The second cohort of the Accelerate Green programme launched in August 2022 – with nine companies chosen to participate in the Summer 2022 Pre-Accelerator. Final pitches were presented to a diverse audience of industry experts and other stakeholders on 22 September. Having supported the original Accelerate Green programme, LIFE IP Peatlands and People were present to appreciate the complementarity of the Pre-Accelerator programme.

The following companies participated in the Pre-Accelerator.

OptaHaul is a SaaS route optimisation platform for the dairy industry which reduces costs, saves planning time and minimises greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) related to farm to plant milk transport.

Addible uses solvent recycling to remove the complexity of waste. Their solvent recycling method uses green solvents to separate the different components (plastics, metals, additives, etc.) from complex waste streams, allowing them to be easily recycled.

KnowCarbon provide an extensive carbon database to quickly calculate the carbon footprint of businesses’ products and services, increasing their carbon competitiveness. The data reinforces the use of sustainable food and drink products, reducing waste and increasing benefits of circular economy. This work typically generates demand for lower carbon and more sustainable solutions.

WoodCo Renewable Energy are a biomass boiler manufacturer active in both the domestic and industrial sector, with a strong focus on R&D. WoodCo are currently developing a bio refinery solution to decarbonise the beef abattoir sector, and produce biochar.

ChargeMe promotes sharing of EV infrastructure to ensure easy access to chargers for all EV users, including corporate fleets. With this circular approach, waste and government investment will be reduced, companies can reduce their Scope-3 emissions, and the community of EV users can provide grid-balancing services through combined vehicle to grid.

Slán Eco are establishing an internationally-traded and rural/bioeconomy/bio-based materials expert knowledge economy-based business. Solutions include: provision of training services and certification in energy efficient, no-carbon building design and specification; innovative materials research, development, manufacturing and international export sales; carbon credit measurement and trading; distributing and manufacturing building materials; and, full life cycle analysis and modelling.

Carbon Harvesters use satellite data to map and monitor land use/ land cover change to create biodiversity and carbon credits for landholders who rewet drained peatlands, creating revenue streams for land holders taking climate action.

Digital Energy delivers solutions related to ‘Environomics’, which unifies economic strategies with sustainability practices through AI. This is done by integrating analysis across a range of operations/processes, through multi-layered algorithms that identify and optimise relevant environmental/sustainable metrics while efficiently enhancing overall economics, operations and business value.

Ethica Planet was set up to develop Vegan Foods and Sustainable Packaging. Ethica Planet has concentrated on developing sustainable packaging using a variety of recyclable materials such as spent straw with mycelium, recycled cardboard and bagasse.