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Tag: RanMarine

A MEGA 3D-PRINTED EUROVISION TROPHY

The four-metre high 3D-printed Eurovision trophy made from recycled PET material retrieved from Rotterdam waters is a genuine eye-catcher with a sustainable green footprint. This trophy is a reflection of the city’s character, long driven by the port, innovation and collaboration.

The Rotterdam proving ground

With its rugged port buildings and superb views over the water, the Rotterdam Makers District is the ideal spot for an innovative manufacturing industry. This is where new technologies are thought out, tested and applied. An area still bristling with raw edges, offering the space for businesses and educational institutions to experiment, explore and work together on a clean and sustainable future for the port and the city.

The new technologies here are based upon digitalisation, robotics and continuous fibre additive manufacturing (CFAM), and on the application of new, sustainable energy and materials. All of this results in the Makers District being an exciting proving ground and showcase for the new economy, there for all to see.

Circular production of PET material
Young entrepreneur Wesley dos Santos is the founder of the circular water-recreation business iKapitein. Sailing on his eco-barge through the city of Rotterdam, you will become aware of the diversity that the city has to offer, ranging from historic Delfshaven to the legendary skyline. The electric eco-barge removes litter from the water as it sails along; as the vessel moves forward, its built-in litter-catching system retrieves plastic from the water. If you would prefer to be more active on the water, grab a water bike and pick litter from the water as you move about! Wesley’s mission is to see more electric boats with built-in litter-catchers and sustainable water bikes on the waters of Rotterdam. Active boating and biking, where fun, innovation, awareness and recycling come together.

The collected PET litter from Rotterdam waters is converted into printing material, which Royal 3D uses to create new products with a 3D printer. This is not just any 3D printer, it is a CFAM, purpose-built for Royal 3D by CEAD in Delft. CFAM stands for Continuous Fibre Additive Manufacturing, meaning that glass fibre is continuously added to the printing material. This produces a stronger, more rigid and consequently more sustainable end result. This material forms the basis of the giant Eurovision trophy and is fully recyclable, even if a print should go wrong.

RanMarine WasteShark

The future of the trophy
The giant trophy will be put up for auction after the Eurovision Song Contest and the proceeds will go to the Dutch company RanMarine, a Rotterdam-based business born out of a desire to improve the welfare of our world’s oceans and waterways.

Their water-cleaning WasteShark can play a significant role in helping to address the scourge of plastics, associated waste and biomass when deployed in appropriate environments. They have been specifically designed for use within ports, harbours, marinas and inland waterways.

They focus on helping to clear plastics and associated trash from waterways before they enter the ocean where their containment and collection becomes far more challenging and costly.

Read more on Rotterdam Make it Happen, visit their website

These are the Top Environmental Engineering Startups in The Netherlands (2021)

This article showcases our top picks for the best The Netherlands based Environmental Engineering startups. These startups and companies are taking a variety of approaches to innovating the Environmental Engineering industry, but are all exceptional companies well worth a follow.

We tried to pick companies across the size spectrum from cutting edge startups to established brands.

We selected these startups and companies for exceptional performance in one of these categories:

  • Innovation
    • Innovative ideas
    • Innovative route to market
    • Innovative product
  • Growth
    • Exceptional growth
    • Exceptional growth strategy
  • Management
  • Societal impact

RanMarine USA

RanMarine USA has merged US operations with the global operations of RanMarine Technology B.V., developer of the WasteShark technology and based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The WasteShark is a data-driven, autonomous aqua-drone that cleans marine waste, while collecting critical water quality data from local water sources.

The WasteShark is a unique smart city solution which is financially feasible for communities of all sizes and delivers quantifiable results day one. Waste and Pollution Removal – efficiently and effectively removes over 1000+ pounds of marine waste and pollution per day.

Water Quality Safety – collects and analyzes real-time data about water quality to assist with compliance with pollution regulations and identify potential contaminants early to minimize impact on the aquatic ecosystem, environment, and constituents. Biomass Removal – removes biomass (e.g., hyacinths, duckweed, algae) at the surface, which helps maintain aquatic ecosystems and mitigates potential damage to water equipment and facilities.

Oil Waste Collection – designed to operate in confined areas around boats, ships, docks and slips. The WasteShark can be fitted with a special drum oil skimmer for spill collection, and high-quality crude and refined oil sensors can be added for water quality data collection and hydrocarbon detection..

Read full article by The Startup Pill

Looking to Nature’s Designs to Solve Human Made Problems

When a genius and an icon like Leonardo da Vinci looks to nature for inspiration in his designs and inventions, art and creativity, how could the rest of us even think about ignoring this wondrous three-billion-year history of evolution?

In his day, when Leonardo was roaming the countryside, strolling through the streets of Florence, or counting the branches on a tree, he embodied an intense curiosity about the natural world around him. It was a deeply embedded curiosita. Today we call it biomimicry.

Velcro is a much cited example of biomimicry (inspired by burdock burrs stuck in a dog’s fur), as is the flipper (inspired by ducks and their webbed feet), the submarine (whales), and Japan’s famous bullet train (the kingfisher). But none of these solutions actually do our environment any good.

Because when people look to nature to solve problems, shouldn’t nature herself benefit too?

We should all know by now that nature is in crisis. We’re facing food and water insecurity, melting ice caps, global warming from fossil fuels, deforestation, biodiversity loss, air pollution, and of course, plastic pollution. And that’s not even all of it.

But let’s look beyond the crisis of nature for a moment, and look to nature herself for the inspiration we need to solve the mess we’ve collectively made. As lovers of the ocean, we can’t help but dive under the waters for a closer peek at the plethora of magnificent creatures that live there as an example of extraordinary design.

The electric eel, for example, can produce enough electricity to light up to 10 light bulbs. Sea cucumbers clean the ocean (they eat anything that sticks to sand, take in the food, and then excrete the sand again, all nice and clean). Feather stars are almost walking plants that wave their ‘feathers’ around to move underwater. The blue dragon is a sea slug that floats upside down on the ocean waves. And basket stars, close relatives of starfish, use their many arms to create an intricate web to trap their prey.

And then of course, there’s the incredible fact that 76% of ocean creatures produce their own light. And still, we only know a tiny fraction of our ocean’s various species. New marine life is being discovered every day. How could we not be inspired to a da Vinci level of curiosity?

Biologist Frank Fish from West Chester University in Pennsylvania wins in biomimicry and sustainability for how he’s changing the way engineers think about aerodynamic design and inspiring the redesign of wind turbine blades that produce more energy more efficiently. And all this because Fish was captured by the unique design of humpback whales and their flipper bumps.

For EcoStp, their inspiration for zero power, zero chemicals, sewage treatment technology came from a cow’s own internal process. Nature’s genius empowered them to create a regenerative innovation that utilises the functional principles and strategies of microorganisms and the ecosystem found in a cow’s stomach. EcoStp’s patented technology treats sewage in a decentralised, self-sustainable way, without power, chemicals, or human intervention.

RanMarine’s waste-devouring WasteShark was inspired by the gentle and majestic giant of the ocean, the whale shark. A filter feeder, the whale shark swims with its mouth wide open, scooping up plankton and small fish as it moves slowly forward. And now its drone twin, the WasteShark, is also in our waters with its own wide-open mouth and voluminous belly, but its scooping up plastic pollution instead.

Richard Hardiman, CEO of RanMarine Technology, says it started at the V&A Harbour in Cape Town. Watching two people in a boat trying to battle plastic waste with nothing more than a pool net, he was struck by the futility of their efforts. Battling both tide and people’s inability to clean up after themselves.

‘When I later discovered this was standard practice in harbours all over the globe … and when I realised just how dire the marine plastic pollution crisis really is, I just knew I had to do better than that. We had to do better than that.’

The result is an autonomous aqua-drone that can collect up to 500kg of waste per day with a zero carbon footprint. It also harvests vital data about the health of the water. In fact, over 200 environmental sensors can be fitted onto one WasteShark, continuously reporting on vital facts to help us keep our waters healthy and protect the creatures living in it.

It’s a no brainer, when nature is our mentor, when nature is our inspiration, when we are truly connected, the sustainable solutions can be limitless.

The Health of our Waters and Innovations to Protect Them

If we had to ask ourselves if we were doing enough to protect our waters, we’d have to admit to some pretty hard truths. Because really, all it takes is one glance around the globe to see that we need to be doing a lot more to understand, measure, and manage our waters, and we need to be doing it now.

The toxic algae bloom, for example, is a global issue we’re facing on an alarming scale in our oceans, rivers, lakes, ponds, and reservoirs. Sludgy, smelly, and hazardous, when toxic algae bloom out of control and release toxins, the results can be devastating.

Harmful algae blooms (HAB) have been known to last up to 14 months, wiping out all kinds of marine life in their path, including dolphins, sea turtles, and other wildlife, posing potentially dangerous health impacts for local communities, and devastating industries such as fishing and tourism.

Read our blog: Reducing Harmful Green-Algae Blooms Is Crucial to Protecting Aquatic Life

But release a DataShark into your waters and you can learn everything you need to know to help you protect your precious water resources both now, and in the future. An innovation from award-winning RanMarine Technology, the DataShark is the world’s first data harvesting autonomous surface vessel (ASV) to be commercially deployed in the fight against pollution and scourges like algae blooms.

The DataShark shares its design inspiration with RanMarine’s game-changing WasteShark. Both modelled on Mother Nature’s own whale shark, RanMarine’s WasteShark scoops up marine waste, biomass, and plastic, while the DataShark collects and collates water quality health data from waterways in any environment.

Freshwater ecosystems in particular, require effective management in order to remain healthy and function properly. Freshwater is indispensable for life on our planet, supports the environment, society, recreation, and the economy, and yet it is increasingly under threat.

In addition to the growing demand of freshwater for human purposes, the effects of climate change are also exacerbating changes, manifesting in ever more frequent and severe extreme events and disasters such as drought and floods. This in turn undermines the ability of freshwater ecosystems to contribute to both climate change adaptation, and mitigation.

Whether it’s freshwater or saltwater environments, a large water body, or small, RanMarine’s DataShark is user-friendly and easily integrated into any work environment or field operation. It only takes a one-person team to operate this intelligent aqua-drone and capture GPS tagged data points. In fact, signing into RanMarine’s secure customer web-portal would allow you to operate and manage your drones from anywhere in the world.

With 10-hours of battery life, and a typical range of 10 km, the DataShark harvests data which is captured through the RanMarine Data portal, and reported in both graph and raw format in real-time – and stored for analysis. All data is geo-tagged and time stamped, giving an accurate picture of the water quality health within your ecosystem.

Each DataShark drone can be equipped with a variety of water health quality sensors and probes. Partnering with Eureka Water Probes, RanMarine has designed its drones to facilitate the data harvesting of numerous data points including temperature, pH, conductivity, optical DO, turbidity (with optional depth and ORP), nitrogen, and toxic algae (blue/green) levels – with many other vital options configurable on request.

And the options are vital, because even something as apparently simple as a change in water temperature can have a negative impact on ecosystems. The temperature of the water influences not just the biological activity and growth of aquatic life – life that cannot survive when temperatures rise or fall too far beyond the ideal range – but it also has an effect on the water chemistry itself. Generally, the higher the temperatures, the more the chemical reactions increase. Warm water also holds less dissolved oxygen than cool water, which means there may not be enough dissolved oxygen for various aquatic species to survive.

Another apparently simple yet vital data point is the pH level of your water. For example, heavy metals dissolve much easier in acidic water and can become more toxic as a result. But even the slightest change in pH can be detrimental to aquatic life. Just a small shift can affect the gills of fish and diving insects, the hatching success of fish eggs, as well as the amphibian populations. When the shift in pH is even greater, water with an extremely high or low pH can be deadly for fish and animals.

Changes in pH and temperature can also point to the growth of algae.

Richard Hardiman, CEO of RanMarine Technology says, ‘Especially in the 21st century, the monitoring of water quality has become imperative in order to measure the effectiveness of current water policies, to better protect human health as well as the overall environment and economy, and to prevent events such as fish deaths, the loss of recreational use of water bodies, and to, when necessary, plan restoration projects.’

And we now have some compelling technology to help us protect the waters across our planet. With RanMarine’s data-harvesting DataShark and its intelligent aqua-drone twin, the waste-devouring WasteShark, the company remains steadfast in its goal to empower humankind to restore the marine environment to its natural state.

Top 5 sustainability pioneers in Europe

The events of the past year have put many things in perspective – and have served to highlight the urgency of the climate crisis. Sustainable start-ups are attracting increased interest from ethically-motivated consumers, as the world looks towards a greener post-pandemic future.

The pandemic has prompted us to reconsider many aspects of our lives, from our working habits to how and where we spend our money. It has also served to heighten our awareness of environmental issues, as we begin to think of the world we would like to see post-pandemic. According to a survey by management consultancy company Accenture, 60 percent of consumers say that they have started making more environmentally friendly, sustainable or ethical purchases since the onset of the pandemic in 2020.

In the business world, too, sustainability has become a top priority over the course of the past year, with major firms such as Unilever and Google announcing significant green pledges over the course of 2020. Even amid the COVID-19 crunch, venture capital firms have been pouring money into sustainable, purpose-driven start-ups, suggesting that eco-friendly products and services may well be a key area of growth in the post-pandemic world. With that in mind, let’s take a look at five of Europe’s top sustainability pioneers.

1 – Oatly (Sweden)
The non-dairy milk market has been booming in recent years, and is predicted to reach revenues of over $38bn by 2024. This is good news indeed for Swedish oat milk-manufacturer Oatly, which has seen its sales soar as ethically-driven consumers seek alternatives to traditional dairy products. Founded in the 1990s, the company states its aim as: “to make it easy for people to turn what they eat and drink into moments of healthy joy, without recklessly taxing the planets’ resources in the process.” Boasting partnerships with major retailers such as Starbucks, the company is undoubtedly one of the most prominent names in the plant-based industry, and is now said to be seeking a valuation of close to $10bn as it prepares to go public on the US stock exchange.

2 – EO Charging (UK)
With many of the world’s workers giving up the daily commute in order to work from home in 2020, the pandemic has encouraged a reassessment of our transport usage. While global car sales fell by around a fifth during the pandemic, sales of electric vehicles rose by a remarkable 43 percent, showing an increased appetite for eco-friendly cars. As the demand for electric vehicles grows, the need for increased EV charging infrastructure is becoming ever more apparent. Based in the UK, EO Charging is one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of electric vehicle charging ports, having sold more than 30,000 charging points in over 30 countries in the five years since its launch. Working with high-profile partners such as Uber, Sainsbury’s and Ocado to facilitate a transition to EV, EO Charging was recently named among the Financial Times’ fastest growing companies in Europe.

3 – Cellugy (Denmark)
Plastic pollution is an area that has come into sharp focus over the course of the past 12 months, with discarded single-use masks becoming an all too common sight since the start of the pandemic. Based in Aarhus, Denmark, Cellugy is a pioneering biotech start-up that is committed to helping to bring an end to plastic pollution through the creation of alternative forms of packaging. Its innovative product, called EcoFLEXY, is a durable material designed for use in the packaging industry. Made from recycled food waste, the product is all-natural, fully recyclable and biodegradable. In a recent seed round, the company raised €2.38m from the European Innovation Council Accelerator, which will allow it to scale-up production of its EcoFLEXY product.

4 – RanMarine Technology (Netherlands)
An unexpected side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the unfortunate increase in marine litter pollution. Plastic gloves, single-use masks and other forms of PPE have been washing up on beaches across the globe, with this increase in plastic waste threatening the health of marine life the world over. Dutch drone technology firm RanMarine is the company behind the innovative WasteShark – a product designed to clear plastic and other waste from all manner of waterways. The device has a 10-hour ‘swimtime,’ and is able to clear 500kg of debris from the water each day – with users able to control the device remotely and monitor its progress in real time. The firm secured a Series-A investment in 2020, allowing it to scale-up its operations this year and beyond.

Read full article by World Finance article

Autonomous vehicles playing a vital role in waste management

NOVEMBER 5, 2020 BRAND BUZZ

Autonomous vehicles helping in security and ensuring asset protection across public spaces and private organisations is something that we hear of every day. However, very little is known about these vehicles helping in managing waste and even less so of those that run underwater.

From the assessment of the size of a waste pile to the detection of its thermal heat, autonomous vehicles can collect data that are more detailed and insightful than ever. Unlike manned flights, they are a lot more affordable and can acquire equally detailed data. Thus, employing them rather than adopting traditional on-ground inspection method, can not only be cost-effective but time-saving as well, for waste management organisations. In addition to this, in many countries, they are being used to pick up garbage at public places and also identify industrial litterbugs that illegally dump factory wastes. The images and videos captured are used as evidences to take necessary actions against them.

While these are mainly the use-cases of aerial autonomous vehicles, when it comes to waste management, even those that run underwater play an important role. An ideal example is WasteShark by RanMarine Technology, a Netherlands-based tech start-up that specialises in the design and development of industrial autonomous surface vessels for ports, harbours and marine environments.Modelled on the Whale Shark, WasteShark is equipped for waste and data collection underwater, having a swim time of around 10 hours and is capable of cleaning over 500 kg debris a day. Having roped in a number of investors, one of which is the Luxembourg-based investment firm Boundary Holding founded by Rajat Khare, RanMarine has been able to achieve unparalleled feats in the clean-tech sector.

Full article link

Trash-Eating Drones Are Taking on Water Pollution

An autonomous water drone lumbers around Ilfracombe Harbor on the North Devon Coast in Southwest England. Called WasteShark, the 5-by-3.5-feet catamaran-shaped “aquadrone” scoops up plastic, rubbish, and debris before the tide takes it out to sea.

Inspired by whale sharks that cruise around the water with their mouths open to suck in plankton and fish, WasteShark gobbles up over 1,000 pounds of waste that crosses its path daily. “We built it on the same principals as a whale shark. It is the size of an average coffee table and operates just like a robotic vacuum cleaner that goes around your room, sweeping the dust from your floors,” says Richard Hardiman, CEO of RanMarine Technology, the Netherlands-based startup that developed WasteShark.

England is not the only location deploying water drones to prevent plastic from entering the ocean and threatening marine life. Founded in 2016, RanMarine has used WasteSharks to help clean up the harbor waters in the United States, additional areas in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, South Africa, India, Denmark, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. According to Hardiman, its customers include local and federal governments, port authorities, educational and commercial organizations.

He believes that the vessel is most effective at “waste chokeholds like harbors, rivers, and canals” because it can “enter hard-to-reach areas and easily navigate through water traffic to clean urban, rural, and industrial waterways.” Extending no deeper than a foot beneath the surface, the device glides through the water and its mouth-like opening in the front catches everything in its path. A metal-wire basket, located between its two hulls, filters out the water and collects solids that are brought back to the shore to be emptied, sorted, and recycled.

WasteShark can be steered manually via remote control or set up to swim autonomously; its collision-avoidance system employs remote-sensing technology called Lidar to spot obstacles, such as buoys and other crafts, and adjust its position accordingly.

Read the full article by Dell Technologies article

Drone ‘shark’ that eats plastic goes live in UK waters

The WasteShark is an autonomous marine drone and is the first designed specifically to eat waste.  Its shape is inspired by the whale shark and it can remove 1kg (2.3lb) of waste per minute and last for eight hours at a time.

The device is making its UK debut in Ilfracombe harbour, in Devon, on Monday, after operating successfully in five countries, including South Africa and United Arab Emirates.

It runs on a by a rechargeable battery and will capture up to 160 litres of waste at a time, including plastics and microplastics.

It can also extract oils and pest plants such as algae and duckweed.

The plastic waste will be turned into pellets that will be used to make products such as kayaks.

Created by RanMarine Technology, the WasteShark is designed to be harmonious with the environment and it causes no harm to wildlife. GPS points are programmed into the drone to ensure that it covers hot-spots where waste gathers. It can also collect important data about the marine environment.

WWF and Sky Ocean Rescue are launching the WasteShark as part of their work to improve Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). These areas include precious habitats and the species within them, and are under serious threat from issues including plastic and pollution.

Ilfracombe harbour lies within the Bideford to Foreland Point MPA, home to a number of important species and diverse habitats, including rocky reefs, honeycomb worms, pink sea fans and the charismatic spiny lobster. The area is also regularly visited by seabirds and cetaceans including the elusive harbour porpoise.

Lundy Island, home to some of the UK’s most diverse and incredible wildlife, including species of conservation importance like grey seals, lies just 12 miles off the coast.

The device is being tested in the UK at Ilfracombe harbour

Jenny Oates, UK SEAS Programme Manager at WWF, said: “The WasteShark will help us fight the waste that enters the harbour, snapping it up before the tide takes it out to sea and it ends up threatening wildlife in other precious marine areas.

“There’s no doubt we need to see major systemic change when it comes to single-use plastic. As we strive to get governments and businesses to commit to turning off the plastic tap, there is an important role for innovative technology to remove it from our seas.”

Read the full article by Sky News article

Here are 5 most successful robotics startups from the Netherlands in 2018

Robotics technology is no more a concept now; it has become a part of our lives today and its now making a debut in all kinds of sectors. Whether it be transportation, construction, home or office, modern robotics is becoming essential in all the aspects of our lives.

When it comes to the Netherlands, there are many innovative startups which are involved in the process of robotic development and designing. However, there are only a few of them which are thriving and achieving success for the solutions they are creating.

RanMarine Technology

This Rotterdam-based startup, RanMarine Technology has created a unique way to clean the waters. They have developed an aqua-marine drone to clear litter from the waters. This drone acts like a smart vacuum cleaner and sweeps up the dust and garbage in the water, without harming the aquatic life. Capable of swimming for up to 16 hours, the WasteShark scans its immediate environment as it works, collecting data to send back to its central command. It can test the waters for pH levels, conductivity, ammonium, chloride, nitrate, salinity, and many other metrics.

Read the full article by Silicon Canals to learn more about the 5 most successful robotics startups.