The Dodo Newsletter #8
The future of lab grown meat, the world's largest carbon removal company, and measuring flight emissions.
Dodo is a platform that allows companies to become carbon neutral in just a few minutes. Each month, we round up all the latest news on climate change and the innovative solutions helping to solve the problem. If you want to receive the newsletter in your inbox each month, you can subscribe through the button below.
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✈️ Google allows you to search for flights based on emissions
Google has just released a feature that shows the total emissions for flights which will allow people to 1) Understand how much CO2 is generated from a flight 2) Choose a ‘greener’ or less carbon intensive flight to travel on. To create an accurate measurement Google has integrated with the European Environmental Agency using airline data, the fuel used, the plane and the number of seats filled. You can read more here.
🗳️ UK Gov requires suppliers to reach net zero
In a sign of increasing carbon regulation, the UK government now requires all companies bidding for over £5m in work to submit a carbon reduction plan. Large companies already have to submit their Scope 1 & 2 emissions (fuel & electricity) however this new requirement asks for Scope 3 emissions (supply chain) along with a plan for how the company plans to reach Net Zero by 2050. You can read more here.
🏭 The world’s largest carbon removal company goes live
The need for carbon removal was highlighted in the latest IPCC report. This is a new breed of carbon offsetting that uses technical innovation to physically draw carbon from the air and store it under ground. In a story similar to when solar energy first hit the market, it is very expensive (around $1,000 per tonne) yet the hope is that it can get cheaper over time with investment. To give a scale of the challenge facing this technology, it currently aims to capture 4,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, or about 3 seconds of global emissions! You can read more here.
🌊 Hydropower from Norway to the UK switched on
An interconnector line joining Norway to the UK has been switched on. The line will export hydro power and aims to reduce the UK’s carbon footprint by 23 million tonnes over the next ten years. When the line reaches full capacity it will provide enough electricity to power 1.4 million UK households. You can read more here.
🔥 Is lab grown meat the future?
The London ClimateTech event last month offered a glimpse into the future of food. Lab grown meat was a big topic - the technology aims to grow meat in the lab and offers a lower carbon/methane, local alternative. This isn’t just for beef, but also fish and pork, and could help reduce the massive amount of emissions coming from agriculture while also reducing the level of animal cruelty that comes from battery farming. However, there have been several concerns about the longer term viability for these products which you can read more about here.
🌊 Replacing plastic with Seaweed
On a similar note, the Dodo team attended a talk with NotPla this week. Their products aims to cut plastic usage by using a seaweed alternative which is less carbon intensive and is biodegradable. The material degrades after a number of weeks so it’s targeted at single use plastics. They’ve recently worked with the London Marathon and have a trial with JustEat to create packaging that holds sauces. You can see more here.
We want to make it easy to become carbon neutral. If you want to hear more, you can email us any time at hello@dodo.eco.