Author: Andrei Alexandru

In our continuously urbanizing world, the concept of smart cities has emerged as a transformative approach to urban development. It advocates for the integration of digital technologies and data-driven solutions to address pressing urban challenges and enhance the quality of life for residents. Architects, policymakers, urban planners, and various stakeholders are increasingly recognizing the potential of smart cities to tackle issues such as transportation inefficiencies, energy consumption, infrastructure management, public safety, and service delivery by leveraging the power of digital technologies. But how exactly do the principles and technologies of smart cities connect to clean tech? Simply put, their relationship…

The depth of our oceans has held humanity’s fascination for centuries, and today, it potentially holds a solution to one of our most pressing challenges: propelling the CleanTech revolution. According to Guillaume Pitron’s ‘The Rare Metals War’, the next three decades could see us needing more ores than humanity has used in the last 70,000 years. Against this backdrop, deep-sea mining emerges as a potentially transformative frontier for sourcing the raw materials indispensable for cutting-edge green technology. The abyssal ocean floor, while seemingly barren, is in fact a vast repository of polymetallic nodules, potato-shaped lumps formed over millions of years…

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), led by Minister of State for Food, Farming and Fisheries – Mark Spencer, has announced the launch of the Farming Innovation Investor Partnership Competition. This new initiative aims to combine private investment with grant funding to scale up innovation in the farming sector, particularly in areas like Agri-Tech. The competition aligns with the wider £270m Farming Innovation Programme, of which £100m has already been invested in early-stage R&D projects exploring advanced agricultural technologies. The competition opens on 24th July 2023, allowing small to medium-sized farming businesses to apply for a share…

The UK Emissions Trading Scheme Authority (UK ETS) has announced a package of reforms that will require power, aviation, and high-energy industries to reduce emissions in alignment with the country’s net-zero goals. The regulations, which take effect next year, will incentivize these sectors to invest in long-term decarbonization and energy-efficient technologies. To facilitate this transition, the emissions cap will be set at the highest level of the range consulted, allowing flexibility for the industries. Moreover, additional allowances will be available to the market from 2024 to 2027. The current free allocation of allowances for industry will be maintained until 2026…

Recent analysis shows a notable shift in investment patterns this year. The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts a global energy investment of $2.8 trillion in 2023, with over $1.7 trillion of that allocated to clean technologies like wind, solar, nuclear generation, power networks, low-carbon heating and fuels, and energy efficiency. The remaining portion is anticipated to be invested in coal, gas, and oil. The IEA highlights that solar power alone is set to receive around $380 billion in investment this year, surpassing the $370 billion invested in oil exploration and extraction worldwide. The executive director of the IEA, Fatih Birol,…

We generally consider EVs as CleanTech, but are they really as clean as we are led to believe? This question uncovers a truth often overshadowed in the race for renewable technology. While it’s undeniable that EVs offer a cleaner operational alternative to their fossil-fueled counterparts, the total environmental footprint they leave in their wake is far more intricate and nuanced. Unraveling the ecological impact of EVs necessitates the examination of ‘lifetime emissions’—a comprehensive measure of emissions from production, usage, to eventual disposal of the vehicle. It invites us to delve deeper, scrutinizing the environmental repercussions of procuring raw resources required…

In the rapidly evolving renewable energy landscape, 2021 marked significant progress towards the renewable transition with 7,858 TWh of electricity generated from renewable sources, a 5.4% rise from 2020. The growth is marked by Asia’s burgeoning influence and the ongoing ascendancy of wind and solar power. These trends, revealed by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), are creating dynamic shifts within the clean tech industry, shaping investment decisions, and pointing towards new geographical hotspots of clean energy development. In 2021, hydroelectric power remained the leading renewable source, contributing 55% of total electricity generated (4,275 TWh). Wind (1,838 TWh) and solar…

In the past decades, we have seen a surge in interest from philanthropists focusing on technological advancements to combat climate change and other environmental challenges. However, Tesla co-founder Elon Musk made an unprecedented move: in 2021, Musk pledged $100 million for the development of technology capable of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or oceans, as part of the XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition, the biggest incentive prize in history. Musk’s initiative echoes the efforts of numerous philanthropists in the past. For instance, Richard Branson’s Virgin Earth Challenge offered $25 million in 2007 for a viable solution to climate change, highlighting…