useartificial
intelligence
computervision
tospot
recyclable
materials,and
pickthemout
ofthewastepile
usingrobotics.
Recycleyecan
identify,pickand
placematerials
fasterthanmanual
workers— andit’s more
accurate, too. “Theroboticpicker
achieves 55 successfulpicksper
minute, comparedto a human’s
45,”acompanyspokesperson
explained.“Meanwhile, the
visionsystemachieves
accuraciesexceedingthe
humaneye.This
eradicatestheneedfor
thedull, dirty and
dangerousjob
undertakenby
manualpickers.”
Sofar,thesystem
hasbeenrolledoutat
tendifferentfacilities
intheUKandFrance.DENDRA
It’sno secretthat miningis
badforthelocal environment,
butmanyresource-sucking
companies arenowrequired to
replant damagedlandscapes.That’s
notalways easy to do wellorina
cost-effectiveway.Dendra’ssolution
isseed-scatteringdrones,whichare“Wondrwallwill
analysetime-of-
useenergy
tariffsand
localweather
forecaststo
ensureenergy
requiredfrom
thegridistaken
atthe cheapest
timeofday andthe
renewable energy
capturedbythe
ultra-efficientsolarPV
arraysisstoredinresidentialbatteries
forthemaximumbenefittothe
homeownerortenant.”
Notonlywillthatsaveonenergy
bills,butitwill reduceelectricity
usageandboosttheabilitytouse
localrenewablesources.The
companyis workingwith
homebuildersandlocalauthorities
tointegratethesystemintohouses.
DODO
OnethingSMBsdon’thaveis spare
timeorextracash,soit’snoteasyto
add“gocarbonneutral”totheto-do
list.Dodowantstohelpbymeasuring
smallcompanies’carbonfootprints
andgiving firms adviceabouthowto
reducethem,aswellasoffering
carbon-offsetprojectstohelpmake
upanygaps.“SMEsaccount forover
99%ofcompanies in theUKandover
50%ofemissions,”saidJack Kennedy,
co-founderandCEOofDodo.
“Whilethenewsisfullofbig
corporationssettingnet-zerotargets,
SMEsareoftenoverlooked, butthey
arenolesspassionate.”
Simplymeasuringcarbon
footprintscanbea challenge,taking
several monthsorcostingthousands
ofpoundstohireexternal
consultants,Kennedysays.“With
Dodo,companiescanconnect their
accountingsoftware,likeXeroand
Quickbooks,tocalculatethe
emissions of theirentiresupplychain
injusta fewminutes.Theycanthen
tracktheiremissionshotspots,search
forwaystoreducethem, andinvestin
carbonoffsetstocapturetherest.”
Whilecarbonoffsettingis
controversial— it letscompanies
claimtobecarbonneutralwhen
they’restillproducingemissions—
lettingSMBscalculatetheircarbon
footprintisa goodfirststepto
reducingit.
RECYCLEYE
Plentyof recyclablematerialsendup
inrubbishbins,andtheonlywayto
sortoutsuch reusableitemsis
throughmanuallabour, whichis
expensiveanddangerouswork.While
studyingforhisPhDat Imperial
CollegeLondon,VictorDewulfandhis
co-founderPeterHedleyhadanidea:
“Ifwewanttodo
somethingaboutclimate
change,growing
biodiverseforestsisa
goodwaytodoso”flownoverimpacted areas.Not
onlydotheyreplantdamagedflora
buttheyalsomonitorconditionsand
spotinvasivespecies.
Ofcourse, it’salwaysbeen
possible to planttreesina torn-up
landscape, butnotat the
pacethatDendrahas
managed,saysTina
Berthelsen,seniordirector
ofmarketingat the
company.“We’re
constantlystrivingto
developandrefine the
technologywehaveinplace,interms
ofthesurfaceareawecancover in a
day,”shetoldPCPro.
Thetechnologyisn’tjustfor
miningcompanies.It’salso
beingusedintheUKto
replantareasdamaged
byinfrastructure
projects,andcanhelp
boostbiodiversity
inplaceswhere
invasivespecies
havetakenroot.
Globally,thereare
morethan three
billionhectaresof
degradedland,
Berthelsensays.“If we
wanttodosomething
aboutclimatechangeand
limittheamountofcarbonin
theatmosphere,everybodyknows
thatgrowingbiodiverseforestsisa
goodwaytodoso,”sheadded. “But
wereallyneedtodothatveryfast,as
thelatestIPCCreportshowed. We
don’thave a lotoftime.”FuturesGreenstartups @PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPROLEFTWondrwallaims
tosavehomeowners
energyandmoneyvia
smartmonitoringThreewaystoslashyourcarbonusingtechBuyinggadgetsisn’tgoingtodigusoutofthe
wildfire-and-flood-filledholewe’vepushed
ourselvesinto,butthereareafewsimplesteps
youcantaketohelpdirectlyortosupport
companiestryingtofindagreenerroute.SearchwithEcosia(info.ecosia.org)
DitchGoogleforagreenerwaytosearchby
installingtheEcosiaextensioninChromeoryour
browserofchoice.Ecosiahelpsintwoways.First,
theBerlin-basedsocialenterprisehasbuiltitsown
solarplants,soeverysearchispoweredby
renewableenergyratherthanfossilfuels(it’s
worthnotingthatGoogle’soperationshavebeen
poweredbyrenewablesourcessince2017).
ButEcosiahasasecondtactic.Themoneythat
Ecosiamakesfromadvertisingisusedtoplant
trees.Bytheorganisation’sownmaths,ifEcosia
wereasbigasGoogle,itcouldabsorb15%of
carbonemissionsworldwide.Sofar,ithasabout 15
millionusers,afarcryfromGoogle’sbillions.
There’sadownsidetoEcosia:itssearchresults
arepoweredbyMicrosoft’sBing.Thoughit’s
thankfullyimprovedinthepastfewyears,your
resultsmayvary.Makeyourhomesmarter
HeatinghomesmakesupatenthoftheUK’s
carbonemissions.Thereareeasystepstotake
–installbetterinsulationandswitchtoagreen
energyprovider–butsmarttechcanhelp,too.A
smartthermostatwillsaveonheatingbillsaswell
asemissions,whilealsomeaningyoualwayshave
therighttemperature.Forgetheatinganempty
house,andwarmitupbeforeyouarrivehome.SticktoZoomcalls
Videoconferencingisn’tnew,ofcourse,butthe
pandemicandensuinglockdownshavehelped
makeitthenewnormal.Transportmakesupafifth
ofglobalemissions,soskipthebusiness-class
flightorlongdriveacrossthecountryandchat
virtuallywhenandwhereyoucan.Itwillsaveyou
timeaswellasemissions.
Can’tconvinceyourbossthatZoomisbetter
thaninperson?Findacarboncalculatoronline
(suchasatco2.myclimate.org)torevealthe
impactofthatflightordrive,andifyoufeelupfor
anextrachallenge,askthecompanytopurchase
carbonoffsetsforthetrip.Theadditionalcostmay
helpswaythedecision.ABOVEDendra’s
seed-scattering
dronesarehelpingto
boostbiodiversity