Weekly Wrap-up 47/2020
In case you missed the most important news in sustainability & cleantech this week:
Boris Johnson outlines 10-point plan for green industrial Revolution in the UK
The plan aims to create 250,000 new jobs with UK government investments of 12 billion pounds. It is no big surprise that nuclear & wind play an important role. Hydrogen & carbon capture will also feature prominently in the plan (gov.uk).
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Sunlight could turn COVID waste into clean hydrogen fuel
Sunlight could be used to convert hazardous medical waste into clean hydrogen fuel, using a new technique being developed by a joint Wales/India team led by Swansea University researchers (Eurekalert).
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ADM Building for Insect Protein
Agricultural giant ADM in partnership with the French company InnovaFeed announced plans to build and operate what should be the world’s largest insect protein production site in Illinois, USA. The immediate use is for animal feed (Foodprocessing.com).
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Emissions and Coal Have Peaked as Covid-19 Saves 2.5 Years of Emissions, Accelerates Energy Transition
BloombergNEF’s New Energy Outlook 2020 sees total oil demand peaking in 2035, and growth in clean energy technology — yet, the world is still heading for 3.3-degree temperature rise (BNEF).
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China sets its sights on global EV dominance
The world’s largest automotive market, China, is looking to become a dominant player in the rising global electric vehicle market. Chinese EV manufacturers are expected to start expanding overseas, while Beijing already controls a large part of the global EV supply chain, beginning with critical minerals processing (altenergymag.com).
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Shipping decarbonisation requires $5bn investments to develop cleaner fuels
In its report Catalysing the Fourth Propulsion Revolution, the ICS proposed the creation of a $5bn fund, to be paid by a tax on marine fuels and overseen by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), to undertake the necessary research to develop cleaner marine fuels. Methanol is one of the products that could win the most from the shipping industry’s decarbonisation, and the industry is obviously encouraging the move (ICIS).
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Astanor Ventures launches Europe’s largest impact fund at €274.6 million to back agri-food and ocean tech startups
Astanor is a multi-stage tech investor that unites deep knowledge and experience of scaling disruptive new technology companies with a love of food, cross-sector expertise and belief in agriculture’s power to regenerate the planet and curb climate change. With its first impact fund, it is seeking Europe and North America’s most ambitious entrepreneurs across food, agriculture and ocean tech startups who share this mission and want to solve systemic challenges across the food system and build businesses that thrive with nature (EU-startups).
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