This year’s list was released on January 8th and I’m pleased to share that not one, not two, but three climate technology items were presented. So let’s take a look at some of these award-winning technologies you need to know about. (And in honor of awards season, I’ll also assign them to bonus — and completely unofficial — categories.)
Super-efficient solar cells
Winner in the Best Supporting Actor category
Solar panels are among the most important, and perhaps the most recognized, tools for addressing climate change. But a next-generation solar technology could help solar power become even more efficient and cheaper: tandem perovskite solar cells. Most solar cells use silicon to absorb light and turn it into electricity.
But other materials can also do this job, including perovskites, a class of crystalline materials. And because perovskites and silicon absorb different wavelengths of light, the two can be stacked like a sandwich to form a super-efficient cell
Due to their excellent support for traditional silicon solar materials, super-efficient perovskite tandem cells are this year’s Best Supporting Actor award winner. There are definitely barriers to commercializing this technology: perovskites are difficult to manufacture and have historically degraded quickly in open air. But some companies say they are closer than ever to using the materials to transform commercial solar energy.
Enhanced Geothermal Systems
Extracting heat from the earth is one of the oldest tricks in existence — there is evidence that human beings used hot springs to keep warm more than 10,000 years ago. Since then, we have been improving, using geothermal energy to produce electricity.
But a specific set of factors is needed to harness the energy radiating from the planet’s core: near-surface heat, permeable rock, and subsurface fluid. This significantly restricts potential locations for usable geothermal energy, so a growing number of projects are working to expand access with so-called enhanced geothermal systems.
An enhanced geothermal system is essentially a man-made source of geothermal energy. This usually involves drilling into the rock and pumping fluid to open fractures.
We’ve seen some recent progress from a few companies in this field, including Fervo Energy, which started a huge pilot installation in 2023 (and made our list of 15 climate tech companies to watch).
Because of the spirit of reinvention and innovation, enhanced geothermal systems are my pick for this year’s New Artist award.
Some of the biggest upcoming projects are still a few years away from coming online, and it may be difficult to scale construction of these plants in some places, but enhanced geothermal is definitely a field to keep an eye on.
heat pumps
Winner in the Professional Achievement category
Last, but certainly not least, we have the venerable heat pump. These devices, which can cool and heat using electricity, are one of my favorite climate technologies.
Heat pumps are super efficient, sometimes almost seeming to defy the laws of physics. In fact, they don’t violate any laws, physical or otherwise, as I described in a deep dive into how the technology works last year. While not exactly new, heat pumps are definitely innovating in a new way.
The technology outsold gas ovens for the first time in the U.S. last year, and sales have been rising around the world. Globally, they have the potential to reduce emissions by 500 million metric tons by 2030 — which is equivalent to taking every car in Europe off the streets today.
For their long-standing and ongoing contributions to decarbonization, heat pumps are my pick for this year’s Professional Achievement award. It will be difficult to place them in all the places they need to go to meet climate goals.
Congratulations to all our winners!
( source: MIT Technology Review )
