Climate Confident Reducing Ice Rinks' Carbon Footprint: Glice’s Eco-Friendly Ice Rinks Explained
In this episode of *Climate Confident*, I’m joined by Viktor Meier, CEO and co-founder of Glice, a company that's transforming ice sports by creating eco-friendly, zero-energy synthetic ice rinks. We dive into the story behind Glice, exploring how Viktor's early commitment to environmental issues led him on a journey to revolutionise ice skating without the environmental cost of traditional ice rinks.
Viktor shares how Glice was born out of a desire to maintain the joy and accessibility of ice sports while tackling some of the massive energy and water demands typically associated with them. Their solution? High-tech synthetic panels that don’t require refrigeration, eliminating the energy and water waste typical of regular ice. Remarkably, each Glice rink can cut energy use comparable to the needs of thousands of homes, making it a powerful tool for sustainability, and emissions reduction. Viktor explains that the product’s durability and ability to be recycled or repurposed at the end of its life add further to its eco-credentials.
We also discuss the broader implications for ice sports as global warming makes natural ice scarcer, even in traditionally cold regions. From the NHL to local communities and even Hollywood film sets, Glice has found a unique niche in over 100 countries, showing how sustainable innovations can be globally adaptable.
So, if you’re interested in how sustainable innovation can preserve the essence of an activity while slashing its carbon footprint, or simply curious about how synthetic ice works, tune in for an insightful conversation with Viktor.
Don’t miss it!
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Credits
Music credits - Intro by Joseph McDade, and Outro music for this podcast was composed, played, and produced by my daughter Luna Juniper