5 GREEN PROJECTS NOT TO BE MISSED AT MAKER FAIRE ROME 2022
The era of sustainable innovation has begun. Maker Faire Rome 2022 will host many protagonists who have chosen to create innovative projects, able to offer an important contribution to improving and protecting the environment we live in.
Until a few years ago, innovation and sustainability were considered two nearly-opposing concepts. Technological and industrial innovation often had a negative impact on the environment and was frequently considered one of the main causes of pollution and consumption of natural resources.
Today this idea has been completely reversed and innovation is a pivotal ally in the struggle to protect and improve the environment we live in. The era of sustainable innovation has begun.
Among the protagonists present at Maker Faire Rome 2022, here is a selection of 5 innovative Green-themed projects that you can meet from 7 to 9 October at the Gazometro Ostiense in Rome.
The kit to build eco-sustainable boats
Maker Maurizio Borriello has designed a kit to produce eco-sustainable boats, which applies innovative technologies in the
use of wood, a traditional material of the shipping industry that has been recently revalued for its great potential.
This kit is not a simple set of pre-manufactured pieces, like those already on the market, but it is a product designed to become a permanent equipment, which can be used for serial or one-off production of solid wood boats.
In the naval industry, the most commonly used building material is fiberglass: a product that derives from non-renewable fossil sources, which implies a great environmental impact for its extraction and processing. Wood, on the other hand, is a natural, durable, recyclable and biodegradable material. For this reason, although it may seem a obsolete solution for modern boats, it is becoming again the material of choice for some of the most advanced shipyards in the world.
Among the many advantages, this kit allows shipyard operators to obtain accurate results, reducing time and costs. This innovation is largely based on the integration of CAD-CAM-CNC technologies, but it does not require the investment of large sums in the purchase or repeated rental of such sophisticated technologies. The service costs of these equipment are reduced to one time and the kit can be applied to the construction of the most varied types of boats: workboats, traditional models, contemporary classic boats and modern design boats.
LiFi Revolution: the new horizon of fast, secure and sustainable connection
LiFi Revolution is a project developed by the innovative SME “To Be” which exploits the potential of light to connect things and people in a sustainable way. Light, in addition to illuminating the space, becomes a source of data transmission involving users in a unique and innovative experience.
But what exactly is LiFi? Acronym for Light Fidelity, LiFi is a wireless technology that uses LED light modulation to transmit information quickly, safely and sustainably. All LED sources, in fact, can be potential transmitters of information and each device can turn into a potential user of the same information.
More specifically, LiFi technology exploits on-off switching of the light frequency. This 0/1 sequence of light emitted is not visible to the human eye and allows the transmission of data in a green way, thanks to the absence of radio waves and the reduction of energy consumption related to the use of latest generation LED lamps.
In addition to the sustainability aspect, the project could bring advantages under various points of view. First of all, this new technology is up to 100 times faster than current Wi-fi connections and has no interference problems with other devices, ensuring the transmission of data even in places such as hospitals or aircraft, difficult to reach by radio waves.
LiFi is also a safe system because light can be confined within a space, avoiding the risk of attacks by hackers and is not subject to bandwidth saturation problems. LiFi is also considered the most powerful geolocation technology currently available on the market: each LiFi lamp has a specific address and combining the data of several lamps it is possible to define the position of a user with extreme precision.
Lokit Urban Hub: an effective solution for a sustainable mobility
Lokit Urban Hub is a micro-mobility infrastructure that provides parking, mobility and connectivity services in one place.
The project was carried out by Lokit Technology Srl, an innovative startup founded in Bari in 2021, which currently operates in the smart mobility field: a sector that is changing the way of moving within the city and combines the principles of sharing economy with digital technologies, creating innovative modes of travel, more efficient and less polluting.
Lokit Urban Hub is the first complete platform for sustainable mobility that integrates hardware and software technologies, exponential technologies such as IoT, artificial Intelligence, blockchain and 5G, to offer an unprecedented mobility experience.
The aim of the project is to implement a capillary and sustainable infrastructure throughout the territory, to provide a tool for electric micro-mobility that is effective against vandalism, theft, incorrect parking and disorder in the city streets, as well as offering support to businesses and public administrations thanks to the huge amount of data collected by the infrastructure.
FRELP BY SUN: an innovative technology for the recovery of end of life photovoltaic panels
FRELP (Full Recovery End of Life Photovoltaic) is one of the first projects in the world that aims to realize a full recovery system of the materials that compose photovoltaic panels in an economically and sustainable way.
TIALPI srl, the innovative SME working on this ambitious project, tests and develops for several years innovative technologies to recover 100% of end of live photovoltaic panels and proposes two main environmental solutions. The first concerns the recovery of extra clear high quality glass, to be used in the hollow and flat glass industry, reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions in the glass melting process. The second is the recovery of silicon metal, to be used in ferro-silicon alloys or to be transformed into amorphous silicon for the production of thin films, reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions associated with the primary production of silicon.
FRELP BY SUN is one of the research and development projects that is part of the wider FRELP project and consists of an innovative technology that allows to recover the components of photovoltaic panels with an expected reuse of 97%.
To date, an experimental development plant is operational in Mottalciata, a town in the province of Biella. The most important technological innovation of the experimental plant consists in a patented device for the detachment of the glass from the mat obtaining good quality recycled glass and silicon-filled mat that can be used in the steel industry, in a perfect example of circular economy.
Komposta, the kitchen hood with a green heart
Rithema, a company specialized in technological solutions for the optimization of the use of natural resources, has found a
new way to exploit the daily heat produced when we cook: Komposta is an innovative cooker hood, able to dry food and transform fruit and vegetable waste into compost, thanks to the heat released from the cooktop.
The project was created to address two main issues: the management of organic waste and the energy efficiency of the domestic environment.
The transformation of organic waste into compost allows a significant reduction of pollution related to the transport and the management of the waste, which involves high CO2 emissions. In addition, the organic waste, in case of rain or during summer, creates a high bacterial proliferation due to the putrefaction of the piled waste, producing polluting liquids such as leachate and annoying malodorous areas in urban centers.
With Komposta, thanks to the thermoventilation, the dehydration of organic waste takes place in a few hours, completely eliminating the problem of bad smells and allowing you to get a high quality compost in just 6 hours.
This process is enhanced by the automatic rotation of an internal perforated container which permits the complete ventilation of the organic waste while being easily removable and washable. In absence of heat from the hob, Komposta can activate low-power automatic thermoventilation cycles, ensuring the correct finalization of the transformation process into compost.
Maker Faire Rome – The European Edition has been committed since its very first editions to make innovation accessible and usable to all, with the aim of not leaving anyone behind. Its blog is always updated and full of opportunities and inspiration for makers, makers, startups, SMEs and all the curious ones who wish to enrich their knowledge and expand their business, in Italy and abroad.
From October 7 to 9 come and visit Maker Faire Rome at Gazometro Ostiense. Info and tickets: https://makerfairerome.eu/it/biglietti/
