Clean-energy startups are key to ‘building back better’ after COVID

Source: Yung Wu and Ray Newal · FORTUNE · | January 25, 2021

Tubular bioreactors filled with green algae, designed to pull CO2 out of the air, at a site in Spain. "As devastating as the pandemic has been," the authors write, "it has given us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to realign the economy and change course on climate change." GETTY IMAGES

The pandemic is a watershed moment for clean technologies. After a quarter century in which politicians have found it easier to sign climate agreements than keep them, governments in Asia, Europe, and North America are turning to clean technologies to power their post-COVID economic rebounds. But if governments are serious about rebuilding the global economy with sustainability in mind, they cannot simply throw money at the problem. We need ways to mobilize all parts of the economy to rapidly commercialize new clean technologies and get them into widespread use.   

Momentum is gathering on climate action as realization grows in government that sustainable technologies can drive job growth and emissions reductions. President-elect Biden, who has already dubbed himself the “climate-change president,” is proposing $1.7 trillion in spending on priorities like transit, clean power, smart agriculture, and building retrofits that would employ millions. Not to be outdone on the pithy turns of phrase, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called for a “green industrial revolution” to create 250,000 jobs. He plans to phase out the sale of gas-powered vehicles within a decade and will invest £12 billion ($16.1 billion) on projects including expanding hydrogen, nuclear, and offshore wind-power generation and carbon-capture technologies. 

Meanwhile in Canada, Justin Trudeau’s government unveiled $100 billion Canadian ($77 billion) to build a greener economy, just days after tabling legislation that legally mandates the country to reach net zero emissions by 2050.