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From retrofitting outdoor lighting to agritech monitoring tools, these companies are employing IoT solutions to make the world more sustainable.
Today (22 April) is Earth Day, a time to shine a light on the importance of our environment and to celebrate efforts made in order to protect it.
While a “dire warning” was released earlier this week regarding rising carbon emissions and the climate crisis, there are still reasons to have hope about the future of our world.
Earlier this year, we took a closer look at the subject of sustainability and how to future-proof our planet, which included turning the spotlight on 10 start-ups powering the future of energy.
Now, we have six more companies to highlight, all of which were winners at Digi International’s Green Tech Customer Innovation Awards. Digi International is a global IoT provider and each of these businesses used its IoT technologies to create a more sustainable world.
“Our honourees play a pivotal role in supporting the reduction of greenhouse emissions and helping smart cities, communities and industries to reduce their carbon footprint,” said Ron Konezny, president and CEO of Digi International.
Infinitum Electric
US-based Infinitum Electric is a motor technology company that aims to deliver high-efficiency, durable, lightweight and IoT-enabled electric motors to the market.
It was founded in 2016 and closed a $12.5m Series B round of funding at the end of 2019. According to the company’s director of product, Shams Shaikh, its latest design is up to 60pc lighter than traditional electric motors.
New Sun Road
New Sun Road is a California-based public benefit corporation developing data-driven IoT technology solutions for solar-based power systems.
Founded in 2014, the company’s systems include a suite of IoT products that are designed to optimise the management of renewables-based power systems, which in turn can be used to provide clean, reliable energy to underserved communities.
Nobel Systems
Founded in 1992, Nobel Systems specialises in geospatial services, software engineering, software integration and cloud spatial solutions
The company uses a cloud-based IoT asset management system that gives water districts access to real-time data, which helps them monitor their status and performance with the aim of preventing leaks and reducing costs.
Reborn Electric
Reborn Electric is a Chilean company that converts diesel-engine buses to electric power. The electric mobility company retrofitted its first bus in 2016 and it became fully operational in May 2018.
The company is now preparing to launch its first electric vehicle factory where it plans to manufacture more than 10 vehicles during 2021.
Schréder
Belgium-headquartered company Schréder is the company behind Owlet Nightshift, a remote management system for monitoring, controlling, metering and managing outdoor lighting.
The IoT system enables cities to retrofit ageing lighting infrastructures with long-lasting intelligent technology. The smart lighting system reduces energy consumption and CO2 emissions. The company has since brought out two new generations of control systems: Owlet IoT and Schréder Exedra.
WiseConn Engineering
Agritech company WiseConn Engineering was founded in 2006. It develops technology to measure and control water and other fluids in areas such as agriculture, mining and hydrology.
WiseConn uses IoT technology in a mesh network configuration to capture data from low-power sensors and transmit it back to a farmer’s control station for complete, optimal irrigation control.
Updated 10.33am, 27 April 2021: A previous version of this article stated that Shréder was a German company. It was updated to clarify that Shréder is headquartered in Belgium.
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