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As the latest report from the International Panel on Climate Change makes urgently clear, reversing the climate’s downward trajectory requires action from all stakeholders in science, academia, government, and notably, industry.
“Investment in social and technological innovation could generate the knowledge and entrepreneurship needed to catalyze system transitions, and their transfer,” the report states.
One silver lining: That investment in entrepreneurship is already underway.
“I think the next 50 unicorns are going to be technologies that create something related to sustainability,” said BlackRock chairman and CEO Larry Fink last fall, at the MIT Golub Center for Finance and Policy’s annual conference.
One area with growing innovation is the clean tech space — which encompasses alternative energies and technologies that make existing energy forms cleaner and more efficient.
Here is a sampling of companies and series-funded startups in the clean tech space, all with ties to MIT.
Innovative ideas in clean tech
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24M Technologies
24M Technologies is working on a less expensive, more efficient version of lithium-ion batteries.
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Ambri
Ambri is developing a long-duration, liquid metal battery for use in renewable energy sources and power systems.
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Amogy
Amogy is developing a way to use emission-free, high performance ammonia as fuel in transportation systems.
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Commonwealth Fusion Systems
Commonwealth Fusion Systems is developing technology designed to enable compact fusion power plants.
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Enerbrain
Enerbrain’s hardware and software monitors HVAC systems through cloud technology to make heating and cooling of buildings more efficient.
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Form Energy
Form Energy’s iron-air battery technology relies on a reversible rusting process which produces oxygen and can be used to power renewable energy systems.
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Graviky Labs
Graviky Labs turns carbon captured from the air into usable products such as ink.
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InEnTec
InEnTec’s plasma-enhanced melter technology turns a variety of waste (e.g., medical, hazardous) into fuel for renewable energies.
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Infinite Cooling
Infinite Cooling’s technology reduces freshwater usage at power plant cooling towers.
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Nanoramic
Nanoramic’s electric vehicle battery is based on a technology involving nano-scale carbon structures to improve power capability and lifecycle.
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Osmoses
Osmoses is developing new membrane technology for separating industrial gases and vapors (such as purifying hydrogen and natural gas) which can help reduce energy waste and greenhouse gas emissions.
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Quaise
Quaise is developing a drill to bore deep into earth and tap into geothermal energy, a renewal source that could replace fossil-fueled power plants.
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Stable
Stable uses machine learning to predict and improve electric vehicle charging station performance.
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Syzygy Plasmonics
Syzygy Plasmonics is building a new type of chemical reactor that is powered by light and will create energy more efficiently and cheaply than traditional chemical reactors.
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Ubiquitous Energy
Ubiquitous Energy is a solar window company that converts sunlight into energy using coated glass panels.
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Verdox
Verdox’s carbon-capturing system relies only on electricity and does not require heat or water.
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Via Separations
Via Separations is developing a membrane that makes the traditional industrial liquid-liquid separation process more energy efficient.
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WiTricity
WiTricity’s technology allows for efficient wireless power transfers across a distance, such as charging electric cars without a cord.
