MIT CEP Cohort Info Book 2024

Cohort Info Book 2024

Sponsors & Partners We would like to thank all our sponsors and partners for making this global competition possible.

GIGAWATT

MEGAWATT

KILOWATT

PARTNERS

2

Index MIT CEP Team 2024

8

2024 CEP Events

9

2024 MIT CEP Tracks & Stats

10

MIT CEP Till Date

12

Semi-finalists by Region

13

2024 MIT CEP Semi-finalists

16

Mentors & Judges

36

2024 MIT CEP Participants

38

3

5

Program Benefits: Universities & national labs: Convert ideas & concepts to commercial solutions with win-win partnership with aspiring entrepreneurs Entrepreneurs: Access to curated list of intellectual properties from top institutions Three phase program: • Designed to develop technology from concept to commercially viable product • Technical & commercial assistance funding available

For additional information: Gautam Phanse Strategic Relationship Manager Chevron Technology Ventures (CTV) gautam.phanse@chevron.com

Steven Yackel Program Manager - Chevron Studio National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) steven.yackel@nrel.gov

Gopal Kothari Program Manager - Chevron Studio Chevron Technology Ventures (CTV) gopal.kothari@chevron.com

www.chevronstudio.com

MIT CEP Team 2024

The MIT Climate and Energy Prize (CEP) is the world's largest and longest running competition for student-led climate start-ups. This year we are celebrating 17 years of climate impact. CEP brings together the best of MIT - innovation, tough-tech, disciplined entrepreneurship and an amazing sense of community to tackle the worlds hardest problems.

Following the last year's CEP expansion into Europe, we further expanded CEP globally, by opening up the CEP application to university and college students anywhere on the planet for the first time in CEP history. As a result, 2024 was our most competitive year so far. We received a record-breaking 166 applications from 44 countries and 94 universities worldwide! The teams who have made it this far demonstrated that their ideas have enormous potential to address climate change and are scalable with the right support at the right time. We are so proud to support these brave and committed founders on their journey.

We wish our qualifying teams all the best for the competition and for their next steps as climate entrepreneurs!

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2024 CEP Events Boston Semi-final Friday, March 8, 2024 8:30 AM – 3:30 PM EST MIT Media Lab 75 Amherst St, Cambridge, MA 02139

London Semi-final Friday, March 15, 2024 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM GMT DLA Piper London 160 Aldersgate St, Barbican, London EC1A 4HT, UK

Grand Final Friday, April 19, 2024 8:30 AM – 6:00 PM EST The Engine 750 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02139

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2024 MIT CEP Tracks & Stats This year’s MIT Climate and Energy Prize features nine tracks for prospective teams.

BUILT ENVIRONMENT Sustainable building materials, low-carbon heating and cooling, prefab construction, energy efficiency, building electrification and energy optimization

CLIMATE ADAPTATION Solutions that protect communities and businesses against the consequences of climate change. Resilient infrastructure, wildfire management, climate refugees, resilient crops, insurance solutions, water purification and recycling, heat adaptation, solar radiation modification

CLIMATE SERVICES & SOFTWARE Emissions and sustainability reporting, ESG investing and fintech, earth observation through remote sensing, climate risk and intelligence platforms

ENERGY New generation technologies (e.g., nuclear, solar, geothermal), energy storage, hydrogen and other low-carbon fuels, enabling renewables software, marketplace, and grid management platforms, DER and demand response tools, utility transmission and distribution services

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2024 MIT CEP Tracks & Stats This year’s MIT Climate and Energy Prize features nine tracks for prospective teams.

FOOD AND LAND USE Alternative proteins, regenerative farming, vertical farming, sustainable fertilizer and animal feed, biodiversity conservation, nature preservation/restoration and ecosystem services, remote sensing for crop yield optimization, autonomous farming equipment, and food waste reduction

GHG CAPTURE & REMOVAL Carbon offset marketplace and procurement platforms, carbon utilization, carbon removal and storage technologies, methane mitigation, point-source CCS, verifiers and ratings enablers

INDUSTRIAL DECARBONIZATION Low-carbon cement, chemical and plastics, steel, manufacturing, metals and mining, circular economy commerce, sustainable textiles and packaging, waste and recycling

TRANSPORTATION Battery technologies, EV autos, EV charging and fleet management, electric micromobility and ridesharing, zero-emission planes, boats, and trains, urban public transport

WATER RESOURCES Access to clean drinking water, water tech, ocean conservation, ocean pollution removal, ocean upwelling/fertilization, wastewater reuse and treatment, harvesting rainwater/groundwater, aquaculture sustainability

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MIT CEP Till Date 17th

Annual Event

$3.5M

Prize Money Granted

$1.7B

Follow-on Funding

280+

Companies Mentored

850+

Applications Received

12

Cris

Boston Semi-finalists

London Semi-finalists

Andros

AeroFlux

Low-Cost, Low-Pressure Green Ammonia Production 15

Cost and Space-Effective Point Source Carbon Capture 25

Coflux Purification

Agteria Biotech

PFAS Destruction With Chemical-Free Water Filtration 16

Cost-effective Reduction of Methane from Cattle

Helix Carbon

CAELUS

Transforming CO2 to Valuable Chemicals

Accelerating Nuclear Project Deployment

17

Oxylus Energy

Ekidos Agrivoltaics

Affordable, Scalable, Green Methanol from CO2

Vertical Photovoltaic Panels for Agriculture

18

SeaMind AI

GPSolar

Sustainable Aquaculture through AI

ML and Data Analytics for Agrovoltaic Adoption

19

Silo Energy

ParaStruct

Thermal Storage for Retrofitting Coal & Gas Plants

Transforming Waste Disposal into Revenue Generating Process

20

Strobe Power

Philisa Energy

Virtual Power Plant with AIEnabled Platform

Biodiesel Production from Slags

21

ThreadMap

Treeva Ltd

Modular Software Tracking System for Fashion Industry

Wind Turbines from Upcycled Materials

22

27

28

29

30

31

32

Wankel Energy Systems

Vertical GaN Energy Efficiency Data Center Cooling

26

23

Expanders and compressors with state-of-the-art solutions

33

13

Semi-finalists by Region This year, MIT Climate and Energy Prize received 166 applications from all around the world and selected 18 teams as Semi-finalists.

Massachusetts Connecticut

California

Washington, D.C

Texas

14

Sweden United Kingdom

Hungary Austria Singapore

Italy

Spain

India

15

Boston Round

13

Andros Storrs, CT, USA Energy

Food & Land Use

Industrial Decarbonization

Low-Cost, Low-Pressure Green Ammonia Production

Laron Burrows, laronburrows@gmail.com

Milestones: Business Concept

✓

Prototype/MVP Built

✓

Company Incorporated First External Users/Pilot First Paying Client(s) Funding Raised

THE PROBLEM Ammonia production feeds nearly half the world’s population but is environmentally damaging, releasing 2.7 tons of CO2 for each ton produced. Shifting to green ammonia production is hindered by extremely high production costs, typically five times higher than traditional fossil fuel-based methods. Traditional ammonia production requires high pressure and temperature, making it expensive due to the significant costs associated with compression – accounting for 90% of the capital and operational expenses.

THE SOLUTION Team: Laron Burrows, CEO Jacob Crow, Engineer Dr. George Bollas, Advisor

Our innovative reactor operates at atmospheric pressure and temperatures below 270°C, significantly outperforming the Haber-Bosch method by producing 14 times more ammonia in lab-scale tests. Additionally, a newly discovered catalyst enhances our process, yielding 15 times more ammonia under these optimized conditions. This method dramatically reduces ammonia synthesis costs by 80% and energy requirements by 88% at scale. Our strategy is to develop and deploy these reactors across distributed production facilities, offering a costeffective ammonia supply to both existing and future customers.

VALUE PROPOSITION • • •

•

Lower energy demand per ton of ammonia produced from lower capital and operating costs of the reactor.

More modular and distributed reactor.

Stable price and supply of ammonia from distributed production for farmers.

Reduced risk of supply chain disruptions and guaranteeing that farmers have the essential nutrients they need for crop production all year round.

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Coflux Purification Houston, TX, USA Water Resources

Dana Vasquez, cofluxpurification@gmail.com

PFAS Destruction With Chemical-Free Water Filtration

Milestones:

THE PROBLEM

Business Concept

✓

Prototype/MVP Built

✓

Company Incorporated First External Users/Pilot First Paying Client(s) Funding Raised

Team: Dr. Alec Ajnsztajn, CEO, CSO Jeremy Daum, CTO Dana Vazquez, CCO

18

PFAS, or Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, infiltrate every part of our lives – we unknowingly interact with it daily. PFAS are in everything from our clothes, cookware, personal health products, and water. The average American has detectible levels of PFAS in their blood, which can lead to long-term health defects, including cancer and infertility. With the global water crises, having access to clean, safe water is essential.

THE SOLUTION Coflux uses a patent-pending in-stream module that breaks down PFAS using a novel absorbent for chemical-free water.

Our solution permanently destroys PFAS in the filtration cycle, using only light and our Photocatalytic Absorbent Foam.

VALUE PROPOSITION Current solutions do not destroy PFAS, instead they remove it through use of physical media, creating more PFAScontaminated waste. Coflux Purification not only captures, but also destroys PFAS, eliminating the PFAS-contaminated waste product.

Helix Carbon Cambridge, MA, USA GHG Capture & Removal Industrial Decarbonization

Transforming CO2 into Valuable Chemicals via Electrocatalysis

David Brown, dbrown64@mit.edu

Milestones: Business Concept

✓

Prototype/MVP Built

✓

Company Incorporated

THE PROBLEM Carbon capture is critical to the future of our planet, but the high energy demands with converting carbon dioxide into useful chemicals makes it financially infeasible. The results is most captured carbon is buried underground, a method fundamentally unscalable due to its reliance on carbon credits.

First External Users/Pilot First Paying Client(s) Funding Raised

Team: Evan Haas, CEO David Brown, COO

Dr. Ariel Furst, Head of R&D

THE SOLUTION Our proprietary catalysis technology drastically lowers the power requirements of carbon dioxide conversion, making it economically feasible to decompose into valuable components and creating carbon-neutral feedstocks that are price competitive in fossil-based markets. Focusing initially on syngas and ethylene, we plan to gradually expand across carbonbased chemicals, replacing fossil fuels as a source of carbon in our economy.

VALUE PROPOSITION Our proprietary catalysis technology drastically lowers the power requirements of carbon dioxide conversion, making it economically feasible to decompose into valuable components and creating carbon-neutral feedstocks that are price competitive in fossil-based markets. Focusing initially on syngas and ethylene, we plan to gradually expand across carbonbased chemicals, replacing fossil fuels as a source of carbon in our economy.

19

Oxylus Energy New Haven, CT, USA Energy

GHG Capture & Removal

Transportation

Industrial Decarbonization

Affordable, Scalable, Green Methanol from CO2

www.oxylusenergy.com, contact@oxylusenergy.com

Milestones: Business Concept

✓

Prototype/MVP Built

✓

Company Incorporated

✓

THE PROBLEM

Funding Raised

The hard-to-abate sectors of aviation, shipping, and petrochemicals represent 11% of current global GHG emissions and have no easy path to decarbonization. This trillion dollar opportunity requires alternative carbon-neutral fuels to decarbonize. Yet current alternative fuel possibilities (ammonia and green hydrogen) would require costly upgrades to infrastructure & CAPEX, are not energy dense, and are possibly toxic. Thus, green methanol is a great chemical to decarbonize these sectors. However, decarbonizing green methanol is currently limited by cost and availability.

Team:

THE SOLUTION

First External Users/Pilot First Paying Client(s)

Perry Bakas, CoFounder, CEO Harrison Meyer, CoFounder, COO Conor Rooney, CoFounder, CTO

20

Ambient temperature & pressure electrochemical CO2 reduction to green methanol.

VALUE PROPOSITION Oxylus Energy is a novel carbon conversion and e-fuel startup that creates affordable and scalable e-methanol through CO2 electrolysis. Using a breakthrough electrochemical catalyst, Oxylus Energy converts CO2 at room temperature and pressure to methanol with the highest energy efficiency and highest emission reduction potential. This allows green methanol that is modular and that can provide on-site decarbonization.

SeaMind AI Palo Alto, CA, USA Climate Adaptation Climate Services & Software

Sustainable Aquaculture through AI

Jarren Reid, Jarren@seamind.ai

THE PROBLEM

Milestones: Business Concept

✓

Prototype/MVP Built

✓

Company Incorporated

✓

First External Users/Pilot

✓

First Paying Client(s) Funding Raised

Team: Jarren Reid, CoFounder

✓

Pre-historic funding and procurement processes for new technology adoption in aquaculture have led to outdated oceanclimate space infrastructure.

THE SOLUTION We’re building the operating system for climate decision-making.

We are automating the funding and procurement process for state and federally-funded Fish & Wildlife facilities. By doing so, we are reducing RFP time, streamlining communication channels, and increasing adoption of ocean-climate technologies.

VALUE PROPOSITION Streamlining the funding process for state and federally-funded US Fish & Wildlife facilities to adopt sustainable infrastructure.

This improves production rates, which in turn drives more revenue for the state and increases wild fish stocks.

Abe Getahun, CoFounder

21

Silo Energy Princeton, NJ, USA Energy Industrial Decarbonization

Thermal Energy Storage for Retrofitting Coal and Gas Plants

Contact@silo.energy

Milestones: Business Concept Prototype/MVP Built Company Incorporated

✓

THE PROBLEM The U.S. electricity grid faces unprecedented load growth; a need for longer duration storage as wind and solar penetration increases; and clean energy resources that can circumvent growing backlogs for grid interconnection. This is what we are solving.

First External Users/Pilot First Paying Client(s) Funding Raised

THE SOLUTION We are building long duration thermal energy storage that stores off-peak renewable energy for days and then converts that back to power.

VALUE PROPOSITION • • •

22

We can store energy for 100 hours + with less than 1% heat loss per day.

We are 2-3x cheaper than other clean firm options on the grid (e.g.nuclear, hydrogen, geothermal).

We cut deployment time for new energy storage resources on the grid from 5 years to 12 months by leveraging existing grid interconnections at coal/gas plants and tapping into existing plant workforce and infrastructure.

Strobe Power Washington, DC, USA Climate Services & Software

Energy

Industrial Decarbonization

AI-Enabled Platform to Manage Intelligent Distributed Batteries

Keeley Erhardt, hello@strobepower.com

Milestones: Business Concept

✓

Prototype/MVP Built

✓

Company Incorporated First External Users/Pilot First Paying Client(s) Funding Raised

Team: Keeley Erhardt, CEO

Jay Parikh, COO

THE PROBLEM Since 2013, there has been a 55% surge in power outage hours.

Major outages in the U.S. escalated from less than two dozen in 2000 to over 180 in 2020. This trend is alarming, especially considering that 70% of the U.S. transmission and distribution infrastructure is at or near the end of its 50-year lifespan. To achieve a successful green energy transition, it is crucial to balance decarbonization with enhanced grid reliability.

THE SOLUTION Strobe's SparkOS is a software platform designed to enhance grid reliability through the digitalization and decentralization of energy storage. SparkOS intelligently manages distributed battery systems, optimizing them for ancillary services, demand response, and peak shaving. This system is underpinned by proprietary algorithms developed from four years of deep learning and neural network research at MIT. Our approach leverages rented mobile battery systems and cloud computing to offer resilience-as-a-service, ensuring operational continuity for businesses and contributing to grid stability.

VALUE PROPOSITION Strobe's technology anticipates the grid's requirements for power dispatch and reserve and identifies optimal locations for new battery installations. We execute dispatch strategies autonomously at the edge, without requiring feedback from grid operators or customers. Customers engage with us through a simplified contract that provides a resiliency guarantee. We ensure optimal performance tailored to the customer's load profile and facilitate the battery's participation in electrical markets, delivering emergency power assurance, energy savings, and hassle-free backup power management.

23

ThreadMap New Haven, CT, USA Climate Services & Software

Margaret Boreham, maggie.boreham@yale.edu

A software solution stitching together a pathway for circular fashion

Milestones:

THE PROBLEM

Business Concept

✓

Funding Raised

The fashion industry is one of the most environmentally detrimental industries and accounts for roughly 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. A staggering 92 million tons of textile waste end up burned, landfilled, or shipped to low-income countries every year - this results in annual ghg emissions equivalent to driving over 65 million cars. Unfortunately, sustainability teams are overwhelmed, and rather than focusing on solutions for these problems, businesses are stuck spending most of their resources on data collection. We’re building a more accurate and cost-effective solution.

Team:

THE SOLUTION

Prototype/MVP Built Company Incorporated First External Users/Pilot First Paying Client(s)

Margaret Boreham, Co-Founder, CEO

Eunjee Koh, CoFounder, COO Karim Issa, CTO

We're developing a modular software system as a tool for sustainability teams to save time and recommend practical solutions for impact reduction. Our system leverages RFID ethread technology to compile data points along a garment's lifespan and create accurate and verifiable reports and recommendations. Our modules include: Data Analytics, Impact Accounting, Predictive Mitigation, End-of-Life Management.

VALUE PROPOSITION By bridging the data gap that currently exists in sustainability analytic tools, ThreadMap will help brands save time and money while achieving their climate goals. While most tools currently in use only identify problem areas, we’ll help teams develop a strategy to fix them. Our Predictive Mitigation module will help brands prioritize high impact areas and model potential pathways for reduction before investing in implementation. Our end-of-life management tool will allow sorting facilities to see key data points about a garment, enabling the textile recycling industry to move to automation in the future and ultimately resulting in more garments diverted from landfill.

24

Vertical GaN Boston, MA, USA Energy

Transportation

Industrial Decarbonization

Energy Efficiency Data Center Cooling

Cynthia Liao, cliao1@mit.edu

THE PROBLEM Milestones: Business Concept

✓

Prototype/MVP Built

✓

Company Incorporated First External Users/Pilot First Paying Client(s) Funding Raised

Data centers consume 1.3% of global energy and produce 2.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Rapidly growing driven by trends in AI and cloud computing, data centers are expected to consume 10% of global power by 2030. Siliconbased power converter devices are inefficient due to power lost in conversion. Improving efficiency in high-power conversion is a major energy, cost & carbon reduction opportunity for data center operations and all high-power applications (e.g., EVs)

THE SOLUTION

Joshua Perozek, Wafer Fab Lead

We are commercializing Vertical Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology, a novel semiconductor device innovation developed from 8+ years of R&D from MIT Palacios Group. We will produce the first Vertical GaN transistor on 8-inch wafers.

Compared to silicon & other materials, Vertical GaN devices offer unparallel advantages for high power electronics enabling a smaller device area, higher breakdown voltage, reduced switching and conduction loss, and improved thermal management. Working with industry partners including Qromis, Analog Devices, UC Santa Barbara and MIT Lincoln Lab, we have developed a method to fabricate GaN transistors on engineered substrate. This approach reduces the material cost and enables manufacturing on silicon semiconductor production capacity which drastically reduces the upfront investment.

Dr. Tomas Palacios, Advisor

VALUE PROPOSITION

Team: Cynthia Liao, Commercial Lead Sharon Hsiah, Technical Lead Minsik Oh, Technical Lead

For a data center, deploying our vertical GaN technology across the power supply system can result in 40% improvement in energy efficiency for powering each server rack. Data centers also spend up to 50% of their energy costs on cooling.

Implementing Vertical GaN devices also reduces energy lost as heat, reducing the need for cooling, thereby cutting data center operating expenditures by 20%.

25

London Round

13

AeroFlux Singapore, Singapore GHG Capture & Removal Industrial Decarbonization

Cost and Space-Effective Point Source Carbon Capture

Feb Hillman, aerofluxteam@gmail.com

Milestones: Business Concept

✓

Prototype/MVP Built

✓

Company Incorporated First External Users/Pilot First Paying Client(s) Funding Raised

THE PROBLEM The deleterious effect of climate change from green house gas emission is apparent. An immediate solution is critical to inhibit further damages. CO2 accounts for 76% of green house gas emissions, in which 70% are contributed by the heavy industries.

The most effective and immediate solution to bring these industries closer to net zero operation is to capture their CO2 emission before mixing with the atmosphere. Hence the importance of effective point source carbon capture solution.

THE SOLUTION Point source carbon capture through an innovative, costeffective, and space-effective membrane.

Team: Feb Hillman, CEO Jun Wen Wong, Risk Management Yuewen Jia, Tech

VALUE PROPOSITION We offer 79% reduction in cost, 93% smaller in footprint, a simpler operation, and a more ecofriendly carbon capture solution as compared to the conventional approach by solvent absorption. With wide adoption of carbon capture, our solution can potentially reduce 1 billion ton of CO2 per year from the global emission.

27

Agteria Biotech Stockholm, Sweden GHG Capture & Removal

Cost-effective and Efficient Reduction of Methane from Cattle

Martin Blomberg, martin@agteria.com

Milestones: Business Concept

✓

Prototype/MVP Built

✓

Company Incorporated

✓

First External Users/Pilot

✓

First Paying Client(s) Funding Raised

Team: Martin Blomberg, CEO Tommi Remonen, CTO Björn Lindh, Chairman

28

✓

THE PROBLEM Burping and farting cows are responsible for over 5% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. With methane being over 80 percent more potent than CO2, it is a major contributor to global warming. However, with methane breaking down from the air in around 10-20 years, compared to over 100 years for CO2, it presents an opportunity to combat climate change effectively. Yet, current solutions fall short; they are either too expensive to produce or too inefficient to effectively reduce methane emissions. This leaves farmers grappling with the challenge of mitigating methane emissions while remaining economically sustainable and compliant with regulations, hindering progress toward environmental sustainability in agriculture.

THE SOLUTION A patent pending feed additive that reduces methane emissions by over 70%.

VALUE PROPOSITION Agteria revolutionizes the fight against climate change with our innovative feed additive, reducing methane emissions by over 70%. Affordable to produce and easy to scale up, our solution empowers dairy and milk companies to embark on significant environmental initiatives while maintaining profitability. By targeting methane emissions from burping and farting cows, Agteria offers one of the most efficient strategies to combat climate change, enabling industries to make tangible environmental strides without compromising their bottom line.

Caelus Rome, Italy Energy Energy

Climate Services & Software

Accelerating Nuclear Project Deployment

Alessio Iuvara, alessio.iuvara@caelus.com info@caelus-nuclear.com

Milestones: Business Concept

✓

Prototype/MVP Built

✓

Company Incorporated

✓

First External Users/Pilot First Paying Client(s)

x

Funding Raised

Team: x

Alessio Iuvara, Founder, CEO/CTO

x

Sara Sara Marsella, Marsella, Legal Legal Team Team Leader Leader

x x x

Francesca Draisci, Francesca Draisci, Project Manager Project Manager Davide De Angelis, Davide Angelis, Business De Team Leader Business Team Leader Lorenzo Tomassetti, AI Team Tomassetti, Leader Lorenzo AI Team Leader

THE PROBLEM In the nuclear sector, projects must meet strict safety standards and provide comprehensive documentation to regulatory bodies, showcasing technology's safety and reliability.

Adapting projects for multiple countries is costly, affecting the exportability and scalability of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).

SMRs aim for economic viability, timely and budgeted decarbonized nuclear power delivery to the grid, supporting the Net Zero 2050 goals emphasized at COP28.

THE SOLUTION The CAELUS Project aims to streamline nuclear project design and documentation processes through automations and digital tools with a special focus on Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).

VALUE PROPOSITION • • • • •

Supports the development of nuclear technology at all stages from design and licensing to decommissioning and waste management.

Connects digital engineering tools and documents through a single platform.

Reduces time associated with design, as well as document drafting and updating.

Offers automation, AI-enhanced document composition, and real-time project management.

The serverless B2B SaaS model, with a validated MVP, demonstrates industry confidence and readiness for rapid deployment in support of sustainability goals.

29

Ekidos Agrivoltaics Madrid, Spain Food & Land Use Energy

Vertical Photovoltaic Panels For Agriculture

Delia Rodriguez Lucas, delia@ekilabs.com

Milestones: Business Concept

✓

Prototype/MVP Built

✓

Company Incorporated

✓

First External Users/Pilot

✓

THE PROBLEM If you had one hectare of land, would you use it for solar energy or agriculture? The fundamental constraint to scale both is LAND, and the growing tension between them is derailing the transition to renewable energy. In fact, some of the largest solar plants in Europe are being stopped because of conflict with farmers, and this is happening all over the world.

First Paying Client(s)

THE SOLUTION

Funding Raised

We merge agriculture and solar energy by scaling innovative vertical photovoltaic panels and sharing our revenue with farmers.

We unlock millions of acres for clean energy, support our food supply chain, and support rural communities – while generating 10x revenue per hectare.

Team: Delia Rodriguez Lucas, CEO Nina Eibock, Finance Les Armstrong, Technology

VALUE PROPOSITION •

•

Andres Olivares, Operations •

30

Configuration: Standard solar panels are horizontal, and consequently require vast areas of land. In contrast, our solution consists of vertical bifacial panels, which require minimal space – allowing farmers to keep harvesting their lands.

Production: Horizontal solar configurations produce mostly at noon – in contrast, our innovative configuration of vertical East-West orientated panels allows us to maximize electricity production in the morning and evening – prime times in energy markets.

Versatility: we accommodate the growth of crops that other agrivoltaic structures cannot handle, crops that thrive in abundant sunlight and require heavy machinery.

GPSolar Budapest, Hungary Climate Adaptation

Food & Land Use

Climate Services & Software

Machine Learning and Data Analytics for Agrovoltaic Adoption

Benedek Juhász, bjuhasz7054@gmail.com

Milestones: Business Concept

✓

Prototype/MVP Built

✓

Company Incorporated

✓

THE PROBLEM Agrivoltaics—a method combining agriculture with solar energy production—is underutilized by farmers, especially in Middle Eastern Europe. This is largely due to fluctuating regulations and a general lack of accessible, reliable information on implementation.

First External Users/Pilot First Paying Client(s) Funding Raised

THE SOLUTION Our web app uses state-of-the art machine learning and data analytics, giving the users precise insights and answering their questions. Our app includes a chat-bot assistant, energy planning and shadow cover calculation.

Team: Benedek Juhász, Machine Learning & AI

Regina Pirgl, Android Developer

VALUE PROPOSITION • •

• •

Precise Insights: Our app analyzes agricultural and energy data, giving farmers the precision they need for optimal decision-making.

Interactive Chat-bot Assistant: Our app features an intuitive chat-bot assistant, ensuring farmers can effortlessly seek information, get real-time advice, and navigate the app easily.

Energy Planning: Our app assesses farmers' energy needs, recommends optimal locations for agrivoltaic installations, and provides insights on energy efficiency.

Shadow Cover Calculation: Farmers can take control of their farm's sun exposure. Our app calculates precise shadow cover, allowing them to plan their crops and agrivoltaic installations strategically. Maximizing productivity and energy generation while minimizing potential shading issues.

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31

ParaStruct Innsbruck, Austria Built Environment

Georg Breitenberger, breitenberger@parastruct.org

Transforming Waste Disposal into Revenue-Generating Process

Milestones:

THE PROBLEM

Business Concept

✓

Prototype/MVP Built

✓

Company Incorporated

✓

First External Users/Pilot

✓

First Paying Client(s) Funding Raised

Team: Georg Breitenberger, CEO

THE SOLUTION ParaStruct has developed a reusable binder for material and biogenic waste, enabling eco-friendly 3D printing of new, recyclable building materials. B2B customers can achieve their sustainability goals while turning trash into cash. The company's beachhead market is the construction waste recycling industry, as they currently do not get a good price for their recycled products.

VALUE PROPOSITION •

Kilian Rießbeck, Chief Circularity Officer

•

Dr Freia Ruegenberg, Chief Scientific Officer

•

Nico Buller, Business Development

32

Unused material waste requires extracting more raw materials, harming the environment and wasting resources.

•

• • •

Helps businesses achieve environmental goals by turning waste into valuable materials.

Addresses the low valuation of recycled products by enhancing their quality and appeal.

Features a recyclable, low-carbon binder for fine-grained mineral and biogenic waste suitable for 3D printing.

A high-speed 3D printing system that can process 2m³ of waste material per hour.

Process technology that can process and recycle alternative binders.

Fully recyclable products for high-volume markets.

A business model based on licensing that makes the technology accessible to a wide range of users.

Philisa Energy Cambridge, UK Energy Industrial Decarbonization

Biodiesel Production Catalyzed by Steel Slag

Tokelo Khambule, info@philisaenergy.com

Milestones: Business Concept

✓

Prototype/MVP Built

✓

Company Incorporated First External Users/Pilot First Paying Client(s) Funding Raised

Team:

THE PROBLEM High production costs: High cost of raw materials for biodiesel production derived from fossil fuels, coupled with the limited feedstock options, hinders the widespread commercialization of biodiesel. Environmental Impact: The traditional biodiesel production process involves the use of single-use homogeneous catalysts that generate wastewater and have limited reusability, contributing to environmental concerns. Resource Depletion: Lack of efficient utilization of steel industry by-products, specifically steel slag in developing countries, leads to land occupation, environmental pollution, and wasted resources.

THE SOLUTION Tokelo Khambule, Strategy Lead Hugo Mkhize, Funding and Climate Strategy Pascal Mwenge, Chemical Engineer

Mpho Qhubu, Chemical Technologist

Production of biodiesel in an eco-friendly manner by using slags, a waste product from blast furnaces obtained during steel production. Slags are used to produce geopolymer catalysts through modification using alkali solutions. The geopolymer will be produced into powder/ beads/3D-spheres allowing them to be reused multiple times as it is easily recovered. The procedure is cost-effective and eco-friendly and does not require high maintenance procedures. Our biodiesel will be manufactured in a convenient manner of transesterification using waste cooking oil as a source of oil.

VALUE PROPOSITION •

Production of high quality biodiesel through a circular mindset that ensures a cost effective and environmentally friendly energy solution.

33

Treeva Ltd Reading, UK Built Environment

Milestones: Business Concept

✓

Prototype/MVP Built

✓

Company Incorporated

✓

First External Users/Pilot

✓

Funding Raised

THE PROBLEM Transport has the highest reliance on fossil fuels of any sector, accounting for 37% of global emissions. To tackle increasing transport energy supply risks, reliable renewable power is crucial.

THE SOLUTION Highly efficient vertical-axis wind turbines made from upcycled materials, to generate renewable energy from the turbulent airflow of passing transport.

VALUE PROPOSITION

Team: Anjali Benny Devadasan, Cofounder, CEO Yu Gu, Co-founder, CTO

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Transportation

Renewable Energy from Passing Transport

Anjali Benny Devadasan, team@treeva.uk

First Paying Client(s)

Energy

• • •

High energy efficiencies: x2 of alternative competitors.

Predictability of Power: know when and how much power will be generated based on the number of trains passing by.

3x Reduced CO2 compared to alternatives - combining high efficiency, upcycled materials and reusing parts to reduce resource extraction.

Wankel Energy Systems (WES) Tamil Nadu, India Energy Industrial Decarbonization

Expanders and compressors with state-of-the-art solutions

Balachandran Raju, wes@wankel.in

Milestones: Business Concept

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Prototype/MVP Built

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Company Incorporated

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First External Users/Pilot

THE PROBLEM Inefficient utilization of steam and waste heat in industrial processes leads to higher energy costs, increased carbon emissions, and environmental degradation. Traditional systems lack the efficiency and adaptability required to harness the full potential of these resources, resulting in lost opportunities for cost savings and sustainability.

First Paying Client(s) Funding Raised

Team: Balachandran Raju, CEO Gautam Subburaj, COO

Dr Vipin Venugopal, CTO Prof Satyanarayanan Seshadri, Director

THE SOLUTION Dynamic volumetric control is a cutting-edge feature of WES' patented technology that enhances the efficiency and adaptability of our expanders and compressors. With dynamic volumetric control, our technology intelligently adjusts the internal volume and displacement of the expander or compressor in real time based on factors such as steam pressure, temperature, and flow rate.

VALUE PROPOSITON • • •

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Enhanced Energy Efficiency: Maximize energy recovery from steam and waste heat, allowing industries to optimize their energy usage and reduce consumption.

Environmental Sustainability: Help industries minimize their carbon footprint, contributing to environmental conservation and sustainability efforts.

Cost Savings: Enable businesses to lower their energy costs by recovering and reusing otherwise wasted energy, resulting in significant savings on utility bills and operational expenses.

Reliable Performance: Offer robust and reliable expanders and compressors designed for industrial applications, ensuring continuous operation and minimal downtime for our customers.

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Mentors & Judges We would like to thank all mentors and judges for their expertise.

Semi-finals Mentors ❖ Agustin Gonzalez ❖ Alex de Sousa ❖ Alexis Garavel ❖ Amrit Jalan ❖ Amy Dai ❖ Benjamin Birnbaum ❖ Benjamin Fox ❖ Brijesh Singh ❖ Byron Kelly ❖ Chris Kong ❖ Daniel Sortica ❖ David Hsu ❖ Elizabeth Troein, PhD ❖ Fabien Duclocher ❖ Gemma Odena Bulto ❖ Himanshu Sharma ❖ Jennifer Turliuk ❖ Jonathan Hinton ❖ Joshua James ❖ Kavita Patel ❖ Kosuke Kobayashi ❖ Manushi Desai ❖ Marc Davidson ❖ Marin Vandamme ❖ Mike Toomey ❖ Nathan Stempel

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❖ Naveen Jha ❖ Paul Monroe ❖ Pjotr Van Schothorst ❖ Priya Shah ❖ Prutha Atre ❖ Rahul Meka ❖ Richard Walsh ❖ Ross Palley ❖ Sebastien Leger ❖ Seth Snyder ❖ Taiil Kim ❖ Toshiaki Nishio ❖ Wataru Takada ❖ Yosuke Tsuboi

Mentors & Judges We would like to thank all mentors and judges for their expertise.

First Round Judges ❖ Aakash Shah ❖ Evgeny (Gene) Sheenko ❖ Mohamed Zahran ❖ Adrian Finzelberg ❖ Guillermo Altenhordt ❖ Natalie Geise ❖ Agustin Gonzalez de ❖ Himanshu Sharma ❖ Nathan Stempel Abiega ❖ Jake Russell ❖ Naveen Jha ❖ Alex Prather ❖ Jane Lee ❖ Nicholas Van Osdol ❖ Alexandra Steckmest ❖ Jenny Larios Berlin ❖ Noah Lerner ❖ Alexis Garavel ❖ Jinchen Zou ❖ Parikshit Sharma ❖ Aly Bryan ❖ Joe Adiletta ❖ Patrick Sarver ❖ Amandeep Midha ❖ Jonathan Axelrad ❖ Peter Schork ❖ Amy Dai ❖ Joseph Maalouf ❖ Peter Sopher ❖ Andri Rajaobelina ❖ Julien Levallois ❖ Pilar Carvajo Lucena ❖ Anne-Marie Kaluz ❖ Juliet Rothenberg ❖ Pjotr van Schothorst ❖ Ashwin Bhanot ❖ Justin Ashton ❖ Rachel Field ❖ Atsushi Kato ❖ Kara Rodby ❖ Rachit Kejariwal ❖ Becky Wilson ❖ Katie Clasen ❖ Richard Walsh ❖ Bernhard Raberger ❖ Kavita Patel ❖ Ryan Masumoto ❖ Chloe Holzinger ❖ Kike Miralles ❖ Ryan Taylor ❖ Chris Kong ❖ Kosuke Kobayashi ❖ Scott Burger ❖ Christopher Goolgasian ❖ Lawren Tilney ❖ Sebastien Leger ❖ Daniel Ketyer ❖ Leah Bowes ❖ Shin Yamazaki ❖ Daniel Sortica ❖ Leonardo Massa ❖ Shohei Yamada ❖ Danny Donovan ❖ Manushi Desai ❖ Shyam Bhojwani ❖ David Wilson ❖ Manya Ranjan ❖ Sindhu Balan ❖ David Zug ❖ Martin Srna ❖ Steven Fox ❖ Devika Kumar ❖ Matt Morris ❖ Supratim Das ❖ Elizabeth Troein, PhD ❖ Melissa Zhang ❖ Vincent Mo ❖ Emilia Chojkiewicz ❖ Micha Ben-Naim ❖ Walter McLeod ❖ Emily Yedinak ❖ Michael Campos ❖ Yusuke Fujiwara ❖ Eric Yao ❖ Miriam Harris

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2024 MIT CEP Participants We would like to thank all participants in this year’s MIT CEP.

Total participants (167 teams) ❖ 360energy ❖ Aatral Hydrogen Private ❖ Limited ❖ ❖ AeroFlux ❖ ❖ Agastya ❖ ❖ AgroCycle Technologies ❖ ❖ AgroLim Groceries ❖ ❖ Agteria Biotech ❖ ❖ AlGreen ❖ ❖ Andros ❖ Anise Farms ❖ Aquasaic ❖ ❖ AR Green ❖ ❖ ARISE ❖ ❖ Bag Plastic ❖ ❖ Balanced ❖ ❖ Bambootroothbrush ❖ ❖ Big Mooove ❖ ❖ Bloom Technologies ❖ ❖ Blue Filter ❖ ❖ BOAT ❖ ❖ BuildEdge ❖ ❖ Buy-Your-Pack ❖ ❖ CAELUS ❖ ❖ Carbon Infuse ❖ ❖ Carbon Shuddhi ❖ ❖ Carbonsmith ❖ ❖ ChargeNest ❖ ❖ Chavdar Kamenarov ❖ ❖ Chemotronix Limited ❖ ❖ Cimu ❖ ❖ Clair Clean Air ❖

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Technologies Clean Code CLIMxAERO CLIP Energy Cloudcrop Code Wolves Coflux Purification ContainerGrid Corporate Ghana Strategic lnvestments Group Limited CP_VANS Crop Diagnostix deScrapped DetoXyFi e-charging EcoChainFin Ecolution ECOPRIDE ECO-Wave Power Eki Agrivoltaics Electromaim ElectroVent EnerGirrafe Everdant EVident Battery EVolution EyeLeaf EYELEAF Flash Flint FlowCellutions

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Fly Farmer Fore Solutions Geo-Swarm GLED Global-winner Glowing Village Project Go-CTax Go-Solar Fresh GPSolar Graff Inc Green Thumb Agricultural Solutions GreenChain Greenlay GreenRipple GreNu Energy Harsh Helix Carbon HFL Incy Tech Inti Solar Iontech energy Jakaba Team jargoñ.ai Kinowave KohlenKraft GmbH KOTA Latent Lemon Lighthouse Energy LITER Mangrove

2024 MIT CEP Participants We would like to thank all participants in this year’s MIT CEP.

Total participants (167 teams) ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

MeOH ❖ Methain't ❖ MicroAvionics ❖ Monte Caldera ❖ Myfarm Ltd NET Offset ❖ Net Zero Foundation Inc. ❖ NetaCarbon ❖ New Time Machine ❖ Owanga ❖ Oxylus Energy ❖ Oxylus Energy ❖ PARALLEL ❖ ParaStruct ❖ Particle-N ❖ PayVerve ❖ Pecan Credit ❖ PECOP Project ❖ Philisa Energy ❖ PicKinHub ❖ PlasGRID ❖ PowerPlants ❖ Prospect Growth, Inc. ❖ Pulse Magnetics ❖ ReAxel Technologies ❖ Regreenerate Rehydrate ❖ Renescout ❖ RESILIFT ❖

Rise Reforming ❖ Samtracs ❖ Saptkrishi ❖ Schrodinger Technologie ❖ Ltd ❖ SeaMind AI ❖ SecondSite ❖ Seneca Energy Systems ❖ SenseIT ❖ Silo Energy SimplyScrapps ❖ Sirius-X Energy ❖ Solar Aqua and Light ❖ Solar Marine ❖ SolarMed ❖ Solidec ❖ Spare Ai ❖ Strobe Power ❖ SunTrace ❖ SustAIn ❖ SustainaCode ❖ Tarragon Systems TECNO SABER 3000 CA Teelabs Thermoelectric Stove Generator ThreadMap Tobelli TraceCycle

TrashTroopers Treeva Ltd Tuuli Unbiased Cathodet Upcycling+ Vaulterra Vert Vertical GaN Wankel Energy Systems Pvt Ltd Wastezon WattShift WeavInsight WeeHive WEFERA Wiser Machines Inc. WSU Team Xcharge Digital Yotuh Energy Zero Waste ZIRAEALINK

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MIT Climate & Energy Prize® 2024 Cambridge, Massachusetts 40