Environmental Inventions

As the population increase and the pressure on our Earth’s environment accelerates, new inventions are needed in order to save the earth and us. Below are 5 new inventions that will help with that process.

5 Environmental Inventions for 2022

1.  Advanced Photovoltaics (PV): To improve PV performance, emerging companies are devising technologies to concentrate solar power using mirrors and lenses. Innovations in PV materials, such as the use of perovskite, are increasing energy conversion multifold. These innovations are further coupled with photovoltaic designs that enable maximum efficiency and high productivity. Dutch startup Lusoco develops a luminescent solar concentrator technology. Norwegian Crystals is a Norwegian startup that manufactures low carbon monocrystalline silicon ingots for high-performance photovoltaic devices.
2. Hydro Power: Startups are converting the salinity gradient formed due to the osmotic pressure difference between seawater and river into usable energy. Seabased is an Irish startup that develops modular wave energy converters. Iranian startup GED Company offers microturbines for distributed generation of hydroelectricity from water streams like canals and rivers.
3. Wind Energy: Startups are devising offshore and airborne wind turbines to reduce the demand for land-based wind energy. Innovations in this field often integrate with other energy sources such as floating wind turbines, solar, or tidal energy. To further improve efficiency, there are constant advances in the aerodynamic designs of the blades. Startups also develop efficient generators and turbines for high energy conversion.  Hydro Wind Energy provides a hybrid energy system. Helicoid provides enhanced blade quality during wind blade manufacturing.
4. Bioenergy: Bioenergy constitutes a type of renewable energy derived from biomass sources. Startups and big companies consider algal and microalgal feedstocks for use in the aforementioned conversion processes. Phycobloom is a British startup that uses synthetic biology to produce bio-oil from algae. 
5. Hydrogen: Hydrogen is derived from non-renewable sources in the form of grey and brown hydrogen. In the past, developments in renewable energy and fuel cells have pushed the shift to green hydrogen. While cleaner, it also struggles with the problems of low energy conversion efficiency of fuel cells and challenges in transportation. For these reasons, the developments in green hydrogen focus on improving hydrogen storage, transport, and distribution. ElektrikGreen is a US-based startup that uses green hydrogen to charge fuel cell vehicles. 

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