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A look back at the innovations that reflect key trends in 2024
Sustainability-focused yearly retrospectives are often dominated by discussion of international treaties, regulations, and the ups and downs of politics. On this front, 2024 has been a mixed bag. COP29 finished with an important carbon market agreement, but ‘abysmally poor’ climate finance texts. In politics, the UK Labour party was elected with a manifesto containing significant commitments to renewable energy, yet Donald Trump’s triumph has thrown the longevity of US clean tech measures in the Inflation Reduction Act into question. And, in the corporate world, there has been some backsliding on net-zero targets due, in part, to difficulties surrounding scope 3 emissions.
The world of climate technology often tells a slightly different story, however. For example, in October, the International Energy Agency (IEA) reported that global renewable capacity is currently expected to grow 2.7 times by 2030. This is 25 per cent higher than countries’ current ambitions, and only just shy of the goal of tripling renewable capacity by the end of the decade, which was agreed at COP28. The IEA states that the tripling goal is “within reach, but policy improvements are needed.” Not a runaway success perhaps, but more positive than a lot of the current narrative around the climate crisis. What is more, spending on clean energy technology and infrastructure during 2024 is expected to be twice the amount going into fossil fuels – a symbolic milestone.
Beyond the established renewable energy technologies, analysis of the fortunes of cleantech startups uncovers some other pockets of momentum. Enhanced geothermal energy, thermal energy storage, and seaweed packaging are all showing promising signs of progress. And technologies that have long proved to be a tough nut to crack, such as textile-to-textile recycling, are also edging towards wider commercialisation.
Ever since the launch of ChatGPT, AI has dominated headlines, for better or worse, and 2024 was no different. On the negative side of the ledger, there has been a shift from a preoccupation with the technology’s long-term, existential risks, to concern about the environmental impact of the infrastructure needed to scale it up. On the positive side, we saw a flurry of research projects and startups that are demonstrating how the superhuman pattern-spotting abilities of AI can help with the early identification of illnesses from Alzheimer’s disease to celiac disease.
As we head into 2025, we’ve pick out seven innovations that speak to broader themes that have been prominent during 2024. All have made significant headway during the year.
Photo source Crusoe Energy Systems
1. Data centres run on clean or waste energy
Crusoe Energy Systems is leveraging the fact that a lot of energy is currently wasted or ‘stranded’ as a result of natural gas flaring or through the curtailment of wind turbines and solar farms when they produce more power than the local grid can cope with. The company plans to co-locate modular data centres near these sites in order to take advantage of the energy that would otherwise go to waste. The startup’s cloud platform, Crusoe Cloud, is designed to support the most cutting-edge and energy-intensive applications, including AI workloads, graphical rendering, computational biology, therapeutic drug discovery, and simulations. On December 12th, Crusoe announced a series D funding round that valued the company at nearly $3 billion. It also made Crusoe Cloud generally available to developers and data scientists for the first time. The company is currently building a 200-megawatt data centre at an energy campus in Abilene, Texas, which will come online during H1 2025. The completed facility will be leased to an un-named Fortune 500 company.
The big picture
The enormous energy consumption of AI has been one of the biggest sustainability stories of 2024. In May, Goldman Sachs estimated that global data centre power demand will grow 160 per cent by 2030 to make up 3-4 per cent of all power consumption worldwide. This has led tech companies to turn into energy investors. In September, Microsoft announced a power purchase agreement with a potentially revived Three Mile Island nuclear plant, should regulators approve the project. Meanwhile, in the closing weeks of the year, Google announced plans to invest $20 billion in renewable energy, grid upgrade, and battery storage projects alongside partners.
Photo source Quaise
2. New drilling technology makes ultra-deep geothermal energy possible
Using high-powered microwaves to vaporise rock, US startup Quaise hopes to economically harness geothermal energy at a depth of 3-20 kilometres below the Earth’s surface. The company claims that deep geothermal power plants can generate 10 times more power than conventional equivalents, extracting clean energy around the clock – something of a holy grail for the energy transition. On December 3rd, Quaise announced plans to partner with Nevada Gold Mines – operated by NYSE-listed Barrick Gold Corporation – on a commercial-scale pilot of its advanced drilling technology. Earlier in the year, the startup raised $21 million in a series A1 financing round led by venture capitalists with the participation of Mitsubishi Corporation and Standard Investments.
The big picture
Next-generation geothermal energy – which attempts to harness heat from the Earth’s core – had a breakout year in 2024, so much so that the IEA now predicts that geothermal energy could meet up to 15 per cent of global electricity demand growth to 2050. Ironically, this clean energy revolution is being facilitated, in part, by technological developments – such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing – that were originally applied to the oil and gas industry. Conventional geothermal energy has a history going back to the early 20th century but is limited to a small number of locations with specific geologies. What has changed is the ability to economically extract heat from a wider range of locations, including from far underground – so called ‘ultra-deep geothermal energy’.
Photo source Lauren Probyn on Unsplash
3. Packaging made from kelp replaces single-use plastics
Norwegian seaweed company B’ZEOS had a big year in 2024. The startup makes fully bio-based and home-compostable seaweed packaging that is compatible with existing production lines. B’ZEOS’s production processes do not use any toxic chemicals, and the formula for each type of packaging depends on the final use. To date, the company has completed five paid pilots to validate its technology, including collaborations with leading brands like Nestlé. At the end of November, B’ZEOS announced a seed funding round, which will enable it to continue pilot projects and move the technology further towards full commercialisation.
The big picture
Seaweed-based packaging, which could replace plastic, is another technology that has been gaining momentum. UK company Notpla won an Earthshot Prize in 2022, and the seaweed packaging market is forecast to sit around the $1 billion mark by the early 2030s. Seaweed does not require any fertilisation, pesticides, or fresh water – which is what makes it such an attractive alternative to other, land-grown, crop-based biomaterials. Seaweed is also incredibly effective at sequestering carbon while it grows, meaning that large-scale farming of the macroalgae provides environmental benefits.
Photo source © Kateryna Babaieva from Pexels via Canva.com
4. Could firebricks decarbonise polluting industries?
US-based startup Electrified Thermal Solutions has created the Joule Hive Thermal Battery (JHTB) to meet the needs of heavy industrial companies seeking to decarbonise their operations. The JHTB is made up of patented electrically conductive firebricks (‘E-Bricks’) that enable the conversion of electricity to heat, reaching temperatures as high as 1,800 degrees Celsius. The JHTBs store power when electricity is cheapest or when they are being charged by on-site renewables. Electric currents run through the bricks heating them, then, when the stored energy is needed, air or gas is run over the bricks to release it, bringing heat to any furnace, boiler, turbine, or kiln. The design of the bricks enables the storage and transfer of energy at rates above 95 per cent efficiency, helping to make decarbonisation more affordable at costs near to those of fossil fuel sources. On December 12th, Electrified Thermal Systems announced that it had received $19 million in funding, which will be used to accelerate the development of the JHTB system. The company is on track to begin operation of its first-of-a-kind commercial demonstration facility in 2025
The big picture
Over the past year, the idea of storing energy in the form of heat – a technology known as ‘thermal storage’ – has gained traction. Many companies are hoping to decarbonise industry by using different materials to hold heat generated by electricity until it’s needed. The appeal of these systems (as opposed to hydrogen or chemical storage) is their simplicity, round-trip efficiency, and use of abundant materials. IDTechX forecasts that the market for all forms of thermal energy storage could be worth $4.5 billion by 2034.
Photo source Cradle
5. Technology to program proteins for everyday products
Dutch startup Cradle has created software that allows organisations to test protein sequences easily, saving a huge amount of time and money. The platform ‘reverse engineers’ proteins, and then incorporates machine learning algorithms trained on real data to predict the folding pattern of each of them. Users can choose which type of structure they are looking to create, and the software then returns a list of possible sequences that could create the desired protein. Using this technology, companies can perform R&D projects up to 12 times faster with cost reductions of up to 90 per cent. The proteins can be used to produce a wide range of products from therapeutics and oil-free chemicals to animal-free meat and pesticides. During 2024, the company began commercialising its software, and, on 26th November, it announced a $73 million series B funding round. Cradle’s early clients include big names like Novo Nordisk and Johnson & Johnson.
The big picture
Proteins appear in countless products in everyday life, including the enzymes used in detergents or cosmetics and the antibodies needed for potentially life-saving medicines. Because of this, there is much call for engineered or ‘designer’ proteins. However, traditionally, protein engineering has required a time-intensive process of trial and error, with high costs and very low success rates. Following recent breakthroughs, like Google DeepMind’s AlphaFold, there has been a lot of excitement about the potential of AI to speed up research and development. Cradle is a tangible example of how this is happening in practice.
6. An eye-based Alzheimer’s disease test
Alzheimer’s disease risks “years before the emergence of clinical symptoms.” The clinically validated test, which was developed in collaboration with University of Minnesota researchers, detects toxins that could lead to the development of the disease. Earlier detection of dementia risk provides more time for individuals to access new, preventive drugs and other care options. Most of the emerging dementia drugs are for the early stages of the disease, making accurate diagnoses essential for accessing options that could slow the progression of the disease. In July, the startup received $10 million in series A funding, which will help to commercialise its AI solutions, which are currently available for research use only.
The big picture
The increasing sophistication of AI models is helping to diagnose diseases earlier and facilitating the development of ‘digital biomarkers’ – quantifiable and objective measurements of a patient’s health collected through digital tools. According to one market research firm, the market for AI in diagnostics could reach $12.65 billion by 2034. More broadly, widespread adoption of AI using currently available technology could deliver healthcare spending savings of between 5 and 10 per cent over the next five years.
Photo source Kokomodo
7. Lab-grown, climate-resilient chocolate bars
Israeli startup Kokomodo is working to cultivate cocoa in a controlled environment, climate-proofing the high-value crop. Rather than using sunlight, water, and soil to nurture cacao plants, Kokomodo uses plant cell cultures to grow cocoa plant cells indoors in bioreactors fed on sugars, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. The company starts with fresh beans from high-quality cacao varieties. Then, Kokomodo puts them through a process that creates a callus – an undifferentiated cluster of cells that behave like stem cells. These are then transferred to a liquid media. The company can then alter the environment and media to produce the desired cocoa biomass. This biomass is harvested, fermented, roasted, and ground, just as with regular cocoa beans, although gentler treatment is required. In June the company emerged from stealth and announced a funding round worth $750,000.
The big picture
Cacao trees, the source of cocoa, only grow close to the equator and are very sensitive to climate change. Already, heatwaves and heavy rain are devastating harvests in West Africa, which produces three-quarters of the world’s cocoa, causing soaring prices. In December 2024, cocoa prices increased 50 per cent compared to the previous month, reaching $10,000 per tonne. Cacao is not the only crop that is highly climate sensitive, others too are threatened by the warming climate, including coffee, maize, and potatoes.
Compiled by: Matthew Hempstead
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