Author: Ben Debski

GM’s Maven lands in Uber’s backyard

Posted on by Ben Debski

General Motors has launched its car sharing service, called Maven, in San Francisco, as the carmaker continues to make efforts to remain relevant should vehicle ownership go into steep decline. The ongoing rollout of Maven is the latest in a series of decisions designed to keep its brands, including Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac, relevant.

GM launched Maven in January this year, and has been gradually rolling out the service to a number of US cities, including Boston, Los Angeles and New York. Users can select a GM car, ranging from compacts like the Chevrolet Volt to large SUVs like the Cadillac Escalade, for a short-term rental. Prices range from $8 per hour for small cars to $14 per hour for SUVs. Cars need to be picked up and dropped off at the same location, similar to services like ZipCar and Enterprise CarShare. As reported by Reuters, Maven is attempting to differentiate itself from these competitors by reducing the sign-up and approval process to just a few hours.

GM launched Maven in January, and has been rolling out the service to a number of US cities, including Boston, Los Angeles and New York

San Francisco will be a tough place to crack, as the city is the home of Uber and many other transportation companies keen to disrupt the ride-share industry. It’s a fight that traditional carmakers will have to win in order to remain relevant. A study completed by the University of Michigan this year found that the percentage of US citizens between the ages of 16 and 44 holding drivers licenses has consistently fallen since 1983, meaning many people are no longer seeing cars as a necessity.

Maven is likely only a smaller part of GM’s plans for the future of its business. At the beginning of this year, the company announced it would be investing $500m into ride-sharing service Lyft and purchased what remained of Sidecar, a failed ride-share company. Developing a self-driving car is also clearly a priority, with GM acquiring Cruise Automation in March. Seeing a shift away from private car ownership, GM is clearly interested in finding an alternative to just selling vehicles.

Carnival Corporation sets a new sustainability standard in the cruise industry

Posted on by Ben Debski

When cruise ships are described as floating cities, this is not just a reference to their size: as well as housing thousands of people at a time, cruise ships provide all the amenities and infrastructure one would expect from a residential estate, only in a much smaller space. They are tremendous achievements of design and construction.

Looking after such a sizeable population is no easy task on land, let alone at sea. For one thing, large numbers of people produce a significant amount of waste. In the recent past, the cruise industry has received criticism regarding its environmental impact. Criticisms range from how it manages passenger waste to the amount of fumes produced by the massive engines needed to drive ships. However, though it does have its shortcomings, the industry has made tremendous strides in improving both its environmental and social sustainability impacts in recent years.

In the recent past, the cruise industry has received criticism regarding its environmental impact

“Sustainability is a topic that is not new for the cruise industry, but it is one that has gotten more attention through the efforts of industry players to provide more transparency into their sustainability efforts”, said John Haeflinger, Vice President of Maritime Policy and Analysis for Carnival Corporation. Carnival is the world’s largest leisure travel company, operating several cruise brands including P&O Cruises, Holland America Line and Carnival Cruise Lines. Across all its brands, Carnival has been at the forefront of improving sustainability through innovative programmes.

Sustainable future
Haeflinger explained Carnival does not just see sustainability as the company’s impact on the environment, but also its social impact on the countries its cruises visit. “We are proud of the fact that our business can have such a positive economic impact on the thousands and thousands of families that are supported by our diverse international employee base, and on the hundreds of port communities we visit each year”, he said. “On the environmental side, we are focused on driving ship energy efficiency gains, improved water efficiency, and reduced waste generation across the fleet in order to minimise our environmental footprint.”

In 2015, Carnival published a list of 10 sustainability goals, targeted for completion by 2020, prompting company-wide changes in order to ensure its cruise lines remained leaders within the industry. “We have established a set of 2020 sustainability goals, aimed at reducing our environmental footprint while enhancing the health, safety and security of our guests and crew members, and ensuring sustainable business practices across our brands and business partners in three categories”, explained Elaine Heldewier, Carnival’s Sustainability Director.

Technology that works on land can very rarely be implemented on ships wholesale; machinery almost always requires substantial modification before it is shipshape

The first of the three categories covers the business’ environmental targets, designed to reduce the impact cruise liners have in terms of carbon output and waste. Some of the targets include lowering the volume of carbon dioxide emissions, increasing the capacity and coverage of on-board water purification systems, and reducing shipboard waste. From the baseline year of 2005, Carnival aims to reduce the amount of waste generated and improve water efficiency by five percent annually.

The second group of sustainability goals relates to the company’s workforce and the impact ships have on the local communities they visit. Stated goals include building a diverse and inclusive workforce, and working with local organisations to help benefit the people living near ports. The third group of goals targets continued improvements to health, safety and security standards across the company’s cruise lines. Carnival is currently working on tracking the progress of its 2020 goals, while identifying and selecting its next set of targets.

Ship tech
Technology that works on land can very rarely be implemented on ships wholesale; machinery almost always requires substantial modification before it is shipshape. “Among the challenges typically encountered when adapting shore-based technologies to shipboard use are adjustments for space, weight and access limitations, material standards, operating environment, and regulatory approvals”, said Haeflinger. “All of these factors increase the complexity of environmental technology projects in the maritime environment. In order to expedite the process, ships within the fleet are regularly selected to test new technologies and run pilot programmes.”

One such area Carnival is working on is the development and implementation of emission-cutting technology, a specific example being the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a fuel. As Heldewier noted, LNG runs considerably cleaner than the fuel currently used: “LNG emits zero sulphur dioxides and, compared to marine diesel oil, has a 95 to 100 percent reduction in particulate matter, an 85 percent reduction in nitrogen oxides, and a 25 percent reduction in carbon emissions.”

The company first began experimenting with LNG on its ships while they were in port. AIDAsol, a ship operated by Carnival Corporation, became the first cruise ship in the world to be supplied with power via an LNG hybrid barge while in port in Hamburg in 2015. A unique pilot project with Becker Marine Systems, the LNG hybrid barge was designed, constructed and commissioned within three years. In May 2016, another Carnival ship, AIDAprima, began bunkering LNG via truck in Germany. Carnival is currently implementing LNG systems in seven different ships under construction, including three new ships being constructed by leading German and Finnish shipbuilders Meyer Werft and Meyer Turku.

“By late 2018, we will be the first cruise company to use LNG on the open sea and in port when our first LNG-powered ship enters into service”, said Heldewier. “When designing the vessels, we had to analyse their likely itineraries to ensure optimum arrangements were made on board. LNG has about half as much density as conventional fuel; therefore, it requires larger tank volumes.”

Catering for several thousand people at once is a tremendous task, let alone for several days at a time, as cruise ships are capable of. Naturally, waste management will always be a challenge, but Carnival is making sure it is done as sustainably as possible. Heldewier said all of Carnival’s ships have detailed waste management plans in place. “Our waste management strategy includes plans for eliminating waste streams, minimising waste generation, disposing waste ashore, incinerating waste on board, and discharging liquid waste and food waste.”

Carnival evaluates shore-side waste facilities prior to offloading anything from its ships, looking at factors such as whether waste is reused, recycled, incinerated or landfilled by the local authorities. All of these activities are performed in accordance with international and local regulatory requirements, and in some instances exceed regulations.

Water efficiency
Onboard water usage is another key issue. Improved water efficiency is not just necessary for environmental sustainability, but also for continued economic viability, due to the cost of purchasing, storing and processing water while at sea. Karina Spiegel, Sustainability Programmes Manager at Carnival, explained that water use on Carnival’s cruises has improved significantly over the last several years. “As an example, our water use rate is 61 gallons per person per day, compared to the US national average of 90 gallons per person per day. We have also increased the percentage of water we produce on board relative to the total amount of water bunkered, which has helped us to reduce the risks associated with disruption of water supplies in ports.” Carnival ships will also alternate at which ports they take on water, so as to avoid adversely impacting local communities who, for example, may be suffering through drought.

Catering for several thousand people at once is a tremendous task, let alone for several days at a time, as cruise ships are capable of

Spiegel said the methods used to save water are quite varied. “Examples include efficient laundry machines and dishwashers. In addition, to improve our water use efficiency, we have installed sink aerators and low-flow showerheads in cabins and public areas. We also actively encourage our guests to assist us in our water efficiency efforts by making them aware of options available on board to conserve water, such as reusing towels and sheets. Lastly, our crew is trained in water efficiency practices as part of our environmental training programme.”

Cold ironing is another technology cruise lines have started to adopt as a cleaner form of energy consumption. It relates to how ships maintain power while not on the open seas. When docked, a ship still needs to maintain many essential systems like electricity and refrigeration, despite its main engines being turned off. To keep them running, smaller onboard generators are used to supply electricity. When a ship is docked, this is the single biggest source of emissions.

Cold ironing is when a cruise ship is ‘plugged in’ to the port’s local power grid, allowing critical systems to be maintained without the need to run a generator. Spiegel said that, currently, close to 50 percent of Carnival Corporation’s ships are either fully outfitted or preconfigured to allow for shore power connections. “There are only a small number of ports worldwide that have the electrical infrastructure to provide shore power to cruise ships”, said Spiegel. “Regarding cold ironing investments for ourselves and the ports we visit, consideration must be given to the relative carbon footprint of any cold ironing installation and the associated infrastructure cost relative to the expected utilisation of the asset.”

Given the number of ports and communities Carnival visits, the company can truly be said to have a global impact. With this in mind, Carnival is also focusing on making sure its international social impact is a sustainable one

To make sure the company is making the most significant contribution it can, Carnival is prioritising its investments. “Given that our ships spend more time at sea than in port, our preference is to find environmentally friendly solutions applicable to 100 percent of our operational time. This is why we are heavily invested in LNG, while also being open to expanding our fleet’s cold ironing capabilities commensurate with low-carbon-footprint port power capabilities.”

Global community players
Given the number of ports and communities Carnival visits, the company can truly be said to have a global impact. With this in mind, Carnival is also focusing on making sure its international social impact is a sustainable one. The cruise company’s latest brand is Fathom, which offers cruises designed around the concept of ‘social impact travel’. This gives guests the opportunity to make a positive social contribution to the destinations they visit.

In the Dominican Republic, Fathom has partnered with Entrena Consulting and Instituto Dominicano de Desarrollo Integral as impact partners. Both organisations work on reaching socioeconomic objectives in the north of the country through their strong community connections. Their extensive experience is providing Fathom with a greater understanding of the specific needs of the local communities, while their well-established programmes form the foundation that allows Fathom’s guests to make a genuinely meaningful impact.

This follows on from the organisation’s significant investment in the Dominican Republic’s Amber Cove port. The $85m investment in over 25 acres of land represents Carnival’s single largest direct port investment to date, and the largest ever cruise industry investment in the Dominican Republic. The port will provide significant opportunities for economic growth in the region through new local businesses. Carnival employed approximately 500 local residents as part of the construction of the port, and created 250 ongoing positions.

Continued adaptation
According to Haeflinger, Carnival has several more sustainability initiatives currently in development. The company is continually working on improving the fuel efficiency of its fleet, in order to both lower costs and decrease its carbon footprint. The same can be said for the company’s treatment of sewage and water waste. Adding to these efforts, Carnival is also working to improve both the depth and transparency of how it reports its sustainability performance.

Additionally, where ships purchase their supplies from is coming under the microscope. “We are continuing to work with our supply chain through our code of conduct for business partners, and to expand our sustainability commitment to our suppliers in areas such as labour, human rights, health, safety, security and environmental protection, which are essential for healthy societies worldwide”, Haeflinger said. There is also a push towards sustainable food sourcing, with the company recently committing to making sure that by 2025, 100 percent of its eggs are from cage-free hens. Such changes may seem small, but they are testament to how seriously Carnival takes sustainability, and how hard the company and all its cruise lines are working to improve sustainability throughout every aspect of the industry.

Ynsect makes insects the future of animal, and perhaps even human, diets

Posted on by Ben Debski

According to the US Food and Agriculture Organisation report How to Feed the World in 2050, the world’s population will reach 9.1 billion by 2050 – a 34 percent rise on the current figure.

Global wealth is also increasing, leading to an increase in meat and fish consumption. Indeed, demand for these products will increase 70 percent by 2050, with the rise predominantly fuelled by increased consumption in Asia and Africa.

Within this, aquaculture is the sector that will see the biggest increase (seven to 10 percent per year). Such a spike in fauna will see massively increased demand for high-quality protein to be used as animal feed. Current protein production is not sufficient to meet these challenges, particularly as some protein sources have started to run out, fishmeal being a prominent example.

Stocks of the small fish used to produce fishmeal, mainly fished from the marine surfaces of the waters of Peru and Chile, have collapsed dramatically in recent years. Prices, conversely, have increased fivefold in the last 15 years, heaping considerable economic pressure on farmers around the world. As a result, it is of vital importance to develop alternative sources of protein, maintaining quality while offering a competitive price.

Incredible insects
At Ynsect, we believe insects have tremendous potential to help us deal with some of the most challenging issues humanity is currently facing. Insects are the most abundant organisms on Earth (excluding microorganisms), and are essential components of the ecosystem. They are the basis of the food chain for many birds, fish and mammals. In the wild, the diet of a trout, a chicken and a pig will naturally be composed partly of insects – up to 80 percent in some cases. However, no fish, chicken or pigs raised on farms currently have the opportunity to eat insects. Thanks to Ynsect, however, this is changing.

After an extensive screening of several of the most popular insect species, Ynsect decided to focus first on the mealworm, Tenebrio molitor. This choice was guided by several criteria, among them the fact that the mealworm is gregarious (the larvae live naturally in high population densities), nocturnal (no need to expend any energy to light up the farm), has a high protein content (nearly 55 percent in dry matter), and has a long farming history around the world due to its use in food for exotic pets, with no history of illness. In addition, it is already being consumed directly by humans in certain countries.

Moreover, the mealworm consumes many different by-products of agroindustry, including lime, wheat and bran – food that is unsuitable for human consumption, but perfectly suited to the insect diet. Finally, the inner composition of the mealworm is extremely interesting: the defatted protein meal – Tenebrio molitor protein (TMP) – that can be extracted from mealworm larvae contains up to 92 percent dry matter, which is itself mainly composed of up to 70 percent protein and 12 percent lipids.

After an extensive screening of several of the most popular insect species, Ynsect decided to focus first on the mealworm, Tenebrio molitor

The specific proteins present in TMP have shown particularly outstanding efficiency in rainbow trout, leading to a juvenile growth enhancement of up to 30 percent. The fatty acid composition of extracted lipids (called Tenebrio molitor oil, or TMO) is of particular interest also, as it is useful for a range of feed and food applications, but also allows diverse non-nutritional uses of TMO, including as an ingredient in high-quality soaps.

Even the manure produced by mealworms during farming serves a purpose, as it can be used as an ingredient in fertilisers. Indeed, Tenebrio molitor frass (TMF) is a natural source of nitrogen (three percent), phosphorus (four percent) and potassium (2.5 percent), obtained by collecting the manure of mealworm larvae raised on organic material. Made up of more than 90 percent organic material and rich in chitin, TMF is an easy-to-use powder of a sandy appearance that can be directly used as a fertiliser or mixed with other compounds.

Competitive drive
Insect protein will very soon be competitive in terms of price, thanks to the current rate of growth in the field, and should also help us to reduce the impact of animal husbandry on the environment. Insect protein’s environmental appeal lies in reduced emissions, but also in aquatic biodiversity preservation. For these reasons, it may well be recognised by industry labels such as the Aquaculture Stewardship Council’s Responsible Feed Project.

Boosted by the excellent results achieved in its production pilot, in mid-2016 Ynsect created Ynsite, the company’s first large-scale production unit. The first batch of oil-free TMP produced at Ynsite perfectly met our client specifications in terms of protein rates, digestibility and microbiological qualities. After this positive start, the challenge will be to gradually increase the level of production in order to reach an annual output of several hundred tons by 2017.

At the moment, insect meal is only authorised for use in dog and cat food in Europe. Insect oil is authorised in Europe for pet and non-ruminant feed, including fish. Ynsect is working with the International Platform of Insects for Food and Feed (IPIFF) to make progress in this matter. The IPIFF’s main objective is to help the insect industry prosper in Europe and around the world. Advocating for appropriate legislative frameworks is one of the foundation’s specific goals, alongside encouraging collaboration among the members and sharing the knowledge of this new industry with the wider public.

Ynsect’s success relies on the strong commitment of its founders, but also on the multicultural and multidisciplinary, highly skilled, highly motivated team. Today, Ynsect boasts a team of around 50 people, the strongest portfolio of patents in this new industry, and a first-of-its-kind unit able to produce significant volumes to address its first market, i.e. premium pet food producers. Soon, Ynsect will be producing up to several million tons of products, mainly for the feed industry, but also for the green chemistry industry, and maybe even for the food industry.

PC sales continue to fall

Posted on by Ben Debski

The global market for personal computers has seen a decline for the eighth straight quarter, according to preliminary results from a Gartner survey. The trend suggests a shrinking enthusiasm for new PCs as consumers prioritise other devices over replacing their main desktop machine.

According to preliminary results released by Gartner, worldwide PC shipments totalled 68.9m for the third quarter of 2016, a decline of 5.7 percent over the previous year. Gartner attributes these poor results to weak demand during the back-to-school period.

But, in terms of long-term decline, Gartner’s Mikako Kitagawa said the falling priority of the PC and low uptake in emerging markets are responsible.

While Apple and Microsoft have long championed a post-PC era, this isn’t because the PC is becoming less important

“According to our 2016 personal technology survey, the majority of consumers own and use at least three different types of device in mature markets. Among these, the PC is not a high-priority device for the majority of consumers, so they do not feel the need to upgrade their PCs as often as they used to. Some may never decide to upgrade to a PC again.”

The trend is similar in emerging markets. While PC penetration is low, Kitagawa said people are instead choosing smartphones and phablets over a traditional computer.

While Apple and Microsoft have long championed a post-PC era, and push for tablet computer growth, this isn’t because the PC is becoming less important. PCs are still vital tools, but mobile phones have seen faster and more substantial update cycles, resulting in them capturing more of the average consumer’s money. For the basic tasks most people use PCs for, like word processing, a five-year-old computer is just as capable as a brand new machine, so people are just not upgrading them as much.

Along with a slowing market, PC manufacturers are also consolidating. According to Gartner’s research, the world’s top six PC vendors made up a record 78 percent of the total shipments. HP and Dell are the largest, together responsible for 53.7 percent of the world’s total shipments last quarter.

Rolland creates truly sustainable paper, from pulp to production line

Posted on by Ben Debski

Rolland is a manufacturer of fine paper, focused on high quality recycled grades for the North American market, as well as security papers that are distributed internationally. As the paper market has became an increasingly challenging environment, the company has chosen to invest in a major renewable energy project that will enable it to use biogas for more than 90 percent of its thermal energy needs.

Biogas is a renewable fuel, created by the decomposition of waste in a landfill site. The methane produced is captured, condensed and carried through an eight-mile pipeline to the paper mill. At the factory, the gas is burned in a boiler to create steam. This step has the advantage of converting methane into less harmful carbon dioxide.

Recycling old papers to make new ones is a naturally good idea. However, making paper is a complex process that involves a lot of resources and knowledge. A truly environmental sheet requires more than just recycled fibre

As a project, this fits very well into Rolland’s commitment to the circular economy, as it uses waste from one industry – gas originating in a landfill – and turns it into raw material for another industry, namely thermal energy for paper production. It is locally sourced and reduces the extraction of non-renewable fuels.

The value of cooperation
A unique project such as this required a partnership between different parties to transition from a good idea to a fully implemented energy source. Waste Management owns the landfill site located in Sainte-Sophie, Quebec, and manages the collection of methane gas, which in the past was burned on site and then released into the atmosphere. Now, Waste Management’s output not only generates revenue for the company, but it has allowed the complete elimination of a substantial greenhouse gas chimney. Gaz Metro is in charge of transporting the gas through underground pipelines and ensuring it is moved with minimal disturbance. These pipes run for many miles before reaching the paper plant.

Once the new system was in place, Rolland found that using biogas was so logical and natural it was difficult to envision doing business differently. The gains have been far reaching, with the environmental benefits perhaps the most profound. Using biogas allows the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 70,000 tons every year. Effectively, this is the equivalent of removing 23,000 compact cars from the highways. Basically, one of the two largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions in the mill’s entire region has been shut off permanently.

In order to quantify the benefits of biogas, a life cycle assessment was performed to measure its environmental impact in the production of Rolland paper. The results showed the ecological impact of Rolland’s products is now remarkably lower than that of standard papers. Thanks to biogas energy, this low level of impact benefits human health, natural ecosystems and non-renewable resources, as well as the obvious benefit of mitigating large-scale climate changes.

Abundant benefits
Rolland’s vision is to ‘get closer’. The company’s objective is to better understand the impacts of its processes and their related environmental effects. This allows Rolland to better engage with its customers. The company wishes to help corporate paper users modify their purchasing habits in order to reduce their ecological footprint.

In addition to environmental benefits, there are also significant social gains from switching to biogas. The paper industry is a mature market, which presents some significant challenges. Rolland’s biogas project has helped to maintain quality jobs on a regional scale in a difficult time. Financial gains are clearer and more direct. What’s more, switching to biogas has allowed the company to reduce costs. Importantly, despite the initial investment, this project is profitable.

The entire biogas venture is ultimately good news for consumers. Above all, it has allowed ecologically conscious consumers to buy one of the most eco-friendly lines of paper on the market at an affordable price, turning their strong environmental values
into reality.

Corporate openness
This massive project, which involved a non-traditional process of inspiration and execution, was made possible by Rolland’s open leadership. Innovation is the core of the company’s business model, and explains its decision to invest in such an ambitious idea.
The idea of using biogas to fuel paper production did not come from paid consultants, or even from Rolland’s own team of scientists, but rather from a single employee – then the company’s director of purchases – acting on his own curiosity and passion. He had the idea while watching a television programme on the reduction of greenhouse gases. He dug a little deeper, only to discover his idea had some potential for Rolland. At that point, he broached the subject with the upper management team. Eventually, several departments and specialists – both internal and external – had to get involved, and millions of dollars had to be invested to turn his initial idea into reality.

Independent recognition
While the Rolland mill has changed ownership in the last few years, its roots go back to 1882. From humble beginnings, the small Canadian mill soon became a serious player in high-quality paper grades in North America. Rolland’s business model is unusual for a paper mill, as it does not own and manage forest. Instead, the company chose to tap into the urban forest: recycling bins. It acquired two pulp mills that take old paper and clean it to produce the main raw material: recycled pulp.

Recycling old papers to make new ones is a naturally good idea. However, making paper is a complex process that involves a lot of resources and knowledge. A truly environmental sheet requires more than just recycled fibre. To reduce the impact on water – a key element of paper – Rolland implemented a chlorine-free deinking process to remove ink and other contaminants that come with papers found in recycling bins.

To validate the strength of the company’s environmental assessments, a full basket of third-party certifications have been gained. The Forest Stewardship Council validates the fibre supply as being virgin or recycled. It makes sure that any harvesting was conducted in a sustainable way, and that recycled fibre comes from post-consumer and post-industrial sources. The paper’s Processed Chlorine-Free certification, which is quite self-explanatory, makes sure the water that is released back into rivers is safe for aquatic ecosystems and human health. Finally, EcoLogo certification confirms the superior environmental profile of the paper, looking at the lifecycle of the product.

Niche market
After high-quality recycled papers, Rolland’s other speciality is security paper. As global concern over document security grows, Rolland’s reputation for integrity, professionalism and quality enables the company to serve this very specific market. The mill produces paper for cheques, passports, stamps and ballot papers, and most of these need to include features that prevent fraud. To facilitate this, industry technology has to evolve faster than that of fraudsters – not an easy task, but one Rolland relishes taking on. For the corporations and governments that purchase Rolland’s security paper, the environmental profile of the mill is something of a cherry on the cake. tne

SoftBank leads $130m investment in biotech start-up Zymergen

Posted on by Ben Debski

Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank has led a $130m round of funding for the US-based biotech start-up Zymergen. The three-year-old bioengineering company specialises in computational biology, using robots and machine learning to genetically engineer microbes. Zymergen’s enhanced micro-organisms are ultimately intended for use not just in pharmaceuticals, but also in materials as diverse as car parts and adhesives.

“We’re thrilled thatSoftBank understands our proven business and supports our long-term growth”, said Zymergen co-founder and CEO, Joshua Hoffman.

“The intersection of machine learning and biology allows us to reliably engineer microbes, resulting in new products, new jobs and wholly new markets.”

With its new funding, Zymergen hopes to expand its work, starting with recruiting top talent from the scientific and computing fields. On October 11, the company announced that former US Energy Secretary and Nobel laureate Steven Chu had joined its board, along with Deep Nishar, a long-time senior executive at Google.

The Silicon Valley start-up is part of a new wave of biotech companies that focus on integrating artificial intelligence and robotics into the natural sciences. The Boston-based Ginkgo Bioworks boasts over $154m in funding for its pioneering synthetic DNA, while Denmark’s Novozymes is projected to generate over $1bn in revenue from its modified enzymes. By using robotics in microbe engineering, biotech companies can both reduce the costs of the intricate process and minimise the possibility of human error.

With its new funding, Zymergen hopes to expand its work, starting with recruiting top talent from the scientific and computing fields

According to Zymergen, robots and machine learning enable the company to “engineer microbes faster, more predictably, and to a level of performance previously unattainable”. Through re-engineering the genetic make-up of microbes and enhancing their existing properties, the company seeks to create new, superior materials that are suitable for use in every aspect of day-to-day life.

While the California-based firm is yet to reveal its revenue or the names of its customers, it did confirm that it has already been “solving business solutions for Fortune 500 customers”. With such big-name investors asSoftBank rushing to fund its enhanced microbe technology, Zymergen may be set to lead the way for industrial biology in the US.

Rotterdam leads the way for Europe’s new smart cities

Posted on by Ben Debski

Smart cities are becoming increasingly important worldwide. As metropolitan areas around the world continue to grow, and more of the world becomes urbanised, cities require an ever-greater application of technology and innovation to address their needs and streamline their functions in order to make life for citizens easier. Rotterdam, in particular, is a city that has been surging towards smart city status. As a place that has been in a constant state of development for the past 70 years, the innovation that becoming a smart city requires comes naturally to the Dutch metropolis.

Frank Vieveen, Smart City Programme Manager for the City of Rotterdam, spoke to The New Economy to explain how and why Rotterdam is securing that status.

Rotterdam facilitates space, funding and an innovative environment

How do you define a smart city, and why are they important?
Previously, we defined a ‘smart city’ as a city that uses innovation to improve infrastructure and living standards. This has now changed to include the idea that innovation should have the objective of making the city future-proof. We want to ensure our city is not only a nice place to live and work now, but also that we have the ambition to keep improving our city to meet future needs.

What is the role of the citizen in a smart city?
The challenge for cities in general is how to involve citizens in innovation. In Rotterdam, we are open for citizen engagement. With our CityLab010 programme, we have three million euros available each year to support citizens and small organisations in pursuing innovative ideas for the city. Though the programme only began in 2015, we have already launched 250 ideas, which have resulted in funding for 76 plans. Furthermore, we have a lot of WhatsApp neighbourhood groups in which people inform each other about safety issues.

Can you tell us about the Rotterdam Innovation District?
The Rotterdam Innovation District is a transformation area, in which progressive institutions and businesses are clustered in order to help them align with start-ups, incubators and accelerators. Rotterdam facilitates space, funding and an innovative environment. The Innovation District will be an example of future-oriented development. It came as no surprise that urban artist and designer Daan Roosegaarde moved his office to this location. But this is not the only ‘living lab’ in Rotterdam. Others include RDM
Rotterdam, Climatelab Zomerhofkwartier, Fieldlab SmartFood, and the Central District, which focuses on innovation and smart business.

Which other projects have been successful in making Rotterdam a smart city?
A recent inventory revealed Rotterdam has more than 200 smart-city-related initiatives and projects in operation at the moment. These include our city lights development, which has led to a new industry standard. We plan to expand our intelligent household waste collection system, and we have made a lot of progress in the integration of our water management system by combining it with a highly accurate rain radar.

What future projects do you have planned for Rotterdam?
There are many plans for the future of Rotterdam and the region – too many to list them all. Headed by the Rotterdam the Hague metropolitan region, we will actively participate in and lead a number of large-scale smart region projects that will help the region in the transition towards the new economy. In particular, a small but appealing project I want to mention is the harbour city project – a deployment of floating drones that collect harbour waste that floats on the water. Other floating drones will be used for shore inspection. tne

Samsung halts production as ‘fixed’ Galaxy Note 7 devices continue to ignite

Posted on by Ben Debski

Samsung has temporarily suspended production of the Galaxy Note 7 as reports begin to emerge of replacement handsets catching on fire. The company has been widely criticised for its mishandling of the recall at a critical time for the business.

South Korean news agency Yonhap reported an anonymous official at Samsung as saying the company has temporarily put a stop to the production of the Galaxy Note 7. The halt is reportedly being made in cooperation with safety regulators from the US, South Korea and China.

This announcement follows reports of replacement Note 7s smoking and catching on fire, suggesting Samsung has failed to fix the battery issue plaguing the device.

The Galaxy Note 7 has been nothing short of a disaster for Samsung. The phone received glowing reviews when it launched, thanks to range of high-end features and an elegant design. However, as reports emerged that some devices were catching fire while charging, Samsung was forced to initiate a recall programme. The phone was even banned on some major airlines due to the safety risks it posed.

The Galaxy Note 7 has been nothing short of a disaster for Samsung

Samsung has also received heavy criticism for its handling of the recall. The company took several weeks before initiating the programme, and offered a halfway solution of limiting the phone’s battery capacity to 60 percent in some regions. Samsung had sold 2.5m Galaxy Note 7s before the crisis.

With reports that replacement phones are now suffering the same problem, US retailers AT&T and T-Mobile have announced they are no longer exchanging Note 7s and are instead offering alternative devices.

The crisis has come at a critical time for Samsung. Apple’s new iPhone 7 was met with a lukewarm reception, giving Samsung the opportunity to capture greater market share with its far more impressive device. Also, with the launch of Google’s Pixel phone, it is now facing renewed competition from within the Android device market.

Getting behind big agriculture might open the door to a brave new world

Posted on by Ben Debski

Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World, published in 1932, painted a dystopian picture of the world of the future. Huxley used an inspiring line from Shakespeare’s The Tempest as his title and imbued it with a bitter twist. It is time to recover the true promise of the term from the darkness of Huxley’s imagination.

Not only is the future distinctly non-dystopian, we have today the greatest opportunity ever to curb world hunger, fight disease and further our hitherto-incomplete understanding of the world. Embracing this future is a global imperative. At my company, Larta Institute, our mission, acted on every day, is to identify, nurture and advance technologies that ‘feed, fuel and heal the world’. In the process, we also aim to shine a bright light on the extraordinary entrepreneurs who work to bring these technologies into broad usage.

Mission focused
These entrepreneurs are everywhere. And while they may be like “zero-hours contract workers”, as The Economist put it, the products and services they are developing will contribute greatly to increasing food yields and quality (necessary to feed the nine billion people living on our planet by 2050). These products and services focus on: combatting global warming; conferring on plants greater resistance to increasing climactic stresses; transforming the food production value chain; empowering small producers to be more productive and profitable; developing powerful new visualisation and AI-based tools to make agriculture more predictive; and enabling more precise gauges of yield and health.

We have worked with many such entrepreneurial companies: Groundwork BioAg in Israel, Neogram in Argentina, Ignitia in Sweden, Koolmill in the UK, Arable in California, and hundreds of innovators across the US for two decades. Indeed, the aforementioned companies have all been presenters at our annual Ag Innovation Showcase in St Louis.

Embracing solutions emerging from science-based enterprises is vital. But at a time when so many new technologies are emerging to resolve both long-standing and current problems alike, consumers are inundated with adverse opinions that are unencumbered by facts and threaten the evolution of science-based technologies like these. Social media has amplified this trend. The myths surrounding genetically modified organisms have done a great disservice to truly revolutionary developments in food production by presenting pseudoscientific prognostications, many of which were, and are, patently false (a good example being the misinformation campaigns waged against canola). The romanticising of the distant past, when food production was small-scale, without context (after all, our crops have been modified countless times since the beginning of cultivation agriculture), has struck a chord among vast swathes of the public. The result, I fear, is that there is a chasm between the great beneficence of science, and the fear and confusion felt by consumers at large – fear of the brave new world so darkly presented by Huxley.

Change the conversation
Bridging this chasm is the new global imperative. We cannot afford to let the discussion, amplified millions of times over, veer off into patchy and ill-informed diatribes. If we are to address and even overcome some of the problems we face, we need to stop shooting the messengers. Most often, these messengers are large companies working in human and plant sciences. They have become bêtes noires, subject to universal suspicion.

We need to acknowledge opinions are necessary to healthy debate, but that facts are paramount, and opinions cannot be allowed to stand when they masquerade as fact. Similarly, we cannot ignore the ‘public license’. Food and health dominate any notion of wellbeing in the public consciousness. Consumer tastes and trends are changing. We need to engage, present, show by example, and become itinerant fact-checkers. Given the confusion around organic production and labelling, we have the opportunity to educate and to erase the darkness.

We need to acknowledge opinions are necessary to healthy debate, but that facts are paramount, and opinions cannot be allowed to stand when they masquerade as fact

Despite the fear surrounding the public’s consideration of scientific process and outcomes, ironically, this may be the time for entrepreneurial companies, emerging the world over, to become leaders in advocating for the continued development and adoption of brilliant new science-based solutions. Many of these companies are mission-driven, and as such may be more successful in undercutting some of the opposition that (often inadvertently) stymies progress.

Larta Institute is developing its Global Ag Innovation Network forums as a platform to present new science-based solutions, and for the modification and adaptation of older ideas in the field. We are focused on this ‘public license’, harnessing the energy of interested members of the public to help address our seemingly intractable problems. Front and centre are science itself and the entrepreneurs whose passion and zeal can help drive a progressive and enlightened agenda.

While optimism may be hard to come by in a world riddled with self-doubt and what seem like existential issues, we cannot fail to understand how much better off we are as a species than we were 100, 200 and 1,000 years ago, when, as Hobbes said, “life was nasty, brutish and short”. Our brave new world is full of promise and passion. What we need is a final liberation from superstition and the mad wanderings of our perfervid imagination. Those should be buried with Huxley.

The iFoodbag will revolutionise last-mile chilled and frozen delivery

Posted on by Ben Debski

In today’s connected and time-efficient world, consumer behaviour is rapidly changing. In this evolving landscape, e-commerce continues to grow at a furious pace in order to meet consumer demands for a simpler life. As such, new companies that are focused solely on e-retail are being launched across the world, posing a significant threat to traditional brick and mortar retail companies, many of which have little choice but to move their businesses online as well.

With this shift to e-commerce comes a whole new set of challenges for the food industry, starting with delivery. Of course, shipping expenses are the first thing that comes to mind in this respect, but health concerns pose no less of a conundrum, particularly when it comes to disrupted supply chains for chilled and frozen foods. Although this remains a significant challenge to both companies and consumers, little has been done to resolve the problem.

Cold hard truth
In a price-competitive retail environment, the extra costs of e-commerce can place significant pressure on a company’s bottom line. E-commerce businesses have quickly identified the biggest of these costs to be consumer delivery, and particularly, in the case of food distribution, the management of the chilled supply chain. Beyond basic cost concerns, the cold supply chain is very often faulty, as cooling van doors are typically opened 15 to 18 times during a delivery cycle for each truck, while each stop sees the doors remain open for three to eight minutes. Many companies believe they have an intact chilled supply chain that meets food safety regulations of four to eight degrees celsius for chilled goods and -15C to -18C for frozen goods. However, in many cases, real temperatures significantly exceed these regulations, despite the use of specialised equipment such as cooling vans, wool-lined storage, thermos bags and styrofoam boxes.

Online food suppliers are always looking for the most efficient and cost-effective delivery methods. However, when goods arrive with a supplier, they must then be transported to the customer. It is at this final destination that several problems occur. This last part of the supply chain, or ‘the last mile’, as it is known in the industry, is usually less efficient – not least because of consumer macro trends. In Sweden, for example, during the second quarter of 2016 the country saw an 18 percent rise in e-commerce compared to the same period last year, according to research from Swedish logistics company PostNord, trade organisation Svensk Digital Handel and HUI Research. For the online grocery business specifically, the same period saw an increase of as much as 38 percent, thereby indicating e-commerce is indeed playing a bigger role in total sales.

Many retailers work under price and time pressures from consumers who are not willing to pay more for online groceries than they do in physical stores. Consequently, many of the big players are now offering online shopping services, in addition to looking for new services in order to develop the market further. Even the most established physical grocery stores have realised they cannot survive without adapting to e-commerce, which puts further pressure on the problem of last-mile delivery.

As previously mentioned, there are a number of different solutions available for delivering frozen and chilled goods. Each of these, however, has a number of problems and leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to ease of handling, emissions, costs and, most importantly, meeting safety regulations for chilled goods.

Industry overhaul
Founded in 2013, Swedish start-up iFoodbag has stepped up to fill the industry’s looming void. The company’s eponymous product is a highly innovative paper composite technology that can store chilled and frozen goods for up to 24 hours. It boasts similar performance to a cool box and, depending on customer needs, active cooling can also be used, which consists of ice gel for chilled goods and dry ice for frozen goods. If active cooling is required, various factors are considered, such as the amount of goods to be chilled or frozen, as well as their starting temperature. Ambient temperature and humidity are also taken into account.

Beyond its performance, the iFoodbag also contributes to a sustainable environment, with fewer carbon emissions than other solutions. It is also important to note the product is recyclable, as well as reusable for consumers. Furthermore, testament to the company’s commitment to the environment, iFoodbag plants three new trees for every tree it cuts down.

The unique bag is based on three innovations: a new composite material consisting mainly of cellulose, a system that keeps the cold in and keeps condensation out, and lastly, a new type of closure. This technology means easier and more eco-friendly transportation of frozen and chilled goods, enhanced food quality, and less need for additives. It also solves the critical issue of cost, as it has a significantly lower price point than other last-mile alternatives, and enables easier and more efficient handling when delivering to consumers.

After successful tests by the Innventia research institute, Karl Fallgren, the founder and CEO of iFoodbag, launched this unique product at the end of 2015, instantly becoming one of the most exciting start-up companies on the market. That this is a major global product was illustrated when the company was awarded a grant from the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 SME programme in February 2016. This support, which consists of €1.7m over a two-year period, is also a sign of the product’s importance, particularly for the food industry.

Following iFoodbag’s agreement with global packaging company Mondi, business started to grow through partnerships with online retailers, as well as large companies such as Volvo. This has made it possible to deliver food in a whole new way, as, for example, an online grocery store can work with car manufacturers to deliver food directly to parked cars. The iFoodbag technology is designed to keep food frozen and chilled for a long time in a client’s car and during transit to the customer’s home. This places it far above anything else available on the market today.

Greater good
The problems of last-mile delivery extend beyond the commercial food industry. Outside e-commerce, improved chilled delivery technology can be a huge aid in reducing waste and ultimately helping to improve living standards worldwide. Although over 800 million people worldwide are starving and are in need of life-saving vaccines, enormous amounts of food and medicine go to waste because previous solutions could not keep products cold enough to transport to their final destination.

In spring 2016, iFoodbag went to Kenya to explore how its product handled the transportation of food and vaccines in vulnerable environments. On-site, they found that, with previous solutions, vaccines were not kept cooler than 15C, but with iFoodbag’s cooling technology, temperatures could be kept at between two and eight degrees celsius – the recommended range for safe vaccine transportation.

Consequently, the company signed a purchase agreement with Equator One Logistics, a company based in Nairobi. With this partner, up to 20 million iFoodbags will be distributed across Africa to support efforts to reduce hunger and food waste. As Equator One Logistics has direct contact with various aid organisations, this project, which is the first of its kind, is expected to have a major impact across the continent.

While the first generation of the iFoodbag can already be considered a success, the company is currently in the process of developing the second generation, which will have a particular focus on cost effectiveness, so more people can afford to shop for their groceries online, as well as playing their part in reducing both carbon emissions and food waste.

For further information, why not check out iFoodbag’s LinkedIn profile?