The future of textiles
The textile industry is one of the world’s largest industries. The production of textiles over the years has contributed to significant environmental problems, especially due to the water pollution it leads to. Much depends on the cotton, which is used in about half of all textile manufacturing, and is extremely water-intensive. To produce one kilogram of cotton can require...
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Sustainability through the supply chains
The complex supply chains of the modern world economy are stretched across the globe. With better data, the flows of commodities can be mapped and analyzed, giving companies and others a tool to follow up on sustainability ambitions.
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Evaporation from lakes can provide renewable power
The motion of bacterial spores that expand and contract depending on humidity might offer a way to extract renewable energy from natural evaporation.
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Renewable resources build the bioeconomy
The fossil-based economy can be replaced by a bioeconomy, where we utilize renewable biomass from forestry, agriculture and oceans instead. Everything that is made from oil can be derived from forest residue – and the solutions of the future are already growing. The bioeconomy comprises those parts of the economy that use renewable biological resources from land and sea –...
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GMO’s – a controversial tool
A growing world population requires ever-increasing food production. One of the possible methods is to genetically modify plants and animals. GMOs can contribute to feeding people, but can also be an environmental benefit by reducing the environmental impact of pesticide use in agriculture, contributing to less soil erosion, and reduce nutrient discharges from fish farms.
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Electrification will reinvent the car
Electric vehicles are becoming a common sight, a paradigm shift in the making. And it is not just about switching one engine for another; the entire design of the car has been dictated by the mechanics of the combustion engine. The vehicles of the future will be lighter and more autonomous, and may turn mobility into a service instead of a product.
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Fusion power – the sun’s energy right here on earth
Fusion power is what makes the stars shine. Recreating the process on earth in a controlled and sustained way would bring clean, safe and abundant energy. The technological challenges are formidable - such as how to handle a plasma at extremely high temperatures - but new materials and improved computational capacity is beginning to tip the scales.
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Sustainable technology inspired by nature’s complexity
Biomimetics or biomimicry is the interdisciplinary field where biology, engineering and sustainability come together. The processes, systems and solutions found in nature are proven, energy efficient and circular by definition, and inspire new technology and innovation.
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Lush city forests clean the air
Smog formed by particulate matter and pollution is a serious problem in many growing urban areas. In the future, vertical forests and trees planted on building facades may be an important tool to combat pollution. Forest cities are under development in China, and active plant walls derived from space technology increase the air purification power of plants a hundredfold.
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Geoengineering to offset climate change?
Even with zero emissions, we may deem it necessary to reduce the atmospheric carbon concentration. Solar radiation management techniques could be employed as a stopgap solution to offset a global temperature on the rise. Such deliberate acts of climate intervention are referred to as geoengineering.
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