March 07, 2023 | Read Online

Seeds in space

Happy Tuesday. A busy week on the sustainability front — from historic ocean deals to 3D-printed neighbourhoods and plants being sent into orbit.

In today’s edition:

🛏️ Ikea’s sustainable supply chain

🤝 Historic ocean deal

🪳 Bugs for beef

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💼 Big Business (1-minute read)

The world's largest 3D-printed neighbourhood

Giant robots are busy at work in Austin, Texas, building 100 houses in “Wolf Ranch” — a suburban subdivision which will become the world’s largest 3-D printed community. The project is a collab between US home builder Lennar Corp. and 3D-printing startup, Icon. If it can scale, 3D-printed construction offers the prospect of energy-efficient homes built faster and more affordably in novel designs with minimal waste. The concrete structures are also more resilient to increasingly intensive weather events induced by climate change.

https://www.iconbuild.com/homes/genesis-collection-at-wolf-ranch

Ikea partners with a non-profit to deliver a sustainable viscose supply chain

Viscose is a semi-synthetic fabric made from wood pulp, used to make silk substitutes, which is present in many home textile products. The viscose supply chain has a history of poor environmental performance, with a report highlighting production linked to deforestation and the dumping of toxic wastewater. Ikea’s partnership with Canopy aims to ensure that ancient and endangered forests not used in the viscose supply chain, only purchasing viscose from producers that have achieved accreditation through the non-profit.

Takeaways: Ikea joins over 500 global brands sourcing through Canopy, with 76% of the global supply undergoing audits to confirm they address any risk of sourcing from ancient or endangered forests.

Historic deal to protect international waters finally reached at UN

There’s been a buzz about nature recently off the back of COP15 in December. One of the highlights of that conference was a 30x30 pledge - made to protect 30% of all habitats by 2030.

What’s new: After almost 20 years of talks, United Nations member states agreed on a legal framework to support the protection of parts of the ocean outside national boundaries through the formation of ‘Marine Protected Areas’ - critical to achieving the 30x30 pledge.

Importance: Ocean ecosystems produce half the oxygen we breathe, represent 95% of the planet’s biosphere and soak up carbon dioxide, as the world’s largest carbon sink. Yet until now, fragmented and loosely enforced rules governing the high seas have rendered this area more susceptible than coastal waters to exploitation.

💰 Deals of the Week (1-minute read)

🛵 BlocPower raised $24Mn in Series B funding for its technology to analyze, finance, and upgrade homes and buildings with the latest in energy-efficient electric technology and appliances.

🍎 Biotech start-up Pili raised US$15.8m in Series A Funding for its sustainable dyes and pigments to reduce the environmental footprint of the colour industry.

🚗 Circ, a Virginia-based textile recycler, raised $25m in an extension of its Series B funding for its patented technology that recycles global fashion waste into textiles.

☀️ Chloris Geospatial, a Boston, MA-based technology company that measures natural capital from space, closed seed extension round of funding. The company’s technology uses satellite data to reliably assess forest carbon dynamics, including forest growth and degradation.

💡 Start-up Spotlight (1-minute read)

One-liner: Accelerating a global transition to sustainable protein through insects and technology.

Problem: 41% of all emissions from livestock production come from their feed production. Most of them are from corn and soybeans grown at an industrial scale. It’s a particularly inefficient way to feed people: It takes about 100 calories of grain to produce just three calories’ worth of beef or 12 of chicken. Obliterating our natural ecosystems predominantly to produce mono-crops that go into the industrial food web.

Deep Dive: Entocycle wants to solve the food chain conundrum with another source of protein: black soldier flies. Not only can the larvae of black soldier flies be made into animal feed, but they feast on organic waste from an extensive range of sources, including breweries and commercial kitchens. Entocycle’s automated pods monitor how the insects are doing, using a technology called computer vision while collecting analytics about their development and environment and making tweaks to maximise the system’s efficiency. Automation supports scalability to meet the giant demands of the animal feed industry.

Impact: Reducing emissions of the food industry and indirectly reducing deforestation from crop monocultures that support current feed products

Location: London, UK

Latest Funding: $5Mn (Series A, Jan 2023)

Founder/s: Fotis Fotiadis (Cambridge Uni), Miha Pipan (Cambridge Uni)

Revenue sources:

Neo: A machine vision hardware and software package designed to improve accuracy, efficiency and productivity in pre-existing large-scale black soldier fly (BSF) farms around the world.
Design & Build: feasibility studies, factory design, project management and colony supply services to build complete new black soldier fly farms

Founders: Keiran Olivares Whitaker

Partnerships: Y combinator participant; Grant money from the U.K. government, the European government and the European Space Agency, which is interested in using insect protein on long-term missions.

💭 Little Bytes

Quote: “Time is not on our side, and while the Treaty comes into force, it’s imperative that States take all actions necessary to protect the ocean, including the fragile ecosystems and biodiversity of the deep sea.” The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition’s Sofia Tsenikli

Stat: On average, people now consume around 5 grammes of microplastics a week — Professor Philip Demokritou of Rutgers University

Watch: A tool carving hollows in trees (without causing damage) to help endangered wildlife.

🗞 In other news…

Mercedes-Benz plans to recycle battery systems from electric cars in the future and is starting to build its own recycling factory.

A project that seeks to build new oil drilling sites in one of the remotest parts of Alaska is currently being weighed for approval by the Biden administration.

Seeds of crops like cress and sorghum are being launched into orbit by the International Atomic Energy Agency to induce genetic mutations so they can survive hotter temperatures, drier soil and rising sea levels.

EU clean tech draft plan (a response to the US Inflation Reduction Act) will aim to support manufacturing capacity for clean technology within the bloc to meet two-fifths of domestic needs.

Written by Colin and Ollie - Drop us a message!

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Market Mix - Seeds in space

Seeds in space

💼 Big Business (1-minute read)

The world's largest 3D-printed neighbourhood

Ikea partners with a non-profit to deliver a sustainable viscose supply chain

Historic deal to protect international waters finally reached at UN

💰 Deals of the Week (1-minute read)

💡 Start-up Spotlight (1-minute read)

💭 Little Bytes

🗞 In other news…

That's it, you're up-to-date!

Key phrases

Older messages

Here's what an Athletic Director's contract looks like:

The Leader's Creative Duty

Sunday Thinking

Your Support Has Impact!

Play and Earn with Undead Blocks, arena combat in Champions Ascension, rolling dice in Mirandus, and more! -- Play to Earn #165

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