<h2>Background</h2>The entire edifice of modern human civilisation rests on our ability to harness, convert and use energy. All the perks of modern living that we see around us today directly result from our ability to manipulate large amounts of energy. As our population continues to <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/">skyrocket</a>, one of the most pressing problems we face is <a href="https://www.globalissues.org/article/595/energy-security">energy security</a>. Global energy supply has struggled, especially in the past two decades, to keep pace with steeply climbing demand - <a href="https://www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/climate-change/energy/global-energy-consumption/story">estimated</a> at around 580 million terajoules! If that sounds too esoteric, that’s about the energy required to cross the Atlantic on a Boeing 737 - 580 million times - or the equivalent of the Hiroshima nuclear bomb going off every 4 seconds! Those are mind-bending numbers as they are, but when we factor in the growing rise in energy consumption, we are looking at even more unreal figures - by the year 2040, we are going to need around 740 million terajoules a year. If these numbers sound scary, it is because they are - it is hard to overstate the gravity and immediacy of the impending energy crisis that faces us.&nbsp;An overwhelming proportion of our energy demands are met by fossil-fuel-based sources - oil, coal and natural gas. This brings us to the concomitant crisis that inevitably accompanies concerns about global energy shortage - the severe <a href="https://www.onio.com/article/environmental-cost-of-batteries.html">environmental</a> impact of our dependence on fossil fuels. The more energy we use, the more oil we end up consuming. This leads to more emissions and, consequently, more global <a href="https://www.eea.europa.eu/signals/signals-2017/articles/energy-and-climate-change">warming</a>. The global energy demand increased by 2.3% in the year 2018 as compared to 2017, representing the highest single-year increase since 2010. As a direct result of this growth in energy demand, carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector hit a new peak that year. The urgency and significance of the global warming issue needs no introduction - global temperatures are <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/2/494">understood</a> to be on track to rise by 1.5&nbsp; °C, well before the middle of the 21st century. If temperatures continue to rise at this rate, we will soon approach the cut-off mark of 2°C which is supposed to unleash unprecedented havoc on our ecosystem, jeopardising the very possibility of life on this planet.Additionally, our prevailing modalities of energy generation and consumption are also associated with other environmental concerns such as air pollution, water pollution, water scarcity, <a href="https://www.onio.com/article/our-huge-soil-problem-how-iot-help.html">soil degradation</a> etc. It becomes imperative then that our reliance on fossil fuels for energy needs to end soon. There is a dire need to switch to renewable energy sources, that is being recognised globally.In recent years, there has been a lot of concerted effort directed towards the development of sustainable, non-fossil-fuel energy solutions such as solar, wind and nuclear power. In most of the developed world, political action and public opinion has strongly backed this trend - In Europe, the origins of this movement to move away from fossil fuels can be traced back to the 1980s when concerns about climate change and ozone layer depletion started coming into the public eye. Since then, Europe has staunchly maintained a pro-alternative energy stance, at least on paper. Germany launched its famous program to transition to clean energy - Energiewende - some 30 years ago. Since then, many European countries have attempted to follow suit, with varying degrees of success and efficacy. In keeping with this trend, the present German government has announced its rather ambitious <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/11/26/germanys-incoming-government-wants-to-end-coal-use-by-2030/">intentions</a> to completely phase out coal by the year 2030 - a full 8 years before the target set by its predecessor. France too has joined Germany in setting ambitious goals to push towards greener forms of energy - Following his victory in the recently concluded elections, French President Emmanuelle Macron tweeted “Making France a great green nation, that is our project”. This was after a campaign where the issues of climate change and renewable energy were right at the forefront. Other countries like Austria and Poland are trying to commit more staunchly to the renewable energy project, with the <a href="https://renewablesnow.com/news/austria-passes-eur-300m-subsidy-budget-for-green-energy-780126/">former</a> announcing a EUR 300m renewable energy subsidy and the latter making sizeable investments in offshore wind.&nbsp;When the conflict in Ukraine began earlier this year, the world and Europe in particular received a harsh reality check - if there weren’t enough reasons already to address the issue of energy security and sustainability with the utmost urgency, there was yet another pressing reason now. In the light of this tumultuous geopolitical situation, it was clearer than ever that the global energy supply chain was precariously placed at best - In addition to the environmental and economic aspects of the issue, there was now a pragmatic, even moral angle - the hypocrisy of our environmental rhetoric was brutally exposed. It was more evident than ever that in spite of 30 odd years of talking about renewable energy, prodigious legislation and investing hundreds of millions, we were still critically dependent on oil and gas for our energy needs.&nbsp;It was well and truly a wake up call that made it impossible to turn our heads away from the reality of the global energy situation. The issues of energy security and the impending global energy crisis have come to light in a manner so inexorable, so inescapable that it is impossible to run away from it.&nbsp;<h2>Energy efficiency is the name of the game</h2>The <a href="https://www.undp.org/sustainable-development-goals#affordable-and-clean-energy">sustainable development goals</a> lined out by the <a href="https://www.undp.org/">UNDP</a> highlight energy efficiency as a top priority if we are to move towards&nbsp; holistic and sustainable development. Various studies have corroborated this - we simply can’t move towards renewable energy sources and come to a place where they form the backbone of our energy chain unless we dramatically increase the efficiency of our energy use. As things stand, we waste enormous amounts of energy. This is one the major contributing factors to the gargantuan demand for energy globally - promisingly, global energy efficiency <a href="https://www.iea.org/topics/energy-efficiency">improved</a> slightly in the year 2021 after the worst year in over a decade. But, that’s not the whole picture - between the years 2011 and 2016, energy efficiency improved by 2.3% year on year. In the last five years though, it has fallen to 1.3% - Well short of the 4% target set, for the years 2020-2030, to be on track for the <a href="https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/net-zero-coalition">Net Zero Emissions</a> by 2050 scenario.&nbsp;The numbers are clear as daylight - we really need to get our act together in terms of energy efficiency - we simply can’t afford to be wasteful with energy when the costs of generating it are so huge and multifarious. Improving our energy efficiency drastically is probably the single most effective thing we can do to improve our energy situation. It’s not just about sustainability though - driving towards more energy efficiency comes with a whole raft of economic benefits as well.So, how do we achieve higher energy efficiency?The global energy supply chain that begins from extracting raw materials and ends with providing the end-consumer usable forms of energy can broadly be divided into three major parts - Energy Generation - which includes extraction and refinement, energy transformation - including distribution and the demand side, which includes all the components involved in making energy available for homes, commercial and industrial establishments.&nbsp;As things stand, there is a <a href="https://www.erc-co.org/spooky-statistics-about-energy-and-water-waste/">criminal</a> amount of energy that is wasted in each of these steps - it is <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/05/visualizing-u-s-energy-consumption-in-one-chart">estimated</a> that the United States wastes about 68% of its total energy! Check out this <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/05/visualizing-u-s-energy-consumption-in-one-chart">chart</a> put out by the World Economic Forum that helps visualise the sheer scale of our inefficiency in dealing with energy. That’s an appalling statistic if there ever was one - but it does have a silver lining - there is tremendous scope for improvement. As is the case with most other things, it would stand to reason that getting waste down from 68% to 40% is a lot easier than, say, bringing it down from 10% to 8%. That said, we have our task cut out - we need to <a href="https://www.iea.org/topics/energy-efficiency">double</a> our energy efficiency in the next few years if we are to keep pace with the goals set by the zero emissions by 2050 scenario.&nbsp;Make no mistake, our global energy situation is worryingly placed indeed and the amount of energy we waste globally is egregious to say the least. Nevertheless, there is hope to be gleaned from the fact that we are working with fat margins, as it were. By employing our state-of-the-art information processing technologies, we can optimise nearly every step of the global energy supply chain and that can make for some pretty sizeable real-world gains.&nbsp;<h2>Using IoT to drive energy efficiency</h2>The <a href="https://www.onio.com/article/what-is-the-internet-of-things-onio-explains.html">internet of things</a>, over the past 10 years or so, has announced itself as the technological modality that will arguably have the biggest hand in shaping our future. Powered by advances in semiconductor technology, microelectronics, artificial intelligence and robust data networks, IoT technologies now find themselves inexorably enmeshed in the way we go about our activities.&nbsp;The impact of IoT on nearly every industry in the world has been tremendous - IoT and big data are enabling an unprecedented level of granularity and precision in the way we treat our <a href="https://www.onio.com/article/what-is-internet-of-medical-things.html">sick</a>, grow our <a href="https://www.onio.com/article/are-smart-iot-farms-the-future-agriculture.html">food</a>, organise our <a href="https://www.onio.com/article/what-are-smart-cities-during-covid19.html">cities</a>, homes and public transport. In fact, these are just a handful of<a href="https://www.onio.com/article/awesome-real-world-iot-applications.html"> use-cases</a> where IoT adoption has been shown to bring in tremendous benefits.&nbsp;The basic premise behind any IoT network is this - with respect to nearly all processes involved in human life, more data means more optimisation. When we have access to huge amounts of high-quality data and systems that can glean meaningful and actionable insights from said data, we are able to increase efficiency, reduce waste and as a result, economise on costs. To put it very simplistically, IoT networks function like artificial nervous systems that scour the field of operation, whatever it may be, and collect enormous amounts of information which can then be used to actuate changes directed towards more efficiency.&nbsp;The energy sector is no different - as we saw earlier, there is a tremendous amount of energy that goes to waste in every step of the energy supply chain - using big data and IoT technology, it is possible to obtain real-time intelligence on the inner workings of our energy chain and use this intelligence to identify means to reduce energy waste and consumption wherever possible.&nbsp;<h2>IoT and the energy sector</h2>Over 80% of the energy produced today in the world comes from fossil fuels. Around the world, voices calling for a shift towards renewable energy sources have increased - there is a growing recognition among the nations of the world that we probably don’t have too much time before we have to transition to greener sources of energy on a large scale - However, this is easier said than done - developing countries that are just getting up on their feet economically will find it nearly impossible to completely phase out fossil fuels in the near future.&nbsp;Nevertheless, the grave ecological risks posed by our dependence on fossil fuels are well known - the large-scale extraction and use of fossil fuels are directly linked to higher emissions, environmental pollution and adverse health and economic impact. A practical middle-ground option is what we’re going to need while we figure out how to power the world using renewables exclusively.&nbsp;Using IoT technology to reduce energy losses and optimise consumption patterns is the middle ground that we’ve arrived at - and it’s a sensible place to start. IoT technologies can offer substantial benefits if deployed at every stage of the energy chain. Today, IoT is starting to feature more and more in the energy sector in various forms and capacities - smart energy monitoring is no longer an abstruse exercise in wishful thinking - we are starting to see IoT systems feature widely and prominently in various subsystems of the global energy sector - smart grids, smart monitoring, predictive maintenance, smart cities, smart grids, smart factories, smart homes, intelligent transport etc. - all these IoT subsystems are designed to maximise efficiency and promote a more holistic approach to design and industry.&nbsp;Energy management systems based on IoT networks allow us to monitor energy use in real-time, across various stages in the energy chain - from generation to consumption and everything in between. Energy monitoring allows us to obtain granular analytics from every step along the way, checking for performance and efficiency metrics and isolating the most high-yield areas for interventions targeted at increasing energy efficiency.&nbsp;<h2>IoT-based smart energy monitoring</h2>Energy represents possibly the most pertinent and critical issue that faces this generation of humans - the situation isn’t likely to improve magically, especially in the face of a skyrocketing global population - we are going to need solutions and drastic ones at that if we are to stand any chance of mitigating calamitous consequences.&nbsp;IoT technology holds the key to reducing energy wastage and building smarter and more reliable global energy networks - But technology is just an enabler - a potentiator if you will. We need to deploy these incredible tools in the best way possible and keep ourselves oriented towards building a better future.&nbsp;The warning signs are coming thick and fast today that there are a number of things we need to get better at as a species - disasters and crises - of one kind or the other are sweeping the entire globe - it’s about time we took notice and responded with some concerted action.IoT is being used in a variety of ways to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of our energy infrastructure. In recent years, IoT-enabled technologies such as smart grids, smart meters and smart homes have enabled great leaps in being economical with this extremely precious resource.&nbsp;We have planned a series of follow-up articles relating to smart energy management and using IoT to this end - in this post, we wanted to establish the background for why this vertical is a really pressing one for IoT technology.&nbsp;In our next post, we will take a look at some of the key areas within the world of energy in which IoT is successfully being deployed today.&nbsp;

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In the wake of the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, huge alarms have gone off on how precariously placed our energy security is, as a global unit. Global energy supply is an extremely dense, interconnected grid involving millions of moving pieces. However, the conflict in Ukraine has exposed how over-reliant the globe is on a handful of entities. Now more than ever, there is a lot of uncertainty regarding energy security. This post examines how IoT technology is used to help us use energy more responsibly. Today, IoT technology is being used in a number of ways in the energy sector. 

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There’s a global energy crisis underway - Here’s how IoT can help

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Senior Content Manager

Abishek Swaminathen

But how did we get to the point where most of us know nothing about how our clothes are made? In short, when <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_fashion">fast fashion </a>began developing in the 1990s, companies felt immense pressure to lower consumer prices and brand costs. To achieve this goal, they moved their factories overseas, where labor was cheaper, and sourcing materials became more difficult. This created incredibly intricate supply chains that are now basically impossible to decipher.The good news is that blockchain technology can potentially change the fashion industry for the better by making it more sustainable. With blockchain, every time a garment changes hands – from supplier to manufacturer to retailer – that information is recorded securely and transparently.This would allow consumers to see exactly where their clothes come from and how they were made. It would also allow brands to track their products more effectively, which would help to reduce waste and ensure that garments are made in accordance with sustainable practices. In other words, blockchain could make accountability and sustainability fashionable.<h2>Blockchain + fashion = transparency</h2>Many people think of blockchain in terms of its banking and manufacturing applications, but it has many other potential uses. For example, "blockchain as a service" is proving successful in responsible sourcing and intelligent tracking in <a href="https://www.onio.com/article/blockchain-salmon-tracking.html">the food supply chain</a>. However, some industries still have yet to catch on, even though using blockchain could help them avoid costly preventable losses.Though the luxury retail business is not typically known for being tech-savvy, changing consumer demand forces luxury companies to reconsider their historical aversion to technology investments. If they dedicated funds to exploring blockchain technology, it would proactively respond to existing counterfeit problems, costing this industry approximately USD 3 trillion annually.Luxury retailers aren't the only ones hurt by this loss - bottom lines are taking a hit, as well as long-term brand perception and consumer trust."But hold on, how does it help the fashion industry be more transparent?"Transparency is one of the most critical issues in the fashion industry, as many garments are produced in developing countries with little oversight. Because of this, it can be difficult for consumers to tell if a garment was made ethically and sustainably. With blockchain, every step of the production process could be recorded and monitored, from sourcing the materials to manufacturing the garment to shipping it to the store. This would allow consumers to make informed choices about the clothing they purchase and help ensure that brands are held accountable for their supply chains.<blockquote>Engagement in sustainability has deepened during the COVID-19 crisis, with European consumers wanting fashion players to act responsibly and consider the social and environmental impacts of their businesses.&nbsp;- <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/survey-consumer-sentiment-on-sustainability-in-fashion">"Consumer sentiment on sustainability in fashion"</a>- McKinsey</blockquote>In addition, blockchain could also be used to track inventory and protect against counterfeiting. By tagging each item with a unique identifier, retailers could know precisely where an item is at all times and be confident that the item is genuine. This would not only save businesses money, but it would also protect consumers from inadvertently purchasing fake goods.<h2>Fashion brands on the move</h2>Authenticity and transparency are becoming increasingly important to luxury goods consumers, who are turning away from brands that don't offer these qualities. In response, some companies are beginning to experiment with blockchain.For example, in 2018, <a href="https://www.ibm.com/blogs/think/uk-en/burberry-supports-ibm-interns-to-develop-prototype-system-for-product-traceability/">Burberry partnered with IBM </a>to launch a blockchain platform that would track the provenance of its products. The goal was to give consumers confidence that they were buying genuine Burberry products and to help the company fight against counterfeiting. So far, the platform has been used to track the progress of more than 100,000 products.Other companies are also beginning to explore blockchain's potential. In 2020, a blockchain consortium called <a href="https://auraluxuryblockchain.com/">Aura</a> was launched. In addition to Louis Vuitton, some of its members are Prada, Richemont, OTB, and Cartier. It has now generated more than 15 million digital tokens that act as a link between luxury products and a data portal.These are just a few examples of how blockchain is being used in the fashion industry to create more transparency and accountability. As more companies begin to see the potential of this technology, we'll likely see even more brands added to this list.<h2>Challenges facing the implementation of blockchain in the fashion industry</h2>The advantages of blockchain for fashion are clear. But there are also some challenges that need to be addressed before this technology can be widely adopted.One of the biggest challenges is education. Many people in the fashion industry are still unfamiliar with blockchain and how it works. This lack of understanding can make it difficult to get buy-in from key decision-makers.A second concern hampering blockchain's proliferation in the fashion industry is that there are no set standards. Because blockchain is still a relatively new technology, there is no agreed-upon set of standards for how it should be used. This lack of standardization makes it difficult for different companies to interoperate and can lead to customer confusion and frustration.Another challenge is the high cost of implementing blockchain technology. While the long-term savings and benefits of using blockchain may be significant, the upfront costs can be prohibitive for many companies and significantly smaller businesses.Finally, another challenge facing blockchain in the fashion industry is scalability. As the fashion industry is a global one, any blockchain solution needs to be able to handle a large number of transactions from all over the world. This can be a difficult feat for blockchain technology, which is still in its early stages of development.<figure class="image image-style-align-center"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/onio/image/upload/v1666950567/onio-website/2022-10-08/onio_fashion_items_b71f361574.jpg"></figure><h2>Why ONiO.zero makes sense for the fashion industry</h2>The key is to combine the security of blockchain technology with the added safety of a physical (hardware) and digital seal. That's precisely what is attainable with ONiO.zero.ONiO.zero is a wireless and batteryless microcontroller that comes equipped with sensors for temperature and tampering; each chip has a UUID stored in non-fungible memory. This UUID becomes part of the transmission to the ledger, making it easy to validate with a list of current UUIDS. However, tech-savvy individuals could still replicate this solution - in order to avoid that problem, we took some extra steps. You can read more about what we did in our whitepaper:<div class="raw-html-embed"><a href="https://hubs.ly/Q01cHGn60" class="resource resource--black"> Download the Whitepaper <svg width="21" height="21" viewBox="0 0 21 21" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" class="svg">
<path d="M10.1348 1.07703L19.5576 10.4999L10.1348 19.9228" stroke="#222021" stroke-width="2"></path>
</svg> </a></div>ONiO.zero also adds a nifty feature for the fashion industry. No batteries are involved - that means no battery hatches, a smaller electronic footprint, no battery replacements, or charging. You can simply just weave the technology right into your garment or embed it into a purse - totally invisible to the consumer and self-powered for years.ONiO.zero is a major step in the right direction for blockchain technology - offering a secure, scalable, and cost-effective solution. We believe that our technology has the potential to transform the fashion industry and help it reach new levels of sustainability and transparency. If you're interested in learning more about ONiO.zero, we encourage you to check out our website, whitepaper, or contact us directly!

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In the world of luxury fashion, brand names often carry more weight than the materials used in the garments themselves. But as consumers become savvier and more environmentally conscious, they are starting to demand transparency from the brands they buy from. Unfortunately, many luxury fashion brands have yet to adapt their business practices to meet this demand. They continue to rely on manual methods for tracking the supply chains of their products, which often leads to errors and omissions.

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Blockchain for fashion - Making accountability and sustainability fashionable.

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Runar Finanger

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LinkedIn

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Ultra Wide Band (UWB) technology is swiftly getting its space in smartphones and other gadgets. Apple has set the tone by including UWB in iPhones and AirTags, while other big players quickly followed, namely Samsung, Google and Xiaomi - all phasing in UWB-enabled devices. But, besides these trend-setters, UWB is making its way into many other industries. In a previous article, we looked at the virtues of UWB for indoor positioning and asset tracking. Here, we will provide a glimpse at how the automotive industry is leveraging UWB to make connected cars neater and more secure!

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Ultra Wide Band technology in cars

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Senior Project and Innovation Manager

Pedro Guimarães

Agriculture is incontestably one of the most important and essential human occupations,&nbsp;<a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/agriculture">providing most of the world's food and fabrics (cotton, wool and leather), as well as wood and paper products</a>. The dawn of agriculture&nbsp;<a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/agriculture">about 12.000 years ago</a>, often called the Neolithic Revolution, is considered to have sparked the birth of the earliest civilizations, allowing the emergence of villages and cities and the growth of the human population. Today, agriculture is strongly challenged by the need to provide adequate food for a fast-growing world population -&nbsp;<a href="https://populationmatters.org/population-numbers">expected to increase by about 2 billion people, i.e., by about 25%, by 2050</a>.&nbsp;On the other hand, today's intensity of agriculture means that it is one of the human activities that put immense pressure on the environment and the planet's resources. Agriculture involves the combined use of land, water, fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, livestock and energy, among other production factors - occupying nearly&nbsp;<a href="https://www.oecd.org/agriculture/topics/agriculture-and-the-environment/">40% of the terrestrial area of the planet and using 70% of the freshwater consumed globally</a>. The environmental and derived societal impacts range from soil, water, and air pollution, to reduced biodiversity, water depletion, and climate change.&nbsp;So, making the best possible use of the planet's resources and exploiting all the existing possibilities for optimizing agriculture practices is a must - bottom-line, towards "using less to grow more". This means optimizing water and energy use through rational and sustainable use of these precious resources. It also means reducing to all the extent possible inputs like fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides - which are today used in excess, causing nutrient and chemical stresses in soils, as well as water and air pollution, with nasty consequences on biodiversity, climate change and, ultimately, on human health. Precision agriculture strives to solve this equation - balancing between preserving the planet's environment and the need to feed the world.<h2>What is Precision Agriculture?</h2>According to the International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA),&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ispag.org/about/definition">precision agriculture</a>&nbsp;is defined as "a management strategy that gathers, processes and analyzes temporal, spatial and individual data and combines it with other information to support management decisions according to estimated variability for improved resource use efficiency, productivity, quality, profitability and sustainability of agricultural production". The exact definition may vary depending on the source, but some common ingredients clearly emerge: data, along spatial and temporal axes; information systems to support management decisions; resource efficiency, sustainability and productivity. So, it becomes pretty evident that precision agriculture lies at the intersection of agro-sciences and new information and communication technologies (ICT). Let's then explore how ICT and digitalization are increasingly becoming critical ingredients in agriculture and farming.<h2>Farming systems made smarter.</h2>As in most other areas of human activity, technology and digitalization have an increasingly important role in improving agriculture. Technologies like satellite imagery, drones, IoT, smart sensors, cloud computing, machine learning, etc. are already transforming the sector and hold the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/20/8596">potential for many further impacts in the near future</a>. Smart technologies - sensors, IoT systems, machine learning - can play a key role in real-time monitoring of critical parameters for precision agriculture, namely soil properties, weather conditions, pests and insect attacks, plant nutrition and health.&nbsp;As such, agriculture IoT is now an established segment of its own right - with smart sensor systems, and in particular&nbsp;<a href="https://www.onio.com/article/wsn-ai-driving-the-iot-boom.html">wireless sensor networks</a>, placed as key enablers in the path for precision agriculture. An overall look into sensors for agriculture shows a market estimated in the order of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/report/agriculture-sensor-global-market-report">$1.3 billion (2021) and growing at a CAGR of approximately 14%</a>. The market is highly fragmented with numerous players offering diverse sensor types and system solutions - such as Acclima, Acquity Agriculture, CropX, Glana Sensors, Libelium, Monnit, Pycno, Sensoterra, Sentera, Sentek, etc. Sensors for monitoring soil parameters constitute the largest segment, with soil moisture sensors at the top - so let's focus our attention on these ones for a while.<h2>Grounded in data straight from the soil&nbsp;</h2>Sensors have been used to monitor the principal soil parameters - i.e. moisture/humidity, temperature, pH and nutrient contents, especially nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (so-called NPK). Other relevant soil parameters include organic matter, exhaled gases, salinity, concentration of pollutants, presence of pests and insects, etc. For each of these parameters, there are multiple sensing methods and off-the-shelf sensors. More information about soil sensors for smart agriculture applications, including the recent R&amp;D progresses and systems commercially available, can be found in a few recent review papers on the topic - such as&nbsp;<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/adma.202007764">Yin et al. 2021</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9328258">Kashyap and Kumar 2021</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9040/10/1/35">Nadporozhskaya et al. 2022</a>.Wireless soil sensor systems are particularly attractive. Nowadays, the market offers a choice of sensor systems and providers serving diverse contexts - from professional solutions for large deployments to budget options for home-use. For professional agriculture deployments, wireless systems enable large arrays of sensors communicating seamlessly with a reader infrastructure; the choice of the communication technology depends on the context - such as total area to be covered, density of sensors, required data bandwidth, urban vs. remote areas, etc. Today's options go from short range - Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee or Ultra Wide Band - to long range prototocols - including cellular networks; low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) technologies, such as NB-IoT, LoRa, LTE-M, Sigfox, etc.; or even upcoming satellite IoT networks. On the other end of the spectrum, for small deployments - such as residential owners/managers monitoring soil moisture conditions of potted plants, vegetable gardens or lawns; urban gardens; urban farming - there are&nbsp;solutions based on simple sensors that the users stick in the soil and which communicate wirelessly, e.g. using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or ZigBee protocols, with smartphones or simple gateways.&nbsp;Let's give a closer look at a couple of examples from each type.<a href="https://cropx.com/">CropX</a>&nbsp;is an Israeli company founded in 2015 and focused on soil sensing for management of irrigation and fertilization in a precise, predictive and effective manner. The company offers sensors for continuous monitoring of soil conditions and a data and analytics platform (software) to assist farmers in planning and decision-making. The sensor units collect soil moisture, temperature and electrical conductivity (representing the soil salinity level) data at multiple depths. All data is geo-tagged, based on GPS coordinates, creating geospatial time series for all measured data. The sensor units transmit data through the cellular network (3G or 4G) to the cloud system. In addition to data from the soil sensors, CropX's platform integrates other types of data, namely weather, aerial imagery, topography, soil mapping, hydraulic models, crop models, and other user inputs. This data integration improves the analytics and management support services provided to the farmers.<a href="https://www.sensoterra.com/">Sensoterra</a>&nbsp;is headquartered in the Netherlands and focuses on wireless soil and water optimization solutions. The company commercializes a sensor to measure soil moisture, communicating through LoRaWAN technology - using gateways that must be within 4 kilometers from the sensor units. The solution includes a mobile app and a cloud-based server that assist the user and provide data insights. Besides agriculture, Sensoterra focuses on water management, for instance within the scope of smart/green cities.The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.netrohome.com/en/shop/products/whisperer">Netro Whisperer</a>&nbsp;is a smart sensor for home-use (indoor plants, outdoor gardens, etc.) measuring soil moisture, surface temperature and sunlight. It connects via Wi-Fi to a smartphone app that collects the data and gives notifications to the user about plant care.Xiaomi launched the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.techpunt.nl/en/xiaomi-mi-flower-care-plant-sensor.html">Mi Flower Care</a>&nbsp;series for home-use, with different versions for indoor, large plants and outdoor. The sensors monitor soil moisture, temperature, nutrition and sunlight, connecting through Bluetooth to a smartphone app that gives care recommendations tailored to the user plant type, based on a collection of more than 6000 plants.We have analysed products from a number of other vendors for professional use - namely Libelium, Monnit, Pycno, Sentek, Zimmer &amp; Peacock - and for home use - such as Verdmo, Ecowitt, Sonkir, XLux. Overall, the professional solutions are complex and very costly. For instance, the sensor units from CropX have an upfront cost of minimum $600; Sensoterra sells at €150-200 per soil probe. In addition, most systems entail quite considerable costs with communication hardware (gateways, base stations, etc.) and subscription fees for connectivity, software tools, etc. - for instance CropX charges an annual subscription fee of $275 per sensor. And, many of the sensor units are bulky and rely on wired connections to electronic casings or gateways - hardly qualifying as true wireless solutions. The home-use solutions can be quite cheap - as low as $20 per sensor - but are meant for individual sensors or small arrays.&nbsp;<h2>Challenges</h2>Drilling into the pros and cons of existing solutions there are two challenges that clearly emerge across the board: batteries and cost.&nbsp;First, the vast majority of the existing sensors run on batteries: some are equipped with solar panels, but still integrated with internal batteries. So, there are no real batteryless solutions - apart from a couple of very simple home-use devices (such as Sonkir and XLux) which do not provide any kind of data connectivity. We have repeatedly battled against the use of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.onio.com/article/energy-harvesting-trumps-batteries.html">batteries in IoT devices</a>. But here we'd like to add a couple of evidences specific for agriculture applications. A&nbsp;<a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/2102.10260.pdf">recent study</a>&nbsp;reported that batteries were the cause of more than half of the failures found in a wireless sensor network to monitor soil moisture - including low batteries, moisture in enclosures, and sensor nodes that froze and drained their battery in one shot. Also, in agriculture, batteries represent an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-12162-z.pdf">increased risk of soil and water contamination</a>&nbsp;due to direct leakage of harmful chemicals, such as lithium and lead. So, batteries are a no-go!Second, as seen above, systems for professional use are very costly - which hampers the deployment of large sensor arrays.<h2>Looking ahead</h2><a href="https://www.onio.com/products/onio-zero.html">ONiO.zero</a>&nbsp;is leading the way in ultra-low-power and energy harvesting technology, making it possible to deploy true wireless and batteryless sensor systems across IoT verticals. Agriculture is no different. ONiO.zero is breaking sensors free from batteries and implementing an unprecedented level of on-chip integration - drastically reducing the number of electronic components for a functional sensor unit, with a parallel reduction in cost. And so the magic happens: batteryless, low-cost sensors and systems - where form factors and footprint are not determined by the electronics but rather by the sensory elements and use-case needs. This will unshackle the potential of precision agriculture - with wireless sensor arrays spreading faster than weed! The simplicity of the underlying technology will enable diverse use-cases and application segments - from high-end smart platforms tailored to farmers, to mid-range applications like urban farming and gardening and to consumer products for home use.All of this is expected to come with deep respect to the environment: saving freshwater, using less energy, reducing deleterious inputs like excess fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. Ultimately, minimizing the environmental footprint of agriculture - while providing a steady stream of healthy food to all on the planet! Agriculture and sustainability hand-in-hand!

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Agriculture has in many places been regarded as a rather traditional sector. Yet, in the past couple of centuries, it has gone through a number of technology-driven revolutions, such as the ones fostered by mechanization, electrification and automation, the availability of chemical fertilizers or the emergence of biotechnology and genetic engineering. Now, with the explosion of new digital technologies and the Internet of Things (IoT) we are entering the era of so-called precision agriculture. This article will introduce the concept of precision agriculture, with particular emphasis on how smart sensors and wireless systems contribute to improving agriculture practices' sustainability while optimizing resource efficiency and productivity.

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Precision agriculture: using less to grow more

ONiO is an IoT company specializing in crafting self-powered microcontrollers that run on nanowatts harvested from their surroundings.

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ONiO is a fabless IoT company specialising in batteryless microcontrollers that run on energy harvesting. We are deeply committed to crafting viable clean-energy solutions for IoT devices, breaking them free from the battery. ONiO.zero can use virtually any RF, thermal, solar, piezo signal as a power source. 

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Get clued in No battery No waste Smaller Bill Of Material Zero battery. Zero maintenance.   IoT Unshackled The future is self-powered  What's next?  Energy Harvesting Everything IoT About ONiO Join us ONiO - The future is batteryless Get started What is energy harvesting? Join our team of innovators Invest in us Learn More  ONiO.zero is an easy to use batteryless, wireless microcontroller powered entirely by ambient energy. That's what we call sustainable technology. Instead of playing with pennies - we turned to the dollar. We integrated radio, mcu, memories and PMIC in a single package.  Slashes number of service requests. Essentially, zero maintenance required. Now that’s something your customer wants to hear.  IoT liberated from the battery. There’s just no telling how far IoT can go when you break the chains of the battery. ONiO.zero is the first of its kind wireless microcontroller powered entirely by energy harvesting.

ONiO is a fabless IoT company specializing in batteryless microcontrollers that run on ambient energy. ONiO.zero can use virtually any RF, thermal, solar, piezo signal as a power source. Our aim is to unshackle one IoT device at a time from the battery, en route to a 100% battery-free IoT future. Our product offers manufacturers a more minimalist, user-friendly, economical and environmentally sustainable power solution for IoT devices. 

  Looking for a green deal? Our valued partners Q1 2017 Q2 2018 Q3 2021 Q4 2022 Still have questions? Just ask. Domain experts Devoted and engaged Related Pages About Us Products Invest in us Engage with ONiO Funding Timeline Register your interest Get Started Who are we looking for ?  [object Object]  Brilliant minds and good ideas need to come together if we are to solve big problems. We understand this! We respect and value the domain expertise and industry experience that an investing partner will bring to the table. When you invest in ONiO, you are not just investing in our product but in us. As an investor, you will be an integral part of the ONiO family – your strategic inputs, network, industry expertise and passion for what we’re doing will be welcomed and cherished.

For us, it’s more than just numbers on a sheet of paper.  SME Instrument, Innovation Norway, and Forskningsrådet have helped mitigate the risks of undertaking broader and more ambitious development efforts. Besides the evident financial support, ONiO is honoured to be selected as one of the most innovative companies in Europe. Register your interest to take part in our forthcoming Series A funding round. Contact us for more information. Pre Seed Seed Bridge Series A Contact us with your inquiry and one of our team will get back to you asap. Do you love taking on new and exciting challenges? Do you share our passion for environmental sustainability and technology? Are you willing to take risks in the pursuit of something incredible? Then, you’re our kind of investor!

When you invest in ONiO, you are not just investing in our product but in us. As an investor, you will be an integral part of the ONiO family – your strategic inputs, industry expertise and passion for what we’re doing will be welcomed and cherished.

ONiO - Invest in us

OSLO, NORWAY, Aug 25, 2021 - ONiO, a fabless IoT company that brings self-powered, batteryless solutions to the market, has secured a $2.3 million equity investment agreement with MP Pensjon (TINE Pension Fund) and the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund, as part of its EIC Accelerator program. This financing round will enable ONiO to further accelerate the rollout of ONiO.zero - the world’s first general purpose wireless microcontroller WMCU capable of true batteryless operation.Kjetil Meisal, CEO at ONiO, adds, &nbsp;“We are grateful for the support from the EIC Fund and our current investors. The support has helped mitigate the risks of undertaking broader and more ambitious development efforts. Besides the evident financial support, ONiO is honoured to be selected as one of the most innovative companies in Europe. This is for sure a seal of excellence for the company, partners and investors.”&nbsp;ONiO.zero is a tiny wireless microcontroller that is designed to replace the battery in the devices that surround us. ONiO.zero is one small step into the promising world of self-powered sensing - And we hope, a frontrunner among many giant leaps towards a sustainable and green future.&nbsp;Martin Bruncko, member of the EIC Fund Investment Committee, said: “We are glad the EIC Fund is backing ONiO which is bringing highly promising, self-powered, battery-free sensor solutions to the IoT market. The potential market opportunity here is massive and ONiO is well placed to take advantage of it”.&nbsp;For more information, visit: <a href="https://www.onio.com">www.onio.com</a> Photos for media, visit: <a href="https://www.onio.com/news">www.onio.com/news</a><h3> About ONiO</h3>Based in Oslo, Norway, ONiO® is a fabless IoT company specializing in batteryless microcontrollers that run on ambient energy. We are deeply committed to crafting viable clean-energy solutions for IoT devices, breaking them free from the battery. ONiO.zero is our line of batteryless general-purpose microcontrollers. ONiO.zero can use virtually any RF, thermal, solar, piezo signal as a power source. Our aim is to unshackle one IoT device at a time from the battery, en route to a 100% battery-free IoT future. Our product offers manufacturers a more minimalist, user-friendly, economical, and environmentally sustainable power solution for IoT devices.&nbsp;<h3> About the EIC-fund</h3>Established in June 2020, the European Innovation Council Fund (EIC Fund) is a breakthrough initiative of the European Commission to make direct equity and quasi-equity investments (between €500.000 and €15 million) in European high impact and deep tech start-ups and scale-ups. With a long-term perspective, the EIC Fund invests in companies from any sector, across all EU member states as well as in associated countries.The EIC Fund aims to fill a critical financing gap and its main purpose is to support companies in the development and commercialization of disruptive technologies. This is achieved by crowding-in market players, and further sharing risk by building a large network of capital providers and strategic partners suitable for co-investments and follow-on funding.The Fund pays particular attention to the empowerment and support of female founders as well as the ambition to reduce the innovation divide among EU countries.To learn more about the EIC, visit<a href=" https://eic.ec.europa.eu/index_en"> https://eic.ec.europa.eu/index_en.</a>

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ONiO Raises $2.3M in its latest funding round.

ONiO.zero Get started with ONiO.zero Want to talk? Why we made ONiO.zero Benefits Energy Harvesting Key Features Want to talk? Environmental Benefits ONiO.zero A miniaturised green powerplant One Chip Many Benefits Small Chip. Smaller BOM. Zero battery. Zero maintenance. IoT Unshackled Ambient Energy More with batteryless MCU Radio Peripherals Memory Energy source Operation conditions Material Savings (Kilo Tons) The planet says Thank you! Scarce Supply Unsustainable ONiO.zero is a tiny wireless microcontroller that is designed to replace the battery in the devices around you. ONiO.zero is one small step into the promising world of self-powered sensing, heralding a greener future. Think of it this way - ONiO.zero is a micro-powerplant that sits unobtrusively in your device, powering it for life! Not only do you get better performance, more flexibility and substantial usability gains - It’s also way easier on your pocket. Instead of playing with pennies - we turned to the dollar. We integrated radio, mcu, memories and PMIC in a single package.  Slashes number of service requests. Essentially, zero maintenance required. Now that’s something your customer wants to hear. IoT liberated from the battery. There’s just no telling how far IoT can go when you break the chains of the battery. Grafted on a 4mm² piece of silicon, you have electrical circuitry to accumulate even the smallest amounts of energy. This nano sized power house enables you to execute programs, connect to external sensors, and communicate wirelessly. A goldmine waiting to be tapped. ONiO.zero is a milestone in utilising renewable energy to power microelectronics -  a future where RF, solar and thermoelectric energy is harnessed and put to work for us! Based on expected number of IoT devices in 2035 Batteries are bad for the planet - period. There’s no two ways about it.They destroy habitats, pollute our waters and decimate the health of entire communities!Energy harvesting and self-powered sensing have got to be the way forward for the Internet of Things. RISC-V 16/32-bit architecture (RV32EMC). High code density with compressed instructions. 1.8V 24MHz, 1.0V 6MHz, 0.8V 1MHz. 450-800mV Asynchronous operation from ROM/RAM. Crystal-less BTLE transmitter. Programmable output power (-40 to 0dBm). PA supports operation down to 850mV - 0dBm.  Industry Standard I2C, SPI and UART. Asynchronous AES module for encryption/hash generation. GPIO with asynchronous interrupt/wake up. Programmable current source. Biasing external sensors. 1KB of mask ROM (stdlib, math etc). 2KB RAM. 8/16/32KB ULP Flash. 100k Writes. Read supported down to 850mV. Internal RF Rectifier:
Multi frequency 800/900/1800/ 1900/2400MHz bands (ISM and GSM) supported. 
Internal Power Factory:
Voltaic cells down to 400mV (DC) Solar, piezoelectric and thermal (1V8 to 3.6V) Operating voltage: 450mv - 1.8V. Operating frequency: Asynchronous to 24MHz. Operating temperature: -40 to 85°C (Industrial grade). ESD protection HBM > 2kV; latchup > 100mA. Demand for Cobalt will outstrip supply by the year 2030 - Cobalt is an essential component in the batteries that power our modern day consumer electronics. A move to energy harvesting will reduce our dependence on non-renewable minerals such as LIthium, Cobalt, Manganese etc. There’s a massive humanitarian cost to every single battery that we use and throw - Lithium and Cobalt mining leave thousands of children sick for life and devastates entire communities in South America and Africa. Progress simply can’t be this loopsided and cruel. 

ONiO.zero is a tiny wireless microcontroller that is designed to replace the battery in the devices around you. ONiO.zero is one small step into the promising world of self-powered sensing, heralding a greener future. 

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