In today’s edition:

🚢 Low-carbon shipping fuels

🦗Insect farms for food waste

🇨🇴Colombia’s big decision

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💼 Big Business (1-minute read)

Growing demand for green shipping fuel 

The situ: Cargo, container and fishing fleets are powered largely by diesel-based fuels — the main reason shipping accounts for 3% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. 

Surging demand: The climate crisis and energy security concerns have increased interest in green methanol — a low-carbon alternative to conventional diesel fuel. Demand is being spurred by shipping giants, AP Moller-Maesk A.S and Cosco Shipping Holdings Co., who want green methanol fueling their fleets while lowering their boats’ GHG footprints by 95%. 

A mixed outlook: By 2027, production of green methanol is poised to reach over 8 million metric tons per year. However, one hurdle is cost, with green methanol being 3-4x more expensive than diesel-based fuels. While the production price is expected to drop in the coming years, it will take new policies (like a global carbon tax) to close the gap fully.

Colombia confirms ban on new oil and gas exploration

The Colombian Government has announced it won’t approve any new oil and gas exploration projects as it seeks to transition away from fossil fuels. This is a big move considering that oil and gas make up half of Colombia’s total export revenue. The government aims to scale up Colombia’s capacity for renewable energy to fill the void left by fossil fuels.

Criticism: Economic analysts have criticised the government’s move stating halting all oil and gas exploration in one swoop will hurt Colombia’s economy without affecting global demand for fossil fuels. Environmental experts say the move doesn’t address the country’s key environmental issue of unsustainable agriculture driving deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.

Patagonia launches a sustainable washing machine (with Samsung)

Samsung and Patagonia worked together to design a washing machine cycle and filter that drastically reduces the release of microplastics during laundry while maintaining high cleaning performance. The partnership aims to combat ocean pollution by preventing microplastics from entering the water stream during laundry. The result of the collaboration is the Less Microfiber Cycle and a new filter installed in a new range of appliances. The combined use reduces the release of microplastics by 54%.

💰 Deals of the Week (1-minute read)

🛵 Gropyus received a series B investment for its sustainable construction tech — which aims to reduce the material waste and carbon emissions of construction materials — from Germany-focused real estate behemoth Vonovia in a funding round targeting $100 million.

🍎 ArcelorMittal has led the latest $120 million round of investment for Boston Metal in the startup's quest to go to market by 2026 with equipment capable of taking the heavy greenhouse gas emissions out of steel production.

🚗 Unwasted, a London, UK-based provider of manufacturing materials from waste cardboard, raised £1.5M in Seed funding, which it intends to use to produce a sustainable, enviro-friendly alternative to wood-based panels.

☀️ Tyba, A modelling platform for energy companies developing, financing, and operating renewable energy, raised $2.25Mn in Seed funding.

💡 Start-up Spotlight (1-minute read)

One-liner: Better Origin’s AI-powered insect farm takes food waste from supermarkets and converts it into feed for livestock - reducing transport emissions.

Problem: Over ⅓ of all food that is produced goes to waste. At the same time, animal feed production is resource intensive in terms of the food product going into the feed and the emissions to cart it around.

Deep Dive: Better Origin takes local food waste from supermarkets and converts it into high-quality, sustainable animal feed. Its container insect farms recreate the conditions found in nature where food is eaten by insects and upcycled into essential nutrients for other animals to grow. Using AI, computer vision and automation to create the optimal environment for this cycle to flourish, Better Origin produces black soldier fly larvae, which can be fed to livestock. The containers are supplied to farms, so they have a hyper-local feed source.

Revenue model: Subscription as a service - Farms (often supported by the supermarkets they supply) lease the containers from Better Origins in return for regular delivery of larvae and 24/7 remote support.

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

Country: UK

Total funding raised: $16m - Series A - Balderton Capital, Fly Ventures and Metavallon VC 

Partnerships: Deal to supply 10 insect mini-farms to feed chickens at U.K. supermarket giant Morrisons’ egg farms, UK Gov funding

💭 Little Bytes

Quote:  “To achieve net-zero requires an expansion of mining. And yet, the industry will not be able to expand without managing inherent systemic risks.” Adam Matthews – chair of the Global Investor Commission on Mining 2030

Stat: Total global spending on energy-transition-related infrastructure and activities increased by 31% year-on-year to $1.1trn, the first time it’s surpassed the $1trn mark — Bloomberg BNEF analysis 

Watch: Indigenous tribes in the Amazon jungle using a solar-powered boat to navigate through the forest  

🗞 In other news…

• The UK’s competition watchdog is set to investigate the environmental claims made about fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), including food, drink and toiletries, as it continues its work on greenwashing.

• India’s launched their first sovereign “green bonds” ($1bn issue) but was mostly subscribed by local banks and insurance companies, with limited interest from foreign investors, market participants said.

• UK supermarket, Tesco, is partnering with UK-based fertiliser producers and farmers to roll out low-carbon fertiliser. The aim is to help reduce the cost and emissions associated with fertiliser application.

• The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)  announced over $100 million in funding to expand U.S. biofuel production as the Biden administration works to cut greenhouse gas emissions from transportation and meet climate goals.

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