This ‘miracle molecule’ is one of the building blocks of modern society yet most of us have never heard of it. What is it? Ethylene. Business (and kids) manager Wouter guides us on a journey to discover what ethylene is, how it’s made in a cracker, and why it is so important to our way of living. In this episode we learn the difference between fuels and chemicals, why coca cola was aiming for more sustainability with the introduction of plastic bottles, the differences between mechanical and chemical recycling and of course - how to sustainalize this industry.

Will our kids ever know what it is like to refuel a car with gasoline, or will everything be electrified by then? In this episode Vincent and Yvo discuss electric batteries and what happens with them when they die. Learn all about battery basics, how they are recycled at the moment and in the future, plus how we could all be driving around like in Mario Kart in the future with wireless charging lanes. And remember, we are not the experts here. We are simply learning, together.

Bioplastics are said to be the “better” plastic of the future: biodegradable, eco-friendly and just as convenient. But is that actually true?

Northvolt has partnered with Hydro to establish a first-of-its-kind battery recycling facility. The recycling plant will come online in 2021 in Fredrikstad, outside of Oslo. At commissioning, the Hydro Volt plant will have initial capacity to process more than 8,000 tonnes of batteries per year – roughly the equivalent of 23,000 moderately sized EV batteries. Northvolt is aiming for 50% recycled material in new cells by 2030.

Solar and Wind energy are growing at a truly astonishing pace on every continent. But in the race for global supremacy in the power generation sector have we neglected to consider how we will deal with millions of panels and turbines when they come to the end of their useful lives? Are we storing up yet another environmental problem?

A team of researchers created small prototypes of ‘power bricks’ which are able to power small LEDs. The energy density is only about 1% of that of lithium ion batteries, but is believed this can be increased by tenfold. A brick costs only about 3 dollars to make.

Hydrogen is a clean-burning molecule, meaning that it can help to decarbonize a range of sectors that have proved hard to clean up in the past. But today, most hydrogen is produced from CO2-emitting fossil fuels. Hydrogen produced from renewable electricity, known as green hydrogen, could be the solution to cutting our carbon footprint. But first, it must overcome a number of challenges.

Heliogen, backed by Bill Gates, makes fuel out of thin air and sunlight. It simply costs a lot of energy.

The EU is currently 75% to 100% dependent on imports for most metals. With the EU's green and digital ambitions raw materials’ requirement requiring 18 times more lithium alone by 2030, this dependence must be reduced. She has come up with an action plan that includes setting up new European mines, which are not taken kindly upon by everyone. Lithi-yummy!

Tesla announced new ‘tabless’ batteries, aims to phase out cobalt and plans for investing in a new cathode plant. Their goal is to improve affordability by building a $25,000 electric car.

Up to 20% of our energy needs could be met by sustainably harvested biomass, in particular food and agricultural waste, as well as manure. Biomass could serve a crucial role in the energy transition by replacing gas and petroleum in (chemical) industry, aviation and maritime shipping.

How much energy do we need and what do we use it for? In this part, it is determined that the world needs 435 TWh per day, of which 87% comes from fossil fuels. This energy is needed in 3 sectors for 3 different purposes (3x3 energy rule). The sectors are transportation, industry and buildings. The purposes are heating, transport and electricity. Depending on the region, most of our energy is required in the transportation sector and for heating purposes.

How much biomass is produced each year and how much can we sustainably harvest? In the first part of this series, we find that the annual global production of land-based biomass is 50 billion tons, of which roughly 8 billion tons of biomass can be sustainably harvested each year. This is determined by dividing biomass into four distinct groups suitable for energy production: wood, agriculture, food waste and manure. For each group, the amount of annual ‘production’ and the amount suitable for sustainable ‘harvest’ is determined, adhering to the ‘food, feed, fiber first’ principle.

A tsunami of subsidized electric models is flooding the market and disrupting old car-sales models; never have this many occasions been sold as in the month of July 2020 in the Netherlands and Germany.

Bits of microplastics are showing up inside human tissues. We still don’t fully know the health impact of plastics inside our bodies.

Getting rare materials from the ground into your phone is ugly. The mining industry is responsible for air and water pollution and the destruction of entire landscapes. But what if we could replace the mining industry on Earth with a clean process that can’t harm anyone? Well, we can. All we need to do is look up.

Electric cars have a dark secret - cobalt. The element that is in almost all lithium-ion batteries is often considered a conflict mineral because half of all cobalt reserves are found in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a troubled region with over a century of instability. But is it as bad as the anti-EV crowd has led us to believe? What's the reality of the situation, and what are some of the solutions?

This article describes the fundamental incentives to create a sustainable world by self-organizing behavior: Electrification, Energy Mortgage and the Turntoo Model.

The RecycLiCo™ Patented Process is an Innovation of American Manganese Inc. – A Critical Metal Company Focused on Recycling Cathode Materials From Spent Lithium-ion Batteries.

Easier than you might think. Seaport Groningen wants to create ‘Chemport Europe’, providing chemicals and fuels to the entire industry in the North of the Netherlands based on agricultural waste.