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<ul class="summary-list"><li>The Games' need for a massive infrastructure project has historically hurt host cities' environments.</li><li>Installing and using 5G technology could help minimize the Olympics' environmental impacts.</li></ul>When thousands of the world's best athletes descend on one city, it can wreak environmental havoc.No single Olympic Games held between 1992 and 2020 was sufficiently sustainable, found <a target="_blank" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=c0d989491c74099378a20091f3e16aba6129c646e40d4b337bf98c0f4ca076c3&amp;postID=66a274b6d290cb433ad39ab1&amp;postSlug=paris-olympics-how-5g-tech-could-curb-environmental-impact-2024-7&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41893-021-00696-5">a 2021 study</a> in the journal Nature that assessed the environmental impacts of the Games during that period.For example, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games damaged the city's local environment when an estimated <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/3/166#:~:text=During%20the%20seven%2Dyear%20preparation,Azevedo%202015%3B%20Zimbalist%202017).">77,000 people in favela communities were displaced</a> to make way for the event's infrastructure, according to a retrospective report published in 2023 in the journal Social Sciences.From an environmental standpoint, the Rio de Janeiro Games <a target="_blank" href="https://katoikos.world/analysis/olympics-a-celebration-for-humanity-a-disaster-for-the-environment.html">produced</a> more than 17,000 metric tons of waste, used 29,500 gigawatts of electricity — the majority of which was not from renewable sources — and resulted in 3.6 million metric tons of carbon emissions, the Rio de Janeiro Games reported.For the Paris Games, limiting environmental impact has been a greater concern than in past Olympics, with efforts across industries to reduce waste. Rather than build a series of new venues, existing ones have been repurposed. <a target="_blank" href="https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/our-commitments/the-environment/infrastructures">Only one new permanent venue was constructed</a>, and there's more <a target="_blank" href="https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/our-commitments/the-environment/organising-more-circular-games">renting than buying</a> when it comes to equipment like furniture to reduce waste. Sustainability initiatives also extend to the 5G technology powering the Olympic Games.Orange, the telecommunications provider for the Paris Games, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.orange.com/en/allconnected/paris2024/paris-2024-how-orange-will-limit-its-environmental-impact">has set itself the goal</a> of limiting its carbon emissions to 10,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide. If met, Orange's carbon emissions would account for less than 1% of the total estimated emissions of the 2024 Olympics.It's the latest example of how 5G providers are supporting sustainability efforts at global-scale live events."As sustainability initiatives around large public venues gather steam, we know IT teams are being asked to find ways to contribute to their organization's decarbonization efforts," said Kevin Swank, the product-marketing director at CommScope, a service provider that has worked on sports stadiums in France, Germany, and the US.<h2 id="1d0215d6-49e6-4444-b194-294cf1e5f1bd">Environmentally friendly technology that can support more fans</h2>Though 5G systems require infrastructure installation, their technology is more sustainable than older connectivity systems like analog distributed antenna systems, Swank said.Digital 5G systems use less power and less cooling than older systems, which need large amounts of power and cabling to run, Swank told Business Insider. And because 5G systems run digitally, they don't require as much physical infrastructure as their predecessors, Swank added.He said he witnessed the positive impact — on the environment and the fan experience — when CommScope updated the internet infrastructure at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.commscope.com/globalassets/digizuite/965502-atandt-stadium-cs-115933-en.pdf">AT&amp;T Stadium in Arlington, Texas</a>, the home of the Dallas Cowboys, in 2020."The venue was reaching the performance limits of its equipment, and its current network just couldn't keep up with the growing demands of a mobile-device-centric fan base," Swank told BI. The stadium needed a 5G network that could support augmented-reality features and mobile-ordering capabilities for concessions for up to 100,000 visitors at a time.By switching to 5G, the stadium's network performance increased tenfold, while its power use went down by about 87% and its cooling requirements decreased by up to 75%, a project report from CommScope said. Those reductions equate to over 100 metric tons in CO2 emissions savings a year, Swank said.The stadium's 5G system resulted in just five equipment storage racks compared with the 30 to 40 racks previously required for its analog equipment.Because of these advantages, 5G is quickly gaining steam within the entertainment industry as events continue to grow in scale and attendees expect more seamless experiences.<h2 id="4de8c9b0-599e-4fa3-9e87-59f5acb6ad1c">Recycling 5G equipment for more sustainability</h2>To work toward its carbon-emissions goal for the Paris Games, Orange decreased its equipment manufacturing and infrastructure-deployment footprint. Orange, in partnership with the consultancy Carbone4, estimated that 86% of its global footprint came from those two areas.For the Paris Olympics, the company is using more local suppliers and shipping bulky items by sea rather than air to reduce emissions. Orange said it planned to rent one-quarter of its equipment and estimated that 75% of the equipment would be reused or redeployed after the Games.Generally, the 5G networks used at sports venues' large events can be reused after the events end and the increased capacity is no longer needed, said Kelvin Chaffer, the CEO of Lifecycle Software, which provides support systems for network operators."By designing infrastructure that can be repurposed for other community uses postevent, and implementing green technologies and sustainable practices," Chaffer said. He added that this approach gives large sporting event organizers the ability "to minimize the environmental impact of event-triggered infrastructure projects."

How 5G technology is helping curb carbon emissions and waste at the Paris Games

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Scientists want $60 million to try trapping carbon dioxide in the sea floor off the coast of Canada.</li><li>They say reactive basalt rock across the planet could turn CO2 into rock at the bottom of the ocean.</li></ul>A major solution to the climate crisis may lie at the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/scientists-crack-mystery-of-huge-gravity-hole-in-the-indian-ocean-2023-6">bottom of the ocean</a>.Across the planet, basalt rock deposits on the sea floor have the potential to trap carbon dioxide, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sargassum-turning-smelly-seaweed-into-a-carbon-removal-opportunity-2023-5">removing the heat-trapping gas from our atmosphere</a>.That's why a team of scientists wants to build floating rigs at strategic offshore locations. Rather than extracting oil from the ocean floor — as offshore rigs currently do — these futuristic platforms would be injecting CO2 into it.Powered by their own wind turbines, the floating stations would <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/carbon-capture-storage-expensive-climate-change-2021-9">suck carbon dioxide out of the sky</a> (or even out of seawater) and pump it into holes in the sea bed.The scientists call their project Solid Carbon because, if it works as they expect, the CO2 they inject will forever be rock at the bottom of the ocean.<div type="image" title="bottom of the ocean sandy rock formation in dark waters" height="1500" width="2958" msid="111293862" hostid="261" sizebytes="72820"></div>"That makes carbon storage very durable and very safe," Martin Scherwath, a geophysicist working on the project and a staff scientist at Ocean Networks Canada, told Business Insider.Unlike other storage techniques, we wouldn't have to worry about carbon returning to the atmosphere and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/heat-waves-are-dominating-summer-and-its-not-abnormal-anymore-2022-7">raising global temperatures</a>.It's not yet certain whether these oceanic carbon-removal factories would work as expected. First, the scientists need about $60 million to test a prototype at sea.<h2 id="53f09086-6783-45c9-a518-2850153add7d">How the bottom of the ocean could remove carbon from the sky</h2>The scientists estimate that, worldwide, basalt rock could permanently store more carbon than all of Earth's fossil fuels can emit. Just look at this map of potential sites across the planet, marked in yellow.<div type="image" title="world map with vast yellow patches snaking through all the oceans and some big splotches within each continent" height="769" width="1023" msid="111293863" hostid="261" sizebytes="76958"></div>That doesn't mean it's safe to keep burning fossil fuels indiscriminately. This strategy is unlikely to be technologically, politically, and economically feasible in every location on the map. It will also be slow and expensive to scale up.Still, the scientists say just a few rigs could make a big difference. In the Cascadia Basin off Canada's west coast, near Vancouver Island, there's room for about 20 years' worth of global carbon emissions, according to Scherwath. That's where they hope to conduct a field test."The reason that that location is so appealing, is that it's probably the spot on the globe where we know the most, have the most data, the most scientific expeditions, the most studies about the nature of the ocean crust," David Goldberg, a geophysicist and professor of climate science and carbon management at Columbia University, who's been developing this idea since 1997, told BI.<div type="image" title="map shows vancouver island canada above Washington USA with a star marking the proposed injection site for solid carbon far offshore in the ocean" height="941" width="2000" msid="111293856" hostid="261" sizebytes="47484"></div>The plan rests on a chemical reaction that already occurs naturally. Basalt rock is highly reactive, full of metals that readily grab CO2 and chemically combine with it to form carbonate minerals.The basalt also tends to be broken up and porous, leaving plenty of room for new carbonates to fill in.In Iceland, a project called CarbFix has proven a small-scale version of this process, dissolving CO2 in water (yes, that's sparkling water) and injecting it into underground basalt.Within two years, the CO2 gas mineralizes, becoming rock deep underground.<h2 id="988d2238-1182-4b6d-8b5d-82fc9c3778ca">The final stretch of reversing climate change</h2>These oceanic carbon-storing factories would be a giant and costly undertaking — exactly the kind of mega-project we may eventually have to resort to if we want to cool the planet back to pre-industrial temperatures."We have to come up with the money. I don't think there's a way around it," Scherwath said.That said, Solid Carbon is no substitute for the basic, immediate measures that climate experts worldwide are calling for, including swapping fossil fuels for renewable energy and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/food-system-role-in-climate-crisis-possible-solutions-2019-8">reducing the carbon emissions of our food systems</a>.Rather, Scherwath says this is one of our later carbon-capture options, decades from now, to shave off the last few tenths of a degree of global warming. To have the option, though, we need to start developing it now.According to one <a target="_blank" href="https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25259/negative-emissions-technologies-and-reliable-sequestration-a-research-agenda">report</a> from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, the world may need to draw down 10 billion tons of CO2 each year in order to reach net zero emissions by 2050 and have any chance of restricting global warming to the targets set forth in the Paris Agreement.To reach that goal, "you're gonna need every last drop," Goldberg said.That can include restoring ecosystems that naturally store carbon, like forests and wetlands, as well as capturing CO2 straight from the atmosphere and storing the gas underground in depleted oil and gas reservoirs.<div type="image" title="Seattle Shell Arctic offshore drilling" height="2865" width="4909" msid="111293861" hostid="261" sizebytes="1262212"></div>The trouble with those methods is the carbon could escape, via forest fires or seeping up through abandoned oil wells.Solid Carbon scientists say carbon rock is stuck on the sea floor for thousands of years. They also argue that in the ocean, there's plenty of room to scale up and little risk of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/america-build-infrastructure-transportation-housing-regulation-environment-2023-11">disgruntled neighbors fighting the project</a>."This is a good compliment to the other methods, but it's also the most expensive one," Scherwath said.<h2 id="ea90e680-4951-4f9c-bb5f-c9980aae11ac">Seeking $60 million</h2>The Solid Carbon demo would send out a ship with pre-captured CO2, drill a hole in the sea floor, and inject it there. They would use an existing cable network to monitor the site and check for any escaping gas.The trouble is funding. The group has applied for federal grants in the US and Canada, as well as foundations, according to Goldberg. So far they've been unable to secure the $60 million they need to run the pilot.Goldberg suspects that's partly because there's no clear way to make money from capturing carbon and shooting it into the bottom of the sea."I mean, climate change is so expensive," Scherwath said. "The way to think about it might be similar to sewage treatment in cities, like it has to be done."If they had the money, Goldberg thinks they could start running the pilot in a year or two.

Scientists want to pump carbon into a hole at the bottom of the ocean in a $60 million pilot project to help stop climate change

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Biochar is a soil additive that can help store carbon dioxide for centuries. </li><li>Cities in Minnesota and Nebraska plan to build biochar plants similar to those in Nordic countries.</li></ul>A decade ago, Jim Doten was on a tour in Afghanistan with the Army National Guard searching for ways to help farmers improve soils depleted of nutrients and carbon.The geohydrologist came across some studies on biochar, a material not unlike the burnt remains of a campfire.Doten's biochar program in Afghanistan was short-lived, but the idea stuck. He's since convinced Minneapolis, Minnesota officials of biochar's value as governments search for ways to not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also remove them from the atmosphere. "It took a few years to build credibility because people didn't understand why this was a carbon-negative technology," said Doten, the carbon-sequestration program manager for Minneapolis. <div type="image" title="Jim Doten" height="427" width="426" msid="92582934" hostid="261" sizebytes="26466"></div>The rationale for biochar being carbon-negative goes like this: Through photosynthesis, trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and it's released when they decay or are burned. Gathering forest or yard waste, converting it into biochar using a process known as pyrolysis, and returning it to the soil can trap carbon for centuries and retain water while helping plants absorb nutrients.Doten first worked with the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, a tribe in Minneapolis that owns a compost facility and develops urban gardens to promote food security. The city paid for biochar trucked in from Missouri to be mixed with compost."That's a great way to demonstrate the work, but from a climate aspect, trucking biochar across the country negates its climate benefits," Doten said. "So we need local supply."Minneapolis is among seven cities <a href="https://www.bloomberg.org/press/bloomberg-philanthropies-announces-mayors-challenge-winning-project-to-combat-climate-change-will-spread-to-seven-global-cities/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">that received a $400,000 grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies</a> this week to invest in biochar. The city is matching the grant to fund the construction of a production plant that will convert wood from nearby ash trees — which are getting decimated by an invasive pest — into biochar, Doten said. The plant will be <a href="https://www.startribune.com/zero-carbon-electricity-now-provides-the-most-power-in-minnesota/600047121/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">powered by a low-carbon electric grid</a>."Instead of burning the wood for energy, which is also bad for the climate, we're turning it into a soil amendment," Doten said.The $50 billion global industry that combusts wood for power <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/03/26/biomass-carbon-climate-politics-477620" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">has been panned by scientists and environmentalists</a>, even as governments in the US, the European Union, and elsewhere categorize it as renewable. While some biochar on the market is a byproduct of that industry, Doten said most production was from plants like the one coming to Minneapolis, which will use the nearly zero-emissions pyrolysis process. That's the case in Stockholm, <a href="https://bloombergcities.jhu.edu/news/solution-spotlight-turning-garden-waste-carbon-sink-stockholm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">the original recipient of a Bloomberg Philanthropies grant</a>, where yard waste is being converted into biochar and <a href="https://biochar-us.org/sites/default/files/presentations/2.3.1%20Stockholm%20Biochar%20Project%20Mattias%20Gustafsson%20-.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">enough energy to heat 80 apartments</a>.Bloomberg Philanthropies said all the projects combined would yield enough biochar suppliers to sequester nearly 10,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year. It's a help though it's only a tiny amount relative to the scale of what's needed to keep global warming below catastrophic levels. Scientists <a href="https://www.wri.org/initiatives/carbon-removal" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">predict that 10 billion metric tons of carbon</a> will need to be removed from the atmosphere annually by 2050. "Work like this, no matter the size, is important because it engages everyday people in finding solutions," Jim Anderson, the government-innovation lead at Bloomberg Philanthropies, said.For now, Doten said government agencies with big public-works projects would be the main customers for biochar. A pilot project in Minneapolis demonstrated that biochar along highways helped sponge up stormwater, a climate-resiliency strategy as the risk of flooding increases. Eventually, Minneapolis' plant could sell carbon-offset credits to companies that want to meet net-zero targets, Doten added. In 2019, biochar was listed for the first time on a voluntary carbon marketplace in Finland, followed by another listing in 2020, <a href="https://biochar-international.org/protocol/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">according to the International Biochar Initiative</a>.Insider is seeking nominations for its first Climate Action 30 list, which identifies the top 30 global leaders working toward climate solutions.Tell us about someone who you believe is doing some of the most impactful or promising work to tackle the global climate crisis:

How a soil additive called biochar can help fight the climate crisis by locking away carbon for centuries

Whether we're talking about true Champagne, made in the Champagne region of France, or other bubbly wine, you can always count on a bottle or two to be cracked for special occasions with friends or family."Champagne is one of my favorite wines," says Adam Goddu, beverage manager at <a href="https://stonesthrowpizzavt.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stone's Throw Pizza</a> in Richmond, Vermont. "I especially love grower Champagne, made by small farmers instead of large corporations. You get more character and a better value for your dollar."Though the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/gifts/best-champagne">best Champagne</a> doesn't go bad in that it won't become dangerous to drink, it can quickly lose its signature character once opened, says Goddu. "Whenever possible, drink Champagne the day you open it. Each bottle holds about five glasses, so grab a couple friends and split a bottle between you," he says.<h2>Top picks for the best Champagne</h2><div type="image" title="Several hands hold glasses for a Chamagne toast." height="1500" width="2000" msid="106134647" hostid="261" sizebytes="94224"></div>We picked a few of the best tasting and most readily available bottles of the best Champagne, cava, and more: <ul><li>Best Champagne: Henriot Brut Souverain NV — <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=4ebdc0ca50256c16e799f91ad42ab8410b5277150fad22b291e8bdab056882d2&amp;postID=628f975fa2374776c7e88247&amp;postSlug=guides%2Fkitchen%2Fdoes-champagne-go-bad&amp;site=in&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wine.com%2Fproduct%2Fhenriot-brut-souverain%2F84831" target="_blank" rel="noopener">See at Wine.com</a></li><li>Best Prosecco: Rebuli Prosecco Cartizze — <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=df49e544489c772b215419bebeedd1e65535d92cacfc44bd6825b7494e6fa10c&amp;postID=628f975fa2374776c7e88247&amp;postSlug=guides%2Fkitchen%2Fdoes-champagne-go-bad&amp;site=in&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.totalwine.com%2Fwine%2Fchampagne-sparkling-wine%2Fprosecco%2Frebuli-prosecco-cartizze%2Fp%2F104527750" target="_blank" rel="noopener">See at Total Wine</a></li><li>Best cava: Segura Viudas — <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=203be95f3d42897814430907f3ac90ccaaa3b1b4932641240f47c553cdd5944a&amp;postID=628f975fa2374776c7e88247&amp;postSlug=guides%2Fkitchen%2Fdoes-champagne-go-bad&amp;site=in&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.totalwine.com%2Fwine%2Fchampagne-sparkling-wine%2Fcava%2Fbrut%2Fsegura-viudas-brut-reserva-cava%2Fp%2F89867750" target="_blank" rel="noopener">See at Total Wine</a></li><li>Best sparkling wine: McBride Sisters Black Girl Magic Sparkling Brut — <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=6d5b402b8724dd5192d5a6f64398004a10c4e84e6859600a28f002cc1dd9e40f&amp;postID=628f975fa2374776c7e88247&amp;postSlug=guides%2Fkitchen%2Fdoes-champagne-go-bad&amp;site=in&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.totalwine.com%2Fwine%2Fchampagne-sparkling-wine%2Fsparkling-wine%2Fmcbride-sisters-black-girl-magic-sparkling%2Fp%2F231807750" target="_blank" rel="noopener">See at Total Wine</a></li></ul><h2>How long does unopened Champagne last?</h2><div type="image" title="Three bottles of unopened Champagne sitting in a large bowl of ice" height="2000" width="2666" msid="106134648" hostid="261" sizebytes="150250"></div>If an unopened bottle of Champagne is stored properly, it can last a very long time — even for generations, says Goddu. "If it has a year on the label, that wine can be aged for a good long while," he says.Long-term storage of Champagne is best done on its side to keep the cork from drying out and oxidizing which can compromise the flavor. It should also be kept at cellar temperature — between 50 and 55 degrees Fahrenheit — and out of direct light.If it's stored in your fridge, Champagne can last a while too, but the dryness and temperature fluctuations from opening and closing the door won't make it quite as age-worthy. It also can pick up odors from food stored nearby. Ideally, Champagne stored in your fridge should be consumed within six months to ensure its quality. That goes for any type of sparkling wine made in the traditional method, says Goddu, including Cremant and Cava. Sparkling wine like Prosecco is made slightly differently and is not age-worthy in the same way. Try to drink Prosecco within six to twelve months of purchase. <h2>How long does opened Champagne last?</h2><div type="image" title="A bottle of champagne being poured into two coupe glasses" height="1414" width="1885" msid="106134649" hostid="261" sizebytes="130236"></div>"I really recommend drinking Champagne the day you open it," says Goddu.If you don't plan on finishing your bottle of Champagne and intend on revisiting it, Goddu recommends popping a champagne stopper atop your bottle. "That will give you an extra day or so to enjoy the bottle," he says. "It won't be quite the same, but still pretty good."<h2>How to tell if Champagne has gone bad</h2>"Champagne is intended to be enjoyed carbonated," says Goddu. "So if it's lost that texture, then it's not how the producer intended." If you enjoy drinking Champagne sans bubbles, though, there's nothing wrong with that. "It's still very well-made wine," he says, "Just not really what it could be."If your Champagne has gone flat, Goddu recommends saving it for cooking. "I rarely have leftover Champagne, honestly, but it would be great to deglaze a pan with or to add to risotto," he says.Champagne's flavor can also be affected by improper storage. If a bottle loses its effervescence before it's been opened or smells or tastes sour or musty, the Champagne may be past its prime. It may be less pleasurable to drink, but it won't harm you.<h2>Insider's takeaway</h2>Champagne and other sparkling wines can last a while when stored unopened on their side in a cellar or wine fridge. Once opened, they're best enjoyed on the spot. If that's not feasible for you, grab a Champagne stopper and try to drink it within 24 hours. Worst case scenario, your flat Champagne will make a great cooking wine.

Does Champagne go bad? Here's how to tell and storage tips

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Japan Airlines is looking at the feasibility of hydrogen-electric aircraft via three new partnerships.</li><li>The use of hydrogen over kerosene would decrease aircraft CO2 emissions but limit range and capacity.</li><li>According to the World Bank, more than 98% of the world's hydrogen is made using natural gas or coal.</li></ul>One of Asia's largest airlines is placing big bets on hydrogen.In mid-November, Japan Airlines announced a series of deals with global manufacturers of hydrogen-electric aircraft and engines to explore the feasibility of flying emissions-free passenger planes.These forward-thinking manufacturers are big names in the hydrogen industry and include Germany's H2Fly, California's Universal Hydrogen, and the British-American company ZeroAvia. All three have successfully <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/power-players-aviation-sustainability-electric-hydrogen-flight-2022-5">flown hydrogen-powered aircraft</a> this year.The technology uses a hydrogen fuel cell to generate electricity and run electric motors, or hydrogen can be combusted to power engines.In either case, existing jet engines could be converted to work on hydrogen fuel, and the flights would be carbon-free so long as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hydrogen-energy-help-climate-crisis-but-still-hurdles-2023-10">"green" hydrogen</a> was used, or hydrogen made using renewable energy.An August study from the <a target="_blank" href="https://theicct.org/publication/fuel-cell-retrofit-aug23/">International Council on Clean Transportation</a>, a US nonprofit think tank, found hydrogen fuel cells using green liquid hydrogen could reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 88%.<h2>A growing market</h2>With hydrogen proving a popular solution and world governments <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/aviation-industry-net-zero-by-2050-disagree-decarbonization-2023-12">committing to net-zero emissions by 2050</a>, Japan Airlines' new partners are all racing to capitalize on the growing hydrogen market.In March, Universal Hydrogen flew the world's first hydrogen-powered regional airliner — an ATR 72 turboprop nicknamed Lightning McClean, which operated on hydrogen in only one engine for safety reasons.<div type="image" title="First UH liquid hydrogen flight on ATR 72." height="1706" width="2560" msid="106192276" hostid="261" sizebytes="127162"></div>The success is part of the company's development of ATR 72 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/startups-hydrogen-aircraft-market-aviation-aerodelft-joby-climate-carbon">conversion kits</a>, for which it has secured 250 orders. The kits would allow operators to fit existing kerosene-burning aircraft engines with hydrogen-fuel-cell powertrains.ZeroAvia, a competitor, is pursuing a similar venture with the hydrogen-electric engine it's building for passenger aircraft, describing hydrogen fuel as the "only viable, scalable solution for zero-emission aviation."<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/zeroavia-wins-amazon-shell-funding-transform-aviation-industry-hydrogen-2021-2">With backing from Bill Gates, Amazon, and Shell</a>, ZeroAvia hopes to create powertrains capable of powering planes with anywhere from nine to over 200 people on board by 2040.<div type="image" title="ZeroAvia's world's first hydrogen-electric passenger plane flight" height="1667" width="2500" msid="106192277" hostid="261" sizebytes="148232"></div>The company <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/worlds-first-hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered-passenger-aircraft-flight-2020-10#however-this-hydrogen-electric-flight-isnt-the-projects-only-flight-to-have-taken-place-so-far-2">operated its first hydrogen-electric flight</a> in January using a 19-seater turboprop.Meanwhile, H2Fly operated the world's first piloted liquid-hydrogen flight in September using its four-seater HY4 demonstrator aircraft. The company said it's looking to size up to regional airliners soon.Other plane makers, such as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/see-a380-demonstrator-jet-that-will-test-hydrogen-powered-engines-2022-2">Airbus and Embraer, are also building hydrogen-powered aircraft</a> as part of their decarbonization efforts.<h2>Hydrogen powertrains are not strong enough yet to power large airliners</h2><div type="image" title="H2FLY's H2Y hydrogen plane flying." height="683" width="1024" msid="106192278" hostid="261" sizebytes="46660"></div>For now, the small prop planes are likely to remain the popular option for hydrogen-powered engines because the current technology is not strong enough to power the medium and large airliners that make up most of the world's passenger jets, according to the International Council on Clean Transportation.This is likely not an issue for Japan Airlines, though, as its new partnerships are directed at deploying hydrogen aircraft on short, regional routes around Japan."JAL group already operates 50 regional aircraft which will be relevant to hydrogen-electric propulsion technology in the foreseeable future," James Peck, ZeroAvia's chief customer officer, said in a press release.The airline's regional connector, Japan Air Commuter, already operates a small fleet of ATR 72 planes, so its investment in Universal Hydrogen could prove lucrative thanks to its conversion kits for the turboprop.There's a downside to using hydrogen on these tinier planes, though.Because hydrogen is light and requires a lot of storage space because of the immense volume needed compared with kerosene, these smaller aircraft sacrifice range and payload capacity — meaning they could become a cost burden for operators.But the range issue could be remedied with the use of liquid hydrogen over gaseous hydrogen, as shown by H2Fly's recent flight. According to the company, its September H2Y flight soared 932 miles using liquid hydrogen but only 466 miles using gaseous hydrogen."In the years to come, battery-electric and hydrogen-electric propulsion systems will enable us to build aircraft that are quieter and make mid- to long-range air travel possible with zero emissions," Universal Hydrogen said.<h2>The debate between 'green' and 'blue' hydrogen</h2><div type="image" title="Hydrogen renewable energy production pipeline - hydrogen gas for clean electricity solar and windturbine facility." height="3359" width="5015" msid="106192279" hostid="261" sizebytes="738898"></div>In addition to range and capacity problems, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-hydrogen-fuel-industry-explainer-2020-1">hydrogen engines</a> have faced pushback from environmental advocates who worry that hydrogen production will further the fossil-fuel crisis.In October, the Biden administration announced $7 billion in funding to create "clean" hydrogen hubs, two-thirds of which were planned to be dedicated to producing green hydrogen via electrolysis — the process of splitting water into hydrogen and water.This, however, leaves room for what's known as "blue" hydrogen, created from a combination of natural gas and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-first-commercial-carbon-capture-facility-opens-2023-11">carbon capture and storage</a>.The process is considered carbon-neutral, but environmentalists say the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-hydrogen-fuel-industry-explainer-2020-1">burning of natural gas</a> inherently means excess methane emissions — which is a much more potent greenhouse gas compared with CO2, though it doesn't sit in the atmosphere as long.According to the <a target="_blank" href="https://blogs.worldbank.org/energy/unleashing-power-hydrogen-clean-energy-transition">World Bank</a>, more than 98% of the world's hydrogen is made via natural gas or coal — meaning just a small portion is truly zero-emissions green hydrogen. "Gray" hydrogen — the same as blue minus the carbon capture — is the most abundant."It takes a lot of energy to capture the carbon dioxide, and that comes from burning even more natural gas," Robert Howarth, a professor of ecology and environmental biology at Cornell University, told Business Insider's Catherine Boudreau in October. "So it's not a surprise to me that the oil and gas industry likes the idea of blue hydrogen."However, Brian Korgel, the director of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, told BI that the companies vying for hydrogen-hub funding had to meet strict criteria."There's some safeguards," Korgel said. "These projects have to meet emissions standards, and it's not in companies' benefit to do the smoke-and-mirrors thing because they won't get the grant money, which ratchets up over time."

Japan Airlines is looking at hydrogen-electric-powered aircraft as a solution to the aviation industry's carbon problem

<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/one-planet"></a><div type="image" title="seagrass" height="695" width="926" msid="102615693" hostid="261" sizebytes="81806"></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Blue carbon stored in marine ecosystems could be crucial in the fight against the climate crisis.</li><li>Breakthroughs in satellite technology have helped commercialize blue-carbon credits.</li><li>But remote monitoring of seagrass, salt marshes, kelp forests, and mangroves remains flawed.</li></ul>The Bahamas made history last year when it announced it was to become one of the first nations to sell credits linked to the capture and storage of carbon in its waters.The Caribbean nation sized up its mangroves and seagrass meadows, both of which naturally trap CO2, and estimated it had about $300 million worth of assets it could sell to a voluntary carbon market littered with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fund-carbon-removal-corporates-avoid-bad-credits-2023-2?r=US&amp;IR=T">corporations struggling to find high-quality credits</a>.At the time, the country's prime minister, Philip Davis, compared the sale of blue-carbon credits <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-28/the-bahamas-plans-to-sell-blue-carbon-credits-in-2022-pm-says?in_source=embedded-checkout-banner" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to that of a waste-collection service</a>, with the Bahamas dealing with the world's greenhouse-gas emissions — or "garbage."One credit represents a ton of carbon sequestered or prevented from entering the atmosphere. Over $50 billion worth of carbon credits have been predicted to be traded annually in the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/everything-carbon-markets-as-the-sector-heats-up-2022-3?r=US&amp;IR=T">voluntary</a> market, <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/sustainability/our-insights/sustainability-blog/cop27-accelerating-decarbonization" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to McKinsey</a>.Blue carbon, which is stored in coastal and marine ecosystems, has become an increasingly important asset in the fight against the climate crisis. It could represent one-fifth of the emissions reductions needed to keep within 1.5 degrees of warming, <a href="https://www.wri.org/insights/turning-tide-ocean-based-solutions-could-close-emission-gap-21" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a 2019 report from the World Resources Institute found</a>.Coastal and marine ecosystems such as seagrass, salt marshes, kelp forests, and mangroves also help mitigate the effects of climate change, namely coastal erosion, sea-level rises, and floods, while providing a habitat for marine life. Green carbon, by comparison, is stored on land, usually in woodland projects.One thing the Bahamian effort is missing is "data and scalability," Dimos Traganos, a scientist with the Global Seagrass Watch, told Insider. His organization is building a seagrass- and seascape-monitoring service, which he said would plug that gap.It uses cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and satellites to monitor and verify the health and carbon storage of marine ecosystems, the latter being the basis of blue credits.The blue-carbon ecosystem is leaning heavily into these technologies in an attempt to avoid the accuracy and verification issues that have plagued terrestrial projects.<h2>Tech advances like 'going from dial-up internet to 3G'</h2>Satellites have hit a "tipping point" and have unlocked blue carbon, according to Guy Wolf, the founder and director of the Oxford University spinout OxCarbon."It's a bit like going from dial-up internet to 3G," he said.His nonprofit aims to bring transparency to carbon projects, including a mangrove project where satellite images are linked to visible forest characteristics and soil-sample data to establish quantities of blue carbon stored.Satellite monitoring is <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiehailstone/2021/12/01/can-satellite-technology-make-the-carbon-credit-market-more-transparent/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">already established on land</a>, where it's used to determine tree types and the size and maturity of a forest without having to manually collect data, which makes it more scalable. This is all fed into a machine-learning model, along with other data, to estimate how much carbon is stored and how much could be stored.But it was difficult to differentiate degraded forest from mature forest over large sample areas, Wolf said. This affected the accuracy of carbon estimations. Older technology provides 30-meter resolutions, meaning every pixel on a picture is 30 square meters, so the area that can be looked at in depth is limited. Older satellites also don't show microchanges year by year, so by the time an issue occurs, it's likely too late, he added.<div type="image" title="Aerial of mangrove in seagrass bed, Islamorada, Florida." height="2242" width="2989" msid="102615694" hostid="261" sizebytes="1367372"></div>OxCarbon uses 50-centimeter resolution, which, together with advancements in computing power, means that the level of accuracy is now an "order of magnitude greater" across larger areas, he said."That's obviously a very scalable solution because even if the area is 10 times the size, you don't need extra manpower," Wolf said."It would cost a bit more, as you would need a bit more satellite imagery, a bit more computer processing, but that is a scalable solution that can expand 100,000 hectares," he added. "It is fast because once you've got the images, you process them."Carbon credits can then be verified and issued faster. "It's speed, accuracy, and scalability, all in one go," he said.With an <a href="https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/informationfor/media/2022-unis-os-574.html#:~:text=Since%20the%20beginning%20of%20the,launched%20over%20the%20next%20decade." target="_blank" rel="noopener">abundance of satellites in orbit</a>, photos can be snapped "every month, week, or whenever the satellite flies over," Thomas Merriman, a cofounder and the chief product officer of the carbon-credit-insurance provider Kita Earth, said. His company is betting on the quality of carbon projects, ensuring buyers receive the credits they buy even if something goes wrong. But the work is easily disrupted by cloud cover, which blocks the ability to take photos. <h2>Combating the clouds </h2>Mapping technology that can break through clouds is often attached to satellites. For example, light-detection and -ranging technology can even <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/lidar.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">penetrate water to map the seafloor</a> or coastline, measure the marine environment's features, and survey its vulnerability."The challenge with anything that's under the water is the turbidity of the water. It's great if you've got really clear crystal waters. It is very bad in the UK," said Donna Lyndsay, the sustainability lead at the UK's mapping agency Ordnance Survey, which has worked with mangroves in the Middle East. Satellite data has to be paired with sonar, divers collecting information, or other field data, she added.Indeed, the Global Seagrass Watch combines its remote-monitoring data with field data. "There are 70 seagrass species. You cannot monitor all of them from space because some of those would be very, very sparse, very coarse, be sitting in turbid waters 20 to 30 meters deep," Traganos said. It's always important to ground-truth findings, he added. <h2>Carbon as a 'blunt tool'</h2>The end goal for many of these projects is to find and highlight hot spots of blue carbon and biodiversity to influence protection, conservation, and climate agendas. Traganos sees the Global Seagrass Watch slotting into an ecosystem of other projects that collectively help to monitor and protect the marine environment. Carbon is sometimes "a bit of a blunt tool," Kita's Merriman said. There's a wealth of data to unlock outside it; Merriman wants property developers to value the flood-defense services of mangroves, for example. "That's the next frontier, really," he added.Merriman also predicted the emergence of biodiversity credits, which would help to restore natural habitats.<div type="image" title="Pivotal's Zoe Balmforth" height="4160" width="5546" msid="102615696" hostid="261" sizebytes="495042"></div>"If you do right by nature, by biodiversity, there will be carbon benefit, either by storage or sequestration," Zoë Balmforth, an ecologist turned founder, said. Her company, Pivotal, conducts biodiversity surveys, including in coastal areas. "But the reverse is not always true. It can be true, but it's not always," she added.Cameron Frayling, Balmforth's cofounder, added: "Technology is the enabler that makes measurement scalable, but you still have to go on-site to deploy it. It's the same thing as on land. We can't do all of this by flying above something and taking pictures, whether it's lidar or satellite."

High-powered satellites have made blue-carbon credits a reality. But they still face accuracy and scalability issues.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Exxon Mobil this week announced plans to acquire oil producer Denbury.</li><li>Denbury also has a business of capturing carbon-dioxide emissions.</li></ul>Exxon Mobil is trying to position itself for a low-carbon world by buying a company that stores planet-warming emissions.The largest US oil major <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://investor.exxonmobil.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/1144/exxonmobil-announces-acquisition-of-denbury">said Thursday</a> it would acquire Denbury, which has the largest network of carbon dioxide pipelines in the country, for $4.9 billion. Denbury is also in the business of what's called enhanced oil recovery, which involves using carbon dioxide to collect more oil from wells.Exxon's move follows the passage last year of the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes tax breaks for companies that <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://apnews.com/article/exxon-mobil-denbury-carbon-capture-acquisition-e88462a294693e4139b24d6030ac3c2d">capture and store carbon dioxide</a> — injecting new life into the nascent and controversial industry.The IRA is set to pump <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.democrats.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/inflation_reduction_act_one_page_summary.pdf">almost $370 billion</a> over a decade into a range of efforts to help fight the climate crisis and put the US on a path to slash carbon emissions by 40% by 2030, a goal set by President Joe Biden.What is carbon capture, utilization, and storage?Carbon capture, utilization, and storage, or CCUS, refers to technologies that trap carbon-dioxide emissions, often from large industrial sources like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.iea.org/energy-system/carbon-capture-utilisation-and-storage">power plants or factories</a>.Most of the carbon dioxide being captured today is used to pump more oil from wells, a process known as enhanced oil recovery, or to make fertilizer. The gas can also be piped underground into geological formations, including oil-and-gas reservoirs or salty aquifers, according to the International Energy Agency.Why is Exxon buying Denbury?Denbury gets most of its revenue from enhanced oil recovery, a technique that Exxon has a long record of using. But for Exxon, the acquisition is <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://corporate.exxonmobil.com/-/media/global/files/advancing-climate-solutions-progress-report/2023/2023-advancing-climate-solutions-progress-report.pdf">part of a larger strategy</a> to stay profitable as countries try to meet global climate targets.Rather than diversifying into producing solar and wind power, Exxon <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://corporate.exxonmobil.com/what-we-do/delivering-industrial-solutions/carbon-capture-and-storage/ccs-in-action">is betting that it can keep pumping oil and gas so long as</a> it caps emissions flowing out of smokestacks at power plants and factories.Some of that captured CO2 could be put to use by other industries, including makers of fertilizers and other chemicals. Most of the captured carbon dioxide will likely be stored underground, however.The IEA estimates that if the world achieves net-zero emissions by 2050, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.iea.org/energy-system/carbon-capture-utilisation-and-storage/co2-capture-and-utilisation">less than 5% of the carbon captured would be used</a>, while the rest would need to be stored.Transporting CO2 requires pipelines, and Denbury has 1,300 miles of carbon dioxide pipelines; much of its network spans Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi. Denbury also already has 10 sites where it stores carbon.The purchase would help Exxon go deeper into this business."If we're able to acquire a really significant piece of existing infrastructure, that allows us to move much more quickly than if we were to try and build and replicate that infrastructure ourselves," Dan Ammann, president of Exxon's Low Carbon Solutions business, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://twitter.com/business/status/1679508792512327686">told Bloomberg on Thursday</a>.The deal with Denbury is one of several carbon-capture and storage deals Exxon has made in less than a year, including <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://corporate.exxonmobil.com/news/news-releases/2023/0601_lcs-nucor-agreement">a plan to capture, transport, and store carbon emissions from a steelmaking plant</a> in Louisiana by 2026.What is the state of CCUS today?CCUS is still a nascent industry with a troubled track record, but there's been a lot of momentum in recent years.Around 40 commercial sites are operating around the world, with another 50 capture facilities expected to come online by 2030, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.iea.org/energy-system/carbon-capture-utilisation-and-storage">according to the IEA</a>.For its part, Exxon <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://corporate.exxonmobil.com/what-we-do/delivering-industrial-solutions/carbon-capture-and-storage/ccs-in-action">has carbon-capture and storage facilities</a> in the US, Qatar, and Australia, and at least 10 more have been announced around the world.Is carbon capture a solution to the climate crisis?Oil companies certainly think so, though the technology is still a major flashpoint. Many climate advocates argue that CCUS is too expensive to develop and the money is better spent on technology already proven to slash emissions at scale: solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicles, to name a few.Even though the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/carbon-emissions-2022-record-renewables-growth-solar-wind-iea-2023-3">renewable energy transition is speeding up</a>, the pace isn't fast enough yet. A United Nations panel of climate scientists earlier this year warned that <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/03/20/climate-change-ipcc-report-15/">the world is still way off track</a> in achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 — a key target to avoid global temperatures from rising above catastrophic levels.Without a more rapid shift away from fossil fuels, technology like carbon-capture and storage is critical, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.globalccsinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/CCS-in-the-IPCC-Sixth-Assessment-AR6-Synthesis-Report-2-4.pdf">the scientists said</a>.Still, there's no guarantee that CCUS will scale up in time, either. The <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.iea.org/energy-system/carbon-capture-utilisation-and-storage">IEA said that even if all the planned sites come online</a> by 2030, the entire industry combined would only be capturing about one-third of the carbon dioxide needed to hit net-zero emissions by midcentury.

Why Exxon Mobil is spending $4.9 billion on a company that pumps carbon dioxide back into the earth

<keyword id="6368035" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="essar" source="Orion">Essar</keyword> Oil UK Limited has announced its plan to build a 360 million-pound major new carbon capture plant at its <keyword id="505019" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="stanlow" source="Orion">Stanlow</keyword> refinery in line with its ambition to become a leading low-carbon refinery by 2030. Essar is investing over 1 billion pounds into a range of energy efficiency, fuel-switching, and carbon capture initiatives, designed to decarbonise its production processes significantly by 2030 and put Essar at the forefront of the UK's shift to low-carbon energy. Essar's energy transition strategy is based on five principles: running the core Stanlow refining processes as efficiently and safely as possible; decarbonising Stanlow's operations; building a hydrogen future through the launch of <keyword id="13037257" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="vertex-hydrogen" source="Orion">Vertex Hydrogen</keyword> ("Vertex") and as a key part of the HyNet consortium; developing green fuels (including Sustainable Aviation Fuels); and establishing the UK's largest biofuels storage facility through Stanlow Terminals Limited. Essar will achieve its decarbonisation targets through a combination of incremental (energy efficiency and operating improvements) and transformational projects, including the 360 million-pound carbon capture plant announced, but also as a result of the significant investments, Essar is making into hydrogen and biofuels. Kent plc has been awarded a pre-FEED engineering contract to develop the facility that will take the CO2 emitted from one of <keyword id="28249" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="europe" source="Orion">Europe</keyword>'s largest full-Residue Fluidised Catalytic Cracking units, located at the Stanlow refinery. The gas will be permanently sequestered into depleted gas fields under the sea in Liverpool Bay, as part of the HyNet cluster infrastructure in the northwest of England. Once complete in 2027, the plant will eliminate an estimated 0.81 million tons of CO2 per year -- the equivalent of taking 400,000 cars off the road, eliminating nearly 40% of all Stanlow emissions. The project has been selected by BEIS as a Phase-2 winner in the CCUS cluster sequencing process earlier this summer, and as such, is currently progressing through the due diligence stage. <keyword id="1598500" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="deepak-maheshwari" source="Orion">Deepak Maheshwari</keyword>, CEO of Essar Oil UK said: "This new carbon capture plant is the single biggest initiative to decarbonise our processes and a core element to our hugely ambitious decarbonisation strategy. Our ambition is to become a leading low-carbon refinery. This is a massive undertaking, but it is a journey we are fully committed to. Not only is it the right environmental thing to do, it will future-proof the critical Stanlow refinery for the long term, protecting jobs and industry, while also placing Stanlow at the very centre of the UK's energy transition." Essar is already making rapid progress against its broader decarbonisation targets. In September, EOUK announced it had signed a 'Heads of Terms' offtake agreement with Vertex, a joint venture with Progressive Energy, for the supply of 280MW+ of hydrogen. The hydrogen will be used to help decarbonise Essar's existing production facilities including the new hydrogen-powered furnace which was delivered in August this year. The 45 million-pound furnace is the first of its kind in the UK, capable of running on a 100 per cent hydrogen source and will replace three existing furnaces at Stanlow. Vertex is developing the first large-scale, low-carbon hydrogen production hub in the UK, as part of the HyNet cluster. This will produce (in its initial phases) 1GW of hydrogen (the equivalent energy use of a large UK city like Liverpool) and capture some 1.8 million tonnes of carbon per annum. By 2030, Vertex expects to deliver nearly 4GW of low-carbon hydrogen, equivalent to 40 per cent of the UK government's national target. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/uber-passengers-now-connect-with-city-police-in-case-of-emergency-with-the-sos-button/articleshow/95879290.cms">Uber passengers now connect with city police in case of emergency with the SOS button</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/samsung-india-will-hire-1000-engineers-from-top-institutes-for-rd-units/articleshow/95882077.cms">Samsung India will hire 1,000 engineers from top institutes for R&amp;D units</a>

Essar Oil UK to build carbon capture facility

<div type="image" title="One Planet Banner Test" height="138" width="1100" msid="101402909" hostid="261" sizebytes="5076"></div>Do you remember your very first cellphone?Where is it now? Maybe you passed it on to a friend, traded it in for an upgrade, or sold it. Maybe it's still lurking somewhere in your home, abandoned in a drawer.It takes a lot of resources to make a smartphone. It's estimated that the production of a typical smartphone uses around <a href="https://www.twosides.info/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/mind-your-step-report-76803.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">12,760 liters of water,</a> which is equivalent to around 160 bathtubs full of water. The manufacturing process is energy-intensive, too, with the production of an average smartphone emitting 60 kilograms of carbon dioxide, <a href="https://green-alliance.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Design_for_a_circular_economy.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to Green Alliance</a>, an independent think tank focused on environmental policy. It's not just smartphone manufacturing that has a big environmental impact. <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According to the Environmental Protection Agency,</a> manufacturing is the third-largest contributor to US greenhouse-gas emissions, after transportation and electric power. The sector also accounts for 25% of the nation's energy consumption.More often than not, the products we consume have been made from newly extracted materials. The amount of resources that we extract has <a href="https://www.circularity-gap.world/global" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more than tripled since 1970</a>, with global material consumption totaling <a href="https://www.circularity-gap.world/2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more than 100 billion tons every year.</a> But while consumption rates have shot up, recycling rates have remained low. Just <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/22/worlds-consumption-of-materials-hits-record-100bn-tonnes-a-year" target="_blank" rel="noopener">8.6% of the materials that we consume each year are recycled.</a><h2>Could a circular economy make a difference?</h2>Some industry leaders think there's a solution for cutting down on waste and reducing greenhouse-gas emissions at the same time: the circular economy. Try to visualize it. Right now, we have a linear system. We extract materials, make them into products, use the products, and then dispose of them. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a charity committed to creating a circular economy, calls this a <a href="https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/circular-economy-introduction/overview" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"take-make-waste" system</a>. Think back to your first cellphone: It's probably at the "waste" stage right now.The idea of a circular economy is to take that "straight line" system and turn it into a closed loop. The basic idea is to keep materials in the loop for as long as possible. Imagine if components from your first cellphone were extracted and used in your current one, or if it was easy to upgrade and repair your first cellphone so you could still use it today.<a href="https://www.circularity-gap.world/global" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Research by the Circularity Gap Reporting Initiative</a> found that only 7.2% of the global economy is currently circular.There are several ways to create a circular economy. It starts with designing products that last as long as possible and are easy to repair. Once a product can no longer be repaired, it can be remanufactured — which is when you disassemble a product and make a new version of the product with used parts. Recycling — when materials are repurposed into a new product and put back together again — is the final step. When you recycle, you are using waste as a resource.Alice Bodreau, the partnership lead at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, said that there are three pillars of a circular-economy strategy: developing products that don't create waste and pollution, circulating the materials that you put on the market, and regenerating nature.Anne Velenturf, a senior research fellow at the University of Leeds, told Insider that adopting a circular economy does not mean that consumers lose out. "Research has shown that we can all still live a good-quality life when resources are better shared across society," she said.<h2>Waste is a resource</h2>Recycling doesn't just tackle our waste problem; it helps to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. That's because recycled materials skip a large part of the energy-intensive extraction and manufacturing process. The production of recycled steel, for instance, requires <a href="https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/completing-the-picture" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10% to 15% of the energy required to produce new steel.</a>The issue, though, is that not everything is easy to recycle. Think about the phone or computer that you're reading this article on. It's made up of lots of different materials and minerals.This problem is something that Peter Afiuny was thinking about when he cofounded the magnet-manufacturing company <a href="https://noveon.co" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Noveon</a>. "In the late '80s and early '90s, all of the stuff that we were consuming as a society started to become more complex in its product, in terms of the components that are used," Afiuny told Insider. "The waste industry didn't really catch up to how to extract the more critical components."Afiuny, who had previously worked in the recycling industry, wanted to find an efficient way to "surgically extract" components that would otherwise be discarded.Cue the creation of Noveon, a company that manufactures rare-earth magnets from recycled materials. According to Afiuny, postconsumer recycling rates for rare-earth magnetic materials are less than 3%. The traditional "mine-to-magnet" process consists of a lot of energy-intensive and waste-intensive steps and uses potentially dangerous chemicals. "We essentially invented a process that bypassed all of these upstream methods," Afiuny said.Many things need permanent magnets, including products that are essential for the green transition such as electric vehicles and wind turbines."Most of our magnetic materials come from end-of-life channels, so that includes motors, energy systems, medical devices, data-storage devices like hard disk drives," Afiuny said.Afiuny told Insider that he saw Noveon's manufacturing approach as part of a wider shift in the industry. "I think that there is just more generally a trend towards developing regional supply chains, especially as companies are becoming global entities and they're looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint," he said.<h2>Design matters</h2>Bodreau said that there's more to the circular economy than recycling."Recycling is like you have a water leak in your house and you just go and directly mop it up and try to mop everything up before doing anything else," she said. "While the circular economy is about putting the tap off and actually addressing the leak itself, and not just mopping the floor and keeping on mopping the floor forever and ever."One way to "turn the tap off" is through design. Bodreau said it's about "redesigning the way you operate and the way your product is designed that it will never end up as a leak in the world."That's the principle the electronics company <a href="https://www.fairphone.com/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fairphone</a> is putting into practice. Based in Amsterdam, the company manufactures just two types of products: smartphones and headphones. Their smartphones aren't glued shut and are easy to disassemble, which makes them much easier to repair."Seventy-five percent of the emissions connected to a smartphone occur during production," Anna Jopp, Fairphone's press officer, told Insider. "To us, this means that the most efficient way to reduce the emissions caused by smartphones is to produce less phones. And the way to achieve this is to use the phones we already have for as long as possible."If you keep your phone for five years instead of three you could reduce the phone's annual carbon footprint by 31%, Jopp said.Since phone longevity is key, Jopp said Fairfone tries to encourage people to keep their phones as long as possible by making products that are modular by design and easily repairable. "The longer a product is used, the fewer new products we need to manufacture and the less resources we use," she said.<h2>The renewable challenge</h2>The Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates that there will be <a href="https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/articles/we-need-to-talk-about-renewables-part-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">43 million tons of wind-turbine blade waste by 2050.</a> Meanwhile, the Renewable Energy Agency estimates that there will be up to <a href="https://www.irena.org/publications/2016/Jun/End-of-life-management-Solar-Photovoltaic-Panels" target="_blank" rel="noopener">78 million tons of solar-panel waste</a> by 2050. The renewable-energy industry presents a new challenge for the circular economy, and the UK company ReBlade is trying to get ahead of the game. ReBlade's cofounder Fiona Lindsay told Insider that the team wanted to stop material from wind turbines from going to landfills. While many parts of wind turbines can be recycled, the wind-turbine blades are made from fiberglass, a nonbiodegradable manufactured composite that is extremely difficult to recycle. The company is working on solutions to repurpose wind-turbine blades when they can no longer be used to generate power. Their flagship project uses decommissioned blades to create canopies that provide shelter at electric-vehicle charging points.Lindsay said that the "newness" of the sector was a big obstacle. "Until now, blades have only needed to come down in tiny numbers, perhaps because of damage," she said."In the years ahead, blades will come down in their thousands as whole wind-farm sites are repowered with bigger turbines," she said. "What that means is that the owner-operators of sites don't, as of yet, have standardized approaches to procurement or blade-removal operations.""It takes a tremendous amount of energy and resources to produce the blades in the first place, so we believe reusing them is a better option," Lindsay said.<h2>A 'win-win' solution</h2>Velenturf said that there were many benefits for companies adopting circular-economy principles, including accessing new markets and customers and increasing the security of material supplies, which reduces risks and costs.Policymakers are starting to catch on to circular solutions, too. In June, representatives from 180 countries met in Paris and discussed a global treaty to regulate plastics. Bodreau described the meeting as a "big, big way forward." Meanwhile, New York state's recent <a href="https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-signs-digital-fair-repair-act-law" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Fair Repair Act</a> aims to make it easier for consumers to access the parts and information needed to repair their electronic devices.For Lindsay, the circular approach is a no-brainer. "We have a finite amount of resources so we need to find innovative new ways to reuse resources through second- or even third-life uses after they have been used in their initial applications — a win-win for everybody."This article is part of "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/the-great-transition" rel="">The Great Transition</a>," a series covering the big changes across industries that are leading to a more sustainable future. For more climate-action news, visit Insider's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/one-planet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">One Planet</a> hub.

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