Deep tech for climate action: Balancing long-term innovation and urgency

Industry experts explain how breakthrough innovations are reshaping our approach to scaling sustainable solutions

Some of today’s challenges require solutions that are just on the horizon.

Given the urgency of global climate action, it’s understandable that someone might want to allocate all their resources toward mobilizing and scaling existing clean-energy technologies (e.g., solar, wind, electric vehicles, lithium batteries). And these are vital for climate action, but they are insufficient for addressing the true scope and complexity of the crisis. That’s why we must continue to invest in deep tech: highly sophisticated advancements that require significant scientific or engineering breakthroughs.
What’s considered deep tech changes over time because it exists on the cutting edge, but it always requires years of research and development to ultimately solve complex issues across industries.
During Capgemini’s Business to Planet Connect, part of Climate Week NYC 2024, experts in deep tech discussed the challenges and benefits of developing these innovations for global use. They argued that ecosystems and partnerships must mobilize now for successful deployment of new-to-the-world, transformational solutions in the future.

The case for deep tech in climate solutions

Kate Kelly, Chief of Staff at Avalanche Energy, highlighted a sobering statistic from the International Energy Agency: global energy demand is projected to grow by 3.4 percent over the next three years. This will be accelerated by the explosion of AI technologies, with some estimates suggesting that the power demand from AI doubles every 100 days.
“One of the other panels I was listening to said we need a revolution, not an evolution. And I would actually argue, from a deep-text standpoint, we need both,” Kelly said. “We need evolution in our existing technologies, and we need revolutionary technologies.”
Deep-tech innovations have the potential to address certain challenges that existing technologies cannot. For instance, Kelly’s company is working on harnessing fusion energy, which promises to be four times as energy dense as fission (currently used in nuclear power plants). This kind of breakthrough could help electrify regions that currently lack reliable power while simultaneously decarbonizing existing economies.

Overcome infrastructure constraints

Lisa Hansmann, Principal at Engine Ventures, pointed out that our current infrastructure can’t keep up with the rising electric demand. Studies suggest the US would need to triple its existing transmission network to achieve the Biden administration’s goal of becoming a net-zero emissions economy by 2050.
“The fundamental reality is that the timeline to build new transmission has increased over the last decade, to the point where now it’s a decade plus. That’s really challenging. But again, technology provides a solution.”
Hansmann cited the example of VEIR, a company using high-temperature superconducting tape to manufacture transmission wires that can carry five to 10 times more capacity using existing rights of way (i.e., the power lines and related infrastructure currently operated by utility companies).
Such breakthroughs enable us to significantly increase grid capacity without the time-consuming process of building entirely new infrastructure.

Complement existing tech with strategic innovations

Deep-tech solutions often don’t exist in isolation, but rather work in conjunction with current technologies to create more efficient and sustainable systems. This synergy is crucial for addressing climate change effectively.

Katherine Rodríguez, Co-Founder and Chief Implementation Officer of Osmoses, provided a concrete example of this approach. Her company has developed advanced membrane technology that separates gas molecules from complex mixtures. Energy producers can integrate this into existing industrial facilities, such as refineries or petrochemical plants.

“What you can do with membranes is install a membrane system that can carry out separations of that off gas, feed it back into the initial process, and then offset the emissions associated with steam methane reforming,” Rodríguez explained.

In simpler terms, existing industrial facilities, such as refineries or petrochemical plants, can use this technology to capture and recycle hydrogen that would have otherwise been wasted. This increases efficiency and reduces the physical footprint.

Deep tech allows for immediate improvements while laying the groundwork for more comprehensive changes in the future. “We have that technology that can be applied for now, for the future, and for that transition in the middle,” Rodríguez said.

Incorporate global perspectives early and often

Deep tech holds the potential to accelerate progress in developing economies. To ensure an equitable transition, it’s important that emerging solutions are adaptable and don’t cater exclusively to transformation needs in the Global North.

Trudie Wang, Vice President of Innovation at Heila Technologies, encouraged people to stop thinking of the planet as a linearized system with externalized costs. She said our talk of circular economies cannot be words only. “Deep tech is solving a problem, but it cannot do so in a silo. We cannot keep externalizing costs if we are to solve what is actually a social problem.”
Wang pointed out that not everyone can become an early adopter, but that deep tech should be made available to everyone regardless. She said the energy transition will not be sustainable if it is not equitable and that everyone should feel empowered to participate.
“We need to figure out – if we want to make this planet livable for everyone – how to bring everyone into the sustainable-energy transition,” Wang said.
Colin Campbell, Senior Vice President of Technology for Cambridge Consultants, explained that deep tech will be useful in adapting mature technologies for different regions or environments. “These are persistent deep tech problems. The core technology might be fine, but the system around that must change. It still needs innovators to come in and recognize that scaling is not ‘get to zero’ and you’re done. You’ve got to keep going. There are new challenges along the way.”
Both Campbell and Wang emphasized the need for deep-tech solutions to be flexible and capable of addressing the unique challenges of different communities around the world.

Prepare for deep-tech solutions across the globe

Many solutions that can address anthropomorphic climate change already exist. We just need the courage and political will to use them. At the same time, many of our most impactful solutions are still on the horizon and will require sustained investment and patience.

The challenge of scaling deep-tech solutions extends far beyond technical hurdles, from breakthrough to scaling. Rodríguez said it’s difficult to navigate each country’s political constraints and meet the various incentives – economic, sustainability, and operational – necessary to deploy successfully.
Despite these inconvenient realities, however, the panel was optimistic about the role of deep tech in addressing climate change. The experts agreed that comprehensive action would require a multi-faceted approach that combines scaling existing technologies with investing in breakthrough innovations.