Faced with the reality of a rapidly warming planet, the need to alleviate the worst effects of climate change is more critical than ever. Among the vanguard in this global effort are 14 pioneering climate tech companies.
Each of these innovators is developing technologies with the potential to combat and reverse the effects of environmental damage and exploitation. These trailblazers are redefining sustainability, harnessing the power of cutting-edge science and engineering to pave the way toward a greener, more resilient future.
What Is Climate Tech?
The Climate tech sector covers a broad range of technologies and innovations specifically addressing the challenges of global warming. This includes solutions developed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enhance energy efficiency, promote renewable energy sources, and develop new carbon capture and storage methods.
Various climate tech companies are working to mitigate climate change in their own way. Here are just a few of the different types of climate tech companies operating today:
Renewable Energy
Businesses that focus on developing and deploying technologies to harness energy from renewable sources such as the sun, wind, water, and geothermal heat.
Carbon Capture & Storage
Companies employing innovative ways to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or industrial processes and store it safely.
Green Construction
Businesses that create eco-friendly building materials and promote green construction practices to minimize environmental impact.
Sustainable Agriculture
Ventures that aim to reduce the environmental footprint of farming through precision agriculture, alternative proteins, and more efficient supply chains.
Waste Management
Organizations using technology solutions to improve recycling processes and reduce landfill waste.
Here is a video from Axios explaining climate tech and its essential role in the fight against climate change.
Why Is Climate Tech Important?
Achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 hinges on ground-breaking advancements in high-risk, high-impact climate technologies. Climate tech directly addresses global warming and the threat it poses to global ecosystems, economies, and societies.
For example, the Guardian reported that the European Union released 8% less carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels in 2023 than measurements from 2022, the lowest level in 60 years. Yet, the economy has grown threefold over this period, showing that climate change can be combated without foregoing economic growth.
Lowering emissions and halting global warming is a moral imperative as well as a business opportunity, as it can generate positive returns and social impact. In essence, climate tech is not just about protecting the environment; it’s about ensuring a sustainable and prosperous future for all.
We’ve surveyed the top 100 climate tech start-ups and businesses in operation and found 14 innovative and exciting leaders companies to watch right now. So, let’s take a look at these trailblazers working hard to combat the climate crisis in 2024:
Top 14 Climate Tech Companies
Fervo
Based in the US, Fervo Energy provides carbon-free energy by developing innovative geothermal power. Its goal is to use pioneering geoscience techniques to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.
Fervo’s technological advances in drilling and below-ground analytics make geothermal emergy cost-competitive.
Backed by Google, this leading energy climate tech company has already begun to send geothermal-sourced electricity into the Nevada grid.
- Environmental Commitment: The company prioritizes environmental health and safety, ensuring that its operations do not harm local ecosystems and fully reinject water back into the ground.
- Scalability: Fervo Energy’s approach increases the viability of geothermal projects to various regions, significantly enhancing the potential of geothermal energy production.
CarbonCapture Inc
Founded in 2003, CarbonCapture Inc. is addressing climate change through direct air capture (DAC) technology.
Their mission is to decarbonize the atmosphere by developing and deploying machines that remove CO₂ directly from the air and store it permanently underground.
Their core technology is a modular carbon capture system that can be retrofitted to existing power plants, industrial facilities, and other sources of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions.
- Direct Air Capture Technology: They specialize in developing machines that remove CO₂ directly from the atmosphere, which can then be stored underground or used in various industrial applications.
- Innovative Sorbent Use: Their DAC (Direct Air Capture) machines utilize solid sorbents that absorb atmospheric CO₂ when cooled and release it when heated, allowing for efficient carbon capture.
- Award-Winning Recognition: CarbonCapture Inc has been acknowledged as a 2023 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum, highlighting its potential impact on the future of carbon removal.
Alkama
Alkama is a climate tech startup innovating in the field of sustainable agriculture.
They have developed a patent-pending technology called NutriBridge, which claims to provide a “liquid ecosystem” designed to enable farmers to grow wheat and barley without using chemical fertilizers, fungicides, or pesticides.
Their approach aligns with the principles of regenerative agriculture, aiming to transform wheat farming by boosting profits and capturing carbon in the soil.
- FITS (Factory-In-The-Soil): A liquid ecosystem of soil microbiology developedto produce high-yield crops that are cost-efficient for farmers without fertilizer, pesticides, or fungicides. This treatment uses fungi, bacteria, nematodes, and protozoa in the production of plants, wheat, and barley to overcome crop stress while also capturing and sequestering CO₂ in the soil.
- Cost reduction: Farmers can save 20-30% on input costs, making the technology environmentally friendly and economically beneficial.
- Carbon Sequestration: Alkama’s solutions have the potential to sequester 1.3 gigatons of CO₂ if applied globally, contributing significantly to carbon capture efforts.
- Organic Premiums: Farmers using Alkama solutions can access organic premiums, potentially doubling the value of their crops and providing an incentive for more sustainable farming practices.
Twelve
Twelve, also known as The Carbon Transformation Company, is pioneering innovative technology that functions like industrial photosynthesis.
Their mission is to create products made from air, not oil, by transforming CO₂ into essential materials and fuels. Twelve harnesses CO₂ water, and renewable energy to produce hydrocarbons, which are the building blocks of chemicals, materials, and fuels.
This process results in products that have zero fossil fuels, zero net new emissions, and maintain quality and performance, marking a significant step towards a fossil-free future.
- FITS (Factory-In-The-Soil): A complete liquid ecosystem of soil microbiology designed to produce high-yield crops that are cost-efficient for farmers without fertilizer, pesticides, or fungicides. This treatment uses fungi, bacteria, nematodes, and protozoa in the production of plants, wheat, and barley to overcome crop stress while also capturing and sequestering CO2 in the soil.
- CO₂ Electrolysis: Twelve’s technology transforms CO₂ into water and renewable energy into hydrocarbons, which serve as the building blocks for chemicals, materials, and fuels.
- Dual Emissions Reduction: Their carbon transformation process has a dual benefit for emissions reduction by using CO₂ to displace fossil fuels as feedstock and preventing emissions from hard-to-abate sectors.
- Circular Carbon Economy: Twelve’s approach supports the creation of a circular carbon economy, turning CO into a feedstock and transforming linear industrial systems into circular ones.
- Power-to-Liquids E-Fuels: This company is advancing sustainable aviation with their Power-to-Liquid SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuels), which have up to 90% lower lifecycle emissions than conventional jet fuel.
NuScale Power
NuScale Power is an innovative climate tech company that uses small modular reactor (SMR) technology in the energy sector. They aim to facilitate the global energy transition by providing safe, scalable, and reliable carbon-free energy.
NuScale’s SMR design is unique because it’s small enough to be factory-built and transported to a plant site, significantly reducing construction time and risks.
The company made history in 2020 as the first SMR to receive NRC design approval and aims to bring the first SMR plant online by 2030
- Factory-Built Modules: The NuScale Power Module, including containment, is fully factory-built and can be transported to the plant site, reducing construction time and risks.
- Multi-Module Design: Their design allows for a plant to produce electricity while dedicating modules for other applications like hydrogen production.
- Enhanced Safety: The SMR design employs gravity-driven natural circulation of the primary coolant, simplifying the design and enhancing safety.
- Scalable Solutions: NuScale offers different power plant sizes, accommodating up to 12 modules for a total output of 924 MWe, allowing for scalability based on demand.
H2 Green Steel
H2 Green Steel is spearheading the transformation of the steel industry towards sustainability using technology. Founded with the vision of decarbonizing steel production, H2 Green Steel is set to operate a fully integrated, digitalized, and circular plant in Boden, northern Sweden. It aims to supply the automotive industry as well as the construction sector to support greener industrial practices.
Their innovative approach involves replacing coal with green hydrogen, which is powered by fossil-free electricity, dramatically reducing CO₂ emissions compared to traditional steelmaking methods.
- Green Hydrogen: They utilize green hydrogen, produced with fossil-free energy, as a core element in their steel production process
- 95% Emission Reduction: H2 Green Steel’s innovative process allows for up to a 95% reduction in CO2 emissions.
- Integrated Plant: Their operations are based in a fully integrated, digitalized, and circular plant, highlighting sustainable industrial practices.
- Decarbonization of Heavy Industries: Beyond steel, H2 Green Steel aims to use its technology to decarbonize other hard-to-abate heavy industries.
Commonwealth Fusion Systems
Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) is positioning itself as one of the leading climate tech companies to invest in.
As a pioneer in the field of fusion energy, founded in conjunction with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), CFS aims to provide a fast track to clean, limitless fusion energy.
CFS is known for developing revolutionary high-temperature superconducting magnets, key to building smaller, more cost-effective fusion systems. They are currently manufacturing these magnets as well as constructing the first commercially viable net energy fusion machine, called SPARC.
- Revolutionary Magnet Technology: CFS uses high-temperature superconducting magnets to build smaller, more cost-effective tokamak fusion systems.
- SPARC Tokamak: They are constructing the world’s first commercially relevant net energy fusion machine, SPARC, which is expected to demonstrate the feasibility of fusion power.
- ARC Power Plant: Following SPARC, CFS plans to build ARC, the world’s first fusion power plant, to deliver commercial, clean, cost-competitive fusion energy.
- MIT Collaboration: As MIT’s brainchild, CFS benefits from decades of fusion research and a strong partnership with a leading research institution.
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Sublime Systems
Sublime Systems is providing innovative new solutions to the construction industry with its breakthrough process for producing low-carbon cement.
Their technology is a game-changer as it replaces the traditional fossil-fuel-intensive thermal calciner process with an electrochemical one. This shift maintains cement’s performance characteristics and significantly reduces the environmental cost.
- Electrochemical Cement Production: Sublime Systems’ groundbreaking process eliminates the need for traditional kilns, which are energy—and fossil-fuel-intensive.
- True-Zero Emissions: Sublime’s fully electrified approach avoids using fossil-fueled kilns and limestone feedstock, aiming for true-zero emissions.
- Commercial-Scale Manufacturing: With significant investment from the U.S. Department of Energy, Sublime Systems is accelerating the construction of its first commercial manufacturing plant. This plant will produce clean cement at scale.
- Community and Environmental Impact: The company is committed to creating economic opportunities and quality jobs, particularly in disadvantaged communities, while also focusing on eliminating harmful emissions.
Ørsted
Ørsted is a global leader in the transition to renewable energy. Its primary focus is developing, constructing, and operating offshore and onshore wind farms, solar farms, energy storage facilities, and bioenergy plants.
The company is also actively involved in renewable hydrogen and green fuels facilities. Ørsted’s commitment to sustainability is recognized on the CDP Climate Change A List. It was also the first energy company in the world to have its science-based targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative.
- Offshore Wind Leader: Ørsted is currently the world’s largest developer of offshore wind farms. It has a strong presence in markets like the UK, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the US. Ørsted has installed over 7.6 GW of offshore wind capacity worldwide.
- Climate Action Leadership: Recognized on the CDP Climate Change A List, Ørsted is a global leader in climate action and was the first energy company to have its science-based targets validated.
- Sustainable Transformation: Ørsted has transitioned from a fossil fuel company to a renewable energy leader. It aims to phase out coal by 2024 and focus on reducing the costs of green energy.
- Green Energy Systems: The company is exploring innovative solutions, such as renewable hydrogen, green fuels, and Power-to-X technologies. Ørsted aim to integrate renewable energy into various sectors, such as transportation and industrial processes.
Northvolt
Founded in 2017, Northvolt’s mission is to enable the future of energy by developing the world’s greenest battery cell. They aim to deliver batteries with a 90% lower carbon footprint than those made using coal energy.
With over 5500 individuals from more than 120 nationalities, Northvolt is building solutions to make the world a better and cleaner place. Their target is to achieve a lithium-ion cell installed capacity of 150 GWh by 2030, powering everything from electric vehicles to grid storage.
- Large-scale battery production: Northvolt is building gigafactories with massive production capacities to meet the growing demand for lithium-ion batteries in Europe. Their first gigafactory, Northvolt Ett in Skellefteå, Sweden, is designed to have an annual production capacity of 60 GWh.
- Vertical integration: This climate tech company aims to control the entire battery value chain. This will include all aspects of the battery’s life, from raw material sourcing and recycling to cell manufacturing and battery assembly. Northvolt’s vertical integration strategy is intended to increase efficiency, sustainability, and competitiveness.
- Partnerships with automakers: Northvolt has secured supply agreements with major European automakers like Volkswagen, BMW, and Volvo to provide battery cells and systems.
- Significant funding and investment: The venture has raised over $6.5 billion in funding from various investors, including Goldman Sachs, Volkswagen, BMW, and the European Investment Bank.
Sylvera
Sylvera is a climate tech company that provides data intelligence and emissions monitoring solutions.
By combining advanced remote sensing technologies, data analytics, and industry-specific solutions, Sylvera aims to provide transparent and actionable emissions data to help businesses, governments, and organizations accurately measure, report, and reduce their environmental impact.
- Satellite-based emissions monitoring: Sylvera utilizes data from multiple satellites to detect and quantify greenhouse gas emissions. Gases such as methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide are monitored from industrial facilities and other sources
- Scalability and global coverage: The company’s satellite-based approach allows for scalable and global coverage. This enables emissions monitoring across multiple locations and regions.
- Management & Monitoring platform: Sylvera has developed a platform offering data and tools for organizations and governments to navigate carbon markets. This includes project-level due diligence insights and access to a network of carbon credit suppliers.
- Continuous monitoring: Sylvera’s solutions enable continuous emissions monitoring, providing real-time data and analytics to track changes and identify anomalies.
- Industry-specific solutions: The company tailors its solutions to meet the needs of various industries, such as oil and gas, waste management, and agriculture.
ReWorld
ReWorld Waste, formerly known as Covanta, is one of the best climate tech companies offering sustainable waste-to-energy solutions.
Waste-to-energy takes non-hazardous waste—destined for landfills—and combusts it, generating steam for electricity production. The ash is processed to recover metal for recycling, while all gases are collected, filtered, and cleaned to minimize environmental impact.
- Innovative Solutions: ReWorld Waste offers a comprehensive suite of products such as ReDirect360 (Zero Waste-to-Landfill), ReDrop (Wastewater Treatment), ReKiln (Alternative Fuel Engineering), ReMove (Transportation and Logistics), and ReCredit (Sustainable Carbon Offsets). These solutions are designed to help customers achieve their sustainability goals.
- Sustainability Commitment: The company’s transformation is a testament to its commitment to sustainability. ReWorld Waste’s net GHG benefits are equivalent to half of the entire installed utility-scale solar capacity in the US.
- Strategic Investments: The company has invested more than a billion dollars in infrastructure to support its sustainable waste solutions.
- Customer-Centric Approach: ReWorld Waste plans to launch a new customer portal for enhanced efficiency and communication.
Universal Hydrogen
Founded in 2020, Universal Hydrogen is a company working toward making hydrogen-powered commercial flights a reality in the near term. It aims to align aviation with the Paris Agreement emissions targets.
Universal Hydrogen uses a flexible, scalable, and capital-light approach to hydrogen logistics. It transports the hydrogen modular capsules over the existing freight network from green production sites to airports worldwide.
- Energy Content: Hydrogen fuel contains three times more energy per weight than jet fuel. This enables longer trips, serving as a highly energetic non-nuclear fuel for aviation.
- Cost-Effectiveness: The company projects that hydrogen will reach cost parity with jet fuel by 2025. It hopes to see a continued to decrease in cost thereafter.
- Product Vision: The company is working on regional products to demonstrate that green hydrogen is feasible, affordable, safe, and passenger-friendly.
- Safety: Hydrogen is considered significantly safer than jet fuel and has a strong safety record in hydrogen-powered vehicles.
BYD North America
BYD (Build Your Dreams) is one of the world’s biggest climate-tech companies and largest manufacturer of electric vehicles and batteries. It is also a global leader in battery-electric buses, with more than 80,000 buses sold in 200 cities and 50 countries.
Established in 1995, BYD has grown from a start-up with 20 employees to one of the largest international climate tech companies hiring more than 300,000 employees worldwide.
- Blade Battery: The Blade Battery is a standout innovation by BYD. It’s noted for its ultra-safety, strength, long-range, long lifespan, and high charging capability. It’s currently the only power battery that has safely passed the nail penetration test, showcasing its robustness.
- Financial Growth: BYD’s turnover has exceeded RMB 200 billion, reflecting its financial success and market influence.
- Sustainability Commitment: This company’s mission aligns with global sustainability goals. It offers zero-emission new energy solutions that play a significant role in transitioning from fossil fuel-powered vehicles to electric vehicles.
- Vertical Integration: BYD is vertically integrated, meaning it owns the entire production process from battery manufacturing to vehicle assembly. This gives them more control over costs and quality.
- Innovation and Research: BYD strongly emphasizes innovation and research. It has invested heavily in developing new technologies and products related to new energy and sustainable transportation solutions.
In Summary
While no single approach can hope to solve climate change on its own, the cutting-edge work being done by these climate tech companies should give us hope.
With a collective, coordinated approach combining policy, investment, and technological breakthroughs, we may yet achieve net-zero emissions. With the stakes so high, supporting and accelerating the development of these world-changing technologies has never been more important.
From harnessing the power of hydrogen to revolutionizing waste management, these climate tech companies are building a greener future.
These companies are developing technologies in areas such as carbon capture, renewable energy, energy storage, sustainable agriculture, and waste management. By reducing greenhouse gas emissions, increasing energy efficiency, promoting sustainable practices, and enhancing the resilience of ecosystems. Yes, they are focusing on various sectors including energy, transportation, agriculture, manufacturing, and waste management. By adopting their technologies, investing in their solutions, and advocating for policies that promote sustainable practices and innovation.Frequently Asked Questions
What types of innovations are these climate tech companies working on?
How do these innovations contribute to solving climate change?
Are these companies focusing on any particular sectors?
How can businesses and individuals support the efforts of these climate tech companies?
References
World Economic Forum – Meet the World Economic Forum’s Technology Pioneers of 2023
World Economic Forum – Why climate tech desperately needs more financial backing and how to secure it
CarbonEquity.com – Carbon Equity’s top climate tech trends for 2024
United Nations Climate Change – How Climate Technology Is Being Ramped Up