Impact Investing with Moonshot: Driving Change with Cleantech Innovations

Every year, around 40 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂) are released into the atmosphere, accelerating climate change and threatening the future of our planet. In response to this crisis, a powerful transformation is underway: the transition to clean energy to enable net-zero emissions.

Clean energy is rapidly becoming the new standard, driven by innovations in carbon capture, solar fuels, etc., that turn once-distant dreams into reality. The problem, however, is that despite the progress made, the speed at which clean energy (wind and solar) generation needs to scale has to grow fourfold (from a 2% increase between 2012-2022 to 8% in 2022-2032) to meet current global net-zero commitments.

Consequently, McKinsey suggests an additional USD 4 trillion of investments could be needed per year compared to 2020 to reach the net-zero. Yet, the government support surely isn’t enough. It’s about each and every one of us taking care of our mother Earth, so she can take care of us – and this is where impact investing comes in.

Investors, seeking to deploy their wealth in a way that benefits the environment and society, whilst also generating a financial return, are poised to play a crucial role in bridging the gap between rising carbon emissions and the net-zero goal, according to Vontobel.

As recognition grows around the urgency of addressing climate change and transitioning to sustainable energy sources, the cleantech sector is seeing a spike in investment. According to S&P Global Commodity Insights, clean energy technology investment will reach nearly USD 800 billion in 2024 and USD 1 trillion by 2030.

At Moonshot, we embrace this approach, enabling our members’ access to investments in groundbreaking cleantech companies like Climeworks, Synhelion, and Commonwealth Fusion Systems that we believe are poised to drive the greatest change. This approach seeks to capitalize on significant value-creation opportunities while contributing to global sustainability goals. These companies are not just transforming their industries; they are pioneering solutions that redefine our relationship with the environment.

Climeworks – Leading the Charge in Carbon Removal

How Climeworks' direct air capture technology works
Source: Climeworks

Climeworks is a pioneer in carbon capture technology, dedicated to protecting the planet and ensuring a livable future. Founded in 2009 by engineers Jan Wurzbacher and Christoph Gebald at ETH Zurich, Climeworks has grown from a small company to a global leader in direct air capture (DAC) technology.

Climeworks captures CO₂ directly from the air using DAC+S technology, then stores it permanently underground in partnership with Carbfix, where it reacts with basalt rock and turns to stone. This process is crucial in combating both current and historical emissions.

Direct air capture, which extracts carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere, holds immense promise for reducing climate change and achieving net zero by 2050. However, current costs are around USD 1’000 per tonne of CO₂ captured, making it prohibitively expensive. Like the solar power sector, which saw a 90% price reduction from 2000 to 2024 due to economies of scale and technological advancements, DAC is expected to follow a similar cost-reduction trajectory.

DAC facilities are modular, comprising several boxes with fans and filters, which allows for significant cost reductions as production scales up. The International Energy Agency emphasizes the potential for significant reductions in costs throughout the Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS) value chain as the technology matures. CCUS encompasses technologies and processes designed to capture and store or utilize carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from various sources, such as industrial operations and power plants.

Historical data indicates a 35% cost reduction in CO₂ collection in the electricity sector from the first to the second large-scale CCUS installation. With these trends, DAC is expected to become increasingly cost-effective, paving the way for widespread adoption in large-scale carbon removal efforts.

A major milestone in this journey towards increased efficiency in the CCUS field is Climework’s recent launch of the Mammoth, the world's largest direct air capture and storage facility. Located in Iceland, the Mammoth can capture up to 36,000 tons of CO₂ per year, a tenfold increase in capacity over its predecessor, Orca. This significant increase in capacity demonstrates the potential for scaling up DAC technology and brings Climeworks closer to its goal of reaching the megaton scale by 2030 and the gigaton scale by 2050.

The rapid development of the Mammoth plant demonstrates Climeworks' ability to scale its technology efficiently. This success underscores the company's relentless innovation and commitment to addressing climate change on a global scale.

Mammoth represents not only a tenfold increase in carbon removal capacity but also a step change in project management, supply chain volume, and workforce requirements.
— Jan Wurzbacher, co-founder and co-CEO of Climeworks

Additionally, Climeworks has spent the past five years developing and validating its Generation 3 technology which was implemented at full scale for the first time in June 2024 at its largest direct air capture testing facility in Switzerland. This third-generation technology doubles CO₂ capture, halves energy consumption, and cuts costs by 50%. The first factory using this technology will open in Louisiana, US in 2026, with plans for global expansion. Climeworks is truly leading the way in sustainable technology and the race to net zero.

Climeworks' impact goes beyond technological advancements. The company has strategic partnerships with major corporations such as Microsoft, Swiss Re, Lego Group, and more, which are using the company’s services to help them achieve their net-zero goals. These collaborations underscore the growing recognition of Climeworks’ DAC+S technology as a critical tool in the fight against climate change.

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Synhelion – Revolutionizing Solar Energy

How Synhelion’s solar fuel technology works
Source: Synhelion

Synhelion is at the forefront of renewable energy, pioneering the conversion of solar heat into sustainable fuels. Founded in 2016 by Gianluca Ambrosetti and Philipp Furler as a spin-off from ETH Zurich, Synhelion aims to decarbonize transportation by replacing fossil fuels with carbon-neutral solar fuels, harnessing the power of the sun to generate clean energy.

Synhelion's technology converts solar radiation into high-temperature process heat, which produces synthesis gas – a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. This gas is then processed into liquid fuels such as jet fuel, gasoline, and diesel, compatible with existing fuel infrastructure.

A key milestone for Synhelion is the construction of the DAWN plant in Jülich, Germany, the world's first industrial-scale solar fuel plant. Scheduled to begin operations in 2024, DAWN will demonstrate the entire sun-to-liquid process and produce several thousand liters of solar fuel per year. This plant is a critical step in scaling Synhelion's technology and reducing global carbon emissions.

[...] our key components have been installed in the solar tower of DAWN [...] We are now taking the next steps to commission the components to make the plant ready for the production of solar fuels.
— Philipp Good, CTO of Synhelion

Synhelion’s solar receiver generates process heat at over 1,500 °C, driving the reactions to produce syngas; thermal energy storage ensures continuous operation for round-the-clock fuel production. At the same time, collaborations with industry giants such as Cemex, The Lufthansa Group, and SWISS highlight the broad applicability and demand for Synhelion's technology. These partnerships are critical to Synhelion's goal of global expansion, with plans to commission a commercial solar fuel plant in Spain by 2025 and scale up production to one million tons of fuel per year by 2033.

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Commonwealth Fusion Systems – Building Fusion Power Plant for Clean Energy

How Commonwealth Fusion Systems fusion technology works
Source: Commonwealth Fusion Systems

Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) is an American fusion power company and a major player in the development and commercialization of fusion technology. Founded by Zach Hartwig, Bob Mumgaard, and Dan Brunner in 2018 in Cambridge, Massachusetts after a spin-out from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the company has since worked on a fundamentally new source of clean energy to meet our growing energy demands and combat climate change.

The company is using a tokamak fusion plant (a doughnut-shaped device in which radio waves heat isotopes of hydrogen to above 100 million °C) that will turn heat from fusion reactions into steam that turns turbines to produce power without generating harmful emissions – providing a fossil-fuel-free power station solution with enough renewable electricity.

Since its founding in 2018, CFS has achieved significant progress in the physics and engineering domains, particularly with the development of the SPARC tokamak, ARC – the pioneering fusion power plant – and the innovative high-temperature superconducting cable known as VIPER. With bold ambitions ahead, CFS has targeted 2025 for its SPARC demonstration reactor to build “the world’s first fusion device that can create and confine a plasma that produces more energy than it consumes” and commercialize ARC in 2026.

The successful test of the magnet [built by MIT and CFS], says Hitachi America Professor of Engineering Dennis Whyte, who recently stepped down as director of the PSFC, was ‘the most important thing, in my opinion, in the last 30 years of fusion research.’
— Massachusetts Institute of Technology article about Commonwealth Fusion Systems

So far, CFS has already received funding from the US Department of Energy, as well as numerous institutional investors including Bill Gates, John Doerr, Google, Tiger Global Management, and more – all convinced by the company’s potential to ‘deploy fusion power plants’ to meet global decarbonization goals as fast as possible.

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Mother Cleantech Portfolio

Introduction of the Mother Cleantech Portfolio
Source: Moonshot

Moonshot Mother Cleantech Portfolio offers a thoughtfully curated blend of climate-focused private companies, with cutting-edge technologies in DAC, synthetic fuels, fusion power, and more – all striving to combat climate change and save the planet we call home. Climeworks, Synhelion, Commonwealth Fusion Systems, and other companies with tangible solutions to earth threats like an excessive amount of CO₂ in the air; high air pollution from fossil fuels; and limited sources of clean energy are all available for our members to invest in via a single product starting from CHF 500 per month or CHF 10’000 one-off.

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The Broader Impact of Cleantech Investments

Cleantech investments do more than mitigate climate change – they offer solid returns and drive significant technological advancements. The intersection of environmental stewardship and financial performance makes cleantech a compelling choice for forward-thinking investors.

Economically, cleantech investments have shown robust returns, benefiting from market demand, government incentives, and favorable regulations. That said, the global carbon capture and storage market is projected to grow from USD 6 billion in 2023 to USD 36 billion by 2032, with a CAGR of 22%. Notably, the European market is anticipated to witness even more pronounced growth, with a CAGR exceeding 34% during that same timeframe.

The next 1,000 unicorns won’t be search engines or social media companies, they’ll be sustainable, scalable innovators – startups that help the world decarbonize and make the energy transition affordable for all consumers.
— Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock

Environmentally, cleantech investments reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve energy efficiency, and promote renewable energy sources. Technologies like Climeworks' direct air capture and Synhelion’s solar fuel offer sustainable solutions, addressing both current and historical emissions.

The cleantech sector is primed for massive growth as the world transitions away from fossil fuels. FTSE Russell further confirms this, as the FTSE EO 100 Index, which focuses on the largest 100 global cleantech firms, has consistently demonstrated the highest total returns, outperforming broader global equity markets across multiple timeframes. Investors who get in early on promising cleantech companies and technologies stand to benefit significantly from their growth trajectories.

5-Year Performance-Total Return
Source: FTSE Russell 

The future of cleantech investments is more promising. With rising awareness of climate change, demand for innovative solutions will grow. Technological advances and decreasing renewable energy costs will further enhance cleantech's attractiveness. Additionally, policy frameworks and international agreements to reduce carbon emissions will likely drive further investment and innovation.

Conclusion

Climeworks and Synhelion are just two companies that demonstrate how technology can redefine industries and contribute to global sustainability goals. For investors seeking to align financial goals with values, Moonshot offers a compelling opportunity to join a transformative journey toward a sustainable future by supporting innovative companies driving environmental and social progress. This strategy is both a smart financial decision and a contribution to the preservation of our planet; the potential to create meaningful change while achieving financial success has never been greater.