Let's not let a crisis go to waste

"Greatness is not in where we stand, but in what direction we are moving. We must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it, But sail we must and not drift, nor lie at anchor"

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr (1809-1894)

We hold a startup meeting every day at 8.45am?and Jim Emery, one of our?technicians, came up with this quote.??It feels as if quite a lot of the world has been adrift this year, helpless in the face of wars and catastrophic weather, and?waiting for?elections to show the direction of travel.? For those of us who are tackling climate change, sailing against the wind is familiar – that wind is forecast to become?even fiercer.

But sail we must.

We have spent the last few months working through detailed scale-up plans with an angle on satisfying UN Sustainable Development Goals at the same time.? We reckon that we can contribute to 15 out of the 17, directly or indirectly.?

This devastating piece sums up the crisis in the European automotive industry very succinctly, from Y-Mobility News.? European?car companies have been making?painful announcements of factory closures and?commercial losses while?attempting to meet regulatory requirements on zero emission?sales.? Meanwhile, threats of tariffs coming?from the Trump camp make a bleak forecast?for the UK industry that is 80% exports.? Hugo recently?attended?a roundtable discussion with the Climate Change Committee on the 7th Carbon budget (focused on 2038- 42) but the conversation revolved around the perfect storm that we're facing now.

So?Andrew English's piece in the Daily Telegraph?on November 18th cheered us up.? He proposed hydrogen cars as an alternative for those who don't fancy batteries, using the yellow Rasa as his poster.

In the meantime, we've been all around the country supporting events – Bradford for the launch of the new low carbon hydrogen facility there, Oxford for a presentation on the future of the industry to Man AHL group, London for the Blue Earth Summit, Walsall for a Science Day lecture on sustainability in advanced manufacturing, and the Isle of Wight for a meeting with the REPOXYBLE project consortium, with whom we are working on an Horizon 2020-funded project on recyclable epoxy.??

We continue to explore different avenues for funding our scale-up.? We have some very exciting opportunities opening up which are aligned with our desire to tread lightly on the planet and honour our governance structure.? While it is too early to say with certainty what the outcome of these may be, we are confident that we are working with the right funding partners.

Thank you for reading!

Fiona, on behalf of the Riversimple team

OTHER RECENT HIGHLIGHTS?

A podcast dedicated to inspiring people to rethink the way the world works, Vincent Turner interviews Hugo for Shape the system.? Listen?here?

WXVE filmed at our HQ in Wales, commissioned by?Adrian Flux?to explore?hydrogen vehicles.? Adrian Flux are renowned for insuring specialist cars and we will be using this connection to explore a commercial and strategic relationship with them as we progress to volume production.? Insurance is an expensive headache for us at the moment – we are paying as though our Rasas are Lamborghinis!

The Blue Earth Summit took place in an inspired venue, the Fireworks factory in Woolwich.

Riversimple is a case study in 安永 's latest thought leadership piece.??Beyond sustainability as usual: How business transformation can unlock the new economy