Mission net zero: Is the world banking on the right innovations?

Solar, wind, carbon capture, nature-based solutions—what are the technologies needed to combat climate change? Eco-Business asked clean energy entrepreneur Hendrik Tiesinga where the smart money is going.

There is now under a decade left for greenhouse gas emissions to be dramatically reduced to curb global warming to within catastrophic limits. 

By 2030, the failure to reduce emissions in line with the Paris climate agreement will cost the world about $2 billion per day in economic losses from weather events made worse by human-induced climate change.

To achieve the Paris Agreement target of a 1.5 degrees Celsius cap in global temperature rise, technologies are needed to reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, rapidly and at scale.

As well as renewable energy solutions to replace high-carbon fossil fuels, which have grown at a rate of 14 per cent annually over the last decade, and rising interest in nature-based solutions, radical technologies are being developed that remove carbon from the air. Earlier this month, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk launched a competition to create devices that sequester carbon dioxide.

So, are the billions being pumped into climate solutions flowing into the right areas?

The energy transition could go a lot faster than everyone is expecting.

Hendrik Tiesinga, outgoing founder and chief strategy officer, New Energy Nexus

Joining the Eco-Business Podcast to talk about which technologies we need to address the climate crisis is Hendrik Tiesinga, the outgoing co-founder and chief strategy officer of New Energy Nexus, a clean energy startup accelerator headquartered in California.

Hendrik Tiesinga

Hendrik Tiesinga

Tiesinga is an experienced supporter of clean energy entrepreneurs and innovators, and over his career has helped hundreds of startups develop solutions to address climate change.

Join us as we talk about:

  • Sexy, boring tools to fight climate change
  • Why we don’t need carbon capture technology—yet
  • What’s up with Elon Musk?
  • The potential of nature-based solutions
  • The ambition of net zero targets
  • What are the best bets in renewables?
  • Reasons for pessimism, reasons for optimism

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