The Solar Impulse Foundation was behind the first solar-powered flight around the planet. Now it is aiming to support the clean tech innovation ecosystem by devising and promoting a label for green solutions that are clean, efficient and profitable.
Markus Fischer, ECECP Junior Postgraduate Fellow, virtually talked with Remy Kalter, the Foundation’s Head of Public Affairs, and Victoria Smaniotto, Head of Solutions Outreach to better understand how this challenge works. I learned that first, a team of experts identifies solutions from startups and corporates, and then the Foundation matches the labelled solutions with potential adopters such as governments and corporates, and promotes them through advocacy efforts. The 1000 Solutions Challenge aims to demonstrate that cost effective solutions to the most pressing environmental issues already exist today. Over 850 solutions have been identified so far, while more than 200 are currently under review.
Circumnavigating the globe in a solar-powered plane
Bertrand Piccard – the founder of the Solar Impulse Foundation – is an adventurist. In 1999, he and his co-pilot Brian Jones made the first non-stop flight around the world in a hot-air balloon. Soon after this success, he wanted to demonstrate that clean technologies can achieve impossible goals. Another adventurous trip was to support this vision: flying around the world in a plane powered only by solar energy. In 2009, a single-seated monoplane was unveiled, capable of taking off using power generated by photovoltaic cells on its roof and wings. One year later, Andre Borschberg, a fighter jet pilot and the project’s co-founder, successfully concluded the first night flight. In the following years, the crew achieved a further seven world records with the plane.
A second aircraft with improvements such as more powerful motors and solar cells was completed in 2014. With this plane, the journey around the world became feasible. In March 2015, the first etappe from Abu Dhabi to Muscat was completed. In the following days, Bertrand and Andre went on to India and Myanmar before landing in Chongqing in April 2015. After a few weeks’ pause, the solar-powered plane then crossed eastern China in one go, travelling non-stop from Chongqing to Nanjing. From there, it flew to Hawaii via Japan, landing on 3 July 2015. The tour resumed in April 2016 with a flight to the US mainland, and then crossed the Atlantic from New York to Spain. In July 2016, Bertrand flew the last leg from Egypt to Abu Dhabi. After this 40,000-kilometre journey, it was done: the first ever flight around the world in a plane powered only by solar energy. In the words of Bertrand Piccard, the adventure showed that ‘if an airplane has succeeded to fly day and night without fuel, then we can power our world on clean energy.’
Wanted: 1 000 sustainable and profitable solutions
The Solar Impulse Foundation launched the 1000 Solutions Challenge in order to realise a future powered by clean technologies. The goal is to select commercial solutions that can protect the environment and bring them to decision makers to help them adopt more ambitious environmental targets and energy policies. In Phase One, the challenge identifies solutions that merit the Solar Impulse Efficient Solution Label. To be eligible, the following criteria must be met. To begin with, a solution may be a physical product, a technology, an industrial process, or a service. It is not limited to startups, but can also include innovations from companies or other organisations. Additionally, the solution should already be commercialised or on track for commercialisation and must have reached the technical maturity of a prototype. Finally, the solution must be sustainable, meaning that it contributes to the achievement of at least one of the following Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, industry and infrastructure innovation, sustainable cities and communities, or responsible consumption and production. The review of eligibility and completeness is conducted by a team at the Solar Impulse Foundation.
Once deemed eligible, a pool of 372 voluntary experts, each of whom has at least five years’ academic or business experience in sectors relevant to the proposed solution, will consider whether it should be selected for the label. This is assessed against three criteria: feasibility, environmental impact and profitability. First, the feasibility assessment determines the technical viability of the idea behind the solution. To be specific, the evaluators will see if the technical requirements of the proposed solutions are credible, and whether it is scalable. Second, the environmental impact analysis weighs up the potential to have a positive impact on the environment compared to an identifiable mainstream alternative, with reference to energy use, CO2 emissions, water use/materials use, air quality, and ecosystem preservation. Third, the profitability section is aimed at determining the capacity of a solution to deliver an economic incentive for the client, as well as to generate profits for the seller in a short term.
The process of awarding a label to a solution takes two to four months. The Foundation’s labelling process has also been reviewed by an external auditor which has concluded that the label has been implemented in accordance with principles and operating rules. Moreover, the Solar Impulse Foundation is collaborating with the European Commission with the aim of creating an equivalence between the European Commission’s EIC Accelerator Phase II program, and the 1000 Solutions Label. So far, more than 850 solutions – 69 per cent of which come from Europe – have been identified, and around 250 are currently under review. Applications are still open.
Matching solutions to adopters
Phase Two aims to implement the solutions through matchmaking and advocacy.
Matchmaking consists of pairing adopters (for example companies or governments) with relevant solutions. The Solar Impulse Foundation is developing a guide that can be used by a prospective adopter to select a solution. For example, if a cement company is looking for a solution to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions in the production process, it can search for relevant (i.e. cement industry related) keywords in the guide, which will then provide all matching solutions. This guide will represent all major industries, and this is why the Solar Impulse Foundation team is currently doing research to understand the key needs of industries, and what solutions could be relevant to meet these needs. Even though this guide is still under development, an online directory already exists which enables potential adopters to browse according to individual sustainable development goals (SDGs) and geography, and easily find the key features of a solution.
Whereas the guide will be helpful for adopters with specific solutions in mind, Solar Impulse Foundation is also developing designed matchmaking. In other words, it will propose solutions which adopters hadn’t originally had in mind. According to Victoria Smaniotto, head of solutions outreach at the Foundation, many companies and governments that intend to reduce their environmental impact are not aware that a solution that could help them already exists. The goal of her team is to understand the potential adopter’s needs and decision-making process and then to suggest a suitable solution. In one example, Air France, which wanted to reduce the use of single-use plastics on board, was matched with glassFORever, a company that produces plastic cups that can easily be reused or recycled to produce new, recyclable and eco-friendly products. In another example, the French DIY retailer Adeo is searching for a solution that can enable it to bring a closed-loop shower to market.
Advocacy for solutions
Advocacy is the second tool for implementation. Advocacy supports policies that level the playing field for selected solutions.
Remy Kalter, the Foundation’s head of public affairs, says that ‘saving the environment is already profitable today. Although that might not always be true in the short term, sustainable projects will clearly provide the better returns over the medium and long-term.’ But today’s regulatory environment often puts long term solutions at a disadvantage. To illustrate, the solution ANTISMOG offered by the startup New Eco Technologies provides a small piece of equipment for a vehicle’s engine to add hydrogen to the air-fuel mix, thus allowing for a more complete combustion of the fuel and reducing the number of unburned gases and particles. As a result, fuel economy increases by 20 per cent. For a taxi driver who spends EUR 500 on fuel per month, the payback period would be 5-6 months. However, consumers are often wary of installing third-party equipment in their cars, as this often comes with apparently high upfront investment and bureaucratic hurdles. To achieve both environmental and economic benefits of the technology, the Solar Impulse Foundation made suggestions for policies that incentivise the use of ANTISMOG.
Another challenge is that while efficient technology and financing often already exist, the regulations might not yet be sufficiently advanced. The French building company Somfy’s solution Animeo Connect integrates sensors on the roofs and facades of buildings to measure real-time conditions, allowing for intelligent and efficient remote blind management. The technology costs only around 1 per cent of the total cost of a building, but energy consumption – and thus cost – can be reduced by 30 to 70 per cent. However, given that shading management is still perceived as costly, it is often not included as an energy efficiency measure in building regulations. Together with the European Building Automation Controls Association, the Solar Impulse Foundation has been raising awareness about shading management among policymakers across Europe.
Outdated regulation can also be found in the maritime shipping industry, where inefficiencies are still tolerated or even encouraged. For example, it is still common practice for ships that are docked at a port to run polluting on-board diesel generators to power processes such as loading, heating, cooling or lighting. ABB’s shore-to-ship solutions aim to connect docked ships to an onshore power supply, which is mostly less carbon-intensive. This not only reduces air pollution around ports, but also cuts the ship owners’ fuel costs. Together with the French government, the Solar Impulse Foundation used the 2019 G7 summit in Biarritz as a platform to advocate for regulatory changes to facilitate grid connections at ports. Updating such practices through policy incentives will be key to achieving a sustainable future. Or, in the words of Bertrand Piccard: ‘We don’t need more regulation, we need modern regulation.’
Conclusion
Overall, the Solar Impulse Foundation is supporting the clean tech innovation ecosystem with a quality assurance label for solutions that are clean, efficient and profitable. Phase One identifies solutions in a review process. Phase Two supports their implementation by matching labelled solutions with potential adopters such as governments or corporates, and through advocacy efforts. Given that the Foundation is well known and has numerous reputable partners thanks to Bertrand Piccard’s solar-powered flights, the 1000 Solutions Challenge complements the many other contests, startup accelerators, and government-run R&D programs that are fostering green innovation in Europe.
Find out more on the existing solutions and selection process.
Original article by Markus Fischer