Tag: rising

GreenTechHQ announces sustainability innovation panel as part of IMMA Earth Rising Festival

From ideation to sustainable innovation to financial success: Hear from those who have seen, solved, produced, and are having business success in the journey towards creating a positive climate change.

GreenTechHQ is taking part in this year’s IMMA Earth Rising Festival.  A four-day festival of free events and experiences aimed at addressing the climate crisis and inspiring collective action towards a sustainable and hopeful future.  Taking place from Thursday, 21st to Sunday, 24th September 2023, at the landmark Royal Hospital Kilmainham in Dublin. The GreenTechHQ: Sustainable Innovation Panel will take place on Friday, 22nd at 5pm in the People’s Pavilion.  

The panel will be hosted by serial entrepreneur, GreenTechHQ founder & CEO, Ed Murphy.  Ed will be joined by a panel of four leading start up innovators who will share their (on-going) journey to success.  Each panellist has been put forward by the regional innovation hub which has supported their journey through mentoring, accelerator programmes, training, marketing or introductions to key players within the area of their innovation.

Is there business opportunities in finding the right sustainable innovations, we think there is. This is your opportunity to hear and meet with leading, successful players within the sustainable innovation sector. Those who have seen, solved, produced, and are having financial success in the journey towards creating a positive climate change. Hear about process from the creativity and development of that initial idea origin; from the seed of the idea to the delivery of viable financial solution.

Martin Johnson of Eco Diversity – representing Ludgate

Martin is an environmental scientist, technologist and innovator working across a diverse range of topics including marine biogeochemistry, biomaterials and knowledge exchange. He and his partner Lisa recently founded Ecodiversity, a company focussed on joining the dots between science, policy and industry in support of green transformation. He also works for a broad range of organisations on technical consultancy including aquaculture systems, marine modelling and scrutinising carbon dioxide removal methods.

Angie Nagle of Blade Bridge – representing Republic of Work

Anne has a PhD in assessing the environmental, social and economic aspects of repurposing wind turbine blades, completed under the Re-Wind Network research group.  My main focus was in using Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment to choose which repurposing ideas to take to pilot. Our company BladeBridge was a spin out from the research conducted on a pedestrian bridge made from discarded wind turbine blades.  BladeBridge also makes street furniture, and is beginning development of a blade tower which could be used for telecomms or lighting.

 

Daniel Izquierdo Hijazi of Micronagritech – representing Dogpatch

Daniel, having studied Product Design, co-founded 3 start-ups, including Micron Agritech.  Currently CEO at Micron Agritech, managing a team of 17 people building products that are changing the way the agriculture sector manages animal health, reducing overmedication, emissions and AMR. Washington Ireland Program 2020 alumnus.

Paul Mahon of Watt Footprint – representing GreenTechHQ

Paul Mahon is the co-founder of Watt Footprint, a company focused on reducing energy costs and usage. Now managing an in-house team comprising engineers, auditors, metering experts software developers, and project managers, Watt Footprint takes a turnkey approach to energy efficiency.

 

How Can You Beat the Rising Rate of Inflation?

The UK is in the grips of severe economic crisis, and one which has had multiple triggers and catalysts over the last few years. Downturns in business performance over the pandemic were compounded with a shock rise in the rate of inflation, itself caused by barriers to international trade. 

Today, the rate of inflation remains above 9% – representing a major threat to the average UK household’s cash holdings. With your savings effectively losing value each day, what can you do with your money to combat the rate of inflation?

High-Interest Savings Accounts

In recent history, savings accounts have not been the best option for passive growth of wealth. Since the economic crisis of 2008-9, interest rates for savings accounts sat below 1%, making for slim gains over time. But in response to the rising rate of inflation, the Bank of England has moved to increase interest rates – and been forced to push them even higher in response to the government’s pro-growth ‘mini-budget’.

The result is a growing competitive market for savings accounts, in which certain limited access savers offer impressive rates of interest. These interest rates still do not touch the rate of inflation, but are good breakwaters nonetheless; they can help reduce the impact of inflation on your spending power while you make more robust long-term plans.

Currency Trading

The UK’s recent economic crises have resulted in some interesting behaviour with regard to the value of the pound. As a direct result of the aforementioned ‘mini-budget’, the pound fell to near-parity against the dollar for the first time in decades. This makes the cost of importing much more expensive, which threatens the inflation rate even more.

However, the volatility of the pound presents a clear opportunity on the forex market. Those with a little more understanding of the budget’s implications were able to hedge against the pound, buying dollars before the fall and preserving the initial value of their investment. By buying back pounds now, forex traders increase their holdings dramatically. With the pound set to rise again, and the dollar continuing to grow, now could be a good time to actively grow income on the forex market.

Lifetime ISAs

The Lifetime ISA (or LISA) is a relatively new financial product which allows savers to take advantage of government subsidy in specific scenarios. The LISA enables you to save up to £4,000 tax-free each year, with the government topping up your savings by 25% each year. The caveat is that your savings must be spent on either your first home, or on retirement, otherwise a 25% withdrawal fee applies. 

In practice, this is the highest ‘rate of interest’ you can achieve without active market engagement – and if your LISA is a Stocks and Shares ISA, you could be eligible for further returns through active market engagement anyway