Author: Chris Sworder

Meatless sliders at White Castle, Mars bars with added protein – what’s happening in protein innovation?

Chris Sworder
Posted on by Chris Sworder
Over a year ago, we outlined in this blog how various innovators are tackling the problems that are affecting the protein value chain. The analysis a year ago concentrated on meat alternatives and innovators that were bringing down the resource intensity of certain parts of the protein supply chain by using insects or other methods. The problem, highlighted then, was that “food-related greenhouse gas emissions could account for half of the emissions the world can afford if global warming is... Read More »

Biostimulants – the nexus of biotechnology and fertilizer

Chris Sworder
Posted on by Chris Sworder
As we look forward to welcoming some of the leading thinkers in bio-based chemical and agricultural innovation at Cleantech Forum Europe in Antwerp on May 14-16, we thought we would take a look at one leading technology that is set to have an impact in the agriculture & food industry - biostimulants. What are Biostimulants? It has taken some time to identify biostimulants as its own market. An article from 2015 highlights the difficulty of defining a biostimulant as opposed to a... Read More »

Gene editing in agriculture & food: Accelerating the second green revolution

Chris Sworder
Posted on by Chris Sworder
Why are we talking about this? Pressure on global resources to support our food system is growing, and even outpacing ability to meet demand. Genetic engineering is a useful tool to maximize yield in an increasingly resource-stressed world. “CRISPR-Cas9 is a step change for agritech, it allows plant breeders to implement the vast wealth of knowledge accumulated in the last hundred years into a wider range of crop plants. It has and will continue to accelerate crop science research into... Read More »

A Feeding Frenzy in Agriculture – Cannibalism and M&A Prey

Chris Sworder
Posted on by Chris Sworder
It’s always difficult to get a big picture of the agriculture industry. It’s huge. However, two big things are important: mega-mergers and bountiful exits. Big companies In recent years, we have seen a number of mergers that would see large percentages of market share across the Agriculture & Food sector concentrated in an even smaller number of companies. Just as one small example, with this set of mergers shown on the right, 70% of the world’s pesticide market and 83%... Read More »

A Year in Review: A look back at the 2017 Global Cleantech 100

Chris Sworder
Posted on by Chris Sworder
As we look forward to the release of our 2018 Global Cleantech 100 (GCT100) on stage at Cleantech Forum San Francisco on January 22nd, we thought this would be a good opportunity to take a look back at how both our 2017 Global Cleantech 100 fared since making the list last January, and of our GCT100 alumni, in general. The Global Cleantech 100 Program The Global Cleantech 100 list is our barometer reading of the global innovation community's shifting views... Read More »

Feeding Fish to Fish: How Insect Farming Fixes Fishmeal

Chris Sworder
Posted on by Chris Sworder
At the beginning of 2017, I wrote a piece of research quoting Winston Churchill’s 1932 article Fifty Years Hence, in which he predicted that we would all be eating chicken grown in laboratories. While that is slowly becoming a reality (through companies such as Memphis Meats), there is another area of protein consumption that would likely have seemed even more absurd in 1932 – aquaculture. Currently, to produce 1kg of farmed fish ready for human consumption, it takes 1.5-2kg of... Read More »

Report Launch @COP23 Global Cleantech Innovation Programme Country Innovation Profiles 2017

Chris Sworder
Posted on by Chris Sworder
Report Launch @ COP23 Bonn: The Global Cleantech Innovation Index 2017 – Global Cleantech Innovation Programme (GCIP) Country Innovation Profiles As part of our Global Cleantech Innovation Index programme this year, Cleantech Group took a closer look at 8 countries that are participating in the Global Cleantech Innovation Programme (GCIP). The programme, an initiative of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), is conducted in Armenia, India, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, South Africa, Thailand and Turkey.... Read More »

Taking Oil Out of the Big Rig: Electrification of Haulage Trucks

Chris Sworder
Posted on by Chris Sworder
As we trundle towards the unveiling of Tesla’s semi-truck, provisionally set for October 26th, we thought this would be a good time to scope out what is happening in the world of electric trucks. Transportation and logistics, especially due to the high levels of venture capital investment in recent years, has become a cornerstone of CTG research. From autonomous vehicles, solving traffic, lithium commodity markets, bike sharing, and even flying cars, evaluating trends in mobility has been a major focus. The... Read More »

Solving Traffic: The highway, the smart way, and the long way off

Chris Sworder
Posted on by Chris Sworder
The term ‘smart city’ implies that cities can be dumb. To the city-dweller, this is often acutely clear when stuck in traffic. In the UK, a recent TomTom Traffic Index report found that the average commuter in Britain will spend five days of every year stuck in traffic. That equates to 47 weeks’-worth[1] in an average lifetime of sitting behind the wheel not going anywhere fast. My own city of London comes in as the 20th most congested city in the... Read More »

2017 Global Cleantech Innovation Index: A look at where entrepreneurial clean technology companies are most likely to emerge from over the next 10 years – and why.

Chris Sworder
Posted on by Chris Sworder
The new edition of the Global Cleantech Innovation Index (GCII) has just been launched. The Index, previously produced in 2012 and 2014, explores where, relative to GDP, entrepreneurial clean technology companies are most likely to emerge from over the next 10 years – and why. It remains the only study (we know of) seeking to look at why entrepreneurial companies developing sustainable solutions seem to spring up in certain geographies, and which economic, social and environmental conditions cultivate hotbeds for... Read More »