You can find the episode on decarbonization and all other episodes of our podcast on Spotify, iTunes, Deezer, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Radio Public, Breaker, Overcast, Castbox, Podcast Addict and Anchor.
Episode 31 begins with a brief review of the Visit of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark to the Munich Urban Colab. You can find out more about the aforementioned Invest in Denmark program here Afterwards, we will give an overview of selected events in the coming days. You can find all events in our Event calendar.
Many paths to decarbonization
Even several days after the end of COP26 in Glasgow, the assessments of the results are still very different, as we see from minute 3:15. Some consider them “historic” and “world-shattering”Others see a final statement full of contradictions. A commentary in the Tagesschau newspaper even calls the result "pathetic." The Süddeutsche Zeitung, on the other hand, read: “The world is making progress in climate protection. Unfortunately, it's still far too slow.” And the taz sees the time has come for a change “towards non-state actors, away from state non-actors”. A demand that startups should not ignore.
Of course, there are many different areas in which a company can have an impact: (Electrical)mobility, Energy generation and -Storage, Meat alternatives or hydrogen These are just a few of the topics we've already dedicated podcast episodes to. But there are many other sources of greenhouse gases that must be eliminated if the 1.5-degree target is to be achieved. The burden doesn't rest solely on producers—consumers can also contribute. Especially as long as the transition to, for example, emission-free energy production hasn't yet been completed.
The startup Tanso (from minute 4:15) is helping other companies in this area. Because in order to reduce their carbon footprint, you first need to understand what makes it so large. For this purpose, Tanso has developed an automated analysis process that uses data analytics and machine learning to collect, manage, and support the value-creating use of sustainability data. This enables companies not only to work more effectively on their decarbonization but also to fulfill the reporting requirements that will apply from 2023 onwards.
Heat, electricity and mobility
The next startup offers concrete measures for the effective reduction of greenhouse gases in the area of air conditioning. Tado Private consumers, as well as businesses, can automatically control heating and air conditioning systems. The Munich-based company's smart thermostats ensure a pleasant room climate through automatic presence and absence detection, ensuring that someone is always at home or away. This can save up to 31 percent of heating costs and 22 percent of energy consumption. Learn more about Tado starting at minute 6:20.
However, the smart management of energy consumption can also be transferred to other areas of life. Ampereers (from minute 9:30) has developed an energy management platform that enables producers and consumers to better coordinate with each other. The startup not only focuses on electricity consumption itself, but also on heating and mobility. Various software modules allow not only the effective management of entire neighborhoods, but also the administration of tenant electricity projects and the precise control of e-vehicle charging.
Decarbonization through abandoning oil
The last startup we feature in this episode comes from the field of synthetic biology. Origin.bio has set itself the goal of replacing petrochemical products with biologically produced materials. The production of these materials from crude oil not only generates environmentally harmful waste, but also releases large amounts of CO2. According to Fraunhofer In 2007, this was just under 50 million tons of CO2 equivalents for the German basic chemicals industry, which includes petrochemicals. We explain exactly how Origin.bio intends to achieve its goal starting at minute 12:00.
The Tado investor Target Partners
In this episode, we take a closer look at Target Partners (starting at minute 14:50), a Munich-based venture capital firm with a particularly tenacious approach. The venture capitalist promises to get in early and then stay on board for a particularly long time, supporting its portfolio companies. To this end, it seeks out early-stage startups with "radical technologies destined to achieve global success." The venture capitalist has demonstrated its tenacity not only with Tado, where it invested in the first financing round in 2013.
The aforementioned CO2 countdown of the Mercator Research Institute can be found on this websiteThe MCC has also compiled further background information there.
