These Are the Top Innovations Paving the Way for Clean Energy By 2030 The UN's 2030 goals depends on maintaining the momentum of research, development and innovation in the field of clean energy. Here is how three industry leaders — Tesla, ICL Group and First Solar — are setting the standard in clean energy with their groundbreaking innovations and paving the way into the future.
By Jacobo Weizenblut Edited by Kara McIntyre
Key Takeaways
- The U.K. aims for a full transition to clean power by 2030, joining a global shift towards sustainable energy policies and infrastructures.
- Innovations by key industry players like Tesla, ICL Group and First Solar are central to the rapidly expanding market for economically viable clean energy technologies.
- Strategic partnerships, advanced battery materials and efficient solar panels are among the groundbreaking developments propelling the clean energy transition.
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The global economy is undergoing a strategic shift towards a future built on clean energy. The U.K. has set 2030 as a milestone date for a full transition to clean power, and other countries have equally ambitious energy policies.
Humans have been burning wood and fossil fuels throughout history, and the goal of adopting green energy presents certain challenges. The conversion requires a rethink of energy infrastructures and sustained investment in renewable power sources. Clean energy advocates are driving a social shift for a new alternative energy mindset.
This bold approach to meeting future energy demands — an abundance of safe, sustainable and affordable power for industry and domestic consumers — is incentivizing the development of remarkable next-generation innovations in clean energy technologies.
Major companies like Tesla, ICL Group and First Solar (that are all publicly traded companies on U.S. markets) are shaping the future of clean energy with numerous scalable energy generation technologies, materials and new smart plants that run on hybrid clean energy microgrids. There is a huge (and rapidly expanding) global market for economically viable clean energy technologies. Current industry leaders are determined to capitalize on these new opportunities over the coming decade and in doing so deliver sustainable and environmentally friendly green energy.
Related: Is Renewable Energy Worth Your Investment?
Tesla, Inc.
Elon Musk's trillion-dollar company Tesla is best known for developing commercially viable electric vehicles and bringing them into the automotive industry mainstream. Tesla certainly deserves its reputation as an EV pioneer, but the company is also responsible for other key innovations in clean energy technologies. Tesla examines the entire spectrum of clean energy technologies and looks for opportunities to apply its impressive R&D resources to clean energy challenges — often through strategic partnerships with other companies.
One of its flagship initiatives is the Tesla Solar Roof which uses energy-generating photovoltaic shingles instead of traditional roof tiles. Another exciting innovation is the Tesla Powerwall, a massive lithium-ion battery unit for domestic consumers who want to run their homes on solar energy. Tesla Electric is even enabling householders to sell surplus energy to commercial grids. The decision to invest in technologies that empower consumers with advanced energy storage systems (and the Megapack for grids and industry) has huge implications for the future of clean energy.
ICL Group
ICL Group is a leading global specialty minerals company and one of the largest fertilizer manufacturers in the world. The company has leveraged its minerals expertise and massive Dead Sea resources to become one of the world's most important manufacturers of advanced battery materials. ICL Group is at the forefront of Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) battery production with the construction of a high-tech manufacturing plant in St. Louis, Missouri. The new $400 million plant is partly financed by the U.S. Department of Energy and will place ICL Group at the heart of the U.S. electric vehicle supply chain.
ICL is making a significant contribution to the future of clean energy with its groundbreaking research and development into smart LFP batteries that provide unparalleled storage capacity and new standards of safety and cost-effectiveness. The company is also pioneering the use of purpose-built hybrid microgrids.
ICL Group's Green Sdom project in Israel's barren Negev Desert is harnessing solar power to drive some of the company's biggest plants. Apart from creating a viable and profitable circular economy, ICL Group's goal is to offer a functional model that like-minded companies can replicate. The initiative is set to eliminate over 1 million tons of carbon dioxide annually through a self-sustaining microgrid that incorporates solar PV, battery storage, thermal storage and hydrogen.
First Solar, Inc.
First Solar, Inc. was founded almost 25 years ago as an early pioneer of solar energy technologies. The company constantly innovated to create commercially viable and scalable solar energy solutions and mastered the use of cadmium telluride (CdTe) as a semiconductor in its thin-film module solar panels. First Solar's grasp of advanced technologies allowed them to lower their manufacturing cost to $1 per watt — an important developmental and commercial threshold.
First Solar's ongoing research into solar technology, particularly their groundbreaking work on photovoltaic (PV) panels, is transforming solar cell efficiency. Even comparatively modest improvements in the amount of sunlight energy that PV panels convert into electricity can significantly improve their viability and utility. One strategic goal is to make solar energy accessible to consumers in less sunny regions. First Solar is a genuinely global corporation with energy-generating installations around the world amounting to over 17GW.
Maintaining the momentum of innovation in clean energy
The next five years are likely to see exponential progress in the implementation of clean energy policies and sustainable energy infrastructures. The concept of clean energy is integral to several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs and central to many government energy policies.
The UN's 2030 Agenda includes ambitious objectives like Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7), Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11), and Climate Action (SDG 13). The fulfillment of these goals by 2030 depends on maintaining the momentum of research, development and innovation in the field of clean energy.
Industry leaders like Tesla, ICL Group and First Solar are setting the standard for clean energy innovations. They have the resources, experience and expertise to transform emerging technologies into new products, penetrate new markets and make sustained profits in an industrial and energy ecosystem that is evolving at an unprecedented pace.
