In Between Times 12-22-2023
A special message from our founder, Fungi that EATS plastic, Tracking timber in Africa, AI in sustainable agriculture
A special holiday message from our Founder + CEO Bill Shireman
THIS HOLIDAY, PLEASE JOIN ME TO DEFEAT HATE AND MAKE THE CLIMATE FOR DEMOCRACY GREAT
I am fortunate, blessed, privileged to have a wonderful family, friends, and sense of purpose and direction in my life.
Thank you for being an important part of my reason for being.
I have never used this season to seek support for what I’m devoted to. But this year is different. Our world faces existential threats - to the ecosystems that support life and the hard-won promises of democracy that arc ever toward freedom and justice for all.
Here is how I’m personally spending my holiday time and dollars.
I’m supporting three simple, elegant campaigns that (IMHO) will trigger a cascade of transformative leaps forward in policy and the marketplace.
EarthxAction
10 STEPS WILL SAVE THE PLANET
Mobilize 100,000 moms and top brands to use their buying dollars to support ten steps for healthy air, water, oceans, forests, and climate.
(Public education - tax-exempt, tax-deductible)
Bridge Foundation
PRAGMATIC CLIMATE SOLUTIONS THAT WORK
Assemble and recruit climate pragmatists for environmental solutions that the majority of Americans support.
(Public education - tax-exempt, tax-deductible)
Solution Citizen
POLARIZATION DETOX
Across the political spectrum: Support Commonsense and Amplify the Voices of Problem-Solvers
(Non-deductible voter education)
The first changes markets - by rewarding brands for cleaning up their supply chains.
The second changes policy - by empowering climate pragmatists.
The third changes politics - by rewarding the problem-solvers and detoxing our addiction to polarization.
I’m donating my time and dollars to each of these.
Will you warm my (Fair Trade) cocoa this holiday season by joining me?
Have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Inspiring Ashura, Calm Kwanzaa, and Decadent December, and let’s transform the world for the better in 2024, 2025, and 2026. This won’t be easy, but it’s going to be worthwhile and good.
Warmly,
Bill
Plastic munching mushrooms: Fungi that eat some of our toughest waste
Did you know that meal worms can live off of polystyrene? We didn’t, but they can. Granted it takes thousands of worms to eat one Cup-O-Noodles cup, but it’s pretty amazing that anything can sustain itself by eating plastic.
It’s the fungi and bacteria in the guts of these bugs that do the actual breaking down. If scientists can figure out how to scale the digestion of plastic waste by these microorganisms the whole way we deal with unwanted plastic could change.
But we are still in very early days.
(From The Washington Post)
How these organisms degrade the durable material can lead to different results. Most bacteria, for instance, secrete certain enzymes that allow them to break large molecules into smaller ones, Brandon said. In some cases, these enzymes can chop up a big molecule into its building blocks. Those simple monomers could be recovered and used to make new plastic, effectively recycling the material, she said.
It’s also possible for microorganisms to break down plastics into water, carbon dioxide and organic material known as biomass, other experts say.
Click here for the article.
Gabon has launched a cutting-edge timber traceability system
One of the chief reasons many of the world’s tropical forests are too often ravaged is because in many countries in the global south rule of law and law enforcement are often lacking. Additionally forests often exist in areas where property rights are not clear if they exist at all. In Gabon, the equatorial African state, they are making headway toward more sustainable forestry practices.
(From The Business Insider)
The new system, which is mandatory for all logging and wood processing companies operating in Gabon, will track all timber products from the stump to the port. This measure will be beneficial in ensuring that timber is obtained and processed in a lawful and sustainable manner, free from any association with illegal activities or corruption.
The system is the result of a multi-year joint effort from the Gabonese government, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), and Code4Nature. It uses a combination of mobile apps, web applications, and geospatial data to track timber products throughout the supply chain.
Click here for the article.
Lithium mining is ugly, but vital. Can it be done more sustainably?
As the world comes to rely more and more on electric batteries,the components of said batteries become more valuable. Currently the race is on to find viable deposits of the lithium, cobalt, and rare earths that are and will be needed in our tech. Can the mining of these products be done with less impact on the environment?
Yes.
(From AZOMining.com)
…the lithium extraction industry (is) increasingly pivoting toward more sustainable extraction processes because of environmental disputes, corporate responsibility, and expectations of stricter regulation.
Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) is a more sustainable method using selective absorption technology to eliminate the need for evaporation ponds and other non-sustainable extraction methods.
DLE also conserves water for wildlife, local towns, and any indigenous peoples living nearby, with one company called International Battery Metals claiming its DLE process recycles more than 98% of the water it uses. DLE also eliminates impurities such as magnesium and sulfate from the extraction process.
Another sustainable lithium extraction process gaining popularity is Ekosolve. Based on solvent exchange principles, Ekosolve is a four-stage process to extract lithium from brines drawn from underground aquifers. The result is lithium chloride, to which sodium carbonate is added to yield a batter-grade lithium product.
Click here for the article.
China bans export of rare earths processing tech over national security
“The Middle East has oil, China has rare earths,” - Deng Xiaoping
As the world comes to need rare earths more and more, China is poised to play an almost OPEC like roll in the space over at least the near term. As global tensions rise, and appear likely to rise more, we must consider how it is we will obtain these vital minerals, minerals that are key to green tech, in the event we lose access to Chinese supplies over a long period. China mines 70% of the world’s rare earths.
(From Reuters)
China, the world's top processor of rare earths, banned the export of technology to make rare earth magnets on Thursday, adding it to a ban already in place on technology to extract and separate the critical materials.
Rare earths are a group of 17 metals used to make magnets that turn power into motion for use in electric vehicles, wind turbines and electronics.
"This should be a clarion call that dependence on China in any part of the value chain is not sustainable," said Nathan Picarsic, co-founder of the geopolitical consulting firm Horizon Advisory.
Click here for the article.
Meet your new robot farmer: Vertical farming and AI
Vertical farming, farming inside and vertically (usually) has not taken off as many thought it might. We are of the opinion that this type of farming will see its day one way or another as it makes sense in an increasingly urbanized world. (Think buildings full of spinach and broccoli in the middle of New York or Paris.) AI will help move this trend along.
One caveat. A good friend of this publication and a pioneer in regenerative agriculture cautions that farming without soil (as vertical farming typically does) is not the healthiest thing for humans. Soil, good soil, is often what makes veggies taste good and makes them good for us.
(From Forbes)
“Indoor farming is a sustainable practice by definition. You're saving water; you're saving soil. The power consumption within the farm is very low.” In addition, ZERO uses locally produced renewable energy sources such as hydropower and solar energy. In colder climates, farmers can reuse the heat produced by the infrastructure to offset the energy required to heat facilities.
Modesto added that AI at the edge is helping with sustainability as well. “A vertical farm generates millions of data points every minute, every hour every day,” he said. “You can use this information to optimize the systems to make the financials work even better. You can run predictive maintenance algorithms. You can optimize energy use, which is one of the most important topics you need to address in a vertical farm.” Running AI and other processing at the edge further cuts down the energy that would have been required to move data between the edge, data center and cloud.
Click here for the article.
Vertical farming in urban California
A digitally driven circular economy (in the waste industry)
AI can increase efficiency and in so doing it also reduces waste. In theory AI can then make operations more profitable also. There is a lot of low hanging AI fruit in waste disposal and recycling as the the industry is behind the curve in adoption of intelligent tech.
(From Circular)
The waste resources and recycling provider is the focal axis between manufacturing and consumption, returning reusable waste resources to the supply chain. But for the industry to effectively perform this function, providers need to invest in, connect to, integrate and continually improve information and material flow between actors in the supply loop. This will be incredibly challenging with outdated, separate and legacy software applications.
Adopting advanced, integrated software that disrupts the industry norm of manual processes will drive greater innovation, productivity and cost savings, resulting in an improved flow of materials and information.
This includes connectivity to the front office, and back office, new and emerging technologies, that facilitate greater auditability on transactions between partners in the supply chain, as well as traceability on products and materials.
Click here for the article.
Event
National Day of Dialogue
Ideos Institute
Location:
The National Day of Dialogue is YOUR opportunity to PARTICIPATE in reducing hate and division in the U.S.
Held each year on January 5th, the National Day of Dialogue features
Opportunities to dialogue on democracy with Americans whose views may differ from yours, and
Resources to help you engage constructively with Americans with different perspectives and lived experiences.