Driving Sustainability with Innovation
20 really was the year for tech, whilst many companies were slowly undergoing digitisation transformations, these agendas were propelled thanks to the events of last year and many now operate on remote cloud-based systems or have integrated some new form of tech. It’s not just technology that aids remote working that has been adopted, digitalisation is happening all across the board, whether it’s integrating tech into supermarkets for safety or efficiency or the creation of automated manufacturing facilities.
Whilst the pandemic created some very specific challenges, we are still facing a longstanding one; climate change. The UK aims to be carbon neutral by 2050 and to achieve this, companies and the UK infrastructure as a whole must innovate and adapt; tech will be pinnacle to this. Below are just a few examples of companies that are driving sustainability through innovation.
Arrival
First up is Arrival, an exciting start-up that designs and manufactures commercial electric vehicles that cost the same or less than petrol and diesel equivalents. They are leading the way in terms of sustainability; their network of public transport vehicles will help create sustainable urban environments. With the net-zero target fast approaching and the ban on petrol operating vehicles from 2030, the automotive sector is having to quickly adapt and switch up their entire operating model. Whereas, Arrival is taking an entirely separate approach to make electric transport at scale and at a lower cost.
They have developed micro-factories and develop vehicles in-house including materials, components, and software and each vehicle is produced in a small footprint. Each of Arrivals components is plug-and-play and software-enabled hardware.
Tokamak Energy
Another firm that is driving sustainability is Tokamak Energy, who are driving fusion power by utilising spherical tokamaks in conjunction with high temperature superconductors. Fusion is globally accepted as one of the most efficient and safe ways to deliver clean energy at scale. Tokamak Energy are striving to deliver efficient and affordable fusion power and are on a mission to develop a pilot plant to prove the possibility and intend to deliver electricity into the grid by 2030.
Volkswagen
This may be a name you are more familiar with. For many years Volkswagen have been innovating, whether that be in their car designs or the production facilities. Specifically, we are going to be looking at their Zwickau plant which they are converting into a modern high-tech facility in order to prepare for the massive shifts within the automotive sector. This plant will be a purely electric automobile plant, which aims to produce 330,000 electric cars per year from 2022 onwards. Volkswagen intends to build and sell up to 3 million pure electric cars per year by 2025. Much of the plant is ran automatically and enabling Human-Robot-Collaborations (HRC). For example, in the paint shop specialist used to inspect the body after final assembly but this is now scanned with bespoke technology to guarantee surface quality.
Spark EV Technology
Last but not least is Spark EV who have developed a solution that will help assist in the adoption of EV’s. Spark EV is delivering intelligent range prediction to give EV producers a competitive advantage. Most electric vehicles have erratic range predictions, so users are unable to correctly determine when they need to charge their vehicle, creating a barrier to adoption which is pinnacle in achieving the Government target. Spark EV use an AI-based system to develop personalised journey prediction based on live data.
These are just some of the innovative companies that are pioneering the way to sustainability and developing or using innovative solutions to do so. If you are a tech company that has developed a ground-breaking solution, then get in touch to collaborate.