Accelerating Our Journey to a Clean Energy Future

At the close of COP27 last year, there were five crucial takeaways that charted the course for collective climate action, a defining challenge of our generation. These conclusions ranged from establishing a groundbreaking fund for loss and damage, a vital step in supporting countries battered by climate catastrophes, to setting a firm course towards maintaining the critical 1.5°C temperature goal. The summit marked a pivotal shift from mere planning to actual implementation, underscoring the urgency of the climate crisis and the necessity for immediate, tangible action. With a newfound focus on accountability, COP27 echoed the global consensus for mobilizing financial support, particularly for developing countries, and highlighted the essential role of businesses and institutions in this collective endeavor. The outcomes of COP27 not only illuminated the path ahead but also reinforced the immediacy with which the world must act to confront and conquer the most pressing environmental challenge of our times.

As we now kick off COP28, it is even more clear that the urgency has only increased and the accelerated need for collaboration and innovation is critical.

Since the program’s inception in 2021, the mission of the AWS Clean Energy Accelerator (CEA) has been to do just that—speed the adoption and development of clean energy technology by individuals and organizations, at scale, for the benefit of people and the planet. By connecting innovative clean energy startups with global energy companies and experts, helping them design customer trials, while using digital tools to experiment, automate and unlock data and AI-driven transformation, the accelerator acts as a catalyst to bring much-needed climate solutions to market much faster than they could on their own.

The AWS Clean Energy Accelerator 3.0, our latest cohort, was initiated in April 2023 to make a significant impact in propelling the clean energy sector forward. This cohort is comprised of 15 pioneering startups, which were selected from a pool of over 470 applicants from 64 countries, each bringing novel solutions in areas such as advanced materials, carbon capture, hydrogen generation, energy storage, and grid modernization. These startups embarked on a transformative journey, beginning with an immersive session in Seattle, where they started forming crucial connections across technology and energy industries to scale their solutions rapidly and effectively.

Now, just eight months later, these innovative companies are meeting in-person with energy companies, government officials, fellow innovators and investors from around the world at the Innovation Showcase at COP28 in Dubai. This event is a unique opportunity for this year’s cohort to connect with some of the largest and most impactful energy companies in the world, showcase their solutions, network with other climate innovators, and share their visions for creating a more sustainable future on a global stage.

Real Innovations, Real Impact

We’ve seen some incredible momentum this year from across the cohort. Collectively, they’re tackling some of the most mission-critical climate challenges in the world.

Eliminating Forever Chemicals

Good Chemistry, for example, is a Canadian startup tackling the problem of PFAS removal and “forever chemicals.” They leverage cloud-based high-performance computing, machine learning and quantum computing to predict chemical properties at unprecedented scale and speed. Good Chemistry engaged in a PFAS-removal project in partnership with AWS, Accenture and Intel, and in a matter of hours they made discoveries that would have taken 37 years with traditional computing. Today, they partner with companies like Dow Chemical, Mercedes-Benz and Biogen to explore more environmentally safe materials.

Decarbonizing Methane

Another transformative innovation comes from Levidian, a U.K startup that produces safe and useful materials through the decarbonization of methane. Their patented decarbonization device, LOOP, allows energy companies to strip carbon from gas flows, enabling virtually instantaneous decarbonization. A single LOOP100 device has the potential to eliminate about 260 tons of carbon from the atmosphere every year, while producing 15 tons of hydrogen and more than 14 tons of graphene (a super-light and resilient material used for multiple clean energy applications). Their device can also decarbonize biogas from wastewater. This company represents a quantum leap forward in addressing climate change, and they just recently announced their first international expansion with a new base in Abu Dhabi.

Turning CO2 into Energy Solutions

Silicon Valley-based startup Lyten also uses graphene derived from recaptured CO2 to produce what they call “decarbonization supermaterials.” One of them is their lithium-sulfur battery, an alternative to lithium-ion that has massive potential for enabling the mass adoption of EVs and addressing many countries’ concerns around energy security. They’re working with companies like Stellantis, Honeywell, FedEx and others to bring these innovative new materials and applications to global markets, and they recently announced the opening of their first European office in Luxembourg.

Engineering Decarbonizing Enzymes

One particularly ingenious approach to climate change comes from Anodyne Chemistries, a Canadian startup that focuses on harnessing the power of bio-engineered enzymes to convert CO2 into useful chemicals safely and efficiently. They use computational modeling to develop enzymes that can decarbonize greenhouse gas emissions, and can actually empower carbon-negative processes. Earlier this year they secured grant funding from Natural Gas Innovation Fund (NGIF), which is backed by a collection of world-class energy companies. They’re also working with a global oil and gas company to fund R&D for a pilot program they can use across their operations to help them decarbonize, while exploring several more partnerships around the world.

AI, Cloud and SaaS Solutions for Renewable Energy

Renewable energy production and infrastructure has increased significantly and will continue to accelerate. As a result, organizations need innovations to help manage maintenance and production through automation, simulations, and AI. Portuguese startup Jungle Ai uses machine learning to improve the performance of wind turbines, solar power plants, and other assets. Their deep learning models allow them to analyze, learn and optimize the energy output from these carbon neutral energy sources while predicting and preventing equipment failure months in advance. And Estonian startup Fusebox gives energy companies a SaaS-powered virtual power plant that makes it easier to work with EV charging stations, solar power generators, and other climate-friendly energy sources. They’re partnering with global companies such as ABB, Siemens, Huawei and others to bring their solutions to more markets.

Simulating Success for Decarbonization

Management of emissions have been difficult primarily due to lack of visibility and measurement. San Francisco-based CFEX offers a cloud-based decarbonization platform that allows companies to track, plan and reduce carbon emissions through HPC-based simulations. By better understanding—and actually seeing—the carbon and cost impact of various carbon-reduction strategies, companies can achieve better results, as well as track and report them more accurately. And by doing all this in the cloud, they can share their solution with more customers in more places around the world.

The journey to connect technology and innovation to the world

These are just a glimpse into the depth of innovations, technologies, and visionary leadership across the globe that are the solutions to the environmental challenge we are facing. This cohort showcases the transformative impact of the AWS CEA program, turning innovative ideas into tangible global solutions and are collectively addressing some of the most pressing climate challenges, demonstrating the power of collaboration and strategic support in achieving real-world environmental impact.

However, this is just the beginning. There are countless other innovators across the globe, each with their unique, diverse approaches and ideas, who are in dire need of visibility, support, funding, and networks to elevate their technologies to the next level. Similarly, now more than ever, the world is in dire need of these startups, technologies, and ingenuity.

We invite you to join us in this endeavor and become an integral part of this crucial change.