Welcome Cohort 12

Capture6’s approach removes CO2 from the atmosphere while delivering a new source of clean water for communities. Powered by renewable energy and placed at desalination plants and other water treatment facilities, the company’s direct-air capture technology mineralizes CO2 and recovers over 70% of clean water from brine, an excessively salty and toxic wastewater that is often dumped back into oceans. On top of building climate resiliency and improving water security, Capture6’s scalable solution offers benefits like green job creation and economic development.

The Big Picture
The nearly 16,000 desalination plants around the world create enough waste to cover Florida with a foot of brine each year (via).

Ebb Carbon’s dual-purpose technology addresses the twin problems of too much CO2 in the air and too much acidity in the ocean. Accelerating a process that would occur naturally over millions of years, Ebb Carbon applies electrochemistry to remove acidity from saltwater to enhance its ability to absorb CO2 in a safe and natural form. By tapping into the ocean’s vast carbon storage capacity, Ebb Carbon can deliver one of the most scalable and cost-effective carbon removal solutions on the market while benefiting coastal communities that depend on healthy marine ecosystems.

The Big Picture
By far the world’s biggest carbon sink, the ocean absorbs more than 30% of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere (via).

If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. Plants of all kinds naturally draw CO2 from the air and store it underground, so the earth’s soils are one of the most potent climate solutions. However, due to a lack of low-cost, scalable measurement technologies, our understanding of global soil carbon stocks is very limited. Yard Stick’s spectral probe instantly and accurately measures soil carbon at 70-90% lower cost than traditional measurement methods. This data is the key to unlock the full environmental and economic potential of regenerative farming, ranching and forestry practices.

The Big Picture
Soil carbon sequestration could remove 3.5 gigatons of CO2 annually by 2030 (via).

You’ll see it under many names on labels, but palm oil is the world’s most commonly used vegetable oil, found in everything from bread and chocolate and to lipstick and shampoo. This essential ingredient in 50% of consumer products also is a major culprit in the world’s deforestation woes, causing GHG emissions, killing wildlife and driving Indigenous people off their lands. C16 Biosciences has developed a biotechnology platform to create truly sustainable oils and fats, starting with a replacement for palm oil and moving into decarbonizing consumer products across the supply chain.

The Big Picture
Palm oil is responsible for 1.4% of total GHG emissions, about as much as the entire aviation sector (via).

The way food is grown directly impacts its taste and nutritional value. Unfortunately, our current commodity-based food system prioritizes high yields over nutritional quality, resulting in food that is calorie-rich but lacking in nutrients. Edacious aims to bridge the gap between agriculture and human health by focusing on the nutritional quality of food. Through its technology platform, Edacious enables the food system to accurately measure, report and verify the nutritional content of whole foods. This approach unlocks the potential of regenerative agriculture for nutrient-rich food, fertile soils and healthier people.

The Big Picture
Agricultural practices that maximize crop yields over soil health have given us fruits and vegetables with 38% less nutrients than those grown in 1950 (via).

Simply put, we need more metals like nickel to power the world’s electrification goals, but mining them is environmentally toxic and wildly inefficient. Genomines uses genetically enhanced plants to pull nickel from lands with metal concentrations too low for conventional mining processes, but too high for agricultural use. With millions of acres worldwide falling into that space, Genomines bridges agriculture and mining with a carbon negative, waste-free solution to restore productive land and provide the necessary materials for a decarbonized future.

The Big Picture
Hitting the world’s net-zero goals will require 6x today’s global output for critical minerals (via).

Most sorting of recyclable materials is either done by hand or by machines that are too expensive and bulky for many facilities, making sorting an unpredictable and expensive process. Glacier’s low-cost, easy-to-install, right-sized robots make it possible to keep more recycling facilities running sustainably in more communities. And in an industry that has limited visibility into what’s actually being recycled, Glacier’s AI vision technology provides item-level insights that can ensure that massive amounts of discarded materials don’t end up as waste, but are repurposed into the foundation for a circular economy.

The Big Picture
Curbside recycling is not accessible for nearly half of Americans (41%), and only recovers a third of available recyclables (via).

By humanely harvesting invasive axis deer, Maui Nui Venison simultaneously alleviates the damaging impact deer have on Hawaiʻi’s beautiful and vulnerable ecosystems while unlocking a healthy, local food resource. The company’s stress-free, wild-harvesting methods provide an ethical way to restore ecological balance while producing one of the planet’s more nutrient-packed red meats that can be delivered straight to your door as steak cuts, jerky sticks, bone broth and more.

The Big Picture
Left unchecked, Maui’s axis deer population could swell from 60,000 to 150,000 within five years, decimating local farmlands and watersheds (via).

Olokun Minerals extracts multiple minerals like lithium, magnesium and sodium from unconventional water resources, such as wastewater that might be discharged into the environment at desalination plants or geothermal sites. Compared to conventional mineral extraction processes, Olokun Minerals doesn’t use harsh chemicals or energy-intensive methods and the by-product of the process is cleaner water that can cycle back into natural ecosystems. Meanwhile, the company’s responsibly sourced minerals will help build the domestic supply chain needed for batteries and other vital clean energy technologies.

The Big Picture
With demand for lithium growing twice as fast as production, the U.S. produces less than 2% of the global total (via).

While ground-source heat pumps bring down energy bills significantly and are increasingly commonplace in single-family homes, geothermal heating and cooling has largely been an unfeasible electrification method in big buildings like office towers or apartment complexes, particularly in dense urban areas where space is at a premium. By making large-scale geothermal systems smaller and faster to install, Bedrock Energy is fundamentally reimagining the affordability, scalability and accessibility of decarbonizing buildings everywhere.

The Big Picture
Geothermal offers the best pathway to decarbonize HVAC for billions of square feet of real estate without adding enormous stress to the electric grid (via).

As the climate warms, more people and places need cooling, which sucks energy and contributes to even more emissions and warming. Gradient’s innovative window heat pumps offer a hassle-free solution for year-round heating and cooling, with cold-climate capability for winter, climate-friendly refrigerants for summers and smart grid optimization for energy efficiency. Guided by the belief that design and ease of use drive adoption, Gradient improves upon other heat pumps and air conditioners with a device that needs no professional installation, plugs into a standard outlet, services multi-unit buildings and sits below the window to return natural light and fresh air to homes.

The Big Picture
Air conditioning is already responsible for nearly 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, which will only increase without more efficient ways to keep people cool (via).

The explosive growth of e-commerce is flooding streets with delivery vans and frustrating customers with wonky tracking systems. Starting in the U.K., HIVED is modernizing package delivery with 100% electric vehicles, equitable pay for drivers and a friendly user experience for both retailers and people awaiting their purchases. Up next, the company is expanding its impact with everything from trialing sustainable tires to addressing packaging waste and opportunities for circularity, making HIVED a comprehensive delivery network to decarbonize the logistics industry.

The Big Picture
The number of delivery vehicles on the road by 2030 is projected to swell by 36%, potentially adding millions of tons of CO2 emissions (via).

Kelvin transforms the energy inefficiency of radiator-heated buildings into a cost-effective electrification solution by integrating smart, insulated radiator covers with heat pumps and thermal batteries, achieving 80% electrification of heating at just 10% of the conventional cost. In addition to immediate, partial electrification, Kelvin’s unique hybrid approach establishes a viable pathway for the comprehensive decarbonization of millions of larger, older residential buildings, ensuring many low- to moderate-income households aren’t left behind in the transition to sustainable heating solutions.

The Big Picture
Boilers, with a 15-20 year lifespan, traditionally lock buildings into extended periods without electrification options (via).

SparkCharge’s mobile charging solutions allow EV drivers to get miles of range delivered as easily as calling a pizza to your door. After landing investment from Mark Cuban on Shark Tank, the company has expanded from serving individual EV drivers to a service for fleet managers to charge dozens or even hundreds of vehicles without the need for expensive and lengthy infrastructure upgrades. SparkCharge’s grid-free approach is helping the company become the fastest growing charging network in the U.S., and its workforce development efforts are bringing a wave of trained technicians into the green economy.

The Big Picture
The number of EVs in the U.S. is growing faster than the infrastructure to support them, with about 18 EVs for each public charging point (via).

SunFi takes a community-building approach to accelerate the clean energy transition, starting in Nigeria. To help millions of under-electrified homes and businesses ditch petrol and diesel generators and unreliable grid access, the company’s technology platform is a managed marketplace that connects consumers with trusted solar installers and sorts out the financing to keep costs low. SunFi does this work while simultaneously helping create a financial ecosystem to support renewables and expand an industry where people can earn meaningful wages and build strong businesses selling and installing clean energy solutions.

The Big Picture
Despite the continent’s vast potential for solar power, Africa sees only 3% of global investment in clean energy infrastructure (via).