GOLD
Octopus Energy & National Grid: Octoplus Saving Sessions
Our Octoplus Saving Sessions is going bigger and better to help tackle key social and environmental issues by delivering a turbocharged energy saving experience to empower our customers and ease congestion on our grid when they need help the most. Our game-changer innovation works by alerting opted-in customers ahead of ‘Demand Service Flexibility’ sessions run by National Grid and allocating 1800 Octopoints (worth £2.25) for every 1Kw not used compared to normal consumption, with points redeemable as bill credits, cashback, days out and more. Of the 48 schemes, none have been as successful as ours. Results over 15 sessions to date demonstrate that we put £5.1m back into the pockets of 1.5m participating customers for saving 2GWh grid load – even with 3/6 hours notice – whilst saving 437 metric tonnes of Co2 emissions. For over 300.000 customers, savings made were enough to beat the Jan 24 Price Cap. Our results have eclipsed last years’ in terms of uptake, engagement and overall performance: 114% more customers taking part 1.5m vs 700k, 13.8% higher peak power reduction achieved: 214MW vs 188MW, and overall higher 60% market share up from 56% last year – with more to come.
SILVER
First Mile: Recycling and waste consolidation by electric cargo bike
First Mile’s electric cargo bike recycling collection and consolidation initiative is the latest innovation in our strategy to decarbonize our entire operation.
Our custom-built electric cargo bikes can each carry 200kg of recycling, while working silently across the capital with zero emissions. Each bike operates on one small battery charge, covering 25 miles daily – an ideal operational urban-collection range.
Each bike has the same capacity as a 3.5tonne van-sized vehicle, while saving 20.26 kg of CO2 emissions daily. The fleet is ULEZ-compliant and congestion charge exempt. To date, by using our cargo bikes with our 6,300 collections every week, we have avoided over 500,000 kg of CO2 emissions.
Waste consolidation is the process of combining smaller amounts into larger loads in order to improve recycling rates and make waste both easier to handle, and more cost and environmentally-effective to transport.
The move responds to the changing focus within cites on initiatives such as reduced traffic and pedestrianization, often combined with an emphasis on low/zero emission zones. These changes mean that delivery and collection operators increasingly need to transform operations, both in terms of emissions and road miles. In this respect, First Mile is an industry-leader within the waste sector.
ONE TO WATCH
Forte: A New Way to Finance High-Quality Education and Healthcare at Scale
There are over a billion people worldwide who have enormous talent but never have the opportunity to realize their potential. That’s a tragedy, and it’s only going to get worse over time. This begs the question, how can we finance high-quality education and healthcare to disadvantaged populations at the insane scale required. No existing approach works. However there is a better way.
FORTE, which stands for Financing Of Return To Employment, is a way to finance education and healthcare at no cost or risk to individuals or governments, and without needing philanthropy. Private capital (from foundations, impact investors, superannuation funds, and others) is used to cover the costs of human capital investments in individuals, such as retraining for the jobs of the future. These investments, by their nature, lead to greater employment, incomes and therefore government income tax revenue. Governments, as part of the agreement, simply pass back a percentage of the increase in the income tax revenue they receive that’s attributable to the retrained individuals. They just pass back what they otherwise would not have had. This is a true win-win for individuals, investments, governments, and great education/healthcare providers. It’s trickle-up economics, and it’s what the world desperately needs.
ONE TO WATCH
Hyster Company: Hyster hydrogen fuel cell-powered ReachStacker
In August 2023, Hyster Company, a global provider of container handling solutions, developed and shipped a hydrogen fuel cell-powered ReachStacker for a pilot at the Port of Valencia. This is the first ReachStacker application in Europe using HFC technologies for port handling equipment in real operating conditions. The Hyster® ReachStacker is an innovative zero-emission solution that uses a Nuvera® Fuel Cell Engine to convert hydrogen into electricity. Hydrogen is stored on board in high-pressure tanks and can be refilled in 10-15 minutes. The onboard hydrogen fuel cell charges the batteries, which power the electric motors and hydraulic systems enabling the ReachStacker to lift laden containers with similar performance to diesel-powered equipment.
This application explores advantages of the HFC ReachStacker compared to conventional diesel-powered machines, including reduced greenhouse gas emissions, noise pollution and operating costs through the elimination of a diesel engine, transmission and other mechanically-driven components.
The Hyster ReachStacker is currently being tested in live operation at MSC Terminal Valencia (MSCTV), one of the largest container terminals in Europe. The H2Ports project, funded by the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH-JU) and coordinated by the Fundación Valenciaport, involves the port community, industry and academia.