As the climate crisis continues to worsen globally, many green tech startups are working to create solutions.
In this post, we will explore some of the innovative green startups doing important work around the world in 2022.
Solarstone
In the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, Europe, which relies heavily on Russian oil, is looking for green solutions to kick their dependence.
Estonian startup Solarstone may have the answer.
Solarstone, which just secured 10 million euros in funding, builds green solar solutions that integrate into buildings.
This funding came from a round led by Biofuel OU. This is an asset management company that focuses on friendly wood refining, sustainable forest management, and sustainable energy production and management.
Solarstone was founded in 2015 and is based in Viljandi, Estonia. They want to construct greener houses throughout Europe. According to the CEO and co-founder, Silver Aednik:
“Solarstone’s technology removes all barriers to making it happen as it makes it profitable, beautiful & climate conscious of adding solar directly to where they live.”
Marvel Fusion
This German green tech startup wants to create nuclear fusion on earth safely, in order to create clean energy.
Unlike nuclear fission, nuclear fusion is safe and does not create long-lasting nuclear waste.
Heike Freunde, chief operation officer at Marvel Fusion, told Euronews Next:
You can produce a gigawatt, which is like a big power plant the size of a football field. You can use it to produce electricity for cities and so on.
According to Freunde, this could be a promising complement to other types of renewable energy. Sources like wind and solar rely on the weather, while nuclear fusion does not.
Interstellar Lab
This American-French startup is launching a pod that creates the ideal climate conditions for growing plants anywhere, even in space. Their product is called the BioPod.
Their technology is able to grow crops more efficiently thanks to its dome shape and water system. According to Interstellar Lab CEO and founder Barbara Belvisi:
“I don’t want people to live in bubbles on Earth. I want us to grow efficiently, plants and foods inside, bubbles that are really optimising, not using too much water, too much resources.”
Currently, Interstellar Lab has contracts with NASA to work on the adoption of the pods in a lunar environment. NASA wants to see if the pods can work on the moon.
This green startup also has another contract to build a small food production system for the International Space Station.
Brilliant Planet
Brilliant Planet is a UK-based startup working to build the world’s largest marine algae farm.
For decades, scientists have been studying the miraculous abilities of marine algae to absorb and neutralize massive quantities of airborne CO2.
One of the scientists at the forefront of these studies is molecular biochemist Raffael Jovine. He cofounded Brilliant Planet in 2013 and serves as its chief scientist.
There is a surprising amount of work by a variety of startups in this area, as algae does a strangely good job of sucking CO2 out of the air and surrounding water and storing it in its own fibers.
The goal of Brilliant Planet is to create an algae farm large enough to absorb the CO2 of 8,000 cars every year.
Uravu Labs
This Indian startup makes water out of thin air. Water scarcity is an incredibly pressing issue in India, a country that is already being hit hard by climate change.
As of now, more than half of India has no access to clean drinking water. In remote areas, people may walk miles to get groundwater, which is not clean and rapidly depleting.
Uravu Labs co-founder Swapnil Shrivastav recalls:
“There was a time when we were just allowed to have one bucket per day in college because there was a severe drought for a couple of months.”
To help solve India’s water problems, Swapnil Shrivastav teamed up with friend Venkatesh R. to create a machine that produces water from air. They bootstrapped Uravu Labs.
In order to turn air into water cheaply, they use desiccant-based technology that directly absorbs water from air. It is powered by solar energy and even industry-based waste heat.
They can produce 20-100 liters of water a day by extracting it from air. Per liter, it costs about as much as mineral water in India, 6 rupees, or about 0.075 USD, per liter.
As they scale, they want to bring down prices to make water as accessible as possible in India.
Lettuce Grow
Lettuce Grow is a Los Angeles-based agriculture startup founded in 2017. They designed a product called the Farmstand. It is a self-watering and self-fertilizing vertical hydroponic gardner.
Farmstand is meant to take the time, space, labor, and energy out of individuals growing their own food. Users only need 5 minutes a week to tend to their own ‘gardens’ and grow fresh produce.
Their mission statement reads:
We vowed to invent a way for everyone – regardless of space, time, knowledge, income, or experience – to grow their own food quickly and easily. This idea of the future of food not only benefits our homes but also our global environment. Our mission is to empower consumers to lead the transition to a sustainable food system.
Users can choose from 5 sizes of farmstands and over 200 types of seeds. They can choose seeds for all kinds of vegetables, fruits, and herbs.
Final Thoughts on Green Startups
As you can see, a lot of green startups around the world are doing important work to change many facets of society.
From how we source energy and build homes to how we eat and drink, there is a lot of work to be done.
If you want to learn more about startups in this booming niche, we often talk about it on the blog!
Which of these startups seem the most interesting or promising you to? This barely scratches the surface of the important work being done by green startups around the world every day.
What do you think? Comment below.
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