Did China sever undersea communications cables yet again? Are ships hauling crude oil leaking their cargo along the way? Are animal transport ships dumping feed bags overboard and causing unseen turtle and wildlife deaths? Are port authorities deliberately destroying underwater archaeology so projects can move ahead?

Getting away with bad business at sea may soon be harder with Mirai Robotics on patrol.

While security is a giant concern, Luciano Belviso, Mirai’s co-founder told Green Prophet: “Mirai’s autonomy can also support environmental monitoring, enabling continuous observation of marine ecosystems, pollution, and offshore infrastructure with persistent, autonomous operations, regardless of weather conditions.”

The company just raised $4.2 million in a seed round to continue development of its AI-driven autonomous marine vehicles. According to the company, the sea is one of the most critical infrastructures on the planet: more than 80% of global trade moves by sea, over 90% of Europe’s foreign trade depends on maritime routes, and roughly 95% of international internet traffic flows through subsea cables.

“The sea is one of the last major physical infrastructures not yet governed by software,” says Luciano Belviso, CEO of Mirai Robotics. “Autonomy is the key to finally making the oceans safe and usable, unlocking enormous resources and addressing critical security challenges. But it must be implemented through systems capable of operating continuously and safely in extreme environments. This is a technological and industrial challenge that requires a true robotics-lab approach.”

Mirai Robotics has already developed two autonomous vehicles designed for different operational needs, targeting ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) and patrolling scenarios in both coastal and offshore environments.

The vehicles integrate advanced perception systems, autonomous navigation, remote control, and safety features. They are designed to operate either as standalone units or as part of distributed monitoring systems.

Alongside its proprietary platforms, Mirai Robotics also develops autonomy, navigation, and control systems that can be integrated into third-party vessels. This allows industrial and institutional operators to adopt autonomous technology without fully redesigning existing fleets.

The decision to start in Italy is deliberate. The country is historically a global leader in shipbuilding and maritime engineering, with strong expertise in defense, yachting, offshore infrastructure, and marine technology.

The company was founded by Luciano Belviso (CEO), Luca Mascaro, and Davide Dattoli. Belviso previously built and led complex industrial companies including Blackshape, an aircraft design and manufacturing company later acquired by Angel Holding.

Luciano Belviso (left) and Luca Mascaro (right). Supplied by Mirai

Mirai Robotics has closed a $4.2 million pre-seed equity round, one of the largest in Italy in the robotics and deep-tech sector, led by Primo Capital, Techshop and 40Jemz Ventures, with participation from Italian and international angel investors. The capital will accelerate technology development, strengthen the team, and launch new pilot projects with industrial and institutional partners.

We love that the company can catch polluters in real time and take risks to rescue those at sea where other seafarers may not dare or have the expertise.

Mirai (未来) is a Japanese word that means “future.”

They aren’t alone. Mirai Robotics enters a rapidly growing field of autonomous maritime technology that can support defense and environmental missions. Competitors include firms such as Maritime Robotics, Saildrone, whose wind- and solar-powered robotic vessels collect environmental and security data across vast ocean areas. Defense and dual-use companies like L3Harris Technologies and Thales Group are also developing autonomous patrol boats and surveillance platforms for naval and infrastructure protection. In Europe, look to startups such as Ocean Infinity and Sea Machines Robotics.

::Mirai

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Atmospheric water generators (AWGs) sound like magic: machines that can pull drinking water out of air. The idea is mentioned in the Bible, where the elders would pray for water collected as dew on plants and the catch on turning this into a machine is in the physics. To turn invisible vapor into liquid, you must remove heat, especially the latent heat of condensation. In real machines, that usually means refrigeration (cooling air below its dew point) or heating/desorbing moisture from sorbents. Either way, energy use rises fast as humidity drops. While many solutions exist on the market, the solutions aren’t magic. Too much energy needs to go into the AWG machines to make the water from thin air concept work.

Peer-reviewed assessments put many active AWGs in the rough range of ~0.35 to >1.1 kWh per liter depending on climate and design see this paper. A broader scientific review of atmospheric water harvesting thermodynamics estimates maximum yields around 0.34 to0.73 L/kWh under various assumptions, equivalent to roughly ~1.4 to 2.9 kWh per liter in the “best case” envelope. See PNIH resource. Lab and field results can be lower or higher depending on temperature, humidity, airflow, and heat exchange losses.

The core problems of AWG, water from air generators

• Low humidity = tiny water per cubic meter of air. The drier the air, the more air you must process to get a liter, which means bigger fans, larger heat exchangers, and more power.
• Cooling penalty. Condensation-based AWGs must cool air below dew point; that’s energy-intensive, especially in hot-dry regions where dew point can be very low.
• Heat management. You must dump heat to the environment (or recover it). Poor heat rejection and frosting risks can crater performance.
• Water quality isn’t “free.” Collected water still needs filtration/UV/mineralization and safe storage, adding energy and maintenance.

So how can AWGs be solved?

The most promising pathways don’t “beat physics” — they change the system boundary:

• Use low-grade heat or solar thermal to regenerate sorbents instead of running compressors. MOF-based devices have shown solar-driven harvesting in arid climates (Kim et al., in this 2018 Nature article).
• Hybridize with HVAC/dehumidification you already pay for to run. If a building must remove humidity anyway, capturing and polishing that water can be “incremental” rather than “extra.” While it might not run showers, the water can be used to water gardens or flush toilets. See our article on top uses for AC water.
• Raise efficiency via better sorbents + heat recovery. New cycling strategies and materials aim to cut regeneration energy and speed cycles (Kang et al., 2024).
• Target the right use cases. Emergency backup, remote sites, islands, and places where trucking water is expensive can justify higher kWh/L.

10 promising companies in the AWG space

1. SOURCE Global (solar “hydropanels”) — promising for off-grid drinking water where sunlight is abundant (SOURCE how it works).
2. Watergen — large deployments and claimed efficiency improvements; best fit in warm/humid conditions. See our past article on Watergen.
3. Genesis Systems — containerized systems positioned for disaster resilience and humid climates.
4. Aquaria — scaling “water from the sky” for housing developments; success depends on cost per liter vs local supply (Time on Aquaria).
5. Skysource / Skywater Alliance (WEDEW) — notable for renewable-energy framing and resilience applications (XPRIZE profile).
6. AirJoule — one to watch if real-world data confirms lower energy via novel separation/recovery approaches (AirJoule investor deck).

   

7. Uravu Labs — interesting liquid-desiccant path tied to renewables and local bottling models (Mongabay India).
8. Kara Water — consumer appliances; compelling product story, but energy economics must be transparent (Kara Water).
9. EcoloBlue — long-running commercial/home units; performance varies heavily with climate (EcoloBlue specs).
10. WaHa from Saudi Arabia is positioning around “water + dry air” and grid-independent operation; worth watching for verified field performance (WaHa). Professor Omar Yaghi, a distinguished chemist from the University of California, Berkeley, and pioneer of reticular chemistry (inventor of Metal-Organic Frameworks/MOFs). Born in Jordan and working in California, he was awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, shared with Richard Robson and Susumu Kitagawa, for this work. Waha is active in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

    

    

AWGs are rarely the cheapest way to make water where pipelines, wells, or desalination are available. They are commonly used by armies to create water in remote locations where energy isn’t an issue. Diesel or solar does the heavy lifting. But as materials improve, and as systems tap waste heat, solar thermal, or existing dehumidification loads, AWGs can become a practical niche tool, especially for resilient, point-of-use drinking water in the places that need it most in off-grid sites and in emergency settings.

Let’s aim for the day when fusion energy is real, and we can all pull water from the air to drink. Just add some Mayu minerals to make the water work well for your body.

The post What are AWG air-water generators, and why they aren’t a golden-bullet solution (yet) appeared first on Green Prophet.

For years, consumer electronics companies have talked about reducing plastic. What’s been missing is a way to do it without compromising performance, safety, or scale. Of course we’ve been faithful on reporting on novel technology and applications of bio-plastics, that used by Stella McCartney, which is made from mushrooms, or bio-plastics made by Tipa. But this is a drop in the plastic bucket.

This week, Sony Corporation announced what may be one of the most consequential, and least flashy, breakthroughs in sustainable manufacturing: the creation of the world’s first fully visualized global supply chain for renewable plastics designed specifically for high-performance audio-visual products.

Fourteen companies across five countries and regions have joined in and these are spanning raw materials, chemicals, polymers, additives, and manufacturing. They have aligned to replace fossil-based plastics with biomass-derived alternatives, not in theory, but in products Sony plans to launch globally.

Why this matters more than recycled plastic

We know that most plastics do not get recycled, despite our best intentions to put our bottles in the recycling. With electronics, it is more complicated: Electronics are plastic-heavy for a reason. Casings, optical components, flame-retardant housings, and internal parts require tight tolerances, heat resistance, flame resistance, and optical clarity. These properties are difficult often impossible to create using mechanically recycled plastics alone.

That limitation has quietly stalled progress. Sony and its partners tackled the problem upstream by redesigning the entire materials pipeline, starting not with finished parts, but with renewable chemical feedstocks. Using a certified mass-balance approach, biomass-based inputs such as renewable naphtha are introduced at the earliest stages of chemical production, then tracked through each conversion step — from monomers to resins to finished components.

The result: plastics with the same performance characteristics as virgin fossil-based materials, but with a significantly lower carbon footprint.

One of the most important aspects of the initiative is transparency. High-performance plastics typically pass through dozens of opaque steps, making it nearly impossible to calculate or verify emissions. By mapping and fixing the supply chain end-to-end, Sony and its partners can now track greenhouse gas emissions across the entire lifecycle, enabling real carbon accounting rather than estimates or offsets.

The supply chain includes chemical and materials heavyweights such as Mitsubishi Corporation, Neste Corporation, Toray Industries, Mitsui Chemicals, Idemitsu Kosan, ENEOS, Hanwha Impact, Formosa Chemicals & Fibre, and SK Geo Centric, among others.

Each partner handles a precise step: renewable naphtha, styrene monomer, para-xylene, PET resin, polycarbonate resin, flame retardants, and PC/ABS blend, all engineered to meet electronics-grade requirements.

This level of coordination is rare, and that’s why the announcement matters. It shows that renewable plastics are no longer a niche materials problem, but a solvable industrial systems problem.

Sony frames the initiative as part of its “Creating NEW from reNEWable materials” project, aligned with the company’s broader Road to Zero environmental plan targeting net-zero environmental impact by 2050.

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Editor’s introduction: This review is written in the first person by Raven, who spent months living with the Air Tea Kettle before sharing her experience. Her words reflect a personal learning process rather than a technical evaluation.

The Air Tea Kettle—another gadget for the countertop, or something I would grow to love?

It took me months to digest the information. I realize now I was resisting seeing the Air Tea Kettle’s true value. I didn’t want to write something that just repeated the company’s language. I needed to feel it for myself.

Honestly, if the ebook I subscribed to (twice!) had arrived earlier, the learning curve would have been gentler. Once I finally emailed my how-to questions to Jeremy Krause and received the ebook, something shifted. I could relax into it.

This is a very different feeling than drinking tea. More euphoric. More aromatic. More immediate.

What caught my attention is that at lower temperatures, plants release scents they don’t give up at higher heat.

What caught my attention is that at lower temperatures, plants release scents they don’t give up at higher heat. I’m not a herbalist, so I can’t fully explain the chemistry, even though I can feel the results.

I can’t remember exactly what’s in my current blend (it’s in the ebook), but it’s heavenly. I’ve learned that mixed herbs are more pleasant than single herbs on their own.

The ebook includes guidance for herbs that support the nervous system, with precise temperature recommendations. That precision matters.

Air Tea is a new technology. Instead of drinking tea, you inhale herbal vapor through warm air extraction. There is no water and no combustion. The warm air releases essential oils that are often lost in hot water and digestion.

Watch: Air Tea Kettle demonstration video

I grow gardens full of herbs, but I am not a trained herbalist. Reading the ebook is essential. It explains the color-coordinated temperature system and how specific plants respond to heat.

The clearest and most grounded instructions I found were from herbalist Amanda Crooke, especially her Vaporization Masterclass (Part 1).

The device itself is surprisingly simple. There are only three buttons. The center button does most of the work. Plus and minus let you manually change the temperature.

Originally, I couldn’t locate the tweezers. They are a small square tool that slides in and out of the base. These are important for removing the hot stainless steel pod unless you want to burn your fingers.

One small but useful trick: if you prefer Celsius, hold the center and minus buttons together for about three seconds.

Even though it appears simple, I still needed time to understand the different components. Today I feel a real sense of relief about the effort I put into demystifying the Air Tea Kettle.

It sits on my countertop, and confidence makes me want to use it.

And I have to say, the presentation and packaging are ingenious.

Editor’s Notes: about the herbal guidance behind the Air Tea Kettle

The Air Tea Kettle places strong emphasis on education around temperature and plant preparation. Herbalist Amanda Crooke provides instructional material focused on safe, plant-specific vaporization, particularly for users who are not formally trained herbalists.

Why this works as a Valentine’s Day gift

Editor’s note: This is not positioned as a fast or flashy product, but as one that rewards patience, curiosity, and ritual—qualities often associated with meaningful gifts. Herbalism and working with herbs can be a life journey.

::Air Tea Kettle

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Israel’s water and agricultural technologies didn’t emerge from ideal conditions. They were developed under pressure: low rainfall, saline water, political isolation, lack of energy resources, and the constant need to feed a growing population with limited land. Over the years, I’ve written about many of these companies not as miracle-makers, but as problem-solvers. That’s what makes them relevant to places like Somaliland. Israel was the first country in the world to recognize Somaliland as an independent state although Ethiopia has been treating the nation as such for decades.

Below are 10 technologies, and the Israeli companies behind them, that could realistically support Somaliland’s long-term food, water, and energy resilience.

The first is drip irrigation, pioneered by Netafim, founded in the 1960s on Kibbutz Hatzerim after engineer Simcha Blass noticed that slow, targeted watering produced healthier plants. Netafim’s systems are now used worldwide to cut water use while increasing yields, especially in dry regions.

Closely related is low-pressure irrigation and fertigation, advanced by companies like NaanDanJain and Rivulis. These systems work well for smallholder farmers, allowing nutrients and water to be delivered together with minimal waste.

For water supply, desalination technology developed by IDE Technologies has transformed Israel’s water security. While IDE is best known for large plants, the company has also developed smaller-scale systems suitable for coastal communities, which could be relevant for Somaliland’s long shoreline.

In parallel, solar-powered water pumping systems—used widely in Israel’s peripheral regions—can replace diesel pumps. While not a single-company solution, Israeli integrators often combine solar technology from firms like SolarEdge with water systems to power wells, treatment units, and irrigation without fuel imports.

Another promising approach is wastewater reuse, an area where Israel leads globally. Municipal-scale treatment combined with agricultural reuse has been refined through decades of practice, with engineering firms and public utilities supporting reuse rates that reach nearly 90 percent. Scaled-down versions of these systems could help Somaliland’s towns reuse water safely rather than losing it entirely.

In agriculture, greenhouse and net-house farming has been advanced by Israeli companies such as Hishtil, which supplies seedlings and controlled-growing solutions designed for heat and water stress. These systems allow year-round production of vegetables with far less water than open-field farming.

Precision agriculture has also become more accessible through Israeli startups like CropX and Phytech, which use soil sensors and plant data to tell farmers exactly when to irrigate. Even basic versions of these tools can significantly reduce water waste.

On the seed side, Israeli breeders such as Hazera and Zeraim Gedera (now part of Syngenta) have developed heat- and drought-tolerant vegetable varieties suited for semi-arid climates. Crop genetics matter as much as irrigation in a warming world.

Food loss after harvest is another overlooked challenge. Israeli cold-chain innovations, including solar-powered cold rooms used across Africa, help reduce spoilage and increase farmer incomes. These systems don’t require a national grid and can be deployed at cooperative or village scale.

Finally, there is knowledge transfer, often the most underestimated technology of all. Israel’s international development agency MASHAV has trained tens of thousands of farmers and water managers worldwide through hands-on programs focused on dryland agriculture, water reuse, and cooperative farming. Technology adoption succeeds when training is local, practical, and gradual.

None of these tools promise instant prosperity. But together, they form a practical toolkit shaped by environments not unlike Somaliland’s own. In a region too often discussed only through politics or security, focusing on water, food, and energy systems offers a quieter, more durable path forward.

The post 10 Proven Israeli Technologies to Help Somaliland Build Food, Water, and Energy Security appeared first on Green Prophet.

Many of today’s businesses feel like they’re drowning in data but starving for insights. Sound familiar? You collect customer information, sales figures, production logs, marketing metrics – yet still struggle to turn that data into decisions that move the needle. That’s where the data science lifecycle comes into play. It’s not just for big companies with massive analytics teams. When applied thoughtfully, even small and mid-size businesses can use it to create better predictions and drive real outcomes.

Here, you’ll walk through how to apply each stage of the data science lifecycle, how to make it practical for your business, and how modern platforms streamline the process so you don’t have to become a data scientist overnight.

• Define the Problem

Data science doesn’t begin with the data, but rather with a problem you want to solve. The first stage of the lifecycle is problem definition. You need to ask: What decision are you trying to improve? What outcome do you want? What business processes need to change?

Maybe you want to reduce customer churn, optimize delivery routes, predict equipment failure, or increase high-value customer purchases. Whatever it is, you must define it clearly. Ambiguous goals lead to vague results.

For example, instead of saying “we want more sales,” define “we want to increase repeat purchases by 20 percent within 12 months from our top 25 percent of customers.” 

• Collect and Clean the Data

Once you have your question, the next stage is data collection and preparation. You’ll need to gather data that’s relevant to your question – customer history, transaction logs, equipment hours, social engagement…whatever applies.

Allocate time and resources to clean the data, if needed. Standardize entries, handle missing values, remove duplicates, and ensure your data is properly labeled and structured. This stage lays the foundation. If your data is unreliable, the models and insights built on top of it will be shaky. So take your time here.

• Explore and Visualize

With clean data in hand, you move into exploratory data analysis (EDA). This is where you interact with the data to discover patterns, trends, anomalies, and relationships. It’s not about making decisions yet – it’s about understanding what the data is telling you.

You might ask:

• Which customers are most likely to churn?
• What repair incidents frequently precede equipment breakdown?
• Are there seasonal patterns in your sales?
• What cohorts of users behave differently?

Visualization tools help a lot in this stage. You might map customer segments, chart equipment failures, or link marketing campaigns to ROI. The insights you uncover here shape the next phase.

• Model and Predict

Now you advance into modeling. Based on the patterns you identified, you build predictive models. These might forecast customer churn probability, equipment failure dates, sales volumes, or other outcomes relevant to your problem.

This is where data science often feels intimidating, but modern platforms are making this far more accessible. Advanced tools now allow you to build and validate models with less manual coding, and focus instead on interpreting results and making decisions.

• Prescribe and Act

Here’s where the magic happens. Predictive insights are valuable, but only when they trigger action. This stage – sometimes called prescriptive analytics – transforms forecasts into decisions, workflows, and changes that move your business forward.

For example, if your model predicts that a fleet vehicle has a 70 percent chance of requiring maintenance in the next 30 days, the prescriptive step is: “Schedule maintenance now before breakdown.” Or if a customer is likely to churn, the action might be: “Offer them a personalized discount or onboarding call.”

• Monitor and Improve

The final stage of the lifecycle is often underappreciated: monitoring and maintenance. Even the best models degrade over time because business conditions change, data evolves, and new patterns emerge. You need to track how your predictions perform and continuously refine your approach. This stage keeps your analytics alive and relevant.

Real-World Example: Fleet Maintenance

Let’s bring this to life with a concrete example. Imagine you manage a delivery fleet. You’re spending a lot on maintenance, facing unplanned breakdowns, and struggling to allocate vehicles efficiently. Here’s how the data science lifecycle helps:

• Problem Definition: Reduce unplanned maintenance costs by 30 percent over the next year.

• Data Collection: Gather data on vehicle hours, miles driven, past repair records, driver logs, fuel usage.

• Exploratory Analysis: Visualize patterns – certain vehicles break down more under specific conditions, locations, or driver behaviors.

• Modeling: Build a model to predict which vehicles are at highest risk of needing repair in the next 30 days.

• Prescriptive Action: Using fleet maintenance software, schedule preventive maintenance for high-risk vehicles, replace tires proactively, and rotate drivers based on risk patterns. By tracking standard repair times and comparing performance against them, you create a culture of accountability and motivate staff to complete repairs more efficiently.

• Monitor and Improve: Track breakdowns and maintenance costs. Measure whether the model’s predictions align with real outcomes. Tune variables, update thresholds, and adjust scheduling logic.

In this scenario, you move from reactive maintenance – “fix something when it breaks” – to proactive maintenance: “fix it before it breaks.” That shift saves money, improves uptime, and builds accountability across your fleet team.

Your Path Forward

You don’t need to hire a 50-person analytics team to start. Every business can begin with one clear question and one clean data set. Start small and add complexity only when you’re ready. This is your best path forward for sustained results!

The post How to Use the Data Science Lifecycle in Your Business appeared first on Green Prophet.

They’re Ready for the Coldest Winters and the Hottest Deserts

For years, heat pumps have sat on the sidelines of the clean-energy conversation in the United States. They were viewed as efficient, yes, but only if you lived somewhere with mild winters and predictable weather. For people in Minnesota, Maine, or the Rocky Mountain states in America or Canada, a heat pump was still considered too risky when temperatures plunged. This is despite seeing them as a mainstream addition to any home and factory in the very cold climate of Finland when Green Prophet was on a sponsored cleantech tour 15 years ago.

But 2025 is the year that equation changes. Advances in cold-climate performance, breakthroughs in commercial-scale systems, and real-world applications from Helsinki to New England show that heat pumps are no longer niche technology. They’re becoming central infrastructure for a low-carbon future.

Related: The most popular heat systems in the United States

One of the biggest barriers to wide adoption has always been the cold. Traditional air-source heat pumps lose efficiency when temperatures fall below freezing, forcing backup heat sources to kick in. That isn’t just inconvenient — it erases the energy savings that make heat pumps attractive in the first place.

This winter, LG unveiled a new cold-climate heat pump that directly answers this problem. The system recently won a 2025 innovation award after real-world testing showed reliable heating even in extreme low temperatures. LG is now coordinating a global consortium to test heat-pump designs across every climate zone — from Alaska to Norway to Saudi Arabia — accelerating research on defrosting cycles, refrigerants, and compressor efficiency.

On the commercial side, Lennox (NYSE:LII) became the first HVAC manufacturer to complete validation under the US Department of Energy’s Cold Climate Heat Pump Technology Challenge. Their 15 to 25 ton rooftop system solves long-standing defrost issues in large buildings and makes it possible for offices, schools, and municipal buildings to electrify heating without sacrificing performance.

Heat pumps don’t create heat — they move it. In winter they pull warmth from the air or ground and bring it indoors, and in summer they reverse the cycle to cool. By shifting heat instead of burning fuel, heat pumps use significantly less energy than conventional HVAC systems.These breakthroughs do more than lower emissions. They reduce fear. For millions of Americans living in cold northern states, fear has been the single biggest barrier to switching away from oil or gas furnaces.

A $450 Million Experiment in New England

The New England Heat Pump Accelerator — a regional, multi-state initiative — has committed $450 million to expand heat-pump deployment in one of America’s coldest, oldest housing markets. The goal is straightforward: replace fossil-fuel heating with high-efficiency electric systems in places historically dependent on heating oil. This is important to note because the Trump Administration killed federal heat pump incentives, believing it should place the onus on the state.

New England’s housing stock is notoriously challenging. The region has large numbers of drafty, pre-1970 homes, old radiators, and limited ductwork. But with new cold-climate systems, these obstacles are no longer deal-breakers. Maine and Vermont have already reported tens of thousands of successful installations in homes once considered unsuitable.

Green Prophet readers may recall our coverage of Helsinki’s bold experiment: using heat pumps to recycle waste heat from data centers under a church, turning server heat into city-wide district heating. Instead of dumping excess heat into the Baltic Sea, those data centers now feed a clean-energy loop that warms data servers and Finns use heat pumps to warm their homes.

This model is spreading. As US cities debate how to meet climate targets while accommodating explosive growth in cloud computing and AI infrastructure, the idea of using heat pumps to reclaim and recirculate server waste heat is gaining attention. It closes a loop that the fossil-fuel economy never could.

According to the International Energy Agency, heat-pumping technologies could meet nearly 40% of global space-heating demand by 2035. The IEA calls them “central to future decarbonization,” primarily because they displace oil, propane, and natural gas — fuels with some of the highest household carbon footprints.

When paired with renewable electricity, heat pumps can reduce home heating emissions by 50–70%, and in some regions, more.

According to the IEA heat pumps are increasingly recognised as a critical technology for heat decarbonisation, receiving focused policy support in several countries over the past years. In 2023 global sales of heat pumps decreased by 3%, after two consecutive years of double digit-growth, amid high interest rates and inflation in most major heating markets.

However heat pumps still meet only around 10% of the global heating need in buildings. To get on track with the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 (NZE) Scenario, the global heat pump stock would need to almost triple by 2030, to cover at least 20% of global heating needs. Further policy support and technical innovation are also required, particularly to reduce upfront costs, and to remove market barriers to renovations.

Heat pumps for hot desert climates like the Middle East?

While cold climates dominate the headlines, heat pumps may have an equally transformative role in the world’s hottest regions. New inverter-driven systems can cool efficiently even when outdoor temperatures soar past 45°C (113°F). In desert climates like Riyadh or Dubai, heat pumps can replace energy-hungry air conditioners and inefficient electric resistance heaters. Because they operate on a reversible cycle, a single unit cools during extreme heat and provides efficient heating during rare cold spells — a dual benefit for regions facing widening temperature swings from climate change. (It does get cold in hot desert climates).

And unlike older AC units that can only plug into a socket, modern heat pumps can run on renewable energy, including rooftop solar if you are connected to the gird or off the grid. For countries such as the UAE, Jordan, or Israel, this technology reduces grid stress and curbs reliance on fossil-fuel plants.

How much does a heat pump cost?

In the US, a residential cold-climate heat pump generally costs $8,000–$15,000 installed, with substantial incentives available through federal programs and state rebates. Meanwhile, ground-source (geothermal) systems cost more upfront but offer unmatched efficiency in both hot and cold climates.

The US federal tax credit of up to $2,000 for heat pumps remains available through 2025, and several states offer rebates of $1,000–$10,000, depending on income. This is an important incentives model for other countries around the world to follow, much like the home-owner feed-in tariffs for solar energy.

Heat pumps have crossed a threshold — technically, culturally, and economically. They’re no longer a futuristic alternative to furnaces and air conditioners. They’re becoming the backbone of a new heating and cooling economy that works in Helsinki’s blizzards, New England’s old homes, Arizona’s deserts, and even the dense data centers powering the AI revolution.

The post Heat pumps and why you should get one to save the planet appeared first on Green Prophet.

The Gulf is undergoing an extraordinary phase of transformation, propelled by ambitious national visions aimed at economic diversification, enhanced global competitiveness, and long-term prosperity.

Central to this evolution is the logistics sector – a vital backbone supporting regional trade, supply chain connectivity, and seamless movement of goods across land, air, and sea.

As the logistics industry in the GCC is projected to exceed $100 billion by 2030, its role is expanding beyond economic enablement. It is becoming a key driver in shaping a sustainable future, especially as governments across the region intensify their climate commitments.

Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Oman are all embedding sustainability into their national strategies, prioritizing renewable energy, environmental stewardship, and low-emission growth models.

Logistics sector needs to cut down that 10% For logistics, this is a turning point. As one of the world’s largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions – responsible for nearly 10% globally – the sector must undergo a structural shift. That means aligning operational efficiency with environmental responsibility and reimagining the sector through the lens of sustainability.

Investments are being directed toward green infrastructure, low-emission transport systems, circular supply chains, and smart warehousing facilities. These efforts are not only reducing environmental footprints but also improving cost-efficiency, resilience, and long-term value creation.

Logistics companies must rise to the occasion. Meeting climate goals requires the industry to prioritize emission reductions, energy efficiency, and responsible resource use across the whole supply chain. This includes adopting renewable energy technologies, redesigning facilities to reduce consumption, and optimizing fleet operations to transition away from fossil fuels.

Bring on the solar power

Harnessing the region’s abundant solar resources though clean energy initiatives presents one of the most powerful opportunities for transformative impact. Combined with the electrification of transport fleets, electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, and energy-efficient route optimization technologies, logistics firms can dramatically cut their Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.

Integration of AI and IoT-enabled solutions can also enhance efficiency, leading to smarter inventory and routing decisions.

Waste management is another critical area. Logistics firms are in a unique position to implement and scale circular practices – like reusing packaging materials, recycling pallets, and composting food or organic waste across their networks. These initiatives contribute to resource conservation, reduce landfill dependency, and support broader environmental goals.

Water conservation is equally important in a region where water scarcity remains a major challenge. By deploying sewage treatment systems and using reclaimed water for landscaping or cooling, logistics providers can significantly reduce their impact on water resources while maintaining operational effectiveness.

In terms of infrastructure, modern logistics facilities must be designed with sustainability in mind – incorporating features like skylights for natural lighting, optimized ventilation, and energy-efficient building materials. Green building certifications and carbon footprint reporting are fast becoming industry norms, and they should be embraced not as burdens, but as opportunities to lead.

Equally vital is the power of collaboration. No single company can move the needle alone. Partnerships across the private sector, government agencies, and civil society are essential to developing shared standards, pooling resources for innovation, and ensuring accountability through transparent reporting and benchmarking.

Making the business case

The business case is also compelling.

Clients, investors, and regulators are increasingly demanding sustainable practices. Logistics companies that lead in this space will not only enhance their brand reputation but also unlock access to green financing, attract top talent, and secure a competitive edge in an evolving marketplace.

Ultimately, sustainability in logistics is a necessity. The region’s rapid economic growth must go hand in hand with its environmental responsibilities.

By embedding sustainability into the core of logistics strategy, operations, and culture, the industry can position itself as a leader in climate action and long-term resilience.

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Neuralink, developed by Elon Musk, promises to help people who are paralyzed operate a computer with their thoughts. While first trials are being sought in humans with mobility issues we can imagine a future, (or not!), where humans are interlinked through our brains. It takes a massive amount of funding to build such a dream and now Neuralink is getting some competition, usually a good thing.

Paradromics, a US neurotechnology company says they have developed the highest data-rate brain-computer interface (BCI) platform, announced the US FDA has granted Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) approval to begin a feasibility study with their implant called Connexus BCI.

As the first company to receive IDE approval for speech restoration with a fully implantable BCI, Paradromics is excited to give participants the opportunity to control a computer and communicate via text or synthesized speech to recover connection.

Related: Womb implant is a success

The Connexus BCI is designed to record and decode brain signals at unprecedented rates of information transfer. “In Q1 next year we are launching a clinical study with the best engineered brain computer interface in the world,” said Paradromics’ CEO and founder, Matt Angle, Ph.D. “This is the device that patients deserve.“

The Connect-One Study will initially enroll two participants—with impaired speech and limited extremity movement (upper and lower) due to severe loss of voluntary motor control—who live within four hours of three clinical sites, UC Davis in Sacramento, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and Harvard Medical School.‍University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI – led by Investigator Matthew Willsey, M.D., Ph.D., a neurosurgeon with dual faculty appointments in Neurosurgery and Biomedical Engineering.

This FDA approval builds on key milestones for Paradromics, including three years of stable preclinical recordings, the first successful acute Connexus BCI implantation at the University of Michigan by Dr. Willsey, and the release of a scientific preprint demonstrating that the Connexus BCI delivers an industry-leading 200+ bits per second rate of information transfer in pre-clinical models. Paradromics has a Connect-One Study roadmap to add more sites, include more participants, and explore new BCI applications.

The Connect-One Study is the first in a series of clinical applications planned for the Paradromics BCI platform. Those interested in participating in this or future studies are encouraged to join the Paradromics Community.

The first study will look at restoring speech by Paradromics sees the future in enabling AI-powered treatments for motor impairment now and chronic pain, addiction, depression, and other neurological conditions in the near future.

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I remember the day in 2007 as a young environment and cleantech reporter when I went to my first clean tech conference. I was expecting solar panels and robots, new wind turbines to turn wind into washing machines, and hightech greenhouses that grows food on water. The reality was different: most cleantech companies in the business and making money (not just promising dreams) are industrial builds, companies that pull in pipes, valves, software and cables, sometimes linked together by software. There weren’t any golden bullet solutions that could change the world but rather they were companies that assembled solutions like the telecom industry.

The cleantech industry in all areas of reuse, new fabrics and materials, and in energy are not glamorous companies with runway models. They are factories and tools that help us make the most from least. And that’s why the most exciting cleantech companies we are seeing today look like Torus (improves the grid with a wheelwheel); BioProcessH20 (cleans effluent from food waste) and Regenx (which pulls minerals from catalytic converters) are the ones to watch.

Recycling or upcycling, I learn from my dad (a scrapper and water witch) metals is like finding free money. He was an avid metals recycler and could make a few thousand dollars at the scrap yard with every haul –– much of the metals found on the side of the road. When you take metals recycling as an industry, it’s literally like free money from garbage, and this is the business model of an AI-powered Tennessee company that is recycling aluminum. The company just raised $45 million USD to expand its operations. The solution poltentially diverts millions of tons of metals waste to other countries and keeps it local to the US economy. The metals will be earmarked for the automotive industry.

The deal was advised by by T. Rowe Price Associates and VXI Capital, with participation from Yamaha Motor Ventures and Overlay Capital; with an additional equipment funding from Trinity Capital. This funding fuels Sortera’s next phase of growth as a major domestic supplier of metals upcycled from waste.

In addition to the funding, Sortera is announcing plans for a second aluminum processing facility in Lebanon, Tennessee. This expansion—driven by overwhelming demand and success at the flagship Markle, Indiana facility—will bring Sortera’s innovative recycling solutions closer to its growing customer base.

Using artificial intelligence and advanced sensors, the company sorts mixed aluminum scrap into specific alloys that can replace imported primary aluminum. Sortera brings new life to old metal. Since launching operations at its 200,000 sq. ft. Markle facility in Q1 2023, Sortera has experienced significant customer demand for its high-quality recycled aluminum alloys.

For those in the metals business Sortera is now the only company producing end-of-life recycled aluminum products, including 380, 356, 319, and wrought (3105 and others) aluminum. Each product is specifically designed to match the chemistry of common casting and rolling alloys.

The Markle facility demonstrates Sortera’s technological success at transforming mixed alloy scrap—historically downgraded or shipped overseas—into high-value materials for critical applications in the automotive, construction, and aerospace industries.

“The performance of our Markle facility and the enthusiastic response from our customers have made it clear: the domestic market is hungry for sustainable, high-quality recycled aluminum,” said Michael Siemer, CEO of Sortera Technologies. This expansion allows us to significantly increase our capacity and establish a presence closer to many of our key customers—particularly in the automotive sector—further streamlining supply chains and enhancing our service capabilities.”

Their process diverts billions of pounds of material from going overseas and dramatically reduces the energy required for aluminum production by approximately 95% compared to manufacturing from virgin materials. This translates into a substantial reduction in CO₂ footprint for Sortera’s customers, supporting their ambitious sustainability and circular production goals.

When we interviewed a company in this space called Regenx, they called themselves “urban miners.”

The investment in Sortera is to create a new facility to increase the company’s annual production capacity to ~240 million pounds. This will ultimately help manufacturers lower costs and pollution while strengthening the domestic supply chain.

Sortera expects that the new facility will be operational by the summer of 2026, and further details regarding the specifics will be communicated in the coming months.

Notable investors include RA Capital Management-Planetary Health, certain funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., the Mineral Resources Group, a part of Mitsubishi Corporation’s Business Incubation Unit, Macquarie GIG Energy Transition Solutions (“MGETS”), Assembly Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and Chrysalix.

Sortera was founded in 2020 by Nalin Kumar (listed as Founder & Chief Innovation Officer) and Manuel Garcia (listed as Co-Founder & Vice President of Applied Science). Michael Siemer is the President and Chief Executive Officer.

::Sortera

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