Undoubtedly the biggest challenge we face today is climate change, but we have good news! This week we discovered several initiatives taking steps in the right direction, let’s take a look.

Capturing CO2 looks more and more feasible

Previously, capturing CO2 from the air and turning it into energy was a wild dream: too expensive to be realistic, yet necessary to impact climate change positively. Luckily, a new study published in the journal Joule (summarized for us by James Temple from MIT Technology Review) shows that it might be realistic after all. At an estimated cost of between $94 and $232 per ton of captured carbon dioxide, it looks a lot more doable, especially compared to the previous estimate of over $1000 per ton. There’s a lot of work to be done, but it’s the most promising news we’ve heard in a while! Delve in deeper here.

3D printed house for rent

Soon coming to a Dutch city near you: the first 3D printed houses available for rent. Van Wijnen, a Dutch construction company, has partnered with the Eindhoven University of Technology for Project Milestone: the world’s first commercially developed 3D printed homes. They promise that, by next year, there will be five futuristic-looking 3D-printed houses on the rental market. The printer uses only the exact amount of materials necessary, making construction more eco-friendly. The company will also print each house, in turn, to learn from the previous, starting with a single-story house, and they expect the fifth one, pipes and all, to be entirely 3D printed. Ephrat Livni shows us what your future home might look like on Quartz.

Plastic waste or wasted plastic?

While many of us focus on the problems we see, the Texas-based company Athyron focuses on the opportunities. The company saw two problems: trees are disappearing at an alarming rate, and there is too much plastic waste ending up in the ocean. How is this an opportunity, you ask? One takes the plastic, and turns it into wood: say hi to the Miura Board, the alternative to wood that is made from 100% recycled materials. The end result is a product that is reusable, water-proof, and termite-proof. This is not just an alternative to wood, but an upgrade! David Mantey on ThomasNet explains more.

Turning the factory floor into an arcade

Data drives seemingly everything, but can it also drive workers to improve productivity in a fun, stress-free way? John Hitch on Industry Week describes some situations where it’s possible: imagine if, with IOT, workers’ motions are timed and projected on a board, the work will turn into a kind of competition. Make the rewards more substantial than a fast-food coupon, and the workers will want to move up their names on the ‘scoreboard’. Video games are more popular than ever, and simulating those circumstances at work might be the key to high productivity and motivation without high stress levels. Many companies have already been trying to implement similar solutions, but how to perfect it? Score some points by clicking here.

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