Scientists, experts, and society at large are striving to tackle the great issue of our time—driving down carbon demand and making the world’s energy solutions more sustainable while keeping the lights on. Supporting innovators and entrepreneurs to scale their solutions can help to make that change come quicker.

Jointly organized by Rockstart, Unknown Group, YES!Delft, and Shell, the New Energy Challenge is a competition open to European and Israeli startups and scale-ups. It gives young companies the opportunity to connect with investors and experts, unlocking the support, knowledge, and guidance needed to scale their business and help them drive change in the energy system. The 2022 edition of the competition focused on emerging technologies and digital solutions that address energy efficiency, remove carbon from the atmosphere, and can help to achieve carbon neutrality. 

“It was an obvious fit for Shell,” says Geert van de Wouw, managing partner at Shell Ventures, and one of the judges for this year’s competition. “Shell has set itself very ambitious targets to become a net-zero energy emissions company by 2050, which for a company that today relies for a large part on oil and gas, is not an easy task,” he says. “We are fundamentally changing the construct of our business.”

The fundamental, root and branch reform has to come not only from within the company but can be accelerated by the innovative minds of entrepreneurs everywhere. “We realize that a lot of the exciting innovation that we need to accelerate the energy transition comes from startups and scale-ups these days,” van de Wouw says. “We don’t believe in prize money, but rather focus on a long-term approach that aims to help the winners get their solutions to market faster.”

Shell Ventures is one of the most active global investors in climate technology, focusing on renewables, power, mobility, and emission management solutions. To date, Shell’s corporate venture capital arm has invested in a portfolio of more than 120 companies and clean tech funds around the world. “We are a global player and believe that many of these technologies are scalable globally,” says van de Wouw.

2022’s New Energy Challenge competition saw 90 hopeful companies enter, from which 10 finalists were selected based on their innovative concept, future potential, and product-market fit. Two winners were chosen on November 3; UK company CyanoCapture, which uses genetically modified cyanobacteria to produce biochar, an affordable, scalable, and clean carbon capture solution at an industrial level; and RepAir, an Israeli startup developing a sustainable direct air capture (DAC) system that consumes only a third of the energy required by alternative DAC technologies.

“Capturing large quantities of CO₂ from the air is key to winning the race on climate change and reaching net negative by 2050, while the challenge is scaling technologies that can become economically viable,” says Amir Shiner, CEO of RepAir.

“Winning the competition is a great opportunity for us to work with the experts at Shell to explore deployment opportunities,” says Shiner. “This can give our scale-up efforts a huge boost and help us validate our solution.” RepAir will use the support from Shell to focus on carbon dioxide capture in the value chain and improve its technology. Also on the horizon: a commercial demonstration plant able to separate 200 tons of carbon dioxide a year.

These plans illuminate a path towards a cleaner energy future. “We can’t wait,” says van de Wouw. “Scaling these technologies takes time, and only by working together can we build a more sustainable system as fast as possible.”

Visit the New Energy Challenge website for more information.

This article was originally published by WIRED UK