@ green | March-April , 2022

Carbon removal startup Planetary Technologies announces US $ 7.8m in funding

Planetary closed pre-seed and seed funding rounds at $ 4.2 million and received US $ 3.6 million through grant funding . Major investors include Innovacorp and Apollo Projects .

Planetary will use the funding to build pilot facilities to deploy its proprietary carbon transition technology . It will speed up the earth ’ s natural process of removing carbon from the air and safely storing it in the ocean , the most significant natural carbon sink on the earth ’ s surface .

Founded in 2019 , Planetary – formerly Planetary Hydrogen – is led by an international team of engineers and scientists that has developed a process to purify alkaline rocks remaining after mining safely . They then add the alkalinity to the ocean , which rapidly enhances the ocean ’ s natural ability to draw out and permanently sequester carbon from the atmosphere .

The additional alkalinity

FOURKITES , provider of the world ’ s leading real-time supply chain visibility platform , announced its new Net Zero initiative to help its leading companies achieve their organisational goals to reduce supply chain emissions .

FourKites unveiled Sustainability Hub , a suite of analytics tools to provide better visibility into resource consumption and waste generation ; a new Sustainability Advisory Board ; and ongoing original research around sustainability .

Sustainability Hub is the latest phase of FourKites ’ ongoing focus to help companies scale sustainability efforts through technology and collaboration . The platform will include new tools and capabilities that enable customers to :

• Input their sustainability goals and more accurately track saved emissions

• Benchmark progress against industry averages based on organisational goals and anonymised industry data in oceans locally restores the damage caused by increased acidification due to climate change . The purifying of mining rock also produces clean hydrogen as a by-product , which can be used as a zero-carbon fuel .

“ The global community agrees that we need a threepronged approach to stop the harmful effects of climate change – adapt , reduce emissions and remove carbon – and Planetary ’ s process does all three , the most critical being our ability to remove carbon dioxide from the air ,” said Mike Kelland , Planetary CEO .

“ Carbon removal will be a trillion-dollar industry by 2050 , and Planetary is leading the way by creating a safe , scalable and natural solution to slow climate change and even reverse some of the damage already done .”

Planetary ’ s approach to ocean carbon dioxide removal is unique in the following ways .

• carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere up to gigaton scale and sequestered for tens of thousands of years .

• By essentially giving the ocean an antacid , the process can help heal local marine ecosystems harmed by climate change , improving natural growth in animals like coral and shellfish , lead-

• Drill down into additional load-level details to better pinpoint opportunities for optimisation

• Track progress via a single summary dashboard

• Use analytics and scenario modelling to surface new insights for emissions reductions Sustainability Hub builds on the company ’ s industry-first Sustainability Dashboards , a free solution that allows companies to identify specific areas within their supply chains that are contributing high levels of greenhouse gas emissions so that they can develop more effective sustainability strategies .

The announcement coincides with FourKites ’ 2022 Global Supply Chain Sustainability Summit . It brought together more than 4,000 supply chain executives and sustainability thought leaders from organisations including Sony , DHL , Future Planet , Volvo Group , and others to discuss driving positive

Mike Kelland

ing to a better functioning food chain and a healthier regional economy .

• Planetary ’ s process also creates green hydrogen as a by-product , which can be burned without carbon emissions , allowing carbon challenged industries to limit fossil fuel use .

• It also extracts metals from mine waste that can be used in batteries , another important tool for a future low-carbon economy . This funding will support the launch of Planetary ’ s pilot plants in Quebec and Nova Scotia , which will demonstrate a scaled version of its patented carbon removal process . The pilot plants will come online in phases later this year and will be integrated with a major oceans research project in coordination with local partners to monitor the chemical and biological effects continually and fine-tune Planetary ’ s process .

environmental impact through supply chain transformation .

According to Gartner : “ We cannot scale the sustainability agenda without technology . CSCOs expect the focus on digitalisation to increase . Seventy-two per cent stated that enterprises will continue to digitise and integrate new technologies , meaning supply chains will have to adapt continuously .”

To that end , FourKites has continued to drive innovation in the industry and facilitate discussion among key stakeholders across the industry to help companies meet their long-term sustainability goals .

“ We started using FourKites years ago because we knew it was important to have visibility in transit ,” said Paul Avampato , Head of International Logistics for Laundry and Home Care at Henkel .

“ Now we ’ re using that data to drive efficiencies in our supply chain and help achieve our sustainability goals ,” he added .

HITACHI ENERGY , the global technology and market leader in power grids , announced that it had been selected by Aker BP , the Norwegian oil and gas exploration and production company , as a technology partner for the NOAKA power-from-shore project off the Norwegian coast .

The entire project will be powered by up to 150 megawatts of power from the mainland grid – making it the world ’ s longest powerfrom-shore AC connection at around 250 km .

Hitachi Energy will perform detailed frontend engineering and design ( FEED ) studies for a power quality solution that will enable the Aker BP operated NOA Fulla field , and the Equinor operated Krafla field in the North Sea to be powered from the mainland . The contract awarded to Hitachi Energy includes an option to deliver the power quality solution when the FEED studies are completed .

Using mainly renewable hydropower power from the mainland grid minimises NOAKA ’ s carbon footprint . To ensure the smooth , reliable and safe transmission of electricity to the offshore platforms , Hitachi Energy ’ s solution combines two power quality technologies that have never been used before for this type of application : a high-performance STATCOM , called SVC Light ®, and thyristor-controlled series capacitors .

The MACH™ control and protection system will enable the two technologies to harmonise as a single synchronised solution . This will be made possible by leveraging Hitachi Energy ’ s extensive and unique know-how in power quality solutions and its domain integration capabilities .

“ We are delighted that Aker BP has selected our pioneering power quality solution , enabling this vital energy project to be powered with emission-free renewable energy ,” says Niklas Persson , Managing Director of Hitachi Energy ’ s Grid Integration business .

“ This world-first solution will also enable progress toward mega-scale offshore renewable power installations , offering viable alternative pathways for connecting power from shore with AC over long distances .”

“ Our ambition is to develop the NOAKA area with a minimum carbon footprint and a prerequisite for this is that the fields are supplied with power-from-shore ,” says Lars Høier , Senior Vice President and Asset Manager for NOAKA at Aker BP .

“ We selected Hitachi Energy as our trusted technology partner to provide a reliable and flexible grid connection and power quality solution to secure high reliability in our operations .”

Hitachi Energy ’ s proposed solution comprises a new grid connection to house the STATCOM , thyristor-controlled series capacitors , shunt reactors and gas-insulated switchgear . The solution will also increase the transmission capacity of an existing 420 kV mainland grid connection with new gasinsulated switchgear and a power transformer .

These are all technologies made by Hitachi Energy to secure exceptional levels of grid availability and reliability . — @ Green