Sustainability

According to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), global food production in 2020 was approximately 5.3 billion metric tons. However, one-third of this total production does not reach consumers' tables. The agrifood industry generates significant amounts of side streams that are often rich in valuable nutrients and compounds. Unfortunately, due to the lack of concerted efforts to aggregate these side streams and implement efficient and sustainable upcycling technologies, they are mostly underutilized. Agriculture, animal, and seafood farming generate substantial volumes of side streams. These side streams include vegetables, coffee beans, cacao, chicken feathers, innards, bones, offals, and scales. They are rich in nutrients and minerals, and there is an interest in seeking new technologies to upcycle them into valuable raw materials for consumption, packaging, or construction materials. We are currently seeking technologies that are capable of converting agrifood side streams into higher-value products. Preferably, the tech provider should be available for co-development partnerships,  R&D collaborations, IP licensing, and acquisition.

Offshore land reclamation has been an important strategy for Singapore to meet its land needs. However, the ultra-soft soil in the surrounding waters makes land reclamation extremely difficult. Besides, many infrastructure projects (i.e., tunnelling, deep excavation, etc.) are also challenging when encountering soft marine clay due to its poor engineering properties, such as high water content, high compressibility, and low shear strength. Currently, ordinary Portland cement (OPC) is the most common binder used for soft clay stabilisation through deep mixing or jet grouting. However, OPC is not very effective for the stabilisation of marine soft clay with high water content. In addition, the production of OPC leads to negative environmental impacts such as non-renewable resources, high energy consumption, and high carbon emissions. The technology owner has developed a sustainable novel binder, entirely from industrial by-products, that has high stabilisation efficiency for marine soft clay. Using the same binder content, the 28-day strength of the novel binder-stabilised soft clay can be 2–3 times higher than that of the OPC-stabilised clay. In addition, the novel binder has a lower cost and less environmental impact, making it an economical and sustainable alternative to OPC.   This technology is available for R&D collaboration, IP licensing, and test-bedding with industrial partners in the construction and infrastructure sectors.  

The potential of green hydrogen to plug the intermittency of solar and wind whilst burning like natural gas and serving as feedstock in industrial chemical processes has attracted the interest of industry, governments and investors. From oil and gas players, utilities, industries from steel to fertilisers and more, green hydrogen is regarded as the best bet for harmonising the intermittency of renewables.   Green hydrogen is produced through water electrolysis, a process that separates water into hydrogen and oxygen, using electricity generated from renewable sources. Today, it accounts for just 0.1% of global hydrogen production according to the World Economic Forum. The main disadvantage of green hydrogen production via water electrolysis is (1) its high energy consumption of more than 50 kWh per kg and the need for large land areas and (2) the competition of usage for water it creates.   The proposed hydrogen production technology is based on the decomposition of methane (CH4) molecule in oxygen-free environment by low energy microwave plasma. Unlike electrolysis, this process does not produce CO2 as it decomposes CH4 directly into gaseous hydrogen and solid carbon, both are industrially valuable products. Compared to water electrolysis, this process saves up to 5 times the energy required to produce hydrogen from methane, at competitive costs. The process can be installed on-site, at the end of the gas infrastructure, reducing the need to invest in a new H2 infrastructure. The fact that, coupled with biomethane, the technology is CO2 negative, representing an indirect air capture solution is another major advantage.   The technology owner is seeking OEM partners in Singapore (1) to co-develop complete solutions integrating the proposed technology for specific applications or (2) integrate the technology into industrial demonstration sites.

Recently, the rising adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and portable electronics has made electronic waste (e-waste) pollution worse, especially when small and low-power IoT devices are single-use only. As such, low-cost and environmentally friendly power sources are in high demand. The technology owner has developed an eco-friendly liquid-activated primary battery for single-use and disposable electronic devices. The battery can be activated by any aqueous liquid and is highly customisable to specific requirements (i.e., shape, size, voltage, power) of each application. This thin and flexible battery can be easily integrated into IoT devices, smart sensors, and medical devices, providing a sustainable energy solution for low-power and single-use applications. The technology owner is keen to do R&D collaboration and IP licensing to industrial partners who intend to use liquid-activated batteries to power the devices.

Bioplastics have gained significant attention due to the environmental issues of fossil-based plastics and the realisation of limited petroleum resources. On the other side, industrial and agricultural organic wastes are produced in huge quantities worldwide, resulting in serious environmental and economic impacts. To solve the above problems, the technology owner has developed a 100% natural biotechnological process to convert industrial and agricultural organic waste into bioplastics. Bioplastics are fully biodegradable and biocompatible, with no harm to humans and environment. These bioplastics are applicable to industrial plastic processes and potentailly replace conventional plastics in short lifespan applications. The use of industrial and agricultural waste as cheaper sources not only makes the production process more economic but also helps in the management of organic waste, contributing to the goal of a circular economy. This technology is available for IP licensing and R&D collaboration with industrial partners who are interested in the sustainable production of bioplastics using organic waste.

Catastrophic residential fires and wildfires have a significant impact in terms of fatalities, injuries, loss of property, and air pollution. Flame retardants play important roles in fire protection by helping to prevent or slow the spread of fire. Currently, brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are the most abundantly used flame retardants. However, there are increasing concerns about their toxicity to humans and persistence in the environment.  To find an eco-friendly alternative to those toxic chemicals, the technology owner has developed a non-toxic flame-retardant nanocoating using bio-based and renewable raw materials such as chitosan and clay nanoplatelets. This water-based coating can potentially be applied to any flammable polymeric material, such as wood, foams and fabrics, providing effective fire protection for a wide range of applications. The technology is available for IP licencing and R&D collaboration with industry partners who are interested in adopting flame-retardant coatings in their products and applications.

Anti-corrosion coatings have attracted tremendous attention due to their significant safety, financial, and environmental impacts. However, the protective coatings are highly susceptible to damage during transport, installation, and service. The detection of initial micro-cracks is very difficult, but the propagation of corrosion can be quite fast. Therefore, smart coating with self-healing function is a promising route to address the above challenges. The technology owner has developed a polymer-based hollow microcapsule that can release the active ingredients in response to external stimuli. Microcapsules encapsulated with corrosion inhibitors can be added as anti-corrosion additives in coating primer. In the presence of damage, microcapsules get activated and release corrosion inhibitors directly onto the corroding site to prevent the corrosion. This self-healing anti-corrosion coating can effectively extend materials’ lifetimes, reduce maintenance expenses, and enhance public safety. The advanced microcapsule technology can also largely reduce the content of toxic corrosion inhibitors by 90%, enabling an environmentally friendly coating solution. The technology owner is interested in IP licensing and R&D collaboration with industrial partners who are seeking self-healing smart coatings for corrosion protection. The microcapsule technology is also available for co-innovation in other applications, such as anti-fouling and agricultural pest control.

One-third of the food produced globally is lost or wasted. At the same time, millions of people are hungry and unable to afford a healthy diet. Having said that, food loss and waste could potentially impose food security and impact the world with nutrition, socioeconomic, and environmental issues.  This technology offer is a process technology that provides an efficient and environmentally friendly approach to utilise agri-food side stream and convert it to a valuable, high protein biomass. The technology develops precision approaches, i.e., the proper treatment methods for food waste, specific separation means for target ingredients, suitable strains for protein production, and optimized operational conditions for the fermentation process. The process also utilises the inexpensive agri-food side stream as the novel feedstock for protein fermentation. The technology is available for R&D collaboration and test bedding, with partners that are interested in valorisation of food waste to value-added edible protein. The technology owner is also keen to license and commercialize this technology.

Keratins are naturally occurring proteins found in hair, feathers, wool and other external protective tissues of animals. They are highly abundant, naturally produced and generally underutilized. At the same time, keratins offer versatile chemical properties that allow interactions with themselves or with other materials to improve behaviour. The technology provider has developed sustainable, biodegradable plastic materials by upcycling keratins derived from hair and feathers. In the preliminary studies, the technology provider has found ways to produce films that have the potential to be used as packaging materials. These films do not disintegrate readily in water, yet they fully degrade in soil within a week. They can be made in combination with other waste-derived biopolymers to improve strength to meet the needs of specific use cases. This technology is available for R&D collaboration, IP licensing, or IP acquisition, with industrial partners who are looking for a green packaging solution and to explore specific-use-case products. The technology provider is also interested to collaborate with the OEM partners having the keratin extraction facility from feathers and hair for the deployment of this technology.