Tiny bubbles, huge impact: Meet UBS Global Visionary Moleaer

Water is our most vital resource, but it’s facing some unprecedented challenges. Rising temperatures are depleting oxygen levels, and pollution is putting our health and ecosystems at risk. It’s crucial that we adopt a more responsible approach to managing our water.

My journey in the water industry started over 20 years ago at GE Water & Process Technologies Inc. as a product manager. I quickly learned just how crucial water is for nearly every industrial and commercial process around the globe. This realization opened my eyes to the looming water crisis and its wide-ranging effects on people and communities. Issues like rising demand, dwindling supply, climate change, and water contamination are exacerbating the situation. 

Over 2 billion people are affected by water scarcity due to climate change and pollution. And as the global demand for water keeps rising and supplies are running low, industries are feeling the pressure to use water more efficiently. Unfortunately, many traditional practices use or waste too much water, which just isn’t sustainable anymore. For example, it’s estimated that 70% of the planet’s available freshwater supplies go to irrigation.

Nanobubble technology is a rapidly emerging class of science that offers sustainable, cost-effective alternatives to conventional chemicals for treating water and wastewater, cleaning surfaces, increasing food production, improving natural resource recovery, producing advanced materials, and more. Nanobubbles are less than 200 nanometers in size – that’s 2,500 times smaller than a grain of salt – and unlike larger bubbles that quickly rise and burst, they remain suspended in liquids. Their unique size and behavior unlock powerful capabilities and deliver transformative benefits across a range of applications. They optimize gas dissolution, enhance mixing, and accelerate key physical, chemical and biological processes, making them an innovative solution for water treatment and other industrial applications. We are using this to help farmers reduce their water usage per kilogram of crop grown. Growers have experienced yield improvements of up to 50%, enabling them to get more from every drop of water they use.

Pollution is another huge concern. Contaminants from various sources compromise water quality, which poses a serious risk to our food supply and natural resources. Many industries still rely heavily on chemicals for water treatment, which can worsen water quality. 

Our solutions provide a cost-effective and sustainable alternative, improving water treatment while reducing the environmental footprint of the industries we serve, to help protect and restore natural ecosystems. 

Our approach is all about partnering with industries to deliver cost-effective and sustainable solutions. We collaborate with some of the largest and most critical industries to tackle urgent challenges like water scarcity, resource efficiency, and environmental sustainability.

In line with SDG 2, our nanobubble technology is helping farmers boost food production efficiently and sustainably. Our solutions are especially crucial in regions grappling drought, like Spain. In 2023, we opened a facility in Almería, a major greenhouse hub that produces millions of tons of fruits and vegetables every year. Our technology is bolstering irrigation efficiency while reducing resource inputs, helping growers improve their water usage, lower costs and increase crop yields.

For SDG 14, we’re transforming aquaculture by improving water quality, fish health and welfare, and the overall economics of the facilities. A great example is our recent collaboration with Lødingen Fisk in Norway, where our integration of our nanobubble technology into their Recirculating Aquaculture System improved oxygen transfer efficiency by 94%, which is crucial for healthier and faster-growing fish. We also achieved a 70% reduction in nitrate accumulation and a 60% increase in ammonia nitrification rates, enhancing biofilter performance.

We’re fortunate to have investors who recognize the promise of our transformative technology and are committed to helping us expand our nanobubble solutions.

The bigger challenge is ensuring our customers have access to capital to invest in Moleaer’s solutions. Farmers often have limited budgets, while municipalities often need to go through lengthy approval processes to spend their capital budgets on new technology. As a result, we offer flexible business models so customers can apply our solutions to their processes cost-effectively. This includes offering our Nanobubbles as a Service offering, where we loan the asset to the town over short-or-long term contracts.

Navigating regulatory frameworks presents another challenge, as the compliance requirements can be quite complex. To tackle this, we actively collaborate with industry stakeholders, academic institutions and regulatory bodies to ensure our technology exceeds existing standards. We also advocate for more progressive policies that support sustainable innovation.

We’d accelerate the deployment of our nanobubble technology across every industry and business that relies on water. By equipping all players in agriculture, aquaculture, wastewater treatment, food processing, lakes and ponds, and resource recovery with our technology, we could drastically cut down their water, energy, and chemical use.

I’d also prioritize a tenfold increase in our research and development efforts to discover even more applications for nanobubble technology, especially in areas like green hydrogen production, energy efficiency, and medical applications.

Focus on investing in scalable, proven solutions that leverage emerging science and innovative technology to address water scarcity and build climate resilience. Look for partnerships that deliver both financial returns and measurable environmental benefits.

The Big Thirst by Charles Fishman. It brilliantly explores our complex relationship with water and highlights its critical importance in every facet of life and industry.