Public Funding for Pilio Limited

A collaboration to deliver affordable energy solutions in rural Pakistan communities who are integral to the farming and production of global cotton supplies. The Affordable Clean Energy Farm (ACE-Farm) is a novel insetting scheme that aims to redistribute capital via investments by fashion brands, textiles manufacturers and clean cotton networks to reduce the impact of their own carbon consumption. This project will continue the work delivered by UK energy management company, Pilio, and Pakistan energy infrastructure company, SAMA^Verte, under an Energy Catalyst 8 funded feasibility study. Within this continuation project, we will demonstrate the economic model that aims to bring clean and affordable energy access to Pakistan's 10m cotton workers. Our focus is on creating a multiplier effect via a range of ecosystem services, including household energy access, productive energy on industrial cotton farms (ginners) and enabling micro-enterprises to offer energy services and create new markets. Within this project Pilio will develop our technology platform, that measures the investment brands make in terms of carbon reduction and affordable energy uptake, as well as economic terms including ROI. This project will be delivered in close working partnership with WWF Pakistan and global sustainability experts, Better Cotton. To participate in the project as an energy solution provider or as a fashion retail or manufacturing company thinking about insetting the cotton supply chain, contact Catherine Bottrill on [catherine@piliogroup.com][0]. [0]: mailto:catherine@piliohroup.com

In the UK farmers see wool as a waste byproduct; sold through the British Wool Marketing Board it returns just 33p/kg to farmers, meaning in 2019 income from wool was 3% of sheep revenue \[Defra 2022\]. Raw material production accounts for 38% of global apparel and footwear greenhouse gas emissions \[Global Fashion Agenda-2020\]. Therefore, the industry has an opportunity to significantly reduce the impact through regenerative farming. The future of sustainable textiles production is building relationships with fibre growers - implementing regenerative farming practices, traceable supply chains, developing new routes to market and diversifying income streams. Collaboration across the supply chain from farm level is critical to scale uptake of sustainable agricultural practices - reducing environmental impact, enabling net-zero Dash & Miller (D+M) and Pilio are developing a novel production model for traceable UK fibre that is regenerative and people-centric. Built on innovative technology alongside innovative wool growing practises to create conditions for Net-zero. 1. Climate and nature positive practices at the farm level. 2. Profitability and employment opportunities at all stages of the supply chain. 3. Traceability from farm to consumer 4. Resource utilisation as design driver Dash & Miller (D&M) is a Bristol-based innovative design studio with 14+ years' experience co-designing and sampling locally sourced fibre and yarn textiles for fashion, commercial and residential interiors, as well as automotive and fine art applications. Since 2009 we have worked with high-profile brands such as Nike, Athleta, Lululemon, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Calvin Klein, Thom Browne, John Lewis, Cos and Oliver Bonas, as well as automotive brands and textile mills across Europe, the US and Asia. D&M connects B2B and B2C customers with fabric manufacturers, delivering production-ready woven designs created with CAD software. Pilio, our net-zero planet-centred design partner, is an energy and environmental innovation company born out of the University of Oxford Environmental Change Institute in 2011\. Their carbon, energy, and nature software and sustainability advisory services bring science backed expertise and recommendations to businesses across the UK, enabling them to successfully implement sustainability strategies, reach net-zero emissions, and spur the green economy. In this project we will work with a digital product strategist, who specialises in people-centred design and development processes. This will help us understand and define opportunities for people-centric systems. This project is a natural stepping-stone to our streamlined product development process, using traceable technology to encourage uptake of sustainable consumption and production habits.

This project is a collaboration between VANDENBERGHUK (VDB), Agri-EPI Centre, PEEQUAL Ltd, Royal Agricultural University, Green Square Agro Consulting and Pilio. The focus of our innovation is to convert urine into a viable fertiliser.

The Cotton Inset Scheme is a collaboration between UK-based energy management company, Pilio and Pakistan-based sustainable solutions company, HIMA^Verte. This feasibility project tests affordable, renewable energy solutions in some of the poorest cotton producing communities in Pakistan: Punjab and Sindh. Manual cotton activities, like cotton picking and seed planting, are primarily conducted by women. The work is low-paid and unstable. These communities have very limited access to electricity via grid solutions. Where the infrastructure does exist, outages are common, lasting up to 16 hours per day. Off grid solutions will provide cotton farming communities a consistent, reliable and affordable source of electricity. The Cotton Inset Scheme is a new business model that improves the sustainability, resilience and long-term viability of the global supply chain. The CIS is a mechanism for global fashion brands to reinvest in the welfare and energy access of farmers in their own supply chain. Evolving the carbon offset model, the CIS manages investment into energy infrastructure. The relevance of the CIS is that brands are reinvesting in activities that protect their business. In this feasibility study we will trial off-grid solutions, including solar home systems, refrigeration-as-a-service and other products like PV fans and kettles. We will build a network of Clean Energy Dhaba's (village hubs) that provide a localised source of knowledge on renewable energy and access to efficient appliances in villages across rural Pakistan via micro-enterprises. The outcome will be a feasibility assessment of the viability of the CIS at scale, and a roadmap for growth in the fashion sector.

Pilio will catalyse the disruption in the cosmetic supply chain due to COVID-19 to transition market leaders to conscious land management through directing the flow of investment to NbS. NbS are activities to protect/restore/manage natural and semi-natural ecosystems to address societal challenges (IUCN, 2020). Our innovation is a SaaS platform combined with an innovative NbS project insetting finance model that enables industry leaders to identify/measure/transition to sourcing sustainably-produced raw materials. Pilio will build economic and socio-ecological resilience within the cosmetic industry, with a specific focus on improving biodiversity in destructive crops (Cocoa Butter, Palm Oil and Patchouli). In this project we will develop a set of NbS algorithms for palm, cocoa and patchouli supply chains. The algorithm will process global environmental data (eg. soil carbon, water regulation, nutrients); project data (metadata, baseline, impact of the intervention); and financial data (economic assessment of raw materials, cost benefit analysis of interventions). The resulting algorithm will form the basis of a decision making tool to choose projects based on cost and benefit, monitor their impact, and decide on their financing structure. To develop the solution we are working with Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics, BSR, Mapshubs, Quick Start Consulting and expert advisors Dr. Bronson Griscom, Director Nature-based Solutions, Conservation International) and Dr. Mehjabeen (Sustainability advisor to L'Oreal Cosmetics). Pilio is an environmental sustainability innovation software service company born out of the University of Oxford's Environmental Change Institute in 2011\. Pilio has successfully commercialised an energy and carbon management software as service platform to enable businesses to reduce their energy costs and carbon footprint. The team is led by a female founder, Catherine Bottrill, and supported by a diverse team of contributors.

COVID-19 has caused reduced consumer demand for fashion, leading to a reduction in demand for raw materials such as cotton and wool. The dramatic decline in sales has resulted in prolonged fragility and tension in the British fashion industry's supply chains. COVID-19 has halted the progressive sustainability agenda in the British fashion industry, which was making substantial progress in greening their supply chain. Due to budget cuts and furloughs, sustainability has been sidelined. This market disruption offers a unique window of opportunity to improve supply chain transparency and secure a resilient long-term supply of critical raw materials for the longevity of the British fashion sector. Nature-based solutions are strategies to protect, restore and improve the management of natural and agricultural lands, with the potential to mitigate up to 11 GtCO2e yr-1 emissions cost effectively (≤ $100 MgCO2e-1) (Griscom et al., 2017). In most cases, nature-based solutions also provide positive ecological, social, and economic returns (Dasgupta et al., 2020; Seddon et al., 2019). Pilio will enable the fashion/textiles industry to incorporate sustainability into normal, commercially critical business activities such as long-term supplier relationships and consistency of supply. Our innovation is novel in that it will enable fashion companies to take a holistic and systems approach, by creating an instrument for them to both reduce their carbon footprint and improve the socio-ecological resilience of the lands they depend on for raw materials. By the end of this project, we will pilot a SaaS platform that enables the fashion/textile industry to transition to a net zero carbon and nature positive supply chain.

CoControl is the UK’s first socially focused connected homes technology, providing intelligent heating control for social tenants, and advanced levels of property insight for social landlords. CoControl is working with 7 social landlords in 120 properties to tailor our product line to the social housing space. Having demonstrated through trials a capability to help low income householders manage heating costs via comfort level feedback loops (versus using static temperature settings), CoControl is now focusing on improving its value to the landlords purchasing the product. The company is developing a prototype Investment Optimisation Dashboard (IOD) that integrates various sources of proprietary and externally sourced data to help Social Landlords make more informed, higher impact investment decisions. The potential UK market is large – Social Landlords spend £7.1bn annually on maintenance and repairs, and the quality of data used to make decisions with is poor. At present, there is no method of precisely uncovering which households are energy inefficient, whether occupants face health risks, or identifying where investment will go furthest. Improving the accuracy by which Social Landlords target works should then reduce annual expenditure, whilst maximising social impact. This Innovate UK grant supports our development to its proof of concept.

Pilio, a spin out of Oxford University, is a leader in online building energy management with sMeasure for businesses and iMeasure for households. This innovation voucher is helping Pilio use external experts to develop mobile apps that fully integrate with our energy analytics platforms, putting sophisticated energy management tools in the palm of your hand.