2024 Plug & Play Summit and the Umbrella of Sustainability

???????????????The annual Plug and Play Silicon Valley Summit is an exciting event where scientists, engineers, and innovators come together to showcase their solutions to some of the world’s most intriguing and complex challenges. After two days of listening?to many?brilliant speakers, one could see solutions for multiple problems in the areas of mobility and supply chain, energy, materials, and sustainability. Sustainability seemed to be a fitting ending for these two days, as it encompasses all the others?despite their seeming disparities. Accessibility?to equitable transportation and the greening of our vehicles, decreasing Scope 3 emissions through smart supply chain partnerships, finding new ways to produce renewable energy, improving the environmental and carbon impact of our materials, creating circular solutions for our utilities and products—each of?these falls under the scope of Sustainability in one way or another. This paper will showcase just a small fraction of the great new companies that gave their pitches during this summit and highlight how their various topics fall beneath the Sustainability umbrella, working to positively impact people and the?environment.

??????????????? Supply Chain was the first expo on day one. While there were several excellent startup presentations, to see an example of how supply chain innovation overlaps with Sustainability impact, one need not look further than the company “Soource”. Soource is an AI services company providing ethical sourcing solutions that ensure materials and products are obtained through fair trade and sustainable practices. By promoting transparency and supporting social and environmental responsibility in supply chains, Soource directly addresses the sustainability challenge of reducing Scope 3 emissions. Their platform helps companies make informed decisions that benefit people and the planet, aligning supply chain operations with broader sustainability goals. It has developed a comprehensive certification system for ethical sourcing, ensuring that materials and products are obtained through fair trade and sustainable practices. Creating this type of certification enhances transparency and social responsibility, already attracting a number of multinational companies as customers. With blockchain technology integrated into the supply chains of major clients, incidents of fraud and unethical practices have increased traceability. While this startup markets itself as a Supply Chain solution, a good Sustainability specialist will see the overlap between the innovations made here and those in the ESG world.

The next sustainable expo of note was Mobility. From the predictive public transit management system Lincode AI to the urban bicycle sharing of Scalvy, several great solutions to the transportation challenges we have today came across the stage. One of note was UPower, advanced battery solutions for electric vehicles, focusing on extending range and reducing charging times. Their innovations facilitate the widespread adoption of electric vehicles, crucial for reducing urban air pollution and GHG emissions. UPower’s contributions support the shift towards sustainable transportation, which is essential for creating more equitable and eco-friendly urban environments. They have developed advanced battery technology that extends the life of electric vehicle batteries by up to 30%, making electric vehicles more viable for long-distance travel and reducing the frequency of battery replacements. This, paired with their fast-charging solution that reduces charging times by 50%, makes electric vehicle adoption more practical and convenient for users. As EVs become a more significant proportion of daily commuter cars, their sustainability in our built ecosystem must include solutions for not only reducing negative impact during their manufacture or end-of-life, but also extending the life of the product as a whole.

Following the Mobility expo was Energy, with solutions touching on almost every source utilized today- solar, hydro, geothermal, wind, and hydrogen. One fascinating innovation that caught a fair amount of attention was that of the company Twelve. Specializing in converting CO2 into valuable chemicals and fuels using renewable energy, Twelve’s innovative approach provides a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels and directly reduces carbon emissions. Twelve’s technology supports the broader effort to transition to a low-carbon economy, making it a critical player in the fight against climate change and in promoting renewable energy solutions. At first glance, the solution seems like something out of science fiction, essentially creating product out of thin air. However, Twelve has successfully converted CO2 into a range of valuable products, including sustainable aviation fuel and consumer goods. They have transformed over 100,000 metric tons of CO2 into usable products, effectively preventing it from contributing to atmospheric greenhouse gases. Twelve has been recognized for their groundbreaking work with multiple awards, including being named a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer for their innovative approach to reducing carbon emission. In addition, they have partnered with industry giants like Mercedes and Procter & Gamble. This solution goes beyond simply reducing CO2 emissions by actually recycling CO2 into fuels and products.

The next to last expo was Materials, which was full of fascinating companies. It proves almost impossible to pick a single solution to showcase in this paper, between the womb-inspired eco-friendly, low-energy hydrogel insulation material by NIDO to the bio-based materials made from agricultural waste of Fibenol. However, the company Citrine did garner a good deal of attention. Citrine specializes in utilizing artificial intelligence to accelerate the development of sustainable materials. Their platform leverages AI to predict and optimize material properties, significantly reducing the time and resources needed for research and development. Citrine’s AI platform has accelerated the discovery of new materials, reducing the time required for material development by 70%. This has allowed them to quickly remove PFAS from a popular adhesive product in the US; a project that should originally have taken five years was reduced to a single year. Reducing the costs of automotive polymers, eliminating petroleum-derived ingredients from health and beauty products without sacrificing performance, and creating new reliably nontoxic fertilizers are just a few of the successes Citrine showcased during their expo presentation. Citrine has collaborated with leading research institutions and companies, including NASA and BASF, to co-develop materials that meet stringent sustainability and performance criteria. Their platform has become a critical tool in rapidly prototyping and deploying new, sustainable materials. By enabling the creation of more efficient and eco-friendly materials, Citrine supports efforts to decrease the environmental footprint of manufacturing processes and promotes the use of sustainable materials across various industries.

Last in this list of sustainability-forward expos is Sustainability. With an opening speech by the Director of Innovation from DC Water, Robert Borhofen, the stage was set for some amazing startups to showcase their sustainability solutions. The company that stood out here was Charm. Focusing on carbon capture and storage solutions, Charm aims to help mitigate climate change by reducing atmospheric CO2 levels. Their technology involves converting biomass into a stable carbon form that can be safely stored underground, effectively removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This approach addresses the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promotes long-term sustainability by providing a scalable and effective method for carbon sequestration. Charm has sequestered over 10,000 metric tons of CO2 through their biomass conversion technology, marking a significant achievement in the carbon removal sector. They have also developed and deployed mobile carbon capture units that can be used on-site at agricultural operations, making it easier for businesses to integrate carbon capture into their processes. As rightly said during their presentation, current carbon goals will not be met simply by avoiding or reducing emissions. Capturing carbon and storing it where we originally found it, deep within the ground, is one of the few ways we have to truly reduce the carbon we have already emitted.

Overall, it is easy to see how this wide variety of expos at the Plug and Play Summit come together under the Sustainability umbrella. Whether or not it is intentional does not detract from the fact that we have reached a point in human innovation where sustainable practices touch all we create. This may be our greatest hope for a cleaner, brighter future for the next generations. Summits like this one serve to remind us all that hope and ingenuity are two of humanity’s greatest assets; sitting in a room full of brilliant, eager minds is an electrifying experience. The hope is that this short summary of some of the wonderous ideas shared on those stages may inspire more innovation, as we strive for a sustainable future as a collective.