Sootable

📌 According to UN Environment Programme, the world is on track to limit warming to 2.9 degrees Celsius under current Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Being a climate tech startup, we aim to improve air quality and reduce negative climate change at the same time, thus hoping to cool down the atmosphere. As #COP28 nears, let us recap our mission. ♨ At Sootable, we are working hard to reduce soot from re-emitting from diesel vehicles where this primary air pollutant is always produced due to incomplete combustion. 🚚 Diesel is made of about 75% saturated hydrocarbons (primarily paraffins including n, iso, and cycloparaffins) and 25% aromatic hydrocarbons (including naphthalenes and alkylbenzenes) (Diffen, n.d.). Since combustion of diesel (avg. C12H23) is hardly ever complete, carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) are not its only products, thus meaning soot is generated along with other air pollutants, hampering roadside air quality while also affecting atmospheric dynamics like cloud formation. 🌨 📊 If you would like to track general/roadside emissions in Hong Kong, you can visit https://lnkd.in/gqsPNRbe to see pollutant concentration for the past 24 hours (soot is under the PM2.5 category), or you can also give a look at https://lnkd.in/g_tjJ37k for PM2.5 and other AQHI forecasting. If you have missed our Sootable 101 Series on Soot, you can click on these links to learn more: 1. What is Black Carbon? https://lnkd.in/gT6g5Z_J 2. Effects of Black Carbon on the Earth and Humans https://lnkd.in/guhkQZtg 3. Air Pollution Situation Around the Globe https://lnkd.in/ggra3pK4 4. Current and Future Policies to Mitigate Air Pollution on an Individual and Regional Level https://lnkd.in/g4EPk9-p 5. Databases That Track Air Pollution https://lnkd.in/gKzkmPzX 6. Websites that Teach You More About Air Pollution/Black Carbon/PM2.5 https://lnkd.in/gfNkRHxc 7. Introduction to Sootable https://lnkd.in/gJD53asw #Sootable #GreenTech #ClimateTech #AirQuality #ClimateChange #HongKong #HKEntrepreneur #HKUST

In a world where millions of people go hungry every day, reducing food loss and waste is crucial. On International Day of Awareness on Food Loss and Waste Reduction, here are some easy actions you can take to consume more responsibly and #StopFoodLossWaste. Little changes to our daily habits can make a difference for food, people and planet. #FLWDay

Today is the finale of our 7-day series on celebrating International Day of Clean Air for blue skies, so we are introducing our startup to all of you. Sootable started as an ideation team competing in the Climate Action Recognition Scheme (CARS) 2021/22 organised by Wofoo Social Enterprises. We are incorporated as a green tech company after winning CARS. Soot waste transformation is our first ever project and hence, our startup name. We have very large ambitions as we do not only see ourselves as a waste-to-X startup but in the end also helping humans to live peacefully with nature. For example, zero landfill is one of our goals. Besides the soot project, we are dealing with food waste, the top type of waste in Hong Kong. We hope that by tackling waste that pollutes Hong Kong the most, we can contribute massively to better our city. And that is a wrap for our week-long introduction to soot and Sootable. Hope you all had fun learning about our passion and are inspired to join the sustainability force. Cheers! #Sootable #WorldCleanAirDay #AirPollution #AirPollutionAwareness #ClimateAction #ClimateChange #GreenEnergy #GreenTech #SDGs #Sustainability #SustainableDevelopment #Ecopreneur #HKEntrepreneur #HKSDGHub #HKUST

Today marks the 6th day of our 7-day series on celebrating International Day of Clean Air for blue skies, and our topic is: Websites that Teach You More About Air Pollution/PM2.5/BC. You can easily look up “black carbon” and retrieve many results from the web. However, not all provide a systematic arrangement of or rather complete information. Here, we provide some useful websites we think that are good for self-learning. POLICY 1.      Environmental Protection Department (EPD), HKSAR (https://lnkd.in/gMx7xVnX) Air pollution is under the scope of air quality management, so it must appear in Hong Kong’s official department for environment. At this site, not only you can find current and previous environmental plans issued by the Government but also environmental statistics. Most importantly, you can read the Air Pollution Control Ordinance and its references: https://lnkd.in/gm_38_hB. 2.      UN Environment Document Repository Home (https://lnkd.in/ge7Gba8J) This is a go-to site maintained by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) when you want to read technical reports on a certain environmental topic. UNEP is a global institute with nearly 200 member states, and “has worked with governments, civil society, the private sector and UN entities to address humanity’s most pressing environmental challenges - from restoring the ozone layer to protecting the world's seas and promoting a green, inclusive economy.” 3.      World Health Organization (WHO) (https://lnkd.in/g4vd6xV) Although WHO sounds more of a disease eradication and sanitary work-related organisation, the Earth’s boundary system is one of their concerns too. As WHO writes, “Air quality is closely linked to the earth’s climate and ecosystems globally”, this may give insight as to why they would care about air pollution. And not to mention that they have a whole data portal on air pollution (https://lnkd.in/gXsskpMr). (MODELLING & Did you know? in comment) Now you know where to find educational websites on air pollution, we will continue tomorrow with the last episode of this round’s series – introduction to our startup, Sootable. Stay tuned and please follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram! #Sootable #WorldCleanAirDay #AirPollution #AirPollutionAwareness #ClimateAction #ClimateChange #GreenEnergy #GreenTech #SDGs #Sustainability #SustainableDevelopment #Ecopreneur #HKEntrepreneur #HKSDGHub #HKUST

Today marks the 5th day of our 7-day series on celebrating International Day of Clean Air for blue skies, and our topic is: Databases That Track Air Pollution. We are sure that after the first four days of intensive 101 classes on black carbon (BC) and its staggering impacts on the environment and us have left you quite well-equipped with BC air pollutant knowledge, let’s go for something lighter such as online resources. Here, we have compiled a list of air pollution-related databases for you to explore. 1.      Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) Global Burden of Diseases (GBD) 2019 (https://lnkd.in/gDwfGQez) GBD2019 is the very database of environmental factors (including particulate matter) vs. health risks we have mentioned on the 2nd day of our 7-day 101 series. Different metrics, Deaths, Years Lived with Disability (YLDs) and Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), have shown different leading continents in predicted risk for household and ambient air pollution. A specially curated “PM2.5 disease burdens in cities worldwide” based on GBD by Anenberg et al (2019) can be found in https://lnkd.in/gt6VXPW7. 2.      State of Global Air (https://lnkd.in/gGtZAHas) The State of Global Air analysis of Air Quality records ambient particulate matter pollution and compares the data to health metrics, deaths and DALYs, for every country in the world. They are produced annually by the Health Effects Institute and IHME’s GBD project. The project is supported by Clean Air Fund, which is a global philanthropic organisation based in London, United Kingdom. 3.      EDGAR - Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (https://lnkd.in/gwn8zBBU) EDGAR is purposed for displaying greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and air and toxic pollutants. The database is maintained by the Joint Research Centre at the European Commission. It is also one of the few databases that single out BC from PM2.5 calculations. It records global emissions from agriculture, buildings, power industry, transport, waste, other industrial combustion and other sectors. (Databases by Our World in Data & Peking University in comment) Now you know where to find air pollution data for research, we will continue tomorrow with the last episode of the techy side – websites that educate you about air pollution/PM2.5/BC. Stay tuned and please follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram! #Sootable #WorldCleanAirDay #AirPollution #AirPollutionAwareness #ClimateAction #ClimateChange #GreenEnergy #GreenTech #SDGs #Sustainability #SustainableDevelopment #Ecopreneur #HKEntrepreneur #HKSDGHub #HKUST References: Health Effects Institute (2020). State of Global Air 2020. Data source: Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. IHME, 2020.

Today marks the 4th day of our 7-day series on celebrating International Day of Clean Air for blue skies, and our topic is: Current and Future Policies to Mitigate Air Pollution on an Individual and Regional Level. First of all, we hope yesterday’s statistics did not frighten you too much because today we are “dispensing medicine” on how Hong Kongers can help alleviate air pollution. Depending on reactions, we may post about policies on a national level in the future. Without further ado, let’s start with what the Government of Hong Kong, our home city, has done to fight progress in the past 10 years. According to GovHK, “Hong Kong's air pollution is mainly contributed by motor vehicles, marine vessels and power plants. The two greatest challenges are local street-level pollution and regional smog [from the Pearl River Delta].” As such, the Government announced “A Clean Air Plan for Hong Kong” in 2013 which was the first of its kind. This Plan oversaw the transition from Air Pollution Index (API) to a new health-based Air Quality Health Index (AQHI), which was reviewed and supported by WHO, to better reflect the health risks of air pollution and disseminate more precise health advice to the public and especially vulnerable groups, i.e. people with existing heart or respiratory illnesses, children and elderly, and outdoor workers. The Plan also included policies like diesel commercial vehicles (DCV) replacement of pre-Euro 4 vehicles with an expected PM reduction of 80% if a further Euro 5 replacement was made. Despite these changes, all sectors (roadside, marine, power plants, non-road mobile machinery (NRMM)) mentioned in the Plan only addressed respiratory particulate matters (PM10) but not fine particulate matters (PM2.5), the more accurate category for BC. This shows a lack of scrutiny in the deadliest and most impactful climate pollutant. A progress report was published in June 2017 which gave an account on its implementation and achievements. As expected, the report only addressed PM10 in the PM section with reductions in ambient air and roadside pollution of 19% and 28% respectively. (Second Clean Air Plan, individual policies, Did you know? and references in comment) Now you have learnt about what Hong Kongers have done and can contribute to mitigating air pollution, we will come up with something more on the techy side – databases related to air pollution – tomorrow. Stay tuned and please follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram! #Sootable #WorldCleanAirDay #AirPollution #AirPollutionAwareness #ClimateAction #ClimateChange #GreenEnergy #GreenTech #SDGs #Sustainability #SustainableDevelopment #Ecopreneur #HKEntrepreneur #HKSDGHub #HKUST

Today marks the 3rd day of our 7-day series on celebrating International Day of Clean Air for blue skies, and our topic is: Air Pollution Situation Around the Globe. Air pollution and climate change are closely knitted as they often share the same sources and drivers (e.g. fossil fuels) but we will mainly focus on air pollution in this 101 series as air pollution is more of a precursor to climate change. “According to new and revised satellite-derived PM2.5 data, the global population weighted-average PM2.5 level increased slightly between 2020 and 2021, from 28 to 28.2 μg/m3—more than five times the World Health Organization (WHO)’s guideline of 5 μg/m3.” (AQLI, 2023) There are no specific guidelines only for BC. This episode, we are basing data other than China on the Air Quality Life Index 2021 (AQLI2021), the most complete database for regional annual average PM2.5 concentration we have. We base the data in China on their Tracking Air Pollution in China (TAP) database which extends data to almost real-time (as in August 2023). Note that there are other databases that record a smaller gridcell hence more accurate representation in Chinese regions but we prefer the most current database of all. In Southeast Asia, the annual average PM2.5 concentration from 1998-2021 has far exceeded WHO’s guideline (~20 μg/m3) but has seen an overall decline since 2016 although it has rebounded to its original ~15 μg/m3 in 1998. The top 3 countries with the highest annual average 2021 PM2.5 are Indonesia (29.5 μg/m3), Myanmar (22.7 μg/m3) and Cambodia (20.6 μg/m3). In India, the annual national average PM2.5 concentration from 1998-2021 has exceeded WHO’s guideline the most (~40 μg/m3) amongst the recorded regions and is still rising rapidly, especially in the Northern Plains – in 2021, it has reached ~80 μg/m3. In Central and West Africa, the annual average PM2.5 concentration from 1998-2021 has far exceeded WHO’s guideline (Central: ~30 μg/m3, West: ~15 μg/m3) and has since been a rather flatline. Cameroon has the highest annual average 2021 PM2.5 with 52.7 μg/m3. In Europe, the annual average PM2.5 concentration from 1998-2021 (~15 μg/m3) has far exceeded WHO’s guideline but has seen a rather flat decline since 1998. The top 3 countries with the highest annual average 2021 PM2.5 are Bosnia and Herzegovina (23.7 μg/m3), Macedonia (22.9 μg/m3) and Turkey (21.8 μg/m3). In the United States, the annual average PM2.5 concentration from 1998-2021 (~15 μg/m3) has steadily decreased from slightly above the national standard of 12 μg/m3 to ~7 μg/m3 from 1998 to 2019 although there has been a small rebound since afterwards. Yet, it is still above WHO’s guideline. (See mainland China & Hong Kong SAR, Did you know? and references in comment) Now you have learnt about how severe black carbon causes air pollution, we will explore what we can do about it tomorrow. Stay tuned and please follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram! #Sootable #WorldCleanAirDay

Today marks the 2nd day of our 7-day series on celebrating International Day of Clean Air for blue skies, and our topic is: Effects of Black Carbon on the Earth and Humans. Categorically, impacts of BC can be grouped into health, environmental and economic aspects. Health 1. Cardiovascular, Cerebrovascular, Respiratory Diseases and Diabetes According to Global Burden of Diseases Study, air pollution has surpassed high blood pressure, tobacco use, and poor diet to become the 4th leading cause of death. In 2019, the percentage of deaths are as follows in descending order: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (21%), stroke (17%), ischemic heart disease (15%), tracheal, bronchus, and lung cancer (15%), type 2 diabetes (13%), lower respiratory diseases (13%), neonatal disorders (7%). 2.      Premature mortality Although this involves other PM2.5 too, Chen et al (2023) states that a weak air pollution mitigation scenario (SSP3-7.0*) causes the fastest aging and hence premature mortality. Environmental 1.      Rainfall Patterns A larger amount of BC causes unstable, sparser cloud formation because it reduces water vapour concentration in clouds. It also affects cloud reflectivity. Due to uneven scattering of BC emissions into the air, it will affect the regional circulation and rainfall patterns and bring in asymmetric heating patterns. 2.      Glacier and Mountain Ice Melting When BCs land on snow and ice sheets, this greatly lower their albedo*, thus accelerating their melting which renders a loss of habitat for animals in the polar regions. Antarctica has lost an accumulation of about 2360 gigatons (2360 billion, or 2.36 x 10^12, metric tons) of ice since 2002, while the Greenland ice sheet has an estimate loss of 5620 gigatons (5620 billion, or 5.62 x 10^12, metric tons). This effect causes climate warming more than carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4). Economic 1.      Agriculture Crop Loss Erratic rainfall patterns have far-reaching consequences. With BC together with tropospheric ozone (bad ozone), over 50 million tonnes of staple crop per year are damaged worldwide. 2. Workforce Reduction As people age more rapidly and decease faster, if the birth rate increases slower than the mortality rate, there will be a shrink in workforce. Did you know? 🔎 Scientists are investigating more into the psychological aspects of global and urban heating on human due to climate change. Now you have learnt about the effects of black carbon on the Earth and us, we will explore air pollution situation around the globe tomorrow. Stay tuned and please follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram! #Sootable #WorldCleanAirDay #AirPollution #AirPollutionAwareness #ClimateAction #ClimateChange #GreenEnergy #GreenTech #SDGs #Sustainability #SustainableDevelopment #HKEntrepreneur *albedo: sunlight reflection *SSP3-7.0: shared socioeconomic pathway scenario 3 with an anthropogenic radiative forcing of 7.0 W/m2 by 2100 (References in comment)

Today marks the 1st day of our 7-day series on celebrating International Day of Clean Air for blue skies, and our topic is: What is Black Carbon? Black carbon (BC) is generally known as soot. However, scientifically, BC is the largest composition of soot, so there is a distinction. BC is made up of elementary carbon (EC). BC is part of the particulate matter (PM2.5 & PM1) category, which means it has a thickness of less than 2.5 microns (and less than 1 micron for stricter and unconventional measurement) – a hair is 50-70 microns thick on average. Although BC is one of the short-living, light-absorbing climate pollutants maintaining in the atmosphere for 4-12 days, it has a heat-releasing property of 1500X than carbon dioxide (CO2). You may wonder where all these BCs come from, and it is actually commonly found in our daily activities. Incompletion of fossil fuel combustion in vehicles and electricity generation, solid fuel cooking and biomass burning are all perpetrators of the largest contributors in BC emission. Did you know? 🔎 There is a new and increasing trend of BC pollution from rocket launches with kerosene (Rocket Propellant-1, or RP-1) as fuel. As space tourism matures, Eloise Marais, an associate professor in physical geography at University College London, has predicted with her team that BC emissions will “more than double after just an additional three years of space tourism launches, and that particles emitted by rockets are almost 500 times more efficient at holding heat in the atmosphere than all other sources of soot combined, resulting in an enhanced warming climate effect.” This is because not only BC is emitted into the troposphere and lower stratosphere, but also the mesosphere, which will reverse the mending of the ozone layer. On the bright side, some rocket startups are experimenting with renewable biofuels which have a lower carbon footprint. Now you have learnt about what black carbon is, we will explore its impacts on the Earth and humans tomorrow. Stay tuned and please follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram! #Sootable #WorldCleanAirDay #AirPollution #AirPollutionAwareness #ClimateAction #ClimateChange #GreenEnergy #GreenTech #SDGs #Sustainability #SustainableDevelopment #Ecopreneur #HKEntrepreneur #HKSDGHub #HKUST References: Climate and Clean Air Coalition. (n.d.). Black Carbon. Black carbon | Climate & Clean Air Coalition. https://lnkd.in/gtPVKxxX Energy Education. (n.d.). Soot. Soot - Energy Education. https://lnkd.in/guS3edva Piesing, M. (2022, July 15). The pollution caused by rocket launches. BBC Future. https://lnkd.in/g9qFg6Yw Sasser, E., & Hemby, J. (2012). (rep.). Report to Congress on Black Carbon. United States Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved from https://lnkd.in/gQMvqxSw

Today is the International Day of Clean Air for blue skies #WorldCleanAirDay! Let’s listen to Sootable’s warning! "The fourth annual International Day of Clean Air for blue skies will focus on the theme, ‘Together for Clean Air’. The theme aims to highlight the urgent need for stronger partnerships, increased investment, and shared responsibility for overcoming air pollution. It also underscores the direct impact of air pollution on human and ecosystem health and the shared responsibility to protect the atmosphere and ensure healthy air for everyone." (IISD, 2023) At Sootable, we believe that sustainability not only is a lifestyle but also the ultimate way to engage with nature and for human race’s survival. Take a look at public goods: water from rivers, lakes or oceans is free because we can source it anywhere; the forest is free because it has been laying there in large amount for millenniums; the air we breathe is free because it is so abundant that nobody puts a price tag on it; but things have changed. Ever since we learnt to exploit, we have put on a price tag on every item that makes everything looks insufficient, or scarce, in economics jargon. It does not have to be this way, and it should not be. It is time for us to acknowledge that we, as humans, have polluted nature so much that now we have to pay the price, literally or not.  Therefore, Sootable is on a very big mission trying to reverse this situation. Currently, we are tackling air pollution by removing particulate matters (PM2.5), soot or black carbon (BC), specifically. We hope that by cleaning up this waste, we can first prevent it from secondary emission that also contributes to climate change. We hope that every environmentalist can join our journey to help combat air pollution and climate change in their own way, and more importantly, to awaken the environmentalist in everyone’s heart and join us to combat the Earth’s common enemies – air pollution and climate change. Let’s Kung Fu fight them! In the upcoming 7 days, we will be spilling 101 lessons about our startup and information regarding soot particulate and its impacts. Stay tuned! Photo: From The Peak, Hong Kong, before (left) and after (right) editing #Sootable #AirPollution #AirPollutionControl #AirPollutionAwareness #ClimateChange #ClimateAction #GreenEnergy #GreenTech #SDGs #Sustainability #SustainableDevelopment #Ecopreneur #HKEntrepreneur #HKSDGHub #HKUST