CB-Insights-Climate-Tech-Outlook-Report-2021_70页_6mb

2021 Climate Tech Outlook: Next-Gen Solutions To Cut Emissions & Reduce Resource Intensity

Core Content

The 2021 Climate Tech Outlook highlights the growing importance of climate technology in the industrial sector, emphasizing the need for companies to reduce emissions and resource use. The focus areas include energy efficiency, renewable energy integration, and the development of sustainable materials and circular economy solutions.

Main Challenges and Solutions

Challenge 1: Abating Emissions

• Reduce Energy Usage & Intensity: Companies are developing physical and digital solutions to cut energy use and improve efficiency.
• Increase Renewable Energy Use: Technology that helps integrate more renewable energy into operations is being developed and deployed.
• Reduce Direct Emissions: Innovations are being made to prevent or reduce direct emissions through various technologies.

Challenge 2: Reducing Resource Use

• Lower Water Intensity: Companies are creating materials and digital tools to enable wastewater reuse.
• Design Sustainable Product Life Cycles: There is a focus on materials and solutions that are recyclable, reusable, or biodegradable.
• Decrease Waste: Innovations in manufacturing methods are being explored to minimize waste production.

Key Trends in Climate Tech

• Energy Transition and Carbon Footprint Reduction: These are top priorities as regulatory pressure increases.
• Commercialization of Energy Storage: Energy storage companies are receiving record funding and attention, with a peak of $15.3B in 2021 YTD.
• Smart, Green Grid: Grid tech, renewable energy, and energy management startups are attracting significant investment.
• Emissions Tracking and Management: Startups are helping corporations monitor and manage their emissions to meet carbon neutrality goals.
• Digitization and Operational Optimization: Companies are leveraging digital tools to track operational data, leading to lower energy usage and emissions.
• Circular Economy: Companies are investing in materials and tech that enable recycling, reducing resource intensity.

Investment Trends

• Mega-rounds in Climate Tech: In 2021, several major funding rounds have been raised by climate tech companies, particularly those related to energy and emissions reduction.
• Record Funding for CCUS: Annual funding for carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) has more than doubled since 2020, reaching $708M in 2021 YTD.
• Energy Storage Growth: Energy storage funding and deals have reached a new peak, with significant investments in battery technologies.
• SPACs and Unicorn Births: Energy and EV-related SPACs and unicorns are on the rise, reflecting investor confidence in the sector.

Climate Tech Highlights

Energy Storage Innovations

• Northvolt: Raised $2.8B to build lithium-ion battery factories in Europe.
• SVOLT: Raised $1.6B to expand battery production in China and Europe.
• Redwood Materials: Raised $700M to expand battery recycling operations.
• Sila Nanotechnologies: Raised $590M to develop new battery materials.
• Energy Vault: Raised $100M for novel brick energy storage technology.

Renewable Energy and Hydrogen

• H2 Green Steel: Raised $105M to build a green steel plant in Sweden powered by hydrogen.
• Qpinch: Innovated industrial heat pumps to capture and reuse waste heat.
• Eco-Tech Ceram: Developed a heat accumulator to store waste heat.
• Gen-Hy: Produces modular green hydrogen units using anion electrolyzer membranes.
• Enapter: Developed modular hydrogen production units for green hydrogen.

Hydrogen Fueling Networks

• FirstElement Fuel: Building hydrogen fueling stations in California.
• HTEC: Expanding a hydrogen network in British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, and California.
• Hiringa Energy: Developing hydrogen supply and fueling stations in New Zealand.

Fuel Cell Components

• Pajarito Powder: Developing electrocatalysts for fuel cells and electrolyzers, including precious metal-free options.

Summary of Key Companies

Key Points

• Energy Efficiency and Renewables: Companies are increasingly focusing on reducing energy use and increasing renewable energy integration, supported by energy storage and digital tools.
• CCUS Growth: Carbon capture, utilization, and storage is gaining significant investor interest, with funding more than doubling in 2021.
• Circular Economy: Innovations in materials and recycling are helping companies reduce resource intensity.
• Hydrogen Technology: On-site hydrogen production and fueling networks are emerging as key solutions for decarbonization.
• Investor Confidence: The surge in funding and SPACs reflects growing investor confidence in climate tech's potential to drive sustainability and reduce emissions.