Empowering Technology For A Greener Future

This breakthrough renewable energy project in Myanmar uses solar-hybrid plants to generate and distribute affordable, reliable and clean energy to the people of Myanmar and telecommunication towers. Essentially, the project provides clean electricity to rural communities across the country not connected to the power grid, electrifying 84% of rural households of Myanmar. The project includes a partnership between Yoma Strategic Holdings, IFC and Norfund to generate and distribute electricity to millions of off-grid Myanmar citizens and telecommunications tower companies through decentralized solar power plants and mini-grids.

Two Japanese renewable energy producers, Aura Green Energy Co and WWB Corp, a solar panel system provider have teamed up to develop a hybrid power plant generation business using rice husk as fuel from a rice mill of Angkor Kasekam Roongroeung Co Ltd near Phnom Penh with the aim of securing the country’s power supply stability. The project is estimated to cut 1,316 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually from biomass power generation and contribute 565 tonnes of solar power.

Operating since 2010, the large on-grid 1.2 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant served as the first solar power plant in Brunei Darussalam as a commitment to further the advancement of deploying renewable energy technologies in the nation. Yielding various benefits to the country, Tenaga Suria Brunei saved the government an estimated value of USD 1.730 million in 2017, corresponding to about 128,964 MMBtu of natural gas. Cumulatively, approximately 7961 tonnes of CO2 also has been avoided. Furthermore, the plant could potentially avoid approximately 530,887 tonnes of CO2 by 2035 following the expansion of 27 MWp into the existing power plant.

Laos’s biggest solar project is in the works at the country’s largest dam for hydropower. The 240 MW floating photovoltaic project is being planned by French energy giant Électricité de France (EDF) to begin construction on the reservoir of Nam Theun 2 Hydropower plant on the Nam Theun River, in Laos. The radiant project is claimed to be the largest hybrid floating solar project in the world. Built with a water saving concept, the project will be able to provide clean energy while additionally generating stable hydroelectric power as a means of reliable and renewable energy.

Promoting a clear growth strategy in converting biomass into clean energy in the US, the 2-MW biomass gasification plant is California's first forestry based diesel generator power plant that uses waste to make biochar and energy. The operating biomass gasification facility is fueled by excess and widely available forestry biomass. In addition to generating clean and flexible electricity, biochar and heat, the power plant stops wasteful “pile and burn” disposal of excess forest material, sequesters carbon, and greatly reduces wildfire risk.

INWave is INGINE’s Wave Energy Converter (WEC) technology designed to generate power by harnessing the complete range of wave movements, the multi-directional energy harvesting technology’s onshore installation enables its application even in shallow waters where existing technologies otherwise have struggled. Since 2018, Ingine has been developing a 10MW wave energy project at Penida Island, Indonesia, collaborating with Indonesian and Korean stakeholders to apply for the Project Preparation Facility (PPF) of the Green Climate Fund (GCF).

Globally recognised and a member of the UN Clean Energy list. The cleantech startup officially commenced its operations in 2015 with the goal of providing alternative energy to reduce dependence on India’s state power grids. Capable of generating power even at very low wind speeds and being highly cost-effective, the 1 kW-capacity equipment can provide about five units of power every day. The green energy produced is deemed enough for meeting the requirements of a middle-income household every day. Furthermore, its compact design enables the system to run for years without frequent maintenance.

Driven by the need to tackle water scarcity and providing clean water to society, Saora Founder Ganesh Muren developed portable, solar-powered water cleaning systems to help provide rural and marginalised communities with sustainable water solutions by utilising green and cost-effective technology that uses a compact water purification design. At its core, the design uses membrane filtration, a pressure-driven separation process that employs a membrane for both the mechanical and chemical sieving of particles and macromolecules for water and energy sustainability.

Cementing our path towards a green future, New-Jersey based start-up Solidia Technologies harnesses sustainable cement manufacturing and concrete curing technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions generated by conventional cement production. Developing green cement with its technology enables it to be fired at lower temperatures, cutting emissions by a third. Its concrete is then cured using CO2 instead of water and trapping the pollutant in the rock, leading to 70% of carbon reductions. This technology has the potential to eliminate a minimum of 1.5 gigatonnes of CO2 every year.

The earth contains over twenty billion times more heat energy than the entire planet consumes in a year. Harnessing thermal energy would mean enough clean electricity for the next million years; there would be no need for fossil fuels. AltaRock Energy’s SuperHot Rock geothermal is a promising nascent technology able to potentially yield up to 10 times more energy and carbon-free power than a conventional geothermal well. How it’s done, water is injected into hot, dry crystalline rock deep beneath ground to produce steam, which powers turbines and produces electricity. AltaRock anticipates formal demonstration of the first SHR EGS well system by 2025 at Newberry Volcano near Bend, Oregon.

As seen on TIME’s annual ‘Best Innovations’ from around the world, Apeel’s invisible, odorless and edible plant-derived coating made from wasted agricultural products extends the shelf life of fruits and vegetables by five times and prevent food from ending up in the landfill, which is especially vital as global pandemic pressures affect the food supply chain. This proves as a promising technology for farmers approaching the developing world, where the difficulties involved in getting produce to the market before it spoils are the major cause of food waste.

The world is shifting towards a bio-based economy to meet growing demands for more sustainable food, materials, and energy. The Brevel project developed a photobioreactor that can produce microalgae on an industrial scale at low costs. Photobioreactors have a number of advantages, namely replicable cultivation conditions with regard to environmental influences, reduced risk of contamination, low CO2 losses, and building sustainable buildings as a potential bio-facade system for carbon capture and sequestration.

Salinity gradient has a high potential for sustainable electric energy production, especially where low salinity rivers discharge into hyper-saline lakes. Using RED (Reverse Electrodialysis) as a form of sustainable energy extraction, salt and fresh water are mixed in a controlled manner in the stack and electrical energy is gained through this process. Salinity gradient is still in its emerging development stages, with a 50kW facility in Afsluitdijk, Netherlands. Potentially, the method is set to expand over the Rhine river estuarine, where the fresh river water meets the salt water of the North Sea, for a CO2-free production of 1.6 billion Nm3 of H2-gas.

Humans have adjusted to wearing masks for safety and health of the world, so why not cows? Zelp developed methane-absorbing “cow masks” to tackle 44% of total livestock industry emissions, who typically belch it out. The wearable device is fitted on a harness and hangs over the cow's nostrils like a window awning. The accessory captures and converts methane, of which 90 to 95% is released through a cow's mouth through belches or exhalations into carbon dioxide.

The 45MW Hydro-Floating Solar Hybrid Project at Sirindhorn Dam in Ubon Ratchathani Province, Thailand is the world's largest floating solar farm to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of approximately 47,000t annually, provide clean energy to help mitigate global warming, and drive the country towards a sustainable low-carbon society. Consisting of seven vast panels of photovoltaic cells designed at an angle against the platform, the farm allows sunlight to pass through into water without affecting underwater biodiversity

Built in the province of Ilocos Norte, Philippines, the 150MW Burgos Wind Farm is the largest of its kind in the country. Consisting of 50 Vestas V90 wind turbines with a rated capacity of 3MW each, generating approximately 370GWh of electricity annually, the wind farm powers more than two million households, offsetting approximately 200,000t of CO₂ emissions annually.

According to the IMD Smart City Index 2021, Singapore ranks first, as the ‘smartest’ among 118 global cities. Developing pioneering smart mobility solutions and ecologically sustainable transit networks for its citizens, Singapore also actively embraces artificial intelligence, internet of things (IoT) and smart sensors to keep earth-defiling emissions and air pollution down and citizens’ lungs healthy. By 2022, Singapore will have energy-efficient lighting on public roads and solar panels on the rooftops of at least 6,000 buildings.

Swiss engineering startup Climeworks is operating the world’s largest Direct Air Capture (DAC) plant in Iceland. Known as Orca, the plant is designed with eight boxes about the size of shipping containers, each fitted with a dozen fans to pull carbon out of the air, filter it, and pump it deep into the Earth, where over the course of a few years it becomes stone, effectively removing it from circulation in the atmosphere.

The Ocean Cleanup is a non-profit that uses advanced technology to remove plastic from rivers and oceans. The Interceptor 002 has been able to pull over 30 metric tonnes of trash a month from the Klang River, Malaysia. Between 2016 and 2020, the amount of debris extracted by the initiative has reached 67,000 MT — approximately the weight of 13,500 adult Asian elephants.