Cleantech, Batteries, and the Circular Economy: a Conversation with Erik Terjesen
Want to know the latest developments in battery technology? Curious about best practices for greening your supply chain? Just ask Erik Terjesen, Silicon Foundry’s resident cleantech expert. Erik specializes in commercializing EV, solar, energy storage, and wireless technologies and has extensive experience in licensing, technology transfer, venture capital, and mergers and acquisitions. He holds a BA from Harvard and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. We sat down with Erik to discuss big topics in cleantech, the future of batteries, and what corporations should consider as they prioritize sustainability.
Give us an overview of the cleantech landscape. What technologies and trends are you most excited about?
The market has proved that cleantech is here to stay. When I started in the industry about ten years ago, there was tremendous skepticism about whether cleantech could exist without government subsidies. A lot has happened since then. Tesla catalyzed electrification of the consumer automotive segment, and now we’re moving towards parity: electric and combustion vehicles will likely be similar in price by 2024. Solar and wind energy have reached a price point where there’s no need for subsidies — they’re equivalent to other forms of generation. The next opportunity is developing energy storage systems capable of harnessing these intermittent sources for use at all times of the day.
Major corporations are now thinking about the circular economy and considering the health of their supply chains from an environmental perspective. While forms of energy storage have been in development for decades, it truly feels as though corporations, investors and innovators are aligning to bring these new technologies to commercialization in rapid fashion.
Let’s talk about the future of batteries.
Successful electrification relies on battery technology — and it’s top of mind for many corporations. If you’re a coal or oil company, you’re thinking about how electrification is going to disrupt your business. If you’re a transportation player, you’re thinking about what you’re going to do with your fleet. Consumer electronics players are looking for batteries that last longer and charge faster. Most experts agree that the batteries we use today are just okay. If we really want to move to the next level of electrification, batteries need to be cheaper, safer, and more energy dense. Emerging technologies such as solid state batteries and lithium metal anodes will be an important part of this equation.
There’s also a whole dialogue in batteries about end of life and recyclability. A lot of the ingredients in batteries are highly toxic. The liquid electrolytes that transport ions in the battery cell are made from flammable carcinogens that can’t be recycled. I previously worked at Ionic Materials, which is focused on building better batteries and created a solid, recyclable polymer that can replace those electrolytes in lithium ion systems.
What’s your biggest advice to companies considering how to integrate cleantech into their businesses?
The technologies you adopt to reduce your impact will vary according to your industry and vertical. I think all companies should avoid greenwashing. It happens a lot, where companies buy carbon offsets as a public relations tactic and effectively pretend that their environmental impact isn’t as damaging as it actually is.
Creating positive impact requires scale, and the biggest players have the biggest obligation to lead the way. I look at a company like Amazon, which is moving to electrify its fleet of delivery vehicles and has made a commitment to be net zero carbon by 2040. Those are big goals, and I think major players need to provide more specificity around how they’re going to meet those goals. If corporations are more specific about their strategies, and we can track their efforts with a standardized scorecard, that will push competitors to adopt similar environmental measures. As Amazon electrifies its delivery fleet, how will retailers and shipping players respond? Are they going to still drive around in their diesel trucks? Competitors can be incentivized to catch up on sustainability, and that’s a good thing. Consumers pay attention to those decisions and will reward forward-thinking companies with a larger share of their purchases.
