35 innovators under 35: Climate change

Clean energy technologies in the electric power, transportation, industry, and building sectors will drive this change, because the use of fossil fuels in these areas causes three-quarters of global greenhouse-gas emissions. We’ll also need technologies to slash emissions from agriculture and deforestation and to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it. Most of these technologies, however, come with what Bill Gates refers to as a high “green premium”—a measurement of the difference in cost between a clean option and a carbon- intensive one. In other words, clean energy technologies often cost more to use.

A 2021 study by Vivid Economics suggests that in a scenario with limited public and private funding for research, development, and commercialization of new technologies, the green premium for several critical technologies would remain too high by the end of this decade. By speeding innovation in this period, on the other hand, we could reduce the annual costs of the transition to net-zero emissions $2.5 trillion per year by 2050. And a cheaper transition is a more palatable one for countries around the world.

So how do you speed innovation? One way is by promising future customer demand. This gives innovators and investors an incentive to scale up unproven technologies and find ways to rapidly cut costs in the process. The First Movers Coalition, launched by President Joe Biden and John Kerry, the US special presidential envoy for climate (and my boss), along with the World Economic Forum, includes over 50 of the world’s largest companies, which have all made commitments to purchase emerging climate technologies by 2030. These include clean fuels to decarbonize shipping and aviation, decarbonized steel and aluminum, zero-emissions trucks, and advanced technologies to suck carbon out of the atmosphere.

This essay is part of MIT Technology Review’s 2022 Innovators Under 35 package recognizing the most promising young people working in technology today. See the full list here or explore the winners in this category below.