Non-profit's strategic investment tackles the funding gap between climate innovation and widespread adoption.HONOLULU and SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Elemental Impact , a leading non-profit technology investor, announced today $18.6 million in investments across 16 companies deploying projects in Texas, Nevada, Oklahoma, Colorado, Tennessee, and international markets.This announcement is part of the non-profit's larger investing strategy that includes initial investments to build a pipeline of critical climate companies and projects, follow-on funding to promising projects with local impact, and the newly announced Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) program for later-stage commercialized technologies, for which investments are expected to be announced in the new year.These investments represent one of the many ways Elemental continues to tackle the $150B "Scale Gap," a critical challenge and funding shortfall climate companies face during first-of-a-kind (FOAK) and early commercial deployments. While these technologies have proven their potential, this funding gap often results in a lack of necessary capital to scale up these innovations, creating a barrier to the widespread adoption."We are seeing extraordinary demand for capital from entrepreneurs who are ready to scale, but who face a critical funding gap," said Dawn Lippert, CEO of Elemental Impact. "These 16 new investments prove that philanthropy can enable projects in rural towns, Tribal lands, urban areas, and wild ecosystems -- and unlock significant private investment."After vetting more than 7,000 companies this year, Elemental selected companies representing four emerging themes: accelerating the next era of U.S. manufacturing, building a resilient supply chain, strengthening rural and tribal access, and scaling a regenerative food system. They will now join a portfolio of more than 160 companies that have created over 10,000 jobs, all working to scale their solutions and create meaningful economic benefits in local communities

By Mark Dryden, WIND VenturesLast year, the US broke a record with 40 percent of electricity generated being zero-carbon. China added 216 gigawatts (GW) of solar in a year, or 14 percent of global capacity. As the world’s largest emitters, this is a cause to celebrate. The EU achieved 44 percent clean energy, with some rapid growth driven by Russian gas turning sour. Bored yet? Like climate tech reporting, I’ve introduced this piece discussing important but over-reported regions. But what about Latin America (LatAm)?. LatAm’s electricity mix is 60 percent renewable, twice the global average. Paraguay generates 99.9 percent of its electricity from hydroelectricity. Brazil has 33GW of solar capacity, and its 113GW of solar energy in the pre-construction stage is second only to China globally. Chile ranks second globally for solar photovoltaic potential, and its Magallanes Region is one of the best wind resources in the world, with a potential of 310GW