PLENO: Simplifying Geospatial Data for Carbon Project Creation

In today’s rapidly changing world, the fight against climate change has reached critical levels. With rising temperatures and environmental degradation threatening our planet, innovative solutions are more crucial than ever. Enter ESA BIC Northern Germany incubatee PLENO, a pioneering force in the realm of carbon project creation, on a mission to accelerate global transition to carbon neutrality. Founded by a duo of childhood friends, Nura Linggih and Nino Lindenberg, PLENO represents a bold vision to use technology for the greater good, backed by the ESA BIC Northern Germany ecosystem.

A Founding Journey

Nura and Nino’s journey began in Indonesia, where the two attended primary school together. Despite Nino’s relocation to Germany with his family, the pair remained connected through social media. Nura later moved to Berlin to study for his Masters’ degree, rekindling their friendship. It was during this time that Nura, with his background in business sustainability, conceived the idea of PLENO. Recognising the need for technical expertise which he did not have, he enlisted the help of Nino, an experienced software engineer. What started as a weekend side-project, soon blossomed into a full-fledged endeavour as the duo tested the waters and found interest and funding opportunities to support their vision. Last Summer marked a pivotal moment as they committed to PLENO full-time, after receiving the support of the ESA BIC Northern Germany, allowing the duo to pursue their ideas without reservation.

Example of PLENO’s automatic carbon calculation with remote sensing (© PLENO).

Redefining Carbon Assessment
Carbon offset projects focus on environmental conservation, which reduce, avoid, or remove greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere and contribute to the mitigation of climate change. In a climate where accurate data is paramount, PLENO introduces a novel approach to evaluating carbon removal from nature-based projects (for example restoring forests and wetlands). By harnessing sophisticated machine learning algorithms, PLENO’s methodology focuses on selecting reference areas strategically, enhancing the precision of emission estimates for projects like mangroves. It does this by finding similar ecosystems within an extended range from the assigned project area and providing information and data about the historical growth of environmental parameters, such as tree height and biomass in order to provide more accurate data for a given project and its target environment.

The online platform integrates state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms with geospatial and remote sensing data, enabling users to monitor and measure the impact of nature-based projects with precise accuracy. This ensures that data provided is not only current, but also relevant to the specific area of interest. By providing tools for analysis and visualisation, PLENO empowers non-experts to navigate complex data sets, ensuring transparency and reliability in carbon assessments. These assessments measure the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere from human activities like energy use, transportation and waste, helping organisations understand their impact on the environment and develop strategies to reduce emissions and promote sustainability.

“We enable non-experts to work with geospatial data or remote sensing data. In typical use cases, users will pay for someone to give them an analysis, they will get the report and the results. But we are giving them the tools to do it themselves; finding the right data and doing the analysis that they specifically want and then visualise the results that they need,” says Nura.

PLENO’s technology would help bring down the costs by allowing users to bypass outside consultants and instead allow users to gather data from up-to-date analysis on their own. This would be especially helpful for projects with limited resources, such as NGOs or local community projects.

The Support of ESA BIC Northern Germany
Nestled within the aeronautics and space hub of Bremen, Germany, PLENO finds fertile ground to nurture its growth with the support of the ESA BIC Northern Germany incubation programme for young startups. Through this programme, PLENO gains access to resources, networks and expertise, providing the eager pair with the space to explore new ideas and refine existing technology.

Nura describes their experience so far, “especially for a small startup, these things are really valuable to us. I also recently joined the ESA BIC Breakfast Exchange and learned how good it is to meet the other startups in the programme. We’re all learning new tips and tricks together and you can also see what to avoid from each other’s experiences. It’s been really great!”

The Future for PLENO
As they continue their journey with ESA BIC Northern Germany, Nura and Nino envision PLENO as a trusted partner for carbon projects worldwide. By democratising access to carbon project creation tools and empowering users to analyse and visualise their impact, they aim to catalyse global efforts towards carbon neutrality.

“We like to say that we provide the fishing rod and not the fish. It’s about making this data available to everyone, and not just experts. No one needs an engineering degree to get the information they need with this platform,” explains Nura.

With a relentless commitment to sustainability, PLENO is poised to restructure the carbon landscape, welcoming a new era of environmental stewardship. Their work represents not just a business venture, but a moral imperative to safeguard the planet for future generations.

Find further information: https://pleno.earth/

About ESA BIC Northern Germany

The Incubation Centre of the European Space Agency in Northern Germany (ESA BIC Northern Germany) is headquartered jointly with the Bremen aeronautics and space industries association at the Bremer Innovations- und Technologiezentrum BITZ as well as the DIGITAL HUB INDUSTRY (DHI) – two of the largest innovation and technology centres for high-tech companies and startups in the German federal state of Bremen. The ESA BIC Northern Germany brings new startup opportunities to the region and thus strengthens the aeronautics and space sector in the German federal state of Bremen. AVIASPACE BREMEN e.V. supports the incubatees with its network, public relations work and targeted coaching not only during the incubation period, but also afterwards as alumni. STARTHAUS Bremen & Bremerhaven s the central point of contact in the Bremen startup ecosystem and supports the startups on all issues relating to business development and financing. The ESA BIC Northern Germany is managed by Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen (AZO), an international networking and branding company for the European space programmes that also manages ESA BIC Bavaria with three locations in southern Germany.

Since 2021, ESA BIC Northern Germany has also been offering its service to space-related startups in Schleswig-Holstein. The Technikzentrum Lübeck with GATEWAY49, AviaSpace Bremen and AZO jointly operate this extension of ESA BIC Northern Germany. There are also plans to extend ESA BIC Northern Germany to the northern German federal states of Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin-Brandenburg.

Technical support of the ESA BIC Northern Germany, is offered by Fraunhofer IFAM, German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence DFKI, Alfred-Wegener Institute for Polar Research AWI, Bremen University, Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity ZARM, Airbus Group, ArianeGroup, AES Aircraft Elektro/Elektronik System, DSI Aerospace, and OHB.