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Prince Charles and Sir JonyIve awarded a design prize for a cow mask that neutralizes climate-heating methane in their belches.
Students from the Royal College of Art were given the task of designing projects that would reverse the damage done by humans to the environment. ClimateNature and you.
Out of 125 submissions, four teams of RCA students and alumni have been chosen as the winners of the inaugural Terra Carta Design Lab competition, receiving £50,000 in funding to help further develop their ideas.
Zelp (Zero Emissions Livestock Project), created one of the winning designs, a harness for cattle that converts their methane emissions to CO2 and water vapour in real time.
Continue reading: Regenerative farming could slash emissions in a way that would take 900,000 cars off of the road.
Methane is more than 80x as warming power as carbon dioxide over its first 20 year in the atmosphere. Therefore, cutting it can be a powerful way of slowing warming in the near term.
Global warming is caused by the 1.5 billion cattle in the world, who each produce 500 litres of methane per day. Some of this methane is also emitted by their belching, while others are emitted via their flatulence.
The Zelp app tracks methane loss and key data for farmers like efficiency, welfare, and fertility metrics. Pic: Zelp
Aerodynamic nutrients and seed pods are made of food waste. They also received funding. Pic: Aerseeds
Sir Jony Ive, award judge at the Royal College of Art and chancellor of the Royal College of Art, stated that “we can all have good ideas.”
He described it as “reassuring, especially in light of the overwhelming challenge of climate changes, that we all can contribute.”
Ideas that could be transformed into valuable solutions
Aerseeds also received funding to develop their aerodynamic nutrients and seed pods made of food waste. They claim that this can accelerate regeneration by up to 10x.
The pods can be scattered by the wind to cover large areas or reach difficult terrain. They can also deliver nutrients and seeds to soils that have been damaged by human activity for ecological restoration and reforestation.
The Tyre Collective, fellow winners, is developing a device that captures microplastics from tyres and exploring ways to upcycle this waste material for new purposes.
A collection plate containing microplastics from tyres. Pic: The Tye Collective
AMPHITEX was also supported by Terra Carta as it designed “the first 100% recyclable, chemical-free outdoor performance textile.” It is made from recycled and plant-based materials.
Current waterproofs are difficult to recycle and contain Perfluorochemicals.
Greg Jackson, founder & CEO of Octopus Energy Group and Terra Carta Design Lab judge said: “Many of the biggest problems the human race ever had to face were solved by ingenious ideas.
“Technology is vital for driving change and tackling today’s issues. The climate crisis is no exception – this is a design problem.”
The Daily Climate Show airs Monday through Friday at 8.30pm on Sky News, the Sky News app on YouTube and Twitter.
The show explores how global climate change is affecting our landscapes and offers solutions.
