Examples of these include solar PV, lithium-ion batteries, anaerobic digesters, combined heat and power, geothermal, heat pumps, fuel cells, lightweight materials, and many others. Many of those innovations have been deployed, but they stopped short of reaching real scale. There were massive investments made in innovation out of the oil crises of the 1970s. To meet the needs of our investors, we need to focus not on technologies spilling over from the cutting edge of research, but on those that generally have over ten years of data from the field.Ĭontrary to conventional wisdom, this is actually much easier than we think. That’s a tough thing to do because we are looking for “leading edge” technologies-not “bleeding edge” ones. However, in order for them to succeed, project finance providers like Generate Capital have to be willing to fund these technologies no later than five years after the first VC investment. Many ideas like this receive large venture investments. We need to focus not on technologies spilling over from the cutting edge of research, but on those that have years of data from the field. From Bill Gates to Silicon Valley’s richest, we hear about how incremental improvements won’t work and that we need the “next big thing.” Most recently, folks have been pitching 70% efficient solar panels, new chemistries to replace Lithium-Ion batteries for electric cars, floating wind turbines that also desalinate water, wind turbines in the form of kites, and even space-based solar power. In clean energy investing, there has been a widespread push around the need for “game changing” innovation to solve climate change.
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