Hello Reader, do you remember a moment when a new innovation completely stunned you?
Back when I was a student, I often wondered:
What are companies and institutions actually doing to support sustainable science?
I never really took the time to look it up... But later, I discovered just how many exciting solutions already exist.
So today, I want to share a few of them with you.
Today's Lesson: Innovations that Inspire
Discovering what makes our science more sustainable
Number Of The Day
In a group monitored by Freese et al., a single researcher used around 8 470 pipette tips per year. In total, the 17-member team generated 533 kg of plastic waste annually—about 2.6 kg of tubes, tips, plates, syringes, and other plastic items per person per month. Moreover, they found that their two-week student practical course alone consumed 45,000 tips. If extrapolated, that’s 90,000 tips per year—equivalent to 7 tips per student per day.
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Reducing the Impact of AI
There are several innovations designed to make science more sustainable.
While I’ll be sharing many more in the coming weeks, here are three that I think you should know about right away:
1. Biobased Pipette Tips
Eppendorf has recently launched its new line of biobased pipette tips, composed of 90% biobased or recycled feedstock, primarily derived from plant oil waste, and 10% conventional fossil-based plastic.
In this white paper, Eppendorf shares more about their process of transforming cooking oil into lab items.
How much more sustainable is that alternative?
For a standard full product unit— 10 boxes (0.1–10 μL tips):
Fossil-based tips produce 2.962 kg CO₂e
Biobased tips produce 2.129 kg CO₂e (28% reduction)
Here is the white paper that describes their findings. However, please note that we do not have direct access to the primary data. I discuss some of their life-cycle-analysis assumptions in our free Slack group.
If we only look at a single tip, one fossil-based tip = 3.09 g CO₂e while one biobased tip = 2.22 g CO₂e.
The other factors enabling the overall savings are:
A 35% reduction comes from an improved container design
A 15% reduction comes from better packaging
And most impressively, a change in sterilization logistics reduced emissions from transport by 72%
While a 68% reduction in emissions due to the switch in tip material is impressive, this is a strong example of what’s possible when a manufacturer optimizes across multiple points in the product lifecycle.
2. Helium Recovery - From Crisis to Innovative Solution
Helium is used to cool the superconducting magnets in NMR and MRI systems down to 4.2 Kelvin (-269°C).
Tip: Click on the picture to enlarge (should also work on mobile). If you like to learn more about NMR, you can do so here, and the data on the right comes from this publication.
Although helium boil-off is minimal during routine operation, it spikes significantly during refills—and for many labs, that helium was simply lost to the atmosphere.
In 2018, the global helium shortage sent prices skyrocketing from $6 to over $18 per liter. In 2022, even Harvard University had to suspend several research projects due to a 50% reduction in helium supply.
And it’s not just costly—restarting an MRI can exceed $100,000, take several days, and in some cases, NMR magnets may be permanently damaged.
This recovery and liquification plant at the University of Edinburgh was built in 2018 – probably with significant input from the staff. Nevertheless, on their website they state “The SoC NMR facility installed a helium gas recovery system in 2018, which to date has captured over 15,000 m3, or 95% of the helium used by the facility, enough to fill over 1 million party balloons.”
Early initiatives (some dating back before 2017) required institutions to build their own helium recovery infrastructure—collecting, storing, purifying, and reliquefying helium to keep it in a circular system.
Today, companies like Bruker or Quantum Design offer pro- and retrofit systems that achieve 85–95% helium recovery.
Even better, Bluefors recently introduced a compact solution designed for a single NMR machine, making recovery feasible for small labs for the first time. And just like energy-efficient freezers, smaller-scale systems also use less energy, saving money and reducing emissions.
3. Outside the Lab
I recently came across an innovation I had to share. Between 2001 and 2010, New York City dropped 2,500 retired subway cars into the ocean.
Of course, these cars were cleaned and stripped of pollutants before being submerged. The goal? To create artificial reefs.
Here’s how it works:
The hard surfaces attract corals and marine plants
Invertebrates like mussels settle in, creating habitats and food chains
Over time, these reefs produce significantly more food than a barren seafloor
That said, the project wasn’t without controversy. While reliable sources are scarce, concerns have been raised that iron release, especially in iron-poor waters, may disrupt marine ecosystems. Also, critics have claimed that water temperatures off the U.S. coast are too cold for substantial coral growth.
This just like the previous picture come from this article.
Still, projects like Redbird Reef appeared successful. The project was eventually discontinued—not due to ecological failure—but because modern subway cars contain too much plastic, making cleaning and refurbishing too expensive.
Applying The Knowledge
In my experience, progress toward sustainability is limited as much by lack of awareness as by a lack of solutions.
In short, a lot of money goes into sustainable development. Nevertheless, many projects, findings and innovations are poorly communicated. This data is an estimate of total government support for R&D in the OECD countries by SDG-related categories. It stems from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. Please note that the dollar amount is expressed in “PPP” (Purchasing power parities which try to equalise the purchasing power of different currencies by eliminating the differences in price levels between countries)
But remember, there’s no perfect innovation. While it is difficult to estimate long-term effects in the reef example, helium recovery requires material-manufacturing and energy. Financially, it is an investment, often taking 5+ years to break even.
Nevertheless, don’t underestimate how much companies are doing behind the scenes to create a more sustainable future!
Upcoming Lesson:
Serum Free Medium
How We Feel Today
PS: I am European so no hard feelings : )
References
Rijkenberg, M.J., et al., 2014. The distribution of dissolved iron in the West Atlantic Ocean. PLoS One 9(6), e101323. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0101323.
Kelly, L.W., et al., 2012. Black reefs: iron-induced phase shifts on coral reefs. ISME J. 6(3), 638–649. doi:10.1038/ismej.2011.114.
If you have a wish or a question, feel free to reply to this Email. Otherwise, wish you a beatiful week! See you again the 17th : )
Edited by Patrick Penndorf Connection@ReAdvance.com Lutherstraße 159, 07743, Jena, Thuringia, Germany Data Protection & Impressum If you think we do a bad job: Unsubscribe
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