Sustainability

A study by a PhD candidate at the VU Amsterdam School of Business and Economics, Alex De Vries, warns that the AI industry could be consuming as much energy as a country the size of the Netherlands by 2027.  The Impact Of AI  De Vries, the founder of Digiconomist, a research company that focuses on […]

As part of its commitment to be carbon negative by 2030, Microsoft is trialling cement containing microalgae-based limestone in its data centre builds.  The Issue For Microsoft  The main issue for Microsoft is that it needs to decarbonise its data centre builds by reducing the amount of ‘embodied carbon’ in the concrete used to build

London-based Notpla Ltd makes sustainable, biodegradable, and home compostable packaging from seaweed and plants.  Naturally ‘Disappears’  Notpla Ltd, a start-up founded in 2014, manufactures different sustainable packaging solutions made from Notpla, a material made from seaweed and plants that disappears naturally.  The Problem  The company was started by Pierre Yves-Paslier and Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez after

China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL) has announced the launch of world’s first 4C superfast charging LFP battery.   The ‘Shenxing’ EV Battery  CATL says the ‘Shenxing’ battery can deliver 400 km of driving range from a 10-minute charge as well as a range of over 700 km on a single full charge, which is around

International Airlines Group (IAG) has announced another “significant” investment in Nova Pangaea Technologies (NPT), a company that makes aviation fuel from non-food agricultural waste and wood residues.  IAG & NPT  International Airlines Group (IAG) is the parent company of Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, Vueling and LEVEL, and Nova Pangaea Technologies (NPT) is a Teesside-based

The recent announcement by Thames Water that it may restrict water flows to London data centres and charge them more at times of peak demand may be the shape of things to come.  Thames Water Ltd – Considering Restrictions  The announcement follows an investigation last year into how much water was being used by London

The Circular Drive Initiative (CDI) has reported that millions of usable hard drives are being unnecessarily destroyed, adding to the growing pile of e-waste.  How Big Is The Problem?  According to reported comments to the BBC from Chia Network’s and secretary and treasurer of the CDI, Jonmichael Hands, millions of hard drives are shredded each

Meta has announced the introduction of I-JEPA, an AI model that generate images that can create the most human-like images so far and is “a step closer to human-level intelligence in AI”.  Overcomes Previous Limitations  Meta says that the I-JEPA model is based on its Chief AI Scientist, Yann LeCun’s vision for more human-like AI and

Japan’s Kyoto University working with Nasa and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) plan to launch wood rather than metal-based satellites into orbit from next year.  LignoSat  As part of the LignoSat Space Wood Project, which began in April 2020, as a collaboration between Kyoto University and Sumitomo Forestry, wood specimens have been tested with

University of Cambridge researchers have developed an ‘artificial leaf’ that uses sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide into ethanol and propanol that could be used as a low-emissions petrol alternative to power car engines.  Inspired By Photosynthesis  The ‘leaf,’ made from thin-film metal oxides and materials known as perovskites and including multiple layers including