation

World's first bike made from recycled plastic to hit streets this year

by Ash Jones

A

t the 2022 Engineering Expo, from June 8-9 in Wisconsin, plastics firm Igus is set to launch a bicycle entirely made from recycled plastic - a world first.

While many companies are looking to phase out the use of plastics entirely, this firm is taking it to the next level.

Unveiled at Hannover Messe on May 30, the bike takes the firm's previous experience in moulding plastics and utilises it to address one of the most pressing environmental concerns of our day, the growing problem of plastic waste.

Most plastic waste ends up either clogging landfills or in the world's oceans, where it poses a danger to both marine life and ecosystems.

Microplastics, which are toxic, can end up being eaten by animals, leading to death and making their way into the food chain.

To this end, the concept of the circular economy has sprung up, to remove the amount of waste that ends up polluting the world, presenting a threat to biodiversity.

A statement put forward by the company claims Blase came up with the idea for the bike while on holiday at a beach. He learned that bike rentals on beaches need constant monitoring with many parts needing replacing within a few months due to a mix of exposure to sand, wind and saltwater.

This constant upkeep is expensive, he said, and the Igus bike was devised to tackle issues like this.

"The Igus bike does not rust", he stated. “As all components are made of plastic, no part of the bike rusts, even the gears.

“Bicycle gears made of plastic were unthinkable for a long time. Lightweight, lubrication-free high-performance plastics are used in all parts of

the bicycle, from two-component ball bearings in the wheel bearings to plain bearings in the seat post, brake levers and pedals", he added.

While bicycles made from recycled plastics are not a new concept, the Igus bike is the first to be entirely made from plastic, including the breaks and drivetrain.

The CEO claims all lubricants used in the bike are solid "and ensure low-friction dry operation" without the need for oil. This means sand, grit and dust cannot accumulate.

Igus plastic has seen use in other areas of the transport sector from cars to tractors to robots. They have apparently even supplied parts for e-cargo and mountain bikes.

However, this is its first foray into making a proper bike for itself from scratch. Many of the parts were developed and are being monitored by a team of eight developers, and the igus:bike platform allows for partners to "continually improve the design".

The firm's first major project is with Netherlands-based bike startup MRTL to put 400 of these plastic bikes onto its roads. The team will start with children's bikes before moving on to adult models by the end of the year.

The bikes are also set to launch in Germany early next year. An e-bike range is also slated for production.

In the future, the bike will come in two flavours: the fully recycled model, and another made from virgin plastic - an industry term for new, high-quality plastic developed by Igus. The company has also spitballed ideas to develop a tracking app for smartphones, so users can track their mileage.

Scotland gears up for autonomous buses

by Ash Jones

T

he UK's first fully-sized autonomous bus is set for road tests for the first time, with a project CAVforth vehicle set to hit the roads of Scotland over the coming weeks.

Developed by Stagecoach in collaboration with Fusion Processing, bus builder Alexander Dennis and Transport Scotland, the first trials will test the waters for driverless public transport in the country, with plans to introduce a fleet of 20 in trials during the summer.

The bus's journey will take place on the 22.5 km (14-mile) stretch between Forth Road Bridge between Ferrytoll Park and Ride in Fife and the Edinburgh Park Train and Tram interchange, and will take place under SEA Level 4 - a certification system for autonomous vehicles in the UK. Its sensors and control technology was fitted by Fusion Processing which should allow it to run on pre-determined roads without the need for human intervention, safely operating for its 36 passengers.

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The road tests follow on from depot trials involving track testing and simulations in a bid to fine-tune its systems.

"Stagecoach is continuing to look for ways to improve the service it offers to customers, including through major investment in new technology, such as the CAVForth pilot," said Stagecoach's Scotland regional director Sam Greer.

"This is a major step forward in our journey to fully launch the UK’s first autonomous bus service and will provide easy access to a brandnew bus route in the heart of East Scotland."

Feedback from 500 members of the public has also aided in the development of the trials, who provided feedback on safety standards and how public confidence in a system like this could be cemented.

In addition, Stagecoach is also set to hire a team of autonomous bus workers who will help simulate any future trips. Taking the role of inspectors and hosts, these "Autonomous Bus Professionals," as they are known, will help monitor the systems alongside the driver, known as a "captain" across the fleet in East Scotland.

They will also talk to customers and answer any questions they may have about the journey.

Fusion Processing CEO Jim Hutchinson described the trials as the "most complex and ambitious autonomous vehicle programme" in the world, providing a valuable service for the locals of East Scotland.

"On-road testing is an exciting milestone in the development of autonomous commercial vehicles and we look forward to welcoming passengers on board in a few months’ time,” he added.

Autonomous vehicles are something of a hot topic in the industry right now, with many believing they are the future of travel.

Trials in various countries have been ongoing in recent years, with several countries having already legalised some form of autonomous travel or are expected to in the coming years.

Autonomous vehicles of some form were partially legalised in 2021, with them being permitted at low speeds, but fully self-driving cars are not yet legal in the UK. However, the Department of Transport has revealed they could be legal by the end of the year, or within the next few years at the latest.

Visit: www.stagecoachgroup.com