Industrial Analytics – Optimizing Operational Efficiency

Posted on April 11, 2019April 12, 2019 by Louis Brasington

Searching for AI in Google returns over four billion results (climate change returns only 200 million) and buzz words like analytics, condition monitoring, predictive maintenance and industry 4.0 are commonplace at conferences. How much is hype and how much is delivering measurable results? Collecting and analyzing data in real time are the core of predictive analytics, a branch of AI. Managing operational costs, improving efficiency, extending equipment lifecycles', and working to getting more out of connected equipment are key themes... Read More »

Could Methanol Become an Important Fuel for Energy and Mobility?

Posted on March 18, 2019March 20, 2019 by Louis Brasington

With a global demand of more than 80 million metric tons and a growth rate of 5.4%, methanol is gaining acceptance. The market is projected to be worth $54 billion by 2021. Its uses vary greatly – from adhesives and PET bottles to fleece jackets, packaging, paints and solvents. A key application is the energy market. China alone, as the largest producer and consumer, accounts for 54% of world demand. Alongside oil, gas and hydrogen, methanol is an important fuel... Read More »

2019 Energy Trends: Answers from Cleantech Innovation Leaders

Posted on February 21, 2019March 1, 2019 by Louis Brasington

At the 2019 Cleantech Forum San Francisco, we launched this year's Global Cleantech 100 Report; an assessment of the companies most likely to make a significant market impact within the next five to ten years. Forty companies in the Energy & Power sector featured on the list. And, last year investment into this sector reached $3.4 billion across 378 equity deals, $900 million more than 2017. We sat down with two of the 2019 Global Cleantech 100 companies, GreenSync and... Read More »

The Role of Green Hydrogen in Global Decarbonization

Posted on December 13, 2018January 23, 2019 by Louis Brasington

There are over 60 million tons of hydrogen produced annually, worth almost $100 billion dollars. Today, 80% of the hydrogen we produce is for three main industries: refineries, ammonia production or metal processing. Hydrogen also has the potential to be used as fuel for power and transportation. It generates zero emissions at point of use and can be produced from low-carbon electricity or from carbon-abated fossil fuels. The annual demand for hydrogen could increase tenfold by 2050 – from 8 EJ... Read More »

Virtual Reality Meets Industrial Innovation: How Technology Can Aid Creativity

Posted on December 13, 2018December 19, 2018 by Louis Brasington

Entertainment has been one of the drivers of Virtual Reality (VR) systems with popular systems from Oculus, HTV Vive and Sony’s PlayStation VR system. Commercial applications are taking the next step, Mixed Reality (XR), overlaying graphics on top of the real world led by companies like Magic Leap and Microsoft’s HoloLens. As an enabling technology, VR/XR has the potential to touch many facets of the industries we cover, including Industrial Design, Data Modelling and Visualization. To date, problems with display... Read More »

Battery Technology Show Recap: Emerging Battery Technology

Posted on November 12, 2018November 27, 2018 by Louis Brasington

Contributions from: Pirmin Ulmann, co-founder and CEO at b-science.net Last month, I was fortunate enough moderate a session at the Battery Technology Show in London. Here are takeaways from that session as well as some additional insight from our own research. Delegates from across the battery industrial supply chain participated in discussions around the technologies and business model innovations that could disrupt their markets in the next few years. Speakers included topic experts like Billy Wu, a senior lecturer at... Read More »

Are We Overdue a Building Construction Revolution?

Posted on September 18, 2018September 19, 2018 by Louis Brasington

While global labor productivity has risen by 2.8% in the past 20 years, productivity in construction reportedly has only increased by 1%, and compared to the 3.6% increase for manufacturing, is actually in decline (see Figure 1). If the construction industry could close that gap to match the global economic average, the industry's value could increase by $1.6 trillion, boosting global GDP by 2%. However, the construction industry is extensively regulated, risk averse and hard to navigate for new players.... Read More »

Infinite Drivetime: Talking Solar Cars With Lightyear

Posted on September 5, 2018September 7, 2018 by Louis Brasington

Solar-powered cars have been mostly experimental vehicles trying to break records at competitions like the World Solar Challenge in Australia. On the commercial side, the efforts have tended toward Solar Assisted Electric Vehicles (SAEVs). These vehicles have proven impractical and expensive, providing nothing more than small incremental gains to mileage. Ford and Toyota have had shots at products and to date, no system has managed to gain traction. With the coming of low cost-efficient solar cells alongside the transformation of... Read More »

European Utilities Support UN Development Goals

Posted on August 17, 2018August 17, 2018 by Louis Brasington

Last month, the United National delegates came together in New York, assessing the progress for their Sustainable Development Goals. The focus this year was on how nations can provide access to affordable and reliable energy, water, and safe and resilient cities. The meeting marked three years since the UN committed to reaching universal access to affordable and clean energy by 2030. Large energy corporates have been actively involved in the push across the globe, deploying decentralized energy systems through partnering... Read More »

Cleantech Group

Author: Louis Brasington