I'll be going back into the cave before next weekend.
I'm topping up my queues as much as I can.
But if I cannot make it back soon I'll definitely be back in the first week of December.
In the meantime, if you send me links and reblogs here and to @solarpunkbusiness I'll try to update at least once a week.
I dare not log in more frequently once I'm back into writing because otherwise I'll never get the thesis submitted by the deadline of 5th December
PhD UPDATE
My SECOND research article just got accepted by a high ranking design journal (just as highly ranked as the first acceptance in August) - this CHANGES everything for my thesis in a good way!! I get to take more time to rework some chapters now, extending the old deadline of 5th December to the week after Christmas. Here to celebrate with y'all on 18 Nov 2025
Foreverland, Green Spot Technologies and Kawa Project have all won Bühler Group’s future-friendly chocolate innovation programme.
Recognised for their cocoa-free ingredients, they emerged victorious from a pool of over 50 applicants to the New Chocolate Challenge, which sought to find sustainable solutions for an industry marred by climate change. The New Chocolate Challenge focused on three cocoa-free innovation routes: plant-based or upcycled sidestreams to deliver chocolate-like flavours and textures, biomass or precision fermentation to produce essential chocolate compounds (like flavours and lipids), and cell-culture approaches directly leveraging cocoa cells
Producing chocolate emits more greenhouse gases than any other food except beef, and making a single bar requires 1,700 litres of water on average. Further, the industry is the source of widespread deforestation and food waste.
The cocoa crisis has prompted the industry to look for sustainable alternatives, resilient to climate change and supply shocks.
Foreverland, based in Puglia, Italy, modernises the carob-based chocolate substitutes of the previous century with fermentation. Its ingredient, called Choruba, valorises a widely wasted food (90% of the carob fruit is discarded globally, with the seeds used for locust bean gum) and lowers water consumption by 90% and emissions by 80%, compared to conventional chocolate.
Green Spot Technologies takes a similar approach, upcycling commercial food waste by fermenting it into functional ingredients. Its cocoa-free solutions are made from fava bean fibres and grape skins, and are sold under the Milatea brand as powders, chocolate chips, and fillings. It recently raised €5M in funding to scale up these innovations.
Finally, Kawa Project uses spent coffee grounds from industrial breweries and employs a proprietary extraction and refining method to produce a powder that can be used as a substitute for alkalised cocoa powder in baking applications.
Solarpunk Fishing: How Canadian Startup Katchi is Making Ocean Harvesting More Sustainable
At the core of Katchi’s innovation is the SmartNet, a high-tech trawl that “flies” above the seabed instead of scraping it. Using hydrodynamic blocks, depth sensors, and automated winch controls, the system keeps the net at the optimal altitude to protect marine habitats and reduce drag.
Their hardware lineup also includes HydroPucks, which replace heavy trawl doors, and advanced cable-control systems that allow real-time adjustments — all designed to reduce fuel use, prevent gear damage, and improve catch efficiency. It’s a complete rethinking of how commercial fishing gear interacts with the ocean floor.
Founded by Marc d’Entremont, a lifelong commercial fisher turned entrepreneur, Katchi is built on lived experience. Marc saw first-hand how traditional trawling methods were becoming unsustainable — both environmentally and economically.
Katchi’s work is part of a larger movement toward a blue economy — one that balances ocean health with human prosperity. By reducing by-catch, lowering emissions, and preserving seabed ecosystems, they’re showing that sustainable practices can also make financial sense.
The company is shooting for commercial release in 2024, with the goal of finding a middle ground between environmental concerns and fisher l
Renewable energy, led by solar power, will grow faster than any other major source in the next few years, the annual outlooks says.
Renewable energy, led by solar power, will grow faster than any other major source in the next few years, the annual outlooks says.
The report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) said renewable energy, led by solar power, will grow faster than any other major source in the next few years and that coal and oil demand will likely peak globally by the end of this decade.
The report noted that many natural gas projects were approved in 2025 due to changes in US policy, indicating worldwide supply will rise even as questions remain about how it will be used. Meanwhile, global nuclear power capacity is set to increase by at least a third by 2035 after being stagnant for years.
The release of the annual World Energy Outlook coincided with UN climate negotiations in Brazil this week, where global leaders are calling for ways to curb the planet's warming.
Renewables and electrification will ‘dominate the future’
Energy analysts believe that the shift to clean power is happening regardless of climate policy around the world.
“The evidence on the ground is overwhelming. EV sales are taking off in many emerging countries, solar is permeating even through the Middle East,”
Dutch smartphone maker Fairphone is entering the U.S. market, betting on growing demand for repairable and sustainable devices as right-to-r
Amsterdam-based Fairphone has begun its U.S. expansion with the launch of its Fairbuds XL headphones through Amazon and plans to introduce its smartphone line later this year.
The company hopes to tap into the country’s growing “right to repair” movement, which supports consumers’ ability to fix rather than replace their electronics.
Fairphone’s approach is not about competing on power or performance, but about offering durability, ethical sourcing, and longevity.
It provides multi-year software and security support along with extended warranties — commitments that are rare in the smartphone industry. The teardown site iFixit has also given the device a perfect 10/10 repairability score, praising its design built around longevity rather than disposability.
From fleets of e-bikes to individual riders, eWaka aims to sell across Africa's delivery market.
Founded in 2021 by Celeste Vogel and Jimmy Tune, eWaka aims to provide a comprehensive service for delivering goods to the doorstep, known as the "last mile".
As well as selling e-bikes and training to individual riders, eWaka markets to companies wanting a whole fleet of e-bikes and the software to manage them
Inha Pavlii Just ten years ago, the coal industry was one of Ukraine’s largest industries. However, with the beginning of Russia’s armed agg
Just ten years ago, the coal industry was one of Ukraine’s largest industries. However, with the beginning of Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine in 2014, the decay of mining towns in temporarily-occupied territories, accumulating industry debts, and the unstable economic situation have led to the industry’s gradual decline. These challenges stimulated the development of just transition strategies for communities that were previously considered purely mining towns.
A just transition framework envisages addressing social, economic, cultural and environmental issues in regions and cities built around fossil fuel extraction.
There are many examples around the world of single-industry towns that were created on the sites of coal, oil or other natural resource extraction sites.
Once the mines were exhausted or production fell, they became depressed areas where people faced social problems and falling living standards.
In Ukraine, entire regions felt the impacts of intensive mining. In addition to those in the Donbas (an abbreviation of the “Donetsk Coal Basin”), there are also single-industry towns in other regions.
One example is Sheptytskyi (formerly known as Chervonohrad) in the Lviv region in western Ukraine. After becoming a symbol of decline and Soviet colonization, this city entered a just transition process in 1999-2000, planned for completion by 2027. The framework should breathe life into one of the most depressed cities in western Ukraine.
What is “just transition” and how does it work?
How do communities abandon coal without harming workers and the environment? Just transition success stories for coal towns do exist, including, for example, the Ruhr region in Germany.
Germany’s Ruhr region in the west can well be called the “German Donbass”. It was here where most of the country’s mines were concentrated, mining a variety of grades of coal. However, when the coal and steel crises began (1950s-1970s), the region struggled economically. When the mines had to be closed, a population outflow was inevitable, and there were no prospects for life in the Ruhr. Local residents came to the rescue, promoting the idea of “reincarnation through culture—culture through reincarnation”. Under this slogan, the Ruhr region went from a large industrial agglomeration to a center of artists, scientists and designers.
Projects to preserve the monuments of the industrial past and develop tourism helped to rebuild the region and make it attractive for living. However, it was not easy. When the mine Zollverein received protection as a state monument, it was the workers who were indignant. Germany then carried out a large-scale program to create over 200,000 new jobs in order to offer former miners an alternative.
Today, the Zollverein was preserved in the state it was in when the mine ceased operation. It houses a museum and the coal mine is now filled with exhibits, tours and tourists instead of coal. In 2010, the Ruhr was even chosen as one of Europe’s cultural capitals.
This Australian mining town offers a promising example of how to survive - and even thrive - while maintaining your green future plans
As the planet heats up and the need to move away from the main culprit – fossil fuels – becomes more urgent, this small town is a microcosm of the transformation underway in the global coal industry. As the world’s coal-producing regions grapple with how to decarbonise their economies by mid-century without devastating local communities, Collie offers a promising blueprint for a “just transition” away from coal.
The energy transition is set to cost nearly 1 million coal-mining jobs worldwide by 2050, and Australia is particularly exposed. The country is the world’s second-largest coal exporter, and nearly three-quarters of its electricity generation is coal-dependent – contributing over a third of its carbon emissions.
“The world has no choice but to move on from coal – but coal communities like Collie need to have a renewed future that guarantees workers the support, income and opportunities they need to transition to new sustainable industries,
But as the country aims to shut 90% of its coal-fired power plants by 2035, Collie has successfully garnered close to A$700 million (US$445 million) in investment to help it attract new green industries, including battery energy storage, green steel, graphite processing and magnesium refining. The money will also go to retrain and repurpose the coal workforce and revitalise the town’s high street and tourist economy.
This plan, however, was not imposed from above by officials or corporate executives. Rather it is the result of a community-led, cross-sector collaboration, forged by almost two decades of painstaking struggle.
The South West town of Collie proudly powers Western Australia through its coal mines, power stations and rich resources. And now Collie is
Spiro, a Benin-based electric motorbike company founded by Indian entrepreneur Gagan Gupta, has raised US$100m to accelerate its expansion a
Spiro, a Benin-based electric motorbike company founded by Indian entrepreneur Gagan Gupta, has raised US$100m to accelerate its expansion across Africa. The money will be used primarily to extend the network of battery-swapping stations, where riders exchange depleted batteries for fully charged ones – a model designed to overcome two of the biggest barriers to electric vehicle adoption on the continent: high upfront battery costs and limited charging infrastructure.
Waga Energy, founded in 2015 by Mathieu Lefebvre, Nicolas Paget, and Guénaël Prince, is a French company turning landfill gas into valuable biomethane using advanced membrane technology.
Valued at around $734 million, Waga Energy captures methane from waste decomposition and converts it into low-carbon fuel usable in existing gas networks.
Discover 10 European climate tech startups innovating to tackle climate change with cutting-edge clean energy, carbon capture, and sustainab
Within the nature of regenerative platform business models is a compelling ecosystem; a value-creation-coordination model that — when used w
We are at an ecological (disconnection from nature), spiritual (widespread loss of meaning and purpose), and social (inequity rising) tipping point. We can no longer sustain the broken system that got us here and showed its limits.
The characteristics of a Regenerative Platform include:
They embed a holistic point of view to design and decision-making; each decision is made taking into account the impact on other parts of the system.
They are individuals and teams aligned on a mission; impact-driven communities.
They look to create the conditions and environment for everyone to express their maximum potential and develop themselves inside and outside the company.
They focus on potential, not problems.
Non-human stakeholders are included by design.
Context is the Queen.
Shared-Governance approach.
They work for the co-evolution of the entire ecosystem.
Tunisian startup Bako Motors launches solar-powered electric vehicles
Bako Motors has introduced a line of cars and cargo vans equipped with [features] to the African market. rooftop solar panels e lithium batteriesThis combination allows the vehicles to be loaded with free energy, significantly increasing their autonomy and reducing operating costs.
According to the startup, this technology is ideal for regions with limited electrical infrastructure. like many rural areas in Africa. Free solar energy and extended autonomy: a solution designed for the African continent.Designed for urban deliveries, with a load capacity of up to 400 kilograms and a range of 100 to 300 kilometers per charge.
Bako Motors, a Tunisian startup, is creating small electric vehicles powered partly by solar energy.
The Net Zero Company’s Håkan Nordkvist talks to SustainabilityOnline about the importance of driving regenerative business and circular inno
What message do you have for businesses that are not already fostering sustainable change?
I only have one message – wake up. The two major drivers of future business are, in my mind, the digital transformation – which we’re in the middle of – and the sustainable transformation. The first is driven by technology, the second by customers and consumers.
If you think you can survive without meeting your customers’ demands, then continue doing what you are doing today. But if you believe you need to meet customer demand, then you’d better start transforming your company into a sustainable one.
It’s about survival. If you’re not making that change, you won’t be here in the next ten years.
Irish Manufacturing Research and Circuléire have launched the first All-Island Circular Venture Awards to boost Ireland’s circular innovatio
The inaugural All-Island Circular Venture Awards, led by Circuléire and funded by the Irish Government, is looking for innovations that contribute to Ireland’s transition to a low-carbon, regenerative economy.
Think design for circularity, remanufacturing, repair, circular supply chains, reverse logistics or other circular economy ideas, writes the Circuléire team.
“Pioneering circular ventures represent the bold thinking and collaborative spirit needed to redesign production and consumption system for a regenerative future.”
