methane reducing wearable for cows among UK climate design award winners
Terra Carta Design Lab winners unveiled
Prince Charles and former Apple CDO Jony Ive have announced the four winners of Terra Carta Design Lab, a competition to develop climate crisis solutions. Out of 125 submissions, the awarded projects include a wearable device for cows to reduce methane emissions, a clean-tech start-up spearheading the capture and monitoring of tyre wear, the first 100% recyclable and chemical-free outdoor performance textile, and aerodynamic seed pods made from food waste for plant and tree restoration.
ZELP
According to IEA reports, 1.6 billion cattle, each exhaling 400 liters of methane per day, are one of the single leading causes of global warming. ZELP (Zero Emissions Livestock Project) has designed a wearable device for cattle to neutralize methane emissions in real time. As the cow exhales, methane travels through a catalyst where it’s oxidized, then released into the air as CO2 and water vapor. The technology precisely tracks methane reduction and key data for farmers, like welfare, efficiency, and fertility metrics, and the team says the harness fits comfortably around the cow’s head.
image courtesy of ZELP (also main image)
The Tyre Collective
Tyre wear is the second-largest microplastic pollutant in our ocean after single-use plastic. The Tyre Collective are developing the first patent-pending device to capture tyre wear at the wheel, accelerating the shift to zero-emission mobility. As well as spearheading the capture and monitoring of tyre wear, the team are exploring upcycling it into various applications, creating a circular system.
Read more about The Tyre Collective on designboom here.
image courtesy of The Tyre Collective
image courtesy of The Tyre Collective
AMPHITEX
Current performance outdoor textiles are impossible to recycle and use many harmful chemicals. Developed by Amphibio, AMPHITEX is the first 100% recyclable and chemical-free outdoor performance textile. It will be made from a combination of recycled and plant-based feedstock, resulting in a world-first carbon negative performance textile.
image courtesy of Amphibio
image courtesy of Amphibio
Aerseeds
Aerodynamic nutrient and seed pods made from food waste, that work with nature to accelerate regeneration up to 10 times. Mimicking natural processes, Aerseeds are carried by the wind to cover large areas and reach difficult terrains where they deliver nutrients and seeds to soils depleted by human activity, for ecological restoration and reforestation.
image courtesy of Aerseeds
First launched in July 2021, the Terra Carta Design Lab is a Royal College of Art (RCA) student-led response to the environmental challenges our planet faces, and forms part of The Prince of Wales’ Sustainable Markets Initiative. The competition invited some of the world’s most talented design students and alumni to design high-impact, low-cost solutions for nature, people and planet. Winners will receive £50k funding to help further develop their ideas and mentoring from Sir Jony Ive, Chancellor of the RCA, and the corporate members of the SMI network.
‘We can all have good ideas. I find it reassuring, particularly facing the overwhelming challenge of climate change, that we can all contribute ideas that could evolve into valuable solutions. I love not only the power of a good idea but how egalitarian and inclusive they can be,’ commented Ive.
‘All the Design Lab winners have ideas and designs that deserve to be developed. The ingenuity and determination of these designers has produced some extraordinarily creative responses, and they now embark on the journey to turn these great ideas into practical solutions.’
project info:
competition: Terra Carta Design Lab
