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The UK is not currently on target to meet its fourth or fifth carbon budgets (spanning the period 2023-2032), and despite a decline in emissions in 2020 due to the Covid-19 lockdowns, a new report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) found that global CO2 emissions reached historic levels in 2021.
Predicted industry growth in the UK, alongside ever-more ambitious targets on reducing emissions means that all sectors must reduce their impact on the climate wherever possible. One way they can do this is to migrate their operations to the cloud.
Our 2021 Insights Report revealed that 94% of businesses are declaring an interest in cloud-based solutions over the next 12 months. This was a significant shift from the previous year’s report, where only 25% of respondents identified the cloud as a strategic priority, although the environmental benefits are by no means the only reason for this shift.
With many larger organisations having already been operating in the cloud for many years, SMEs and certain vertical sectors have fallen behind, due to a lack of technical skills, perceived business interruption from migrating, and historical business norms that relied on on-premises solutions. The heavy industry sector, including manufacturing and construction, is one such example.
Minimising energy and carbon output
The cloud is often positioned as a greener option for businesses as it has the potential to reduce carbon footprints by using service providers’ data centres. A cloud solution can deliver economies of scale, because the equipment is situated remotely, in locations with optimal temperatures, reducing the need for cooling. Having the ability to manage software remotely where workloads can be automatically scaled up or down – whilst moving energy usage to locations that can operate more efficiently, because it is delivered differently – uses significantly less computing power. By comparison, the energy needed by thousands of businesses to maintain and cool their own on-premises servers (which are often situated in warm office buildings or factory floors), adds up to a significant amount of emission outputs from the sector as a whole.
In fact, IDC forecasted that the ‘continued adoption of cloud computing could prevent the emission of more than 1 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) from 2021 through 2024’. In 2018, the manufacturing and construction sectors constituted 12% of the UK’s total carbon output of greenhouse gas emissions, which shows the scale of the issue in some sectors and highlights how improvements made by businesses in these sectors to reduce their carbon footprints is important.
As an example, manufacturing brand Hacel Lighting used to conduct hardware refreshes every few years to ensure its on-prem servers could support the latest operating systems and middleware software. By migrating to the cloud, they have been able to eliminate the carbon-intensive requirement of regularly purchasing new hardware.
Additionally, if less hardware is manufactured, there are reductions in water consumption, CO2 emissions, chemical production, and mineral extraction, as well as landfill requirements at the products end-of-life. While cloud providers also have their own hardware and associated infrastructure to maintain, they too benefit from the economies of scale that a hyperscale business model allows.
The benefits of dematerialisation
Moving to the cloud is more than just shifting energy consumption and hardware from an organisation’s owned premises to another location. Gartner estimates more than 85% of organisations are set to embrace a cloud-first principle by 2025 – whereby they consider cloud-based solutions before anything else – as the cloud becomes ‘the centrepiece of new digital experiences’.
A cloud-first strategy means almost everything from ERP systems to business processes will move to the cloud. The result is dematerialisation – the process by which a business moves from a paper-based way of working to an automated system with digital technology at its core. The automation of operational processes enables greater agility and more flexibility, with businesses able to offer remote and hybrid working to employees who can connect to the cloud from anywhere with an internet connection, at any time. And the impact on the environment is also positive, with less waste created.
A real-life example of dematerialisation taking place in industries such as construction, retail, logistics and manufacturing, is the digitisation of data sheets – traditionally printed with a consignment of goods to communicate the characteristics of a product, such as components, logistics and pricing data. The creation, transportation and disposal of paper documentation is a needlessly wasteful process in the era of a sustainable cloud-first business operation. Using a cloud-first strategy, the data sheet becomes completely paperless, reducing environmental impacts, as well as reducing manual errors and optimising exchanges. This eco solution can be replicated in everything from invoicing and billing to people management processes.
Migrating to the cloud is crucial for any professional organisation looking to maintain a competitive edge and ensure their technology is future-proofed, as they navigate the many challenges of a post-pandemic economy. For IT companies, manufacturers, retailers, and distributors who have the most complex, digitally connected global supply chains, there is the added benefit of mitigating their impact on the environment.
As businesses look to the future and consider their business operations as part of their long-term growth strategies, cloud-based technology offers an ideal solution to address the ever-growing threat of climate change. Having said that, transitioning to the cloud isn’t without its challenges and making the move won’t mean your business becomes carbon neutral overnight, but it’s a crucial step on the sustainability journey for both large enterprises and small businesses creating positive impact on a global scale.
So, with the cloud, the grass really is greener on the other side.


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Dutchman Otto Poldermans has become the first person in Spain to take delivery of a Tesla EV – and he plans to recharge it using a combination of solar and hydroelectric energy.
Poldermans, who retired to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in 2001, is a founding investor in Solar HydroSolutions, which builds and installs solar equipment to private and commercial customers in Andalusia.
For nearly a decade he has powered his home with photovoltaic panels and turbines on the Rio Chico. His equipment will now also power his Roadster, which he received this weekend.
“I hope that my Tesla catches people’s eye. I want it to teach people that energy all around us and extremely abundant — more than enough to power our homes and our cars,” said Poldermans.
Tesla has delivered about 1,000 Roadsters to customers in 23 countries,including the first deliveries this month in Spain and Ireland.
Spain gets about three per cent of its electricity from solar energy and the Madrid government estimates that 12 per cent of the country’s power will come from renewable sources by the end of this year.
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Madrid also offers EV buyers an EUR10,000 rebate on EVs which is topped up by a provincial rebate of EUR5,000. There is also a 75% reduction in annual car tax, free metered parking and free use of the high-occupancy vehicle and bus lanes.
Spain’s EUR8m “Project Movele” will also fund installation of charge stations in Seville, Barcelona and Madrid. The government aims to have 1m electric vehicles in Spain by 2014.

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A new acne treatment from GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) now has marketing approval in the United States to tackle pimples and blackheads in acne sufferers.
Tazarotene, which will be marketed under the name Fabior Foam, is a topical foam developed to treat acne vulgaris. Fabior now has U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to treat the moderate-to-severe acne in patients who are 12 or older.
Fabior was developed by GSK subsidiary Stiefel Laboratories, the dermatology products company that GSK acquired in 2009 for $2.9 billion as the company made a play to diversify its drug portfolio beyond the slate of blockbuster drugs set to lose patent protection.
GSK folded its dermatological products business into Stiefel, which operates in Research Triangle Park, a short distance from GSK’s own RTP campus. The combined skin products unit operates under the Stiefel name.
Between 40 million and 50 million Americans suffer from acne, according to the American Academy of Dermatology. It’s hardly an under-served population but it is a growing market. Research firm Global Industry Analysts projects that the global market for medicated skin care products, including acne treatments, will reach $6.2 billion by 2017. Consumer products are seen as a more stable source of revenue. The Global Industry Analysts report notes that although women have driven sales for skin care products, men are increasingly shelling out money for skin products.
Fabior should not be used by pregnant women because it could cause harm fetuses. GSK said that the most common adverse reactions reported were at the site Fabior was applied. Those reactions included irritation, dryness, redness and exfoliation.


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A new bill proposed in New York State could let dining out go to the dogs.
Where restaurants often used to ban pups from patios, today they’re embracing them — as dog owners may be good for business. Now legislators in Albany have introduced a new bill that would set requirements for restaurants to allow dogs on their patios.
Dogs would need to be kept on leashes, and restaurant staff would not be allowed to play with dogs.
Restaurant owners would also have to provide a separate patio entrance for dog owners and their pets, and they won’t be allowed in outdoor areas where food is prepared. However, lawmakers do agree that the pets don’t actually pose a health hazard in such outdoor spaces.
So far, the State Senate has approved the bill by 60-0, so it now goes to the State Assembly for review. The bill’s sponsors are confident that it will pass.
The law could mean more business for restaurants in New York City and throughout the state.
In one study of 439 diners, Study Hall Research in Tampa, FL, and FSR Magazine found that 43% of diners between the ages of 25 and 34 would spend more money on drinks if they were ordering from outdoor patio bars.
If patrons are allowed to bring their dog with them while they drink and dine, then it could bring businesses even more cash during the summer months.
Even dogs get to drink on patios, too, under the proposed bill — so long as they follow a one dog per water dish rule.
Some of the state’s cat owners, meanwhile, have said that the bill discriminates against them. Critics from Eater.com and the Albany Times Union blog have said that the law leaves out feline owners, even thought they don’t usually take their pets for walks like most dog owners do.
4Many dog owners may be surprised that dogs aren’t already permitted on patios by law, as many businesses do allow doggie diners. However, the law would potentially make New York the second state, after California, to formally allow dogs in the outdoor seating areas of restaurants.


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Electricity price hiked again
News Desk || risingbd.com
Published: 10:25, 31 January 2023 Update: 12:38, 31 January 2023
The government has increased the electricity price at the retail and wholesale levels.
The hiked prices will come into effect from February 1,
The Power, Energy and Mineral Resource Ministry issued a gazette notification in this regard on Tuesday morning.
The price has been hiked by 20 paisa per unit at the consumers’ level. With this, the price has been increased to Tk 4.14 to Tk 3.94.
The retail electricity price has been readjusted under the authority vested in Section 34 (ka) of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Act, 2003, the gazette notification said.


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In deepest rural Warwickshire the unmistakable aroma of beer lingers in the air.
Standing beside a series of reed beds, Californian brewer Aaron Taubman inhales deeply before explaining that waste water from the neighbouring brewery runs through these marshes, purifying the water before it flows back into the River Avon.
Since its launch in 2005, Purity Brewing Company has continued to grow around this cluster of listed farm buildings in Great Alne, south of Henley-in-Arden, and bucking the economic downward trend, the brewery’s first decade has been an undeniable success story.
Launched by Paul Halsey and Jim Minkin, Purity was born just as real ale was starting to see a swell in popularity.
Having reached the brewery’s capacity after their first three years, the founders began planning an expansion and last September launched their new £1.5million brewery in a neighbouring farm building.
Tripling their capacity and allowing the brewers to experiment with new beers, the expansion comes as the popularity of craft beer is rising and the brewery is ready for rapid growth, preparing to launch a new pale ale and a side project that will see it open its own bar and restaurant.
Head brewer Florent Vialan, who came to Purity eight years ago from Lyon, says: “I think the customer has changed. Five years ago the customer wanted the same beer and consistency.
“Now they want more and more different things so we are adapting.”
Before Christmas, Purity’s three mainstays – Gold, Ubu and Mad Goose – were joined by a new full flavoured dark beer, Saddle Black.
Next, drinkers should look out for Longhorn IPA, named after the cows that graze behind the brewery and feed on the spent grain.
The beer, an American style-keg beer with citrus and tropical fruit notes, comes after US brewer Aaron Taubman, who joined the team last summer, leaving his job with Miller Coors in California for a new home near Kenilworth.
“English ales are completely different,” he says, inhaling the beery smell from the reed bed beside the brewery’s offices.
“The cask conditioning process is unique to Britain and there’s nothing quite like that in the States.
“Other countries can’t do cask conditioned beer as easily as Britain because they don’t have the right climate or the infrastructure, with the pubs.”
As a card-carrying CAMRA member Aaron is a supporter of cask conditioned ales, but also a lover of keg beer, saying its crucial for variety and the ideal way to produce stronger brews that don’t sell as quickly in the pub.
He adds: “I was working for a really big brewery and I wanted to get back to craft beer, making beer I respect and enjoy and being on the ground floor of a business I think will really grow.
“The point of the craft beer movement is that the beer is handmade with the best possible ingredients, only caring about how good it tastes and not trying to sell as much as possible.
“There’s a huge change here with people turning towards more tasty, flavourful beers with higher alcohol content and drinking less of them.
“People don’t have as much time as they used to so when they do get to relax they want to drink something really, really good.”
With a degree in biochemistry Aaron approaches brewing as a scientific experiment but has a clear and genuine enthusiasm for the taste of the product.
And he’s joined an operation that is keen to focus more and more on pairing beer with food.
As a chef by training Purity founder Paul Halsey is keen to market his beers as a food accompaniment, with Purity’s head of brand Darryl Hinksman agreeing that this is “the holy grail” of the brewing industry.
Darryl, who worked for Heineken before moving to Purity, says: “Brewers, partly through arrogance, partly through lack of imagination, have sat back and let the wine industry take the high ground on this, toasting them with their own products.”
So now Purity is making its mark by suggesting drinkers select Purity Gold to accompany fish, Mad Goose to drink with pork or chicken and UBU to go alongside game or strong cheeses, while Saddle Black might make a good match for a chocolate pudding.
Last year, the brewery teamed up with top Midland restaurants Simpsons and Carters of Moseley for a fine dining experience at the inaugural Birmingham Beer Bash.
Two five-course menus were devised matching each dish with a different beer.
This year Purity is going a step further, opening Pure Bar and Kitchen, a new eatery a short walk from New Street off Birmingham’s Victoria Square, where food paired with beer will be the key focus.
Darryl, who describes Purity as a “brewer with a conscience”, says the company is also keen to boost the volume of beer being sold in pubs.
He says: “Most brewers’ on and off
trade is split 50/50 in volume, but we’re about 85 per cent on trade [beer sold in a pub] and absolutely convinced that is where you get the best experience of our product.
“It has to be served in the right glass at the right temperature and it has to taste great.
“Every single one of our stockists gets the chance to come here to be trained in how to stock our beer properly.
“If you’re expecting someone to go into a pub and pay four times what they could in the supermarket it has got to be worth paying for and we can only maintain our reputation by maintaining quality in our beer.”
If a pub is found consistently to have problems with the quality of the beer, Purity will stop supplying it.
The brewery sells 80 per cent of its stock within 50 miles of its Warwickshire base, but the beers are now doing well in London and going as far as Edinburgh, with a pint ranging from £2.10 to £3.90 depending on the location.
And the future could see Purity exports, with interest from Scandinavia, Hong Kong and the US as this brewery continues to fly the flag for Warwickshire.


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Smiley Originals has launched its first bi-annual Future Creators Fund to support designers in their sustainability journey at major fashion weeks this season.
The 500,000-pound fund and mentorship scheme was born out of Smiley Originals ‘Future Positive’ sustainability initiative and is linked to its partnership with the United Nations to deliver UN-SDG Goal 12 regarding responsible production and consumption.
The fund has been designed to help “gaming-changing designers,” explains Smiley, by supporting them to switch to “a better, more responsible and circular the ideology of design, sourcing and manufacture”.
Smiley will assist the chosen designers through its network of sustainable fabrication partnerships, to lower fabric minimums for these fabrics, label and packaging manufacturing and financial support to purchase circular and sustainable fabrics and finishes where required.
Ahluwalia and Chet-Lo among recipients of Smiley Originals first Future Creators Fund
The first intake of designers that have been allocated funds includes London-based Ahluwalia, Chet-Lo and AGR, alongside Kevin Germanier showing in Paris, and South African Rich Mnisi and Shutting Qiu from China presenting at Milan Fashion Week. Each will receive brackets of 25,000 pounds and upwards.
The funds will be used to support their overall business operations, manufacturing, and sourcing, as well as additional funding and mentorship across marketing, digital, social and retail.
Each of the designers has also collaborated with Smiley Originals on a capsule clothing and accessories collection that is 100 percent sustainable and/or circular. The collaboration will see each designer incorporating their “unique interpretation” of the iconic Smiley face symbol in their autumn/winter 2023 collections.
Nicolas Loufrani, chief executive and founder of Smiley Originals, said in a statement: “I’m incredibly proud to support these young designers in their journey towards building a more sustainable future.
“It's an opportunity for us to showcase sustainability through a new lens with directional garment design at the centre, developing best practices that our global manufacturing partners will hopefully follow. If we all play our part, we can make the future positive.”
In addition, Smiley has also announced a partnership with Labelhood, the fashion incubator and showcasing platform under Shanghai Fashion Week, which promotes emerging Chinese design talent.
Submissions for the September 2023 Future Creators Fund will be open from April 1.


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The holiday season is here, and Comcast is celebrating by helping the Minneapolis Downtown Council create a virtual version of the 2020 Holidazzle Festival.
“The Holidazzle Show presented by Comcast” will be available for viewing on Holidazzle.com with four new episodes airing Friday, November 27 and the following Thursdays: December 3, December 10, and December 17. In addition, the programs will be offered to X1 customers in the Twin Cities Region through the X1 voice remote, where customers can simply say “Minneapolis Holidazzle” to enjoy the excitement.
“Holidazzle has been an important, long-standing tradition in our community and we are thrilled this year’s celebration will continue in a new way,” said J.D. Keller regional senior vice president, Comcast Twin Cities. “All of us at Comcast are proud to be the presenting sponsor of The Holidazzle Show and are excited our customers can seamlessly experience this free and festive destination on the X1 platform.”
Each program features a visit from Santa, do-it-yourself holiday projects, entertainment, small business holiday gift ideas, local food spotlights, and more. The Holidazzle Show will complement the festival’s 2020 virtual experience, with online content including interactive social media challenges, past photos and videos, live craft demonstrations, and “HoliTivities” featuring free activities for all ages.
To learn more, visit www.holidazzle.com or follow Holidazzle on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #Holidazzle.


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China has promised to work together with the world to build a community of common future in cyberspace, said President Xi Jinping during the 3rd World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, on Wednesday.
"China will work together with the international community to ensure the common well-being of humanity, uphold cyber sovereignty, promote more fair and equitable global internet governance and bring about an open, inclusive and secure cyberspace, that features equality, mutual respect, innovation and orderly development", Xi said in a video message on the opening ceremony of the summit.
The Third World Internet Conference is under way in Wuzhen, Tongxiang of East China's Zhejiang province, until Nov 18.
The conference, whose theme is "Innovation-driven Internet Development for the Benefit of All – Building a Community of Common Future in Cyberspace", is composed of forums, an expo, and a launch event in addition to the opening and closing ceremonies.
It will hold 16 forums covering 20 hot issues, such as internet economy, internet innovation, internet culture, governance in cyberspace and international cooperation on internet.
The annual event comes against the background of China's evolution into the world's second-largest economy with the world's largest base of internet users and a dynamic homegrown internet-driven industry.
The event has attracted more than 300 enterprises from across the world this year.
Trailer of World Internet Conference
Copyright © World Internet Conference. All rights Reserved
Presented by China Daily. 京ICP备13028878号-23
Copyright © World Internet Conference. All rights Reserved Presented by China Daily. 京ICP备13028878号-23


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Yesterday, we reported that contract negotiations between the United Auto Workers union and General Motors showed signs of progress as committees ceded to the top bargainers from both groups amid the ongoing UAW strike. However, if a recent Bloomberg report is to be believed, the automaker may have already lost a significant chunk of cash.
Citing analysts at IHS Markit, the Bloomberg report states that the UAW strike has resulted in lost output of more than 8,000 vehicles.
“With each vehicle averaging about $8,000 in earnings before interest and taxes, and the walkout affecting nearly nine production days, GM has missed out on as much as $544 million in profit, based on calculations Credit Suisse analyst Dan Levy made in a report last week,” the Bloomberg report states. “The total would reach $700 million by Sunday if no settlement is reached.”
Of course, it bears mentioning that the numbers Bloomberg reports don’t really tell the whole story – nor are they all that accurate.
For starters, the only way GM would lose money is if it wasn’t selling cars, and right now, dealers still have cars to sell. Prior to the UAW strike, we reported that GM was stockpiling vehicles ahead of the expiration of the UAW’s contract, with dealers shoring up a 77-day supply of vehicles, two weeks more than the industry average of 61 days.
Subsequent reports indicated that as the UAW strike stretched into its second week, dealers still had plenty of vehicles to sell. While some popular models (like the Cadillac XT5) showed signs that availability was running a little low, there is no way that would impact GM to the tune of half a billion dollars.
All told, this seems like a pretty significant oversimplification. But we’ll explain that in further detail in a follow-up post later.


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Autoweek.nl posted an article based on a picture taken of one of their readers outside the factory in Trollhattanon June 22nd. And today the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet wrote an article about the same picture coming from the same source, with the headline “Saabs new sectret prototype”. The article has created great discussions in the Saab world, but what we see in the picture is not a Saab, but more likely a Geely GC9.
We must not forget that NEVS currently rents out parts of the factory to other vehicle manufacturers in order to get an extra income until their own production has started.
8 thoughts on “The mystery car outside NEVS in Trollhättan”
Picture taken at Technical Center. Probably vehicle heading for tests – most likely the climate windtunnel.
Would love to see Geely take Saab from NEVS.
SAAB is already taken from NEVS, and with the new situation with Mahindra out and Tianjin= Beijing=China in, it is very good news for NEVS, but Saab AB will never let China lease the SAAB brand.
Geely is, probably, just utilising a rare test facility.
Good point Rolf. I’ve evolved on this. At one point, I was willing to see a Saab branded car from ANYONE—-if Yugo re-emerged, I would have been willing to see them start production of a new Saab. But I’ve now determined that we’re better off without Saab cars at all—-a final ending—-than we would be if NEVS was producing electric Saabs only. I’d rather read about Saabs in history books than see the name on current Chinese golf carts.
Angelo, there is a lot about SAAB still to be told, e.g. what cars did not GM allow SAAB to develop – and why. Also – why were SAAB forced to develop the halfway- good -only cars that came out of Trollhattan after the GM take over.
We can definitely talk about how GM held Saab back. But I think we’d be remiss in not also pointing out how much money GM did spend on Saab. It was a lot. It maybe should have been deployed differently—-but the fact remains that they pumped a lot of cash into Saab for a lot of years—-without which Saab would have died a lot sooner.
Angelo, I understand your points, however you miss one key thing. GM caused those problems for itself by NOT investing in those concepts, technologies, and marketing. They knew Saab couldn’t compete without those things but continued for 20 years (especially once the original 9-5 was released…good lord) without correction. How was that Saab’s fault when mommy dearest is holding the change purse?
If you were a kid going to school and had raggedy (American speak) clothes but your parents wouldn’t buy you new clothes, is that your fault or the parents fault?
Alright, move along folks. Nothing to see here, nothing SAAB-related. Move along, people.
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Michigan Online Sports Betting Set to Go Live at Any Time [VIDEO]
Platforms and security are currently being tested, and online sports betting is set to go live in Michigan very soon.
At the moment, you can download mobile apps like DraftKings and FanDuel, but you can't actually place an online bet until the rollout is official. That could happen at any time; online sports betting is expected to go live no later than January 19.
A representative for the Citizens Research Council of Michigan tells WXYZ that the move is expected to generate millions of dollars in tax revenue for the state of Michigan, a welcomed boon after Detroit's three casinos were shuttered for months due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Michigan is modeling its platform closely after the one that has been in place in New Jersey. The biggest hurdle is verifying that online players are 21 years old and located within the state of Michigan, according to Richard Kalm of the Michigan Gaming Control Board.
"Since you’re not in person making the bet, we have to be very careful that we know the customer and we also know the location of the customer," Kalm said. “All those testing procedures, the identification, geolocation, all the things that have to be in place before we could launch online takes a considerable amount of time.”
There are 15 operators in Michigan licensed to host online gambling. Each of Detroit's three casinos have one license with the rest being held by tribal-owned casinos in the state.


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Dow Announces Development of a new Polymeric Flame Retardant Technology for Polystyrene Foam Building Insulation Products
Today I received a very interesting and exciting press release from the folks at DOW. They are developing a fire retardant for XPS and EPS Foam Insulation Products. This is likely to have a huge impact on the building industry including projects like DIY basement insulation projects.
Below is their press release for detailed information.
MIDLAND, MICHIGAN — March 29, 2011 — Dow Global Technologies LLC (DGTL), a subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW), today announced the invention and development of a new, high molecular weight brominated Polymeric Flame Retardant (Polymeric FR). The Polymeric FR is expected to be the ‘next generation industry standard’ flame retardant for use in both extruded polystyrene (XPS) and expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam insulation applications globally. The development of the new Polymeric FR is the result of Dow’s continuing search for more sustainable products and in this case for a flame retardant that can replace hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD).
Phased Commercialization Plans by Licensees
Today, DGTL also announced the first license agreement with Chemtura Corporation (NYSE: CHMT). This first license agreement makes it possible for Great Lakes Solutions, a Chemtura business, to produce and sell the newly developed Polymeric FR for use in XPS and EPS foam. DGTL is currently engaged in advanced licensing discussions with several other interested companies and expects to finalize these agreements by the end of the year. DGTL expects this will enable global supply security, foster market competition and help facilitate a smooth industry conversion to the new technology as EPS and XPS manufacturers adopt Polymeric FR, thereby becoming the new global standard.
To enable formulation optimizations and market qualifications, it is expected that Polymeric FR licensees will have interim quantities available throughout 2011. This will be followed, likely in 2012, by large plant construction by the licensees, making significantly larger commercial volumes available by 2013-2015 that are in line with the current HBCD market demand. This should allow the global polystyrene foam insulation industry to make a smooth transition, as national regulations are implemented.
The development of Dow’s Polymeric FR technology comes against the backdrop of an ongoing search for more sustainable products and pending regulatory restrictions on HBCD initiated by the European Union’s Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical (REACH) substances program and several other national regulations
Breakthrough Sustainable Chemistry
The Polymeric FR is a stable, high molecular weight, Non-PBT (Persistent, Bioaccumulative, Toxic) substance that has been subjected to an extensive and robust Environment, Health & Safety (EH&S) testing regimen and evaluation, confirming a more sustainable profile. Furthermore, it provides a fire safety solution for EPS and XPS foams to enable these thermal insulation materials to continue to meet the increasing demands of global energy efficiency regulations.
Dow’s Polymeric FR technology is the result of several years of research and development efforts, including significant investments led by The Dow Chemical Company that leverage the company’s polymer, chemistry, and process science and applications know-how and EH&S expertise. Dow has worked with potential licensees to validate the technology and enable them to start scaling up a commercially viable production process.
Further updates and statements will be shared by DGTL and DGTL licensees in the future.


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Technology is ever changing and always progressing, to the point where a computer you buy today will become “out of date” in the next couple of months thanks to faster processors, faster RAM chips, sharper displays, more powerful GPUs, and etc. This is why it does seem a bit odd that people would actually bid on old computers.
Well if that old computer is an iconic computer like the Apple 1, we guess it makes sense as it is a part of the history of one of the largest tech companies in the world today. That being said, it seems that a report from Reuters has revealed that the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, has recently bid on the Apple 1 computer’s motherboard and won it at an auction for the price of $905,000.
What made the motherboard even more valuable was the fact that despite it having been built back in 1976, it is still functional. The device bears the model number 01-0070 and is one of the 50 Apple 1 computers that Apple’s co-founders Steve Wozniak and the late Steve Jobs had built back in the day out of Jobs’ garage in Palo Alto, California.
According to the Henry Ford president Patricia Mooradian in explaining their acquisition, “The Apple-1 was not only innovative, but it is a key artifact in the foundation of the digital revolution.”


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Taco Bell Drive-Thru Rage As Woman Screams at Driver
Read on to find out what happened.
It was an attempt at a feel-good gesture that caused a double fracas: One in real life, and one on social media. A woman who was part of a "pay it forward" chain at a Taco Bell drive-thru became outraged when she was asked to pay for a $60 order, getting out of her car to confront the big spender. Read on to find out what happened and how social media commenters reacted.
A "pay it forward" chain is a trend in which a person in a take-out line—Starbucks is a frequent site—volunteers to pay for the order of the person behind them. That person is encouraged to do the same for the customer after them. Anyone can end the chain by declining to pay for another person's order. But customers who've been unwittingly caught up in the fad have complained they feel pressured to participate, and fast-food employees don't love it either; they say it can slow down the line for everyone.
On Aug. 9, Meredith Donovan posted a video on TikTok, claiming her $60 Taco Bell order infuriated the customer in front of her. "So I just got screamed at in the Taco Bell drive-thru," she began. "The car in front of me pulls up to the pay window. I'm on my phone, and I just hear a car door slam," Donovan recalled in the video. The woman got out of her vehicle and started "running toward my car, screaming her head off," she added.
"I couldn't make out what she was saying at first so I rolled up my windows and locked the door cause I was scared." Eventually, she could make out the word "scam." Donovan said the story behind the freakout was "actually kind of funny." "Basically the car before her paid for her meal, so she was gonna be a good person and pay for the car behind her," she recalled. "But I guess the car didn't get behind her in time and she ended up stuck with my expensive order." But the situation de-escalated. Donovan said ultimately the woman "apologized" and they "had a little laugh."
Donovan admitted that a $60 Taco Bell order sounded like "a lot of food" but that it wasn't all for her. TikTok commenters were confused about how a $60 Taco Bell order was even possible.
"Did you get 55 tacos?" one inquired.
"55 tacos 55 Crunchwraps 100 cheese roll-ups," said another.
"At $1.69 for the classic taco, you max out at about 34 tacos and tax," one practical man calculated.
"That's the chance u take when u do it," said one TikTok commenter. "Obviously not everyone set up for pay it forward. Bad idea," wrote another. "Stop the "pay it forward" bs. If you want to help, order extra food and give it to the growing number of homeless people you're seeing on the streets," another suggested.


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According an earlier rumor, it was suggested that Nokia could be unveiling a couple of new phones at the Microsoft BUILD conference which is taking place on the 2nd of April. The phones in question are the Nokia Lumia 630 and the Lumia 930, but now according to a new rumor, it seems that the Lumia 930 might not be announced at BUILD after all.
This is according to the folks at NokiaPowerUser who claims that their sources have told them that this is because the Lumia 930 is simply not ready for unveiling yet. Perhaps they’re still testing the device or there might be production difficulties, but either way there is a chance the Lumia 930 will be a no-show at the event.
We guess this sort of makes sense since the Lumia 630 has been consistently leaked over the past couple of months, while there has not been any word regarding the Lumia 930. Of course it is possible that Nokia is being very secretive with the Lumia 930, but either way we guess we’ll just have to wait until BUILD to find out.
On the upside, NPU’s source also claims that the Developer Preview of Windows Phone 8.1 will be released on the 8th of April and that the consumer version should see a release early May, so that’s something to look forward to. All the details will be revealed at BUILD so do check back with us then for the details.


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“You’re going to hear directly from the person who manages the Apple App Store,” promises Google attorney Glenn Pomerantz.
He says Apple will explain that Google’s Play Store is its primary competitor for apps. Which sounds obvious, but hey, market definition.
Google apologizes for ‘missing the mark’ after Gemini generated racially diverse Nazis
Meet the new Google sign-in page
Google pauses Gemini’s ability to generate AI images of people after diversity errors
Avatar: The Last Airbender is everything that’s disappointing about Netflix’s live-action cartoon shows
Framework is selling a cheap modular laptop


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Micro Focus saw revenue slip in the first half of its financial year, it said today, although earnings rose 1.8 per cent to $662.3m (£530.6m), boosted by a wider profit margin.
Adjusted revenue shrank 5.3 per cent year on year to $1.7bn (£1.3bn) in the six months to the end of April, the British IT company said, within guidance of a full-year drop of between four per cent and six per cent.
Revenue fell 7.5 per cent to $1.65bn on a statutory basis.
The drop in sales sent shares down almost two per cent in early morning trading to 2,056p.
However, adjusted earnings before tax, interest, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) climbed to $662.3m compared to the same period of 2018.
Micro Focus managed to derive more profit from its legacy software business in the first half of the year, rising 2.8 percentage points to 40 per cent on constant currency basis.
Adjusted net debt fell 12.2 per cent to $3.8bn while diluted earnings per share climbed 8.4 per cent to $0.86 per share.
What Micro Focus said
Chief executive Stephen Murdoch said: “We have made steady progress this half year, delivering against our financial and operational commitments and doing what the company does best: making, selling and supporting infrastructure software solutions that customers value and rely on.
“Micro Focus helps customers around the world to drive further returns from their existing investments while also taking advantage of new technologies and innovations to support their digital transformation.
“We have continued to make progress on our significant program of work to fully integrate the HPE Software business through the sustained application of the Micro Focus business model. As a result, we are pleased to reiterate full-year guidance.”
Main image credit: Getty


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This all sounds depressingly familiar, and probably speaks volumes on broader media consumption patterns. According to some very sobering and flattening stats emerging on the app space, only the tiniest sliver of top-ranked apps generate any meaningful downloads at all. In fact, pouring through the numbers from Berlin-based Adeven, roughly two-thirds of all apps in Apple’s App Store are never downloaded – and are essentially zombies to consumers.
That’s about 400,000 apps out of a total of 650,000, leaving 250,000 with any action at all. But according to Adeven, most of those are also languishing. “The reality is there are only a couple of thousand apps that really make some kind of downloads,” Adeven CEO Christian Henschel told GigaOM.
And, an even smaller percentage are generating anything meaningful on the revenue side.
“The top 25 tend to be the same companies who spend millions of dollars to get to the top of those lists. If you’re an independent, small app publisher, then it’s really tough to be discovered.”
This sharply resembles the music space, where artists boosted by major label promotion tend to dominate the charts. That is, with shocking homogeneity across radio, iTunes, Spotify, BigChampagne, and Amazon. And, make no mistake, those hits are often supported by hard dollars – sometimes quite directly.
Visibility is critical, which goes a long way towards explaining why Universal Music Group demanded the removal of Grooveshark’s app from both the App Store and Google Play. On the more open Android side, users can still find the Grooveshark app, though at the Bandwidth Conference in San Francisco last year, a Grooveshark executive told Digital Music News that this was essentially the same as being removed.
Adding more context to the picture, researcher Flurry noted that early-stage opportunities are mostly vanishing as app environments become more mature. “As industries mature, we expect established players and brands to invade from other platforms, depressing opportunities for many early entrants,” the group explained. “Along with this, we expect to see market revenue concentrate among fewer larger players.”
In other words, the rich are getting richer. Here’s a breakdown showing the complete revenue domination by the top 100 apps. That’s not very many.


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Union Bank of India signs agreement with LIC Mutual Fund
Hyderabad : Union Bank of India has signed an agreement with LIC Mutual Fund for distribution of their Mutual Fund products through Union Bank Branches. The agreement was signed by Shri Sanjay Narayan, General Manager of Union Bank of India and Shri Nityanand Prabhu, Executive Director & Business Head, LIC Mutual Fund, in the presence of Shri T.S.Ramakrishnan, MD & CEO of LIC Mutual Fund.
Union Bank of India has been showing good performance in third party income, and is closely working with the Insurance and Mutual Fund partners, to provide niche products to their customers.Speaking on the occasion, Shri Sanjay Narayan, GM, Union Bank of India said “At Union Bank of India, it has always been our endeavour to provide best of the products to our customers.
We are happy to announce our tie-up with LIC Mutual Fund, which will augur well for our customers especially in rural and semi-urban areas”. Shri T.S.Ramakrishnan, MD & CEO of LIC Mutual Fund said “We are delighted to partner with Union Bank of India to offer our mutual fund products.Union Bank and LIC MF’s extensive reach across the country, especially in the rural and semi-urban areas, will enable us to reach wider diaspora of investors.”
About the Bank:
Union Bank of India with 8729 Branches, is the fourth largest PSB after amalgamation in terms of business volumes. The total business of Union Bank of India has crossed 18 trillion for Sep,2022. Union Bank of India has been in the forefront in offering customised products with very competitive pricing.
The Bank has also taken up lot of digital initiatives to empower its customers with ease of doing business with the Bank. In the recent EASE rankings released by DFS, Union Bank of India has improved upon its performance under various parameters, which the Bank attributes to its highly motivated workforce coupled with cutting edge technology initiatives adopted.
About LIC Mutual Fund
LIC Mutual Fund (LICMF) was established on 20th April 1989 by LIC of India, is one of the oldest & leading Mutual Fund operating in India, which is sponsored by LIC of India, trusted brand in the Insurance Industry.
LICMF offer a complete basket of 28 products covering Debt, Equity, Hybrid, Passive and Solution oriented Schemes. LICMF’s Average Assets Under Management (AAuM) is INR 17,232 crores as on October 31, 2022. LICMF operates through 31 Branch Offices and 182 Investor Service Centres (as on Oct -2022).
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Tesla company CEO Elon Musk recently visited the Tesla giga factory plant in Germany near Berlin. He praises the interior design of this giga factory plant in Germany and he also announced that the new model electric car will be affordable.
According to the Berlin news channel on Twitter/X. They said that Elon Musk has announced the launch of the next generation affordable electric car in Europe which will cost $25K.
Although the visiting video of Elon Musk is very short. In this video, they did not reveal any affordable electric car. The news was published by Tesla related websites.
Also, Musk congratulated the team and praised the factory, which makes the Tesla Model Y for the European market. He also shows the entire factory with art.
The next generation affordable electric car production will start in Mexico, Europe and also in Germany. The news also shared by the website that the upcoming affordable electric car will be produced in china for Asian markets. The new model Tesla electric car may come to the market next end of this year.


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Marketers will be tuning in to find out if Amazon’s live English Premier League coverage heralds a new opportunity for data-driven brand-building, says Alex Brownsell.
Liverpool’s quest for the club’s first English Premier League title is likely to attract some fresh interest from viewers in Seattle, Washington in the coming days.
The Reds’ clash with Merseyside rivals Everton on Wednesday night (4 December) is among a clutch of EPL soccer matches to be simulcast by Amazon in the UK. A further batch of games will be shown by the e-commerce giant over Christmas, marking one its biggest moves into live sports content to date.
Credibility will be Amazon’s key aim, particularly after the debacle of its broadcast of last year’s US Open tennis tournament. Amazon has recruited a who’s-who of British football royalty to lead its coverage, including ex-England strikers Alan Shearer and Peter Crouch and former France star Thierry Henry. A tongue-in-cheek campaign demonstrates how customers can access the coverage across devices, including on mobile app and via Amazon’s Fire TV services.
For brands, however, the more pressing question is likely to be whether the acquisition of EPL rights hints at an impending introduction of advertising to Amazon’s Prime Video service. Indeed, a report by Digiday suggests UK ad buyers have been approached regarding 13 minutes of “TV-like inventory” set to run during live streams.
It certainly makes sense. Live sport remains one of the few opportunities for TV media owners to attract mass, live broadcast audiences. Furthermore, fans – particularly in the case of sports like soccer and the NFL – have come to expect ads during appropriate intermissions. A 60-second video spot after Liverpool and Everton’s players have jogged into the changing rooms for the half-time break would be received quite differently to a mid-roll ad interrupting a viewer’s favourite Netflix show.
Moreover, it would help Amazon in its efforts to attract ad dollars from the brand-building pots currently reserved for media channels like TV and OOH.
The firm’s staggering ad revenue growth has been fuelled by the popularity of search formats such as Sponsored Product, and investment has largely been secured from brands’ performance marketing budgets.
Marketers are now keen to understand how the platform can be used to contribute towards brand metrics via its largely homogenous formats and indistinct Store designs, especially as Amazon becomes more integral to customer journeys.
As advertisers grapple with a scarcity of broadcaster video on-demand (BVOD) inventory in the markets like the UK, it seems an open goal for Amazon to unleash its unrivalled audience data into the connected TV space.
Yet, despite the scale of the opportunity, brands may find themselves disappointed by Amazon’s approach, according to Richard Kirk, Managing Partner (Strategy & Data) at Zenith UK.
Writing for WARC’s Marketer’s Toolkit 2020 report, Kirk warns that Amazon’s “left brain, engineering-led culture” is likely to hinder the development of brand-building ad formats which do little to enhance “relevancy” and may damage user experience. See the platform’s ruthless decision to scrap a sampling programme popular among brands but considered “creepy” by some users.
“Whilst Amazon can deliver a scaled audience, building new formats that help advertisers land their message in an attention-grabbing way will be tough, as it rubs up against ‘customer obsession’, Amazon’s raison d’être,” Kirk added.
The platform’s hesitancy can be neatly summed up in one statistic: while non-members spend on average $600 a year with Amazon, that figure surges to $1400 in the case of Prime members. In other words, before introducing any ads to Prime Video, Amazon would have to be absolutely certain it could raise enough in ad revenues to compensate for potential losses from advertising-phobic customers cancelling their Prime subscription.
Amazon appears to be dipping its toes into the water of immersive, full-screen ad formats. Yet, given its deep-rooted emphasis on efficiency and customer experience, marketers would be unwise to pin their hopes on the platform becoming a natural home for brand-building marketing.
Read more in WARC’s deep-dive report: Marketer’s Toolkit 2020: Building brands in the walled gardens.


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NFT.NYC to kick oﬀ its 4th Annual NFT Community Event at Radio City Music Hall
New York City, NY - March 30, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Each year, NFT.NYC brings together the global NFT community of Brands, Developers, Entrepreneurs, Gamers, Artists, Investors, Collectors, and Enthusiasts.
The 2022 event will be hosted across 7 venues in Times Square, including the iconic Radio City Music Hall.
Other NFT.NYC venues include
- New York Marriott Marquis
- Palladium Times Square
- The Edison Ballroom
- The Edison Rooftop
- The Town Hall
- Margaritaville Resort Times Square
Jodee Rich, NFT.NYC Co-founder, spoke about the growth of the event: "This is our fourth year hosting the event. The addition of Radio City Music Hall to the lineup of great venues will provide an ideal platform for some of the most exciting speakers within the NFT community."
NFT.NYC's programming at Radio City will be hosted by Coinbase, with exclusive stage sponsor, Ripple.
"NFT.NYC brings together the diverse, global NFT community of creators, developers, companies, projects, and educators for an inspirational exchange of ideas. We are thrilled to present NFT.NYC." - Coinbase
"After a positive experience participating at NFT.NYC 2021, Ripple is excited to continue our partnership in 2022 as a Platinum Stage Sponsor," said David Schwartz, CTO at Ripple. "We look forward to further showcasing the long-term utility and benefits possible for NFTs with the XRP Ledger."
NFT.NYC is attracting the ecosystem's top projects, presenting new ideas, technologies and launching initiatives to thousands of its attendees.
Over 1,000 NFT community members will speak at NFT.NYC 2022.
99 days out from the event, 3,500 attendees (from over 60 countries) have already registered for NFT.NYC.
At the same point in the lead up to the 2021 event, only 10% of total tickets had been sold.
NFT.NYC expects the 2022 event to sell out early.
The 2021 event sold out with 5,600 participants and over 3,000 on the waitlist.
NFT.NYC 2022 tickets can be purchased via credit card or cryptocurrency. Ticket prices will increase on May 8th: NFT.NYC/Register
Since its inaugural conference in February 2019, NFT.NYC has hosted events for thousands of attendees that feature the leading speakers and best projects in the Non-Fungible Token ecosystem.
- Give the Community a Voice
Put as many speakers on stage as possible to provide the community with a voice.
Bring people together who are working on like projects.
Educate the global community about the value of NFTs
Follow NFT.NYC on Twitter: @NFT_NYC
+1 303 718 0562
This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders
Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions.
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At midday as we speak, on the steps of Lincoln Center, the previous residence of New York Fashion Week, Sara Ziff of the Model Alliance joined New York State Senator Brad Hoylman and the fashions Karen Elson and Teddy Quinlivan, amongst others, to announce the Fashion Workers Act. The proposed laws, which is co-sponsored by Hoylman and New York State Assembly Member Karines Reyes, would regulate administration businesses and supply labor safety not just for fashions, but additionally hair and make-up artists, stylists, influencers, and different behind-the-scenes creatives.
“The creative workforce behind [fashion’s] success is totally unprotected,” Ziff mentioned in her opening assertion. “This Bill will close the loophole through which management companies escape accountability and it will require those companies to pay models and creatives within 45 days, provide models and creatives with copies of contracts and agreements, and discontinue predatory practices such as mystery fees, overcharging for services, [and] cramming 10 models in one apartment and charging them well above the market rent.”
Models Karen Elson and Teddy Quinlivan shared tales of late funds and non-payments, and made the case for monetary transparency. “It is demoralizing and humiliating to have to beg to be paid,” Elson started. “Young creatives entering the fashion industry don’t have the means, nor the support that I do. They think they’re walking into a coveted and lucrative industry, and, yes, often they assume it will be financially rewarding, yet the harsh reality is that fashion is a very expensive business to break into and the lack of financial transparency can force creatives into a huge amount of debt.”
Senator Hoylman backed Elson up: “If a supermodel like Karen Elson can’t get paid on time, how do we expect the thousands of models who aren’t well known and creatives that work behind the scenes to get their check and have the protections that every worker in New York State deserves?” he requested. According to his figures, the style trade constitutes 5.5% of the New York state’s workforce, and brings in $11 billion in wages and almost $2 billion in tax revenues annually.
The Fashion Workers Act follows on the heels of landmark laws that made California the primary state to require hourly wages for garment employees. Today is the 111th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory hearth. Hoylman made a connection between the labor motion spawned by that tragedy during which 146 garment employees, principally younger ladies, died, and the targets of the Fashion Workers Act in 2022. “First, agencies are going to have a fiduciary responsibility to models and creatives. Second, we’re going to make sure they get paid on time and in full. Third, we’re going to prohibit unreasonably high commissions and outrageous fees, and fourth, we’re going to create new protection against retailiations for all of these workers.”


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(National Taxpayers Union Foundation) Although the pandemic is complicating Americans’ Halloween plans, many families will continue to share candy to celebrate the day. In spite of the pandemic, one thing hasn’t changed: Americans will continue to pay a hidden tax for the Halloween candy we buy.
The main ingredient in candy is, of course, sugar. Americans pay more than twice the world price for sugar as a result of the federal government’s sugar program.
The costly sugar program not only increases prices, it forces some U.S. manufacturers to relocate abroad in order to buy affordable sugar, and it encourages foreign countries to restrict American agricultural exports.
According to Kirk Vashaw, CEO of Ohio-based Spangler Candy, which makes products including Dum Dums and candy canes, “If we could just buy sugar at the price the rest of the world pays for sugar, we could move the 250 jobs we have in Mexico to Ohio. This is basically government price fixing of the sugar market.”
The sugar program can be thought of as an “OPEC for sugar,” only instead of paying inflated prices for oil as a result of a foreign cartel, Americans pay inflated prices for sugar as a result of domestic policies.
Sugar producers have gone to great lengths to secure special treatment from the federal government. Sugar accounts for 1.4 percent of the value of U.S. crops, but in 2019, sugar producers funded half of all crop-related lobbying. For the current election cycle, political action committee (PAC) spending by sugar producers exceeds PAC spending for all other crops combined.
Sugar producers have every right to lobby Congress and donate to candidates. But this Halloween Americans should be concerned, if not scared, about a federal government that is willing and able to impose a hidden tax on the rest of us in order to benefit a relative handful of politically connected sugar producers.


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The Joe Fresh empire is spreading like wildfire in North America
Mr. Joe Fresh, Joe Mimran, has been busy this summer with more than just keeping up his George Hamilton–worthy tan. First, there was the launch of his first U.S. store, a pop-up shop in East Hampton, which is offering free pedicab rides to various beaches and free ice cream in an attempt to lure customers in to buy its summer collection. Not one to rest on his laurels, Mimran has been planning store openings like crazy. Beyond the plans for four new stores in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut this fall, three more are slated to open in Toronto: at the Golden Mile Shopping Centre, at Queen and Portland and at Carlton and Church (in the revamped Maple Leaf Gardens). And through all this expansion, Mimran had time to give an interview to Racked on “conquering N.Y.C.” (despite Joe Fresh not being open there yet).
In news that will surprise no one, Mimran is an Upper East Side kind of guy (we don’t exactly see him fraternizing with hipster parents around Williamsburg), and after singing Canada’s praises, saying “Canadians are a diverse bunch with heritages and traditions originating from all over the world,” he gets in a mild dig at Toronto, claiming that New York “has incredible verve and people are out on the streets more. You see much more fashion walking around N.Y.C. than in Toronto.” It’s kind of strange to see Americans getting so excited about a grocery store clothing brand, but hey, they never had to buy their underwear with their hormone-free, grass-fed lamb.


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n March 7, 2023, the Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone (ZAEZ), crowned “China’s Aerotropolis” by the People’s Daily in May 2019, celebrated its 10th anniversary. And what an amazing decade of development it has been. From a modest domestic airport surrounded by a scattering of poor villages tied to subsistence agriculture, a global air logistics hub has been developed supporting a manufacturing powerhouse and export dynamo whose trade reached US$78 billion in 2021.
Foxconn employs more than 200,000 at its Apple iPhone plant.
Served by 24 international air cargo airlines connecting the ZAEZ and Henan Province to 41 foreign cities, Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport is key to China’s Air Silk Road strategy to accelerate shipping of its high-value, time-critical industrial output abroad.
Served by 24 international air cargo airlines connecting the ZAEZ and Henan Province to 41 foreign cities, Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport is key to China’s Air Silk Road strategy to accelerate shipping of its high-value, time-critical industrial output abroad. The airport has been the nation’s fastest growing since 2013 based on average annual percent increases in cargo volumes. It ranked 38th worldwide in cargo throughput in 2021, exceeding 700,000 metric tons, of which 79% was international.
The primary economic engine for the ZAEZ’s dramatic cargo and trade growth has been Foxconn, which operates Apple’s largest iPhone assembly complex employing over 200,000 workers. Together with other assemblers, the Zone produces nearly a half-million smartphones a day for shipment worldwide.
Much More Than Smartphones and Logistics
The ZAEZ is about much more than smartphones. During the past 10 years, huge investments have occurred in biomedicine parks, cross-border e-commerce complexes, fresh meat and seafood ports, new-energy vehicles and semiconductor manufacturing. These diverse sectors have contributed to the Zone’s average annual gross regional product growth of 16%.
The ZAEZ is likewise about more than air logistics. A comprehensive transportation hub integrating air, highway and rail has been implemented. In the near future, river transport will be added. Moreover, one of China’s largest high-speed rail stations opened in mid-2022 near the airport, markedly expanding the ZAEZ’s labor catchment area.
Along with highly favorable industrial siting incentives and policies that speed business registration, land acquisition and construction, pillars for elevated talent attraction have been established through significant educational, research, business services, leisure and urban amenity upgrading.
The ZAEZ’s 10th anniversary establishes a milestone in modern aerotropolis development. Its rapid upward trajectory as a global logistics hub and advanced industrial growth pole for Central China seems poised to continue.
Dr. John D. Kasarda is President of the Aerotropolis Institute China and Chief Advisor to the Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone.


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Chinese live-streaming platform Huya has announced an exclusive partnership with Serbian based production firm Relog Media for its upcoming HomeSweetHome CS:GO series.
As a result of the partnership, Huya has acquired exclusive regional streaming, broadcasting, VOD and distribution rights in China for its event.
HomeSweetHome CSGO will run a series of cups over the course of the calendar year, with Huya’s exclusivity extending to a minimum of nearly 3,000 hours of broadcast content, according to the press release.
“We are incredibly excited to welcome the Home Sweet Home brand to our platform,” commented a Huya spokesperson “Our FPS fans will now have high-quality CS:GO content throughout the year. Our platform will have the most engaging ways to view and experience every plant, clutch and ace.”
The partnership between the two parties was brokered by data platform GRID Esports. The firm is said to have played a significant role in ‘delivering multiple headline sponsors and broadcasters’ for Relog’s HSH events.
Huya is no stranger to the esports industry, with the platform consistently broadcasting a variety of competitive gaming events. In the third quarter of last year, the platform broadcasted a total of 119 third-party esports events, ranging from the League of Legends World Championship to Honor of Kings’ World Champions Cup.
Petar Marković, the COO of Relog Media, added: “Home Sweet Home was born out of a need for around the clock, high-octane CSGO action during a time in which everyone was asked to stay indoors. As we expand the brand to a fully global presence we could not ask for a better partner than Huya.”
Late last year, it was revealed that Relog had purchased the licensing of HSH from GRID Esports. As part of the deal, the production company looked to expand the tournament through the use of seasonal cups and has also announced its intention to launch a Dota version of the series.
Following the licencing deal, HSH has unveiled its first tournament, SnowSweetSnow Cup 1, and has signed a variety of teams to contacts for upcoming events. These include the likes of Virtus.pro, forZe, Gambit, Sprout, and more.
Esports Insider says: Relog Media’s partnership with Huya will undoubtedly strengthen the competition’s reputation in China. By having such a major partner to its portfolio, HSH has also increased its profile before the series has even officially begun. Moreover, the deal also signifies the streaming platform’s intent to supply a wide variety of esports to its continually growing userbase.


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Over the last few weeks, we have seen many brands doing great things to help the world during the COVID-19 pandemic and initiate response campaigns. This includes companies creating new campaigns, offering support and providing free services, all of which have helped make people’s lives a bit easier and more positive during this chaotic time. Here we take a look at what brands have been doing for others.
OUR TOP RESPONSE CAMPAIGNS
Many children rely on their breakfast club programmes to provide them with a healthy start to the day. But as schools are closed at the moment, Heinz has teamed up with the charity Magic Breakfast to create the ‘Breakfast isn’t going anywhere’ campaign to provide 12 million breakfasts to school children who are at risk of starting their day hungry.
Heinz has stated that the 12 million breakfasts equate to one breakfast a day, five days a week for eight weeks for children who depend on their school’s breakfast programme.
PRET A MANGER
Pret’s doors are still open as it is now operating as a takeaway. The company is providing NHS workers with great benefits (absolutely well deserved), giving free hot drinks and a 50% discount on all Pret products.
Many elderly people are too scared to go shopping for fear of catching the potentially life-threatening virus; others are just overwhelmed by panic buyers and busy environments.
Therefore, along with several other supermarkets, Iceland has allocated a specific time slot during opening hours purely for OAPs. They have dedicated between one and three hours in the day to the elderly to make them feel more at ease whilst they are doing their shopping.
The PrettyLittleThing founder and CEO Umar Kamami is donating his salary in March to support small businesses that have been impacted by COVID-19. Additionally, he will be providing mentoring to small businesses that require it. Umar was a small business owner once, so he can empathise with the struggles that such companies face.
Driven by IKEA Spain, the brand has created an advert about reconnecting with your home. The campaign urges people to practice social distancing, using #StayHome to drive engagement on social media. The ad highlights how your home is your safe place when times are bad and suggests that lockdown is the time to rearrange furniture.
The parent company of Louis Vuitton has pledged to dedicate its perfume factories to manufacturing hand sanitiser to meet an anticipated shortfall amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The company will be suppling sanitiser free of charge to the French hospitals battling the COVID-19 outbreak.
Much like LVMH, the independent brewer BrewDog has created its own hand sanitiser at its distillery in Aberdeenshire. The brand is giving away free sanitiser to those who need it, including hospitals, charities and local people.
It is amazing how people are sticking together through this uncertain and unusually dark time. The level of CSR we are witnessing from brands through their campaigns and support is exactly what we as a world, need and value in a time of crisis.


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Employees of and visitors to some businesses in Hondo are required to wear masks after the Hondo City Council issued its 5th Emergency Decree in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic last Thursday, April 16.
The decree follows a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommendation that cloth face coverings be worn in public settings where maintaining social distances of at least six feet are difficult.
Hondo’s new directive requires that masks be when visiting hospitals, medical clinics, veterinary clinics, and restaurants.
“This is something that the staff has already been doing at these locations, but it is now mandatory for those visiting the sites to do so as well,” stated an April 17 letter signed by Mayor Jim Danner and City Manager Kim Davis.
Restaurant workers and employees of all essential businesses that have face-to-face contact with the public, including grocery stores, are also required to wear masks.
The decree also recommends that face masks be worn whenever a person leaves their home or essential business.
“Unfortunately, some people are silent carriers of this virus,” the April 17 letter states. “We need to stay vigilant to keep the impact to our friends, family and community to a minimum so we can continue to flatten the curve and reopen our businesses.”
By Marly Davis


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Private equity-backed integrated logistics solutions provider Allcargo Logistics Ltd Thursday said it has signed an agreement to acquire a controlling stake in Gati Ltd for about $58 million (Rs416 crore).
As part of the deal, Allcargo will acquire up to 10.3 million shares, equating to 19.43 per cent stake, in Gati from its promoters and through a preferential issue for a total of almost Rs 177.9 crore. It has also made an open offer to acquire additional 26 per cent from public shareholders for about Rs 238 crore, Allcargo said in a regulatory filing.
If the open offer is fully subscribed, private equity firm Acacia Partners-backed Allcargo will end up holding 44-45 per cent stake in Gati for a total consideration of Rs 416 crore. Allcargo will fund the transaction through a mix of internal accruals and debt.
Upon completion of the proposed preferential allotment, the company will be classified as promoter of the Gati along with the existing promoters of Gati, the filing added.
“The exponential rise in cross-border and domestic e-commerce has opened up new markets for traditional express players such as Gati. With Allcargo’s existing strength in the ocean transportation business and Gati’s expertise in land and air transportation, we are now in a unique position to offer our customers a suite of truly multimodal solutions,” said Shashi Kiran Shetty, chairman, Allcargo.
Incorporated in 1995, Gati is engaged in the business of express distribution (surface, air and rail parcel), supply chain management solutions, value-added transportation solutions, e-commerce, logistics, cold chain logistics, freight forwarding segments, operation of fuel stations, among others.
The company has a net worth of Rs 767.5 crore and turnover of Rs 516 crore as on March 31, 2019 on a standalone basis.
Mumbai-based Allcargo operates container freight stations and inland container depots and provides multimodal transport solutions. With this acquisition, Allcargo is also entering into a strategic relationship with Japanese freight forwarder Kintetsu World Express, which owns 3.99 percent in Gati. This partnership will allow Allcargo and KWE to jointly explore and pursue further collaborations within and outside India.
Gati is Allcargo’s second acquisition in less than three years. In March 2017, it had acquired a 49 per cent stake in its arm South Asia Terminals Private Ltd from Hind Terminals. After the transaction, South Asia Terminal became a wholly owned subsidiary of Allcargo.


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Viasat IPTV for Telenor
March 4, 2010
Modern Times Group (MTG), has confirmed that Viasat Broadcasting has signed a long term agreement with Telenor which will enable Viasat to distribute its pay-TV channel packages to Telenor's broadband customers.
Viasat's channel packages will continue to be available to Telenor subsidiary Bredbandsbolaget's subscribers in Sweden and will also be included in Telenor's IPTV offering in Norway, which is expected to be launched for fibre-connected broadband customers during the Spring of 2010.
Telenor had 623,000 broadband customers in Norway and 574,000 broadband customers in Sweden at the end of 2009.


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PayRetailers acquires LatAm payments companies
PayRetailers has acquired Chile’s Paygol and Colombia’s Pago Digital as part of its aim to create a seamless, barrier-free and...Read More
The publishing and market intelligence platform for global fintech and financial services innovation. FinTech Intel is a forward thinking provider of market information, news and reports for the expansive and fast growing global fintech industry. FinTech Intel are also the proud organisers of The UK FinTech Awards, Europe FinTech Awards, US FinTech Awards, Asia FinTech Awards and FinTech Awards MENA.


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The Breitling Replica Navitimer AOPA has just been released as a tribute to the 1950s original
The cult pilot’s Breitling replica watches uk continues its reign with the launch of a limited edition inspired by the very first Navitimers from the 1950s. The new model’s release also coincides with the 75th anniversary of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, and the AOPA’s 60th year of association with Breitling.
The original Navitimer was developed from Breitling’s onboard chronographs for navigation calculations in aeroplanes, which it began producing in the early 1930s. Twenty years later, the world’s pilots were demanding chronographs for the wrist, and the Navitimer – complete with circular slide rule – was born in 1962.
The Swiss Breitling replica watches world’s largest aeronautical association loved it, snapping the Navitimer up as their official timepiece – the reason that a lot of surviving Navitimers from the 1950s and 60s are stamped with the AOPA’s winged logo. It proved so successful that the Navitimer has been in continuous production ever since.
The new self-winding Navitimer AOPA bears the same gold logo on the black dial and engraved on the stainless steel caseback, guaranteeing it a place in the hearts of future collectors. Perhaps more excitingly – certainly for anyone welcoming the recent trend towards slightly more modest case sizes, is the news that the AOPA Navitimer measures 42mm across. Inside, it’s powered by the high frequency COSC chronometer-certified Breitling Caliber 23, and – of course – features a bidirectional rotating bezel with circular slide rule.
Staying faithful to the original, the new dial sports three black subdials in a 3-6-9 arrangement, but has ditched the numerals in favour of legible indices. There’s a date window too, discreetly tucked between 4 and 5 o’clock. The cambered sapphire glass has been glareproofed on both sides, and the watch is water resistant to 30m.
The Replica Breitling Navitimer AOPA will be limited to 500 pieces, and comes on either a crocodile leather strap or steel bracelet.


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CTV is now an integral part of media buying strategies, with ad spend expected to top $20 billion in the U.S. this year, according to Tru Optik*. But fraud and lack of transparency remain a top concern for CTV buys, according to panelists at the recent 614 Group Brand Safety Summit New York.
Moderated by Lung Huang, Head of Growth Solutions Kinship, Mars Petcare, the panel featured:
- Roy Rosenfeld, SVP of Product, DoubleVerify
- Olga O’Donnell, VP, Business Operations & Technology Partnerships, Amplifi US
- Bryan Everett, SVP of Business Development, Amobee
- Eric Warburton, VP, Ad Operations, Horizon
Discussion between the panelists focused on what makes CTV appealing to advertisers; the challenges of CTV; and what the industry can do to combat these challenges.
1. Advertisers are Turning to CTV
Although CTV was once seen as experimental and given small budgets, it’s now one of the fastest growing channels. During the pandemic, CTV programming viewership has skyrocketed. While other channels have seen decreased ad spend during the pandemic, CTV spend has been growing, notes Eric Warburton. But Warburton also makes the point that CTV spend was actually on the rise before the pandemic began.
CTV is not only a vehicle for video reach extension, according to the panelists; it is an essential platform to target “cord-nevers” and “cord-cutters” — a growing segment of consumers not reachable by linear-TV.
2. CTV Is Not Without its Challenges
Advertisers and brands are currently concerned with lack of transparency and fraud in CTV environments.
Lack of Transparency
The complexity of the CTV ecosystem creates a lack of transparency, explains Olga O’Donnell. During the panel, O’Donnell breaks down the ways resellers can access a publisher’s inventory at the detriment to advertisers and user experience.
This lack of transparency causes measurement challenges. Bryan Everett points out, CTV is actually behind linear TV in terms of measurability. Currently, advertisers cannot see the genre, show, episode, season or time of where their ad ran.
And, unfortunately, a lack of transparency also creates opportunities for fraud to take place.
Fraudsters, looking to make a profit, are following the increased spend in CTV. Roy Rosenfeld, SVP of Product at DV, explains that the CTV ecosystem is especially susceptible to fraud because the space is so different. Unlike other digital channels, CTV uses SSAI, which is a unique ad serving environment that allows a seller to declare themselves while the ad is already running. “Fraudsters can essentially make up inventory out of thin air and try to sell that,” Rosenfeld says.
3. There are Ways to Combat Fraud and Lack of Transparency in the CTV Ecosystem
Efforts by verification partners, such as DoubleVerify, are advancing CTV measurement and combating fraud. But to truly tackle these issues, the panelists said publishers and the industry need to act together.
What Can Publishers Do?
Publishers can take the following steps:
- Adopt measurement standards and start working with verification partners, such as DoubleVerify, to prevent fraud.
- Increase transparency to industry access and sales exclusivity.
- Pass more data in ad requests, such as show name and episode number.
What Can the Industry Do?
The whole digital advertising industry can work together to:
- Adopt enhanced measurability standards.
- Encourage active participation by buyers and sellers with industry groups such as the IAB and 4As.
The views expressed in this post are that of the individual making them, and not necessarily of DoubleVerify. In addition, all links to non-DoubleVerify websites are the property of their respective owners and DoubleVerify assumes no responsibility for the content therein.


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3 ways retailers are improving their mobile apps
For retailers, mobile apps are traditionally tricky territory. The general consensus is that it’s better to have a presence in an app store than to pass up the platform altogether, but only a retailer’s most loyal customer is going to download and use its app.
“When apps first started, the assumption for retailers was that a majority of people would use it,” said Yory Wurmser, eMarketer’s retail analyst. “But it’s actually a minority. The average shopper is not going to download the app.”
Indeed, considering the download and retention rates, investment in retailer mobile apps seems a dubious undertaking. However, brands are seeing some success with their more loyal customers. A February study on the state of mobile commerce by Criteo makes a case for how an app can drive business: The study found that for retailers who prioritize mobile apps, it’s worth it. Mobile app transactions accounted for 54 percent of all mobile transactions for the fourth quarter of 2015, while app shoppers spent more per order on average ($102) than both mobile Web ($92) and desktop shoppers ($100).
Here’s how top retailers are making a better experience in-app.
Focus on high-value customers
Since retail apps are being downloaded and used by a brand’s most loyal customers, the apps must pinpoint the behaviors of that group, and mirror them, according to Wurmser.
“The mobile app is about the core customer and improving the brand experience in store and out of store,” he said. “You have to think about what that customer would want from a rich experience and then design the app around that.”
Retailers with strong loyalty programs lend themselves to an app where customers can be identified in store, keep track of loyalty points and get exclusive membership offers. When signed into your Beauty Insider account on Sephora’s app, for example, customers can use reward points for free in-app purchases, as well as be recognized in stores through their past purchases and shopping carts.
Criteo’s report found that this investment in top-tier customers improved mobile app conversions over mobile Web conversions by 120 percent.
Localytics’ report found that in the second half of 2015, retail app “stickiness” — meaning combined download and retention rates — improved by 24 percent over 2014. Localytics CMO Josh Todd said he attributes the improvement to retailers becoming better at personalizing the app experience, especially push notifications.
“In the past, we were sending broadcast messages to all users, but how many messages are truly appropriate to everyone?” said Todd. “That’s a big improvement we’ve seen — personalized messages sent at the right time, that reflect an understanding of where the customer is on the purchasing path.”
Todd said that generic notifications (“We haven’t seen you in a while; check out what’s in your cart!”) don’t create as much incentive as personalized messages that mention specific items left in a shopping cart or a promotion. According to Localytics data, app engagement through push notifications saw an increase of 171 percent in 2015, up from an 88 percent increase in 2014.
Wurmser said that as retailers track what people have browsed and bought in the past, they’re able to personalize what merchandise is shown in a feed as well as impact offers. However, personalization still has room to grow.
“It needs to be about optimizing the user experience,” said Wurmser. “If a year from now, you can use data to predict what a user will shop for next, that will be much more useful.”
Retailers that make an effort to move in-app behavior and content outside of the app itself are at an advantage.
“Retailers have a twofold problem,” said Todd. “They want people to buy within the app, but they also want to drive people into stores. Smart retailers use the app to do both by emailing customers about their in-app shopping cart or wish-list items, and offering in store incentives to buy.”
In addition to carrying customer behavior in apps to other channels, Todd said that top retailers are partnering with other apps to promote content, sometimes within their own companies. Barneys built a second app for its native content site, The Window, and frequently shares content from the digital magazine to its retail app in order to promote trending purchases.
“Barneys’ separate but integrated properties can help them figure out what information matters to these consumers,” said Todd. “It has its engagement app, The Window, where the purpose isn’t to sell but to build a deeper relationship with the brand. Then it can combine content and offers, while targeting its most valuable consumers.”
Jose Cuervo Tequila celebrates UFC’s 30th anniversary with Kevin Holland, Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson ads
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Dr Reddy’s Accuses Amarin Of ‘Illegally’ Blocking Vascepa API Supply
Indian Firm Has Sued Originator In A New Jersey Court
Having sat on an approved Vascepa ANDA since August last year, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories has sued originator Amarin, claiming the firm has illegally cornered the market for the hard-to-manufacture active ingredient.
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On the back of a string of launches in 2021 – including the full introduction to the US market of its generic rival to Advair – Hikma has raised its full-year forecast for its generics business in anticipation of a healthy second half.
Dr Reddy’s has shaken up the market for generic Vascepa in the US by launching its own icosapent ethyl capsules to compete with Hikma’s generic and the Amarin brand, hot on the heels of the Supreme Court’s rejection of the originator’s attempt to overturn a Federal Circuit decision invalidating six Vascepa patents.
Teva was in position to introduce further generic competition to Amarin’s Vascepa following legal setbacks for the originator. However, the firm’s ANDA has since been listed as discontinued.


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“CosMedicare is a high value-added industry that combines cosmetics, medical care and beauty devices. We are doing our best so that CosMedicare can grow into a major future industry in Gwangju.”
Jeon Il-seung, president of Gwangju Cosmetic Industry Promotion Association (CEO of Rafine J), said, “Cosmedicare is a promising growth field that combines high-functional cosmetics that combine dermatology, manufacturing beauty devices, and beauty services. It can increase added value by up to 500%.”
He said, “Beyond the existing cosmetic industry for simple beauty, products that show pharmaceutical effects by increasing specific functions such as anti-aging are key. We are working closely with supporting organizations,” he added.
The Promotion Association was launched in April 2018 with about 70 member companies. In connection with Gwangju Techno Park Biomedical Materials and Parts Center, a biomedical industry control tower, it is leading the cosmedcare industry based on product development and certification. Currently, there are 88 member companies.
Chairman Jeon said, “There are about 220 cosmetics-related companies in Gwangju, but most of them are small, and they are having difficulties due to limitations in technology development, insufficient product evaluation and certification support system, and lack of global marketing capabilities. We are raising the possibility by establishing a one-stop support system for the entire lifecycle from commercialization to commercialization.”
In cooperation with Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju Technopark, and Gwangju Aged-Friendly Industry Support Center, the Promotion Association will invest 18 billion won by 2023 to manufacture and commercialize high-functional cosmetics and beauty devices. Chonnam National University Hospital is in charge of demonstrating product clinical efficacy evaluation, Gwangju Techno Park is in charge of introducing excellent cosmetic production facilities and equipment, and Gwangju Aged-Friendly Industry Support Center is in charge of demonstrating suitability for use by seniors.
In the second half of this year, the Promotion Association plans to start building a joint good manufacturing practice (GMP) production facility in charge of product development and certification in Gwangju Techno Park Complex 2. Through this, by 2030, it plans to grow 300 senior cosmed care companies, annual sales of 100 billion won, and employment of 800 people.
Chairman Jeon said, “After collecting opinions through regular meetings among member companies, we are securing support projects necessary for fostering the beauty industry, such as youth startups, technology development, and certification. We will do our best to become a new role model for this job creation and high value-added export strategy-type regional flagship industry,” he said.
Gwangju = Reporter Hansik Kim firstname.lastname@example.org


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Adventure bikes fans just got a new all-electric option to consider.
Spanish startup OX Motorcycles has just unveiled a battery-powered model called the Patagonia. The two-wheeler, which is set to go on sale this fall, is easily one of the more stylish options for anyone looking for a versatile e-motorcycle as adept at zipping across town as it is cutting through a forest.
Slowly but surely, motorcycle makers are beginning to embrace electrification. Triumph announced its first battery-powered model earlier this year, and Ducatti is hard at work on one of its own. The types of electronic bikes available are still limited, though. While there a fair number of standard, sport and off-road options on the market, fans of all-terrain adventure bikes are out of luck. As Top Gear points out, the only real choice is the Zero DSR Black Forest.
The Patagonia might change that, though. Unlike the DSR Black Forrest, which sports a slick and modern design, OX’s new offering looks distinctly retro. It’s based on the brand’s first e-bike, the One, but is longer, more upright and has had its suspension tweaked so it gets nearly two-and-half more inches of travel. It’s also been equipped with an LED headlamp, 14-liter saddle bags on both sides and knobby off-road tires. Combine all that and it looks like something Steve McQueen might’ve ridden, only equipped with what’s clearly an electric powertrain.
Speaking of which, the initial performance specs for the Patagonia raise some questions. The bike is powered by a rear-mounted 11-kW in-hub motor connected to a removable 72-volt battery pack. Ox says that this setup the bike can reach a top speed of 68 mph, which is respectable. What isn’t, though, is a range of just 62 miles. Compare that to the DSR Black Forrest, which has a top speed of 102 mph and a range of 112 miles. The point of an adventure bike is to have more freedom when you’re on the road. With the Patagonia, you likely be able to ride all day, especially since it takes five hours to fully charge.
If that doesn’t scare you off—or you just want to look cool riding around town—the Patagonia will go on sale this September. Available in either green or ochre, the bike has an announced price of $7,200. You can reserve yours now for $260 through the OX website.


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Scientists discover easy way to store methane in coffee
Used coffee beans could be a simple and cheap alternative for methane storage, new scientific research has found.
Scientists from the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea found that heating coffee beans to 700-900°C could produce stable levels of carbon capture, capable of absorbing 7% of the coffee beans’ body weight in methane in just 24 hours.
The author of the resulting paper published in the journal Nanotechnology, Christian Kemp, said: “The big thing is we are decreasing the fabrication time and we are using cheap materials. The waste material is free compared to all the metals and expensive organic chemicals needed in other processes – in my opinion this is a far easier way to go.”
Kemp started the research into coffee beans despite working on another project at the time. He said: “We were sitting around drinking coffee and looked at the coffee grounds and thought ‘I wonder if we can use this for methane storage?'”
Methane has a global warming potential 34 times higher than carbon dioxide. Methane capture and storage provides a double environmental return: it removes a harmful greenhouse gas from the atmosphere and it can then be used as a fuel that is cleaner than other fossil fuels.
The Ulsan researchers are hopeful that the methane from used coffee beans can be used as a clean energy fuel for cars in the future.
Coffee has already been recognised for its potential as a biofuel. Network Rail recently announced a partnership with bio-bean, a company that recycles waste coffee into biofuel. The partnership will see Network Rail create biofuel from the 700 tonnes of coffee waste it produces annually.
Meanwhile, sustainable farming organisation UTZ Certified has been using the wastewater from various Latin American coffee plants to help protect water resources and tackle climate change.
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