Words by Smiley Team
Fossil fuels and plastic packaging have seen their day. Waiting in the wings to replace them is a huge range of exciting innovations that could offer part of the answer to the climate crisis.
Here are some of the tech solutions from 2021 that could transform the way we source our energy, package goods and more.
To keep birdlife safe from collisions, a Spanish startup called Vortex Bladeless has developed a way of harnessing wind energy without the use of rotating blades. Thanks to an elastic rod that waves around in the wind, the structure produces energy from its vibrations. The main advantage of this new technology is that it takes up less space than wind turbines, making it suitable for built environments and residential areas.
A new, paper-thin solar film, Power Roll, could help the UK generate more renewable energy from the sun’s rays. Developed by a new company in Sunderland, Power Roll, the film is more affordable and easier to install on roofs of houses, they say. It's described as a “unique, flexible, lightweight solar film” that’s capable of producing ultra-low-cost green electricity, which is up to 20 times cheaper to make.
The company, Heat Wayv, believes microwaves could replace gas as a means to heat household water. Using electricity, the device they are developing could reshape the way we heat our homes. Currently in its prototype form, the microwave boilers are expected to have passed their trials by 2022.
In the middle of lockdown, two twenty-year-old students came up with a simple solution to wastage from single-use face masks. The students at Warsaw University of Technology and the University of Edinburgh won the James Dyson award in Poland for designing the system to recycle 3-ply disposable face masks.
A laboratory in South Africa came up with Notpla, a plastic alternative made from seaweed that can be used as clingfilm, soft plastic packaging, and much more. Their creations are designed to replace single-use plastics with packaging that’s kinder to nature and wildlife. After a trial with Just Eat, let’s see which companies will adopt it next.
Two engineers at a Swiss technology institute, EPFL, have high hopes that their newly-discovered means to break up proteins and polymers could work for plastic too. After mimicking natural processes, the researchers have yet to successfully apply it to plastic. But they have faith it will offer a more effective means of recycling.
