7 minute read
The best way to survive in all times is to see the opportunity in challenges. Therefore, this article will tackle the Climate Change from a new point of view. How to benefit from environmental disaster while improving the situation? After all, Climate Change is a massive trend with a long-term effect on every industry.
Airconditioning
the Earth
There are different ways how to benefit from challenges on the way. Climate change created new demand for energy efficient business generated by global and local policies. Science comes to play bringing new roles for engineers as entrepreneurs. One of most distinguishing innovation is brought by the Canadian team of experts in engineering, physics, chemistry, business development, and finance, – Carbon Engineering. The team has come up with the carbon capturing innovation that resembles an outdoor air conditioner. Air goes through the ventilation, where it meets CO2 absorbent liquid PVC sheets absorbing carbon from the air and converting it to carbonate. Next, the carbonate solution is transformed to capturing solution that will be again exposed to the incoming air. In other words, Carbon Engineering created a circular CO2 ecosystem that requires a minimum of energy and takes up to 80% of carbon dioxide from the air. This technology has a chance to help the nature to restore the balance. There is a need to locate such systems in the places where it is impossible to grow trees to achieve goals set by the Paris Agreement to lower the heating of the planet.
Artificial
photosynthesis
Another way to help mother Earth is to plant more trees, or – to create artificial plants. Inspired by photosynthesis, Klaus S. Lackner, director of the Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energyphotosynthesis, is determined to find best carbon capture and sequestration strategies. Klaus recognizes the power of trees to absorb the carbon dioxide and the weakness of humans to increase the pollution and deforesting the earth. In order to ease the development, the scientist created a material which performs artificial photosynthesis. This plastical material has proven to work better in the drier environment and can be reused after washing. In this circular model, the only question is where to store collected carbon. One approach is to reuse collected carbon as a biofuel. As the planet does not have enough agriculture land for reducing the carbon dioxide in the air, finding the way to using Klaus’s plastic material for architecture and exterior can be a solution. The scientist has high hopes to reduce the CO2 from the air by 80% by 2050. Potentially, this invention can cover couple of business areas contributing to new circular economy and reinventing the purpose of plastic.
Agriculture
with no weather
Climate change challenges agriculture on many stages. Global warming attacks farming by changing average temperatures, rainfalls, transforming pests and diseases, shifting nutrition quality of food, and other essential factors. Thus, there is a call for actions to adapt to new environments and increasing demand for agriculture produce with the growth of population. The solution comes two ways: by inventing new climate resistant seeds and enhance consultation to farmers. The Global Alliance is convinced that “diverse and robust seed systems are central to sustainable food systems that are renewable, resilient, equitable, diverse, healthy, and interconnected”.
The global biotech seeds and agriculture market undergoes a number of mergers and acquisitions. Roughly ten years ago, there were five main global biotech sharks in the seeds business: Monsanto, DuPont, LineGrain, Syngenta, and Bayer. Since then, the market has drastically changed in the fight for the biggest market share. Namely, Bayer is in the process of acquiring the world’s biggest seed company Monsanto, DuPont mergers with Dow Chemical, while China National Chemical Corp. anticipates $43 billion takeover of Swiss Sygenta AG. Industry prepares to the battle against nature – producing more with less – by combining R[&]D departments and merging.
Monsanto is the world’s largest seed producer with 27% of the market in 2015. Just in winter season 2017, Monsanto’s revenue boosted by 12% to $5,074 million by seed and agrochemicals sales. Constantly developing new technics and acquiring new patents, the company is to begin using CRISPR technology in agriculture. “Pretty much all of agriculture starts with a seed,” said John Purcell, global lead of research and development at Monsanto. “Some farmer is going to put that seed into the ground. What’s happened over the years is, the ability to improve that seed, the ability to put more power into that seed, is what the biology revolution has been.” GMO seeds are getting critics from various food protection organizations having Monsanto as a main target. Nevertheless, none of the accusations held the truth in the labs and there is no proof of company’s seeds and chemicals treating the human health.
Witnessing the recent activities of biotech agriculture companies, it is safe to say that there will be a solution for agriculture in global warming environment. Investing in R[&]D is the path biotech companies chose. Soon, there will be agriculture with no weather dependency and incredible crop-harvesting possibilities.
Arctic
shipping
It is an intuitive fact that global warming melts ice in the northern poll. While the world is fighting to slow the rise of the global temperature level, melting ice offers an opportunity for new shipping routes. According to researchers from the University of Reading, UK, opportunities to transit the Arctic will double for non-ice-strengthened vessels by 2050. For instance, there are two majorArcric routes that are increasingly navigable in the summer period. First, the Canadian Northwest Passage that could potentially save up to two weeks of traveling substituting the Panama Canal. Second, the Russian Northern Sea Route that is already in commercial use. Moreover, there is already a single enterprise managing expanding Russian economic activities in the region. Today, Russia already has 11 Arctic ports. At the same time, Iceland is conducting a feasibility study for a deepwater port at Finnafjörður. The US do not fall behind planning transforming Portland into an Arctic hub. Development of new northern routes influences the changes in costs and logistics as well as demanding new vessels.[nbsp]
Increasing the number of ships in the non-stable Arctic environment requires new regulations. In March 2017, the European Parliament accepted the resolution seeking to prevent using heavy fuel oil in Arctic waters. “Today, the elected representatives of European citizens have delivered a clear message to the International Maritime Organization – it’s time to ban the use of heavy fuel oil from Arctic shipping,” said Sian Prior, advisor to the Clean Arctic Alliance. “By putting a ban in place by 2020, the IMO has an opportunity to reduce both the impact of oil spills and the levels of pollutants which drive the melting of Arctic snow and ice.”
Visualising the
Carbon Emissions
Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute reports that the 15 large-scale projects operating around the world can capture 28m tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. Therefore, there is a need to process 4bn tonnes in 2040 and 6bn in 2050. Climate change brings challenges that have to be transformed into opportunities. Below you can see the visual representation of the carbon emissions around the world from 1992 to 2014:
