Insights

Renewable energy is more affordable now than it has ever been. According to BloombergNEF, it is now cheaper to build a new solar or wind farm to meet rising electricity demand or replace a retiring generator, than it is to build a new fossil fuel-fired plant. Policy incentives, increased investment and technological advances are driving this strong growth in the renewables sector, leading to technological improvements in the structural hardware necessary for renewable energy generation, transmission and storage.

The resale market is worth billions and you can see why – notably whenever there is a Nike Air Jordan x Off-White collaboration, trainers can be seen on the resale market at around five times the initial retail price, if not more in some cases. This makes these rare trainers a valuable commodity.

Olivia Buckingham attended Cambridge Wireless’ ‘Supply Chain 4.0 – How Wireless Communications is at the Centre of Supply Chain Digitisation’ event. Chaired by the National Physical Laboratory’s Andre Burgess, the event focused on how current and emerging digital technologies can impact supply chain efficiency, sustainability and resilience. This felt particularly topical, with the fragility and importance of supply chains having been highlighted by recent COVID-19 vaccine production issues.

A few weeks ago, the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) issued a decision on the extent to which computer-implemented simulations are patentable in Europe (previously reported here). The confirmation that computer-implemented simulations should be considered in the same way as any other computer-implemented process could be significant for the industry that filed more European patents than any other in 2020: Medical Technology.

On 26th March this year, Brooklyn, New York, based art collective MSCHF Product Studio, Inc. announced the launch of a pair of ‘Satan’ themed training shoes that were an instant sensation. The shoes were a limited edition collaboration with Grammy award winning rapper and media personality Lil Nas X and used the black on black version of Nike’s Air Max 97 as their basis. Nike however was not a part of the collaboration and had no input into either the design or manufacture of the shoe.

We reported last year on a new report from the European Patent Office (EPO) on electricity storage, in particular using batteries. Excluded from that report was hydrogen and its use in electricity storage, which is seen by some as a very useful supplement to batteries, not just in electricity storage but also for applications where batteries may not be appropriate, such as some transport applications.