WEB SUMMIT: 5 Startups that can save the Planet
Lisbon – Dealing with the climate crisis will be “the hardest thing humanity will ever have”, in the opinion of Brad Smith, one of Microsoft’s top executives.
“We have to look to the future and realize that we have more work in less time than any generation before,” he said.
The good news is that there are already plenty of startups working to “save the planet,” with solutions ranging from carbon capture to power transmission.
On day two of the top web, the CEO detailed five initiatives that could make a difference.
Planet
Planet is building small satellites equipped with cameras that will be sent into space to measure methane and all carbon emissions on Earth in real time.
“This data will be a game changer,” Brad said. “They will be able to help governments focus on more assertive measures and systems.”
Seeds
Seeds is a non-profit company that takes satellite images of every surface in India and uses artificial intelligence to determine which homes will be affected more than others by global warming.
“With this data, they go into homes and help residents adapt to their homes to the warmer environment using technology,” Brad said.
Lanza Door
Lanzajet attacks one of the greatest evils of carbon emissions: commercial flight. To do this, the startup created a sustainable flying fuel using the ethanol that could have been wasted.
Basically, ethanol is produced using municipal wastewater, agriculture and biomus waste, and this ethanol is used to produce its fuel using special technology.
Braxis in the Ground
Terra Praxis takes a new approach to coal-fired power plants and is responsible for 37% of the world’s total energy generated and 29% of all carbon emissions.
“A lot of people think we just need to shut down the coal stations, but we need power,” Brad said. “What Terra Praxis has seen is that coal stations can be converted into nuclear generators. By doing this you reduce the cost of building a new factory to 30% of the original cost.”
Climeworks
Climeworks may be the most innovative on the list. The start-up company has created the “direct air capture” system, which separates carbon and then injects it – as a gas – to depths because it can be deposited for thousands of years.
“The world needs to reach Net Zero by 2050. For that, billions of emissions would have to be reduced, but we still have emissions, so we need to offset them with technologies like their technologies,” the CEO said.
In the future, Brad believes that techniques such as ClimEworks can be used not only to offset what is emitted, but also to isolate the carbon emitted over the past centuries.
The correspondent traveled at the invitation of Brivia, a communications group specializing in the digital transformation of major brands.
