Is a Cleaner, Smarter and De-carbonized Future Possible? Introducing the 2020 Global Cleantech 100
Every year, the Global Cleantech 100 selects the innovative companies poised to make a significant commercial impact in the next five to ten years. On the list, you’ll find the most promising ideas in cleantech – the ones best positioned to help us build a more resource-efficient, decarbonized and digitized industrial future.
To create the list, we pull together thousands of quantitative data-points, along with qualitative input from some of the leading corporates and investors in cleantech innovation. Our aim is to identify the consensus of sentiment and opinion among the international cleantech community.
Here are three stand-out features of this year’s list:
1. A fast-changing global backdrop
While the cleantech community has been promoting sustainable innovation for two decades, the climate crisis is now upon us, with daily headlines of vast wildfires, months-long droughts and endemic plastic pollution. In response, public pressure is increasing on governments and large corporates to reform industries and put us back on a more sustainable path.
The 2020 Global Cleantech 100 are uniquely positioned to accelerate this transition. Their success proves that more virtuous business models can attract customers and investors alike.
2. A growing number of newcomers
This year’s list features 45 new entrants, up from 40 last year and 41 in 2018. Materials & Chemicals is the leading industry for new entrants, with 4 out of 7 companies. Examples include Mango Materials, a company using bacteria to produce bioplastics from methane gas, and Carbicrete, which develops low-cost building materials from industrial CO2 emissions.
In Transportation & Logistics, six of the twelve companies were new entrants, and all of those six have something to do with vehicle electrification. This is a clear response to the uptake in electric vehicle adoption around the world, compared to the relative lack of progress on vehicle autonomy. Highlights include Ather Energy, an India-based developer of electric scooters, Nuvve, an innovator in the vehicle-to-grid space, and eVgo, an installer of fast-charging stations.
Agriculture & Food had the lowest proportion of new entrants (two out of thirteen). Pivot Bio, which develops microbial alternatives to harmful synthetic fertilizers, was one, the other was Germany-based Infarm, which develops and supplies indoor farming systems to grocery stores and restaurants.
3. A strong year for Energy & Power
Energy & Power innovators dominated the Global Cleantech 100 this year, with 47 companies making the list. Two of those, AutoGrid and Enbala, are entering the Global Cleantech 100 Hall of Fame after making the list for the 7th time. Energy storage and hydrogen represent the largest pool of companies in the 47, closely followed by smart grid and energy efficiency.
Nearly half of Energy companies were new entrants to the list, including UK-based perovskite thin-film solar cell developer Oxford PV, Canada-based Li-Cycle, a developer of lithium battery recycling technology, as well as Form Energy, the Breakthrough Energy Ventures-backed developer of low-cost batteries for long-duration storage.
