New

Yuan-Sheng Yu

Alternative Fuels More...

April 8, 2020

Renewable Diesel

Drop-in fuel produced by hydroprocessing vegetable oils, fats, and greases and used as a direct replacement for conventional diesel fuel in transportation. Renewable diesel has emerged as the most commercially successful advanced biofuel, with 1.4 billion gallons per year of nameplate capacity ... read more.

Technology

Anthony Vicari

Accelerating Materials Innovation More...

April 8, 2020

New version of BAC Mono uses generative design to reduce wheel weight

Briggs Automotive Company recently announced the newest version of the Mono, a street-legal single-seater race car launched in 2011. As a $250,000 performance vehicle, the Mono has long made extensive use of high-end advanced materials and production processes to reduce weight and maximize ... read more.

Case Study

Josh Kern

Autonomous Systems 2.0 More...

April 8, 2020

OnRobot introduces soft robotic gripper to market

The field of soft robotics, in which soft and flexible materials are used for robotic grippers, has been seeing a lot of attention from the innovation community since the emergence of the company Soft Robotics in 2012. Soft Robotics' unique gripper uses silicone fingers actuated by pressurized air. ... read more.

Case Study

Abhirabh Basu and Chloe Holzinger

Energy Storage More...

April 8, 2020

Lilac Solutions

Ion exchange method for lithium extraction from brines

Developed an ion exchange process for extracting lithium from both conventional and unconventional brine deposits, based on proprietary ceramic beads that tolerate different ratios of divalent impurities to lithium Secured $20 million in a Series A funding from several prominent VC funds Has two ... read more.
Company Profile

Michael Holman

Accelerating Materials Innovation More...

April 7, 2020

What clients are asking us about COVID-19 – and how we're responding

We're all still grappling with the seismic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on both public health and the business and economic landscape. While keeping staff and operations safe and secure is the top priority, our clients are also probing us with questions about what the broader impact of the ... read more.

Analyst Insight

Shriram Ramanathan

Autonomous Systems 2.0 More...

April 7, 2020

Digital productivity tools for your remote workforce

As COVID-19 forces most of us into a work-from-home type of setup, many of our clients have reached out inquiring about digital tools that can make this a more seamless and efficient experience for everyone. In this article, we wanted to share a list of such digital tools, some of which we ourselves... read more.

Analyst Insight

Katrina Westerhof

Autonomous Systems 2.0 More...

April 7, 2020

IoT Security

Prevention, detection, and mitigation of attacks affecting the industrial IoT, connected cars, connected medical devices, and other connected devices. As IoT continues to proliferate, IoT security will increasingly be front-of-mind for vendors and users, and the ecosystem will expand accordingly. ... read more.

Technology

Laura Krishfield

Agro Innovation More...

April 7, 2020

Zivo Bioscience

Algae-derived ingredients for nutraceuticals, food, and feed applications

Zivo Bioscience was acquired by Howard Baer in 2003. To date, the company has raised approximately $110.68 million in total funding. The company produces algal biomass and bioactive compounds to be used as ingredients in food, supplements, and possibly medicine; the company's proprietary algal ... read more.
Company Snapshot

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EV Inflection Tracker: 2020 Edition

Coverage Areas: Energy Storage More...

Planned Publication Date: April 2020

Electric vehicles are no longer a niche segment of the automotive industry, approaching 2 million in annual sales. Automakers are now committing billions toward securing raw materials and battery supplies, designing platforms, and building manufacturing capacity for electrified vehicles. However, as governments around the world roll back subsidies while tightening environmental regulations and forcing automakers to sell electric vehicles, automakers face the challenge of making electric vehicles profitably at a large scale. This report analyzes a decade of electric vehicle data to determine how electric vehicles compete with performance from internal combustion engines on metrics like range, price, charging speed, and others.

In the Path of Destruction: Preparing for Global Climate Change in the Chemical Industry

Coverage Areas: Accelerating Materials Innovation

Planned Publication Date: April 2020

While it is tempting to ignore the intangible consequences of climate change with regards to day-to-day business in the chemical industry, climate events like tropical storm Harvey in 2017, or the Rhine droughts of 2018, have shown significant short-term impact. While it is wishful thinking that such events were improbable and isolated, climate research shows that they will only grow more frequent as global temperatures continue to rise. Disruption to chemical production and distribution will, in turn, be made worse by an increase in climate-related extreme weather events, sea-level rise, temperature change, and drought over the next 50 years. Companies in the industry should be evaluating how their business will be impacted and prepare adaptation strategies to mitigate risk both in the short- and long-term. The current report assesses the industry's exposure to climate threats based on geographic location, production processes employed, and supply chain factors, and offers solutions for companies to build resilience and maintain a long-term competitive advantage.

Optimal Use of Resources: Innovating the Lithium Industry

Coverage Areas: Energy Storage More...

Planned Publication Date: April 2020

With many automakers heavily invested in battery electric vehicle (BEV) development and more than 1 million vehicles in annual sales, the electric mobility revolution is well underway. Yet even as more and more automakers announce aggressive electrification strategies, challenges facing the lithium industry could have significant impacts on the future battery and BEV markets. This report considers the gap between lithium supply and demand forecasts, the innovative companies looking to address the challenges in producing battery-ready lithium chemicals, and the established incumbents best positioned to take advantage of this critical market opportunity.

The future of big data and edge computing

Coverage Areas: Digital Transformation More...

Planned Publication Date: April 2020

Several metrics indicate that, over the past couple of years, there has been a steady rise in interest as well as innovation in the area of edge computing. In a previous report, we had discussed the key drivers, taxonomy of different types of edge computing technologies, and some key players in this space. However, there is little clarity on where and what type of edge computing should be used in different applications. In this report, we will dive into the nuances of different applications and use cases where edge computing will play an important role.

Industrial Wastewater Market Trends and Opportunities

Coverage Areas: Owning the Energy Transition More...

Planned Publication Date: April 2020

This report will cover a market size of the major heavy industrial wastewater markets in North America. This will also include an analysis on which markets are the most attractive in terms of growth opportunities versus barrier to entry.

Strategies for doing more with less

Coverage Areas: Agro Innovation More...

Planned Publication Date: April 2020

Food, feed, and overall agriculture production struggles with low margins (e.g. high input costs and low product values), high resource use (e.g. land, water, labor, inputs), and today more than ever, the added pressure to reduce environmental impacts. These challenges amount to a tremendous ask of growers: “Do more with less.” But even more importantly input and protection players face an even more difficult ask: “Grow your business on declining sales.” This report connects the need to “do more with less” to the technology and business model innovations that allow you to avoid the characteristic race to the bottom associated with volume businesses, while gaining advantage in a rapidly changing industry.

Beyond Made in China 2025: China's Move Up the Global Innovation Value Chain

Coverage Areas: Accelerating Materials Innovation More...

Planned Publication Date: April 2020

Made in China 2025 is the most important government policy set to transform China into a global innovation leader in the next five years. With roadmaps for developing domestic capabilities in electricity, agriculture, advanced materials, new energy vehicles, robotics, information technology, aerospace, rail, marine engineering, and medicine, the country is currently transforming itself in order to move up the global value chain across ten major industry sectors. But what about beyond 2025? Several technologies possess potential to transform the world beyond the five year time frame. In this report, we analyze hundreds of technologies generated by the Lux Intelligence Engine data platform to identify the key technologies and players driving China's move up the global innovation value chain and determine how domestic players fare against their global peers.

Industrial Power Symbiosis: Finding Cost-Effective Cases for On-Site Power Generation

Coverage Areas: Future Grid More...

Planned Publication Date: April 2020

When and how will industrial customers of electricity find it most cost-effective to source their own electricity from on-site generators? This report will match power generation technologies with the industries that can benefit from their use and secondary benefits, such as heat and hydrogen production.

Scouting Innovations for Corrosion's Tough Problems

Coverage Areas: Accelerating Materials Innovation More...

Planned Publication Date: April 2020

Corrosion remains perhaps the most persistent challenge we face in the materials industry. New sustainability regulations are making this even more challenging, by pushing out chrome 6 and limiting the use of solvents. This report will scout early stage technologies, start-ups, and identify corporate approaches to tackling the corrosion challenge.

Building Robotics Solutions: From Platforms to Custom Jobs

Coverage Areas: Autonomous Systems 2.0 More...

Planned Publication Date: April 2020

Robotics have automated simple industrial processes for decades, but recent advancements in machine vision, grippers, mobile robots, and collaborative robots have made all kinds of complex processes eligible for automation using robotics. This report will look at what kinds of processes are automatable across manufacturing, warehouses, logistics, and other environments by looking at a series of case studies. We'll also look at what resources are needed to build these solutions, including off-the-shelf platforms and custom solutions.