10 European startups that are tackling the climate change problem through the use of technology

Businesses contribute in a major way and in multiple ways towards climate change. Internationally, businesses are responsible for up to 71% of carbon emissions that cause global warming. This is mostly from energy sector companies that use modern technology to extract of fossil fuels. It has been estimated that if the companies continue to extract fossil fuels at the same rate, the global average temperature will rise by over 4 Degree Celsius.

The question that we have to ask ourselves here is; Is it possible for these startups to be a part of the solution rather than the problem? Down below are ten European startups that use technology to be a part of the solution.

1. Altered Company: The Altered company is a business based in Stockholm that was founded in 2015. They developed a water nozzle with the ability to reduce water usage up to 98%. The process involves turning the tap's flow into a heavy mist. The product is made from lead-free eco brass and is designed to be easy to install. Furthermore, the company was awarded the 2018 Climate solver award for their product.

2. Olio: Olio, also known as 'Tinder for food', is a food exchange app. It connects people with their neighbors, local shops and cafes to ensure that surplus of food can be shared and not wasted. Founded in 2015, this London based organisation is combining technology with the sharing economy and local community to tackle the world's food waste problem.

3. PHYSEE Technologies: This company was founded in 2014 by two applied physicists. The startup has developed and patented a transparent window that can convert light into electricity. They call the product, 'Power Windows'. These 'smart windows' have the technology to evaluate environmental conditions which include light, temperature and humidity. This analysis can then be seen through the app. The World Economic Forum praised PHYSEE Technologies' endeavours by giving the company the title 'Technology Pioneer'.

4. Sympower: Sympower has a unique smart platform which involves a demand response aggregator. This promotes the use of smarter energy to ensure a carbon-free future. Big alumni's like the Climate KIC raised a 1 million Euro investment to scale up their business. This significantly reduced their CO2 emissions and saving up to 80 billion Euros

5. The Great Bubble Barrier: The Great Bubble Barrier won the Postcode Lottery Green Challenge in 2018. It is an air bubble curtain that picks up plastic pollution without affecting water flow. The startup based in Amsterdam was termed revolutionary and is already been implemented in Netherlands. The technology involves a system that directs waste into the side of the water body it is installed in which ensure easy collection of the waste without obstructing the sea life.

6. MaaS Global: MaaS Global is the proud producer of the Whim app. The app provides people with a large variety of options when it comes to transport. This eliminates the need of car ownership. All the city's mobility options are optimized into one app ensuring that city travel is as easy and eco friendly as possible. The startup was also awarded the European Startup Prize for Mobility 2018

7. Amber Mobility: This startup is based in Eidhoven. It makes use of an intelligent car sharing platform which has a modular, autonomous and customizable electric car called Amber One. It has been labeled a next generation automobile sharing platform and they have even partnered with companies like TomTom, Nvidia and Microsoft to ensure the best maps image processing and AI. Their goal is to "Drive us into the future".

8. BioCarbon Engineering: This system was founded in 2014 in the UK with the vision of planting 500 billion trees by the year 2060 with the use of futuristic drone like technology. These drones have been specialized to survey an environment and then disperse seeds across huge areas of land at an extremely high speed. This method has been called 10 times more effective as traditional hand planting.

9. BeeBryte: BeeBryte is an 'energy intelligence solution provider'.  This system provides a Software as a service platform based on the cloud. This can aid with ensuring that areas consume electricity in a more efficient and smart way while also reducing their carbon footprint. The startup just completed a 3 million dollar funding round  after winning the “Smart Cities Global Innovation Award 2017”.

10. The Ocean Cleanup: The United Nations Champion of the Earth award was awarded to the Rotterdam based startup, The Ocean Cleanup founded by the Dutch Inventor Boyan Slat who began his eco friendly efforts at the mere age of 16. The device he invented deploys tube barriers that act as an artificial coastline. These tubes then catch and collect the waste in the ocean. The aim of the startup was to rid the oceans of 90% of their plastic by 2040

These startups are clear examples that companies can do their part to ensure a green and clean future. In my opinion, the whole world can take inspiration from these inventions and similar system should be implemented internationally.

Sources and References

https://www.insightssuccess.com/role-of-businesses-in-climate-change/

https://www.eu-startups.com/2018/10/10-european-startups-that-are-tackling-climate-change-to-literally-change-the-world/