Industry

Europe’s skies will be cleaner and quieter thanks to a proposed partnership between the EU and industry. During the partnership, technologies will be developed to help cut noise and carbon dioxide emissions from planes by up to 30 %.

From quadruple-glazed windows to planes whose fuselage can be electrically heated, graphene is changing the world.

They charge in seconds and could run your laptop for a month – supercapacitors are coming, and it’s thanks to graphene, one atom-thick sheets of carbon that are revolutionising industry.

Car fuel made from agricultural waste could help cut down carbon usage without taking up land that is used to grow food. It is one innovation that could help the biofuels industry shift up a gear.

Early shoots for the bioeconomy have sprung up through innovative ideas in completely different businesses. And, at the same time, they raise some legislative initiatives.

If the type of patents being filed by Europe’s companies is anything to go by, the economy that will emerge from the financial crisis in Europe may be decidedly green.

The industrial revolution made the world wealthy through a simple idea: to replace the physical labour of humans and animals with energy from fossil fuels. Two-and-a-half centuries after the revolution started, however, it is in trouble. The oil that powers much of the world’s economy is running out, and the greenhouse gases given off by the fuels are harming the planet. 

Among the vineyards and wheat fields of north-eastern France, a revolution in chemical manufacturing is quietly gathering momentum. Here, biomass is turned into valuable components and energy.