Insights and news
The aim of this partnership is to accelerate the implementation of economically and ecologically viable solutions in the aviation industry. Air France and the Solar Impulse...
In two days, I have covered 778 kilometers, emitting nothing more than water vapor. I drove through two countries – France and Luxembourg – driving a hydrogen car, a standard Hyundai Nexo. I...
An easy, transparent way for companies to compensate carbon emissions. While reduction of our carbon emissions is imperative in order to meet the Paris Agreement and...
This solution can light interiors with no electricity. In the fight against climate change, the most efficient solutions are not necessarily the most complex ones....
The politicians and industry leaders offended by Greta Thunberg's call for us to “listen to the science” are not just responsible for the inaction in the face of the climate crisis, they...
Pour la plupart, les politiciens et industriels qui s’offusquent du discours de Greta ne sont pas seulement les responsables de l’immobilisme face à la crise climatique. Ils sont aussi ceux...
For the first time, Lausanne hosted our Experts Challenge event. The Olympic Museum’s walls are covered with pictures of the greatest olympic athletes of all time: from Usain Bolt to...
A new way to grow leafy vegetables, reducing water consumption, carbon emissions with no pesticides. Food waste is not only one of the world’s biggest environmental...
C’était tellement évident : à force de négliger l’urgence des problèmes climatiques pour favoriser leurs idéologies personnelles, les partis politiques traditionnels allaient perdre la...
On October 16th, the world’s major players in the plastics industry will gather at K-Fair, “the world’s n°1 trade fair for plastics and rubber” in Düsseldorf, Germany. The event will be...
A solution to reduce waste. Every year, the world generates over 2 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste, mainly composed of food (44%), paper and cardboard (17%),...
The partnership between the two entities is part of a global effort from the world’s biggest luxury goods company to put protection of the environment at the core of its priorities, without...
A Swiss startup has developed a new technology capable of reducing both water and energy consumption. In most developed countries, people take access to water for...
The version of capitalism that has dominated global markets for the last half-century is being rightfully questioned as never before. Whilst over a billion people have been pulled out of...
This solution can drastically reduce both emission and noise pollution in ports.In 2000, the port of Gothenburg was home to a major technological breakthrough in the maritime industry. It was the...
With an entirely new process, from recycling, repairing and treating e-waste disposal, this project creates economic opportunities while protecting the environment. On...
Three years after its final landing in Abu Dhabi (UAE), Solar Impulse, the solar-powered airplane in which Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg flew around the world without a drop...
Three per cent. That is the contribution of the maritime sector to total global carbon emissions. It doesn’t sound all that much for a sector that ensures 90% of world trade and whose ships...
This solution offers an eco-friendly replacement for packaging for retailers and brand owners. The race to find alternatives to plastics is on. The packaging...
Dear President Macron, Excellencies,If I am here today in front of you, it is not because I flew around the world in a solar powered airplane but because I have proof that clean technologies exist...
The explorer and pilot of Solar Impulse has been selected by the French government as one of the representatives of civil society that will address the G7, calling for brave policies that will...
On August 26th, 2019, I will be addressing Heads of States and government officials at the 45th G7 summit, in Biarritz, France. This year's edition will focus on fighting inequality in its...
HomeStove uses waste heat to generate electricity for phone charging or small lights. When Alexander Drummond and Jonathan Cedar, two camping enthusiasts from NYC,...
This solution is safer, offers superior flight endurance, and can carry a larger relative load than conventional drones. Is it a plane? A helicopter? A balloon?...
A new generation of buildings designed to create financial, human and societal value. While residential buildings are mostly full during the evening and night,...
The Swedish cleantech company becomes the first Solar Impulse Efficient Solution to complete an IPO.“Passion is the greatest renewable energy source. Passion is something that can...
A solution to monitor food waste and help chefs adapt their food purchases. Have you ever felt that guilt at a restaurant when you leave your plate half full or send...
This solution turns non-recycled plastic into insulation material. To successfully transition to a sustainable economy, we must move from linear to circular...
This new road is a solution to power road equipment in remote locations.As the world continues on its path to electrification, the energy needs will have doubled by the year 2050. The need for...
Some background on our labelling process and how we ensure its relevance.“Why did you decide to launch a label?” is a question that we get pretty often. And it’s a relevant one, too. After all,...
24 experts met in Munich to assess the solutions who applied for the Solar Impulse Efficient Solution Label. The result of the event will be 28 completed assessments. After the...
Good Tech Lab has decided to explore the frontiers of technology and system entrepreneurship and look at how innovation can help us fight the climate crisis.After 18 months of research,...
This two-seater electric plane, co-founded by Solar Impulse's Co-Founder, CEO and pilot André Borschberg, is a perfect example of how new technologies can help us transition to...
The Solar Impulse Foundation announced a new partnership with Schneider Electric, one of the world’s leading companies in Energy Management, Industrial Automation, and Services, through the...
The noose is tightening around the air transport industry and only airline companies can untie the knot. They would greatly benefit in the end by becoming actors rather than victims of change....
AgRHO S-Boost favors and optimizes water and nutrients absorption by the seed. In the world 33% of all the soils are...
WaveRoller is a device that converts the ocean wave energy into electricity. You have probably spent time watching and listening to the constant movement of waves breaking on the shore....
Interview avec Tony Estanguet, Président du comité d’organisation des JO de Paris 2024 Des événements tels que les Jeux Olympiques, la Coupe du Monde ou la Ligue des Champions attirent...
Interview with Tony Estanguet, President of the Organising Committee of the Paris 2024 Olympic GamesThis article is a translation of interview in french. Read the original...
This solution uses a new process and technology to make sleepers more efficient, reduce waste and create clean energy While innovation, design and technology has transformed most...
This year's World Environment Day is dedicated to one of the world's most pressing issue: air pollution. One morning in March 2015, Parisians woke up to a mysterious scene: the Eiffel Tower...
“Sport has the power to change the world” declared Nelson Mandela in his famous speech at the first Laureus World Sports Awards in Monaco in 2000. Sport has indeed played a major...
From May 27th to 29th, the world’s top clean energy decision-makers will gather in Vancouver for the 10th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM10) and 4th Mission Innovation (MI-4).During 3...
A waterless toilet installation for isolated and water stressed areas. “This is a container of human waste” said Bill Gates while brandishing a beaker of poo, as...
Could we deal with our carbon emissions challenge by capturing them from industrial facilities or directly from the atmosphere? Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) has gained...
This electric motorcycle mixes mechanics tradition and technological innovation. For the transport sector - which accounted for 14% of global greenhouse gas...
Business solutions to protect our environment and promote inclusive prosperity exist. They simply need to be embraced and supported.This article was originally published by UNCTAD. See...
If you are at VivaTech, don't miss the opportunity to discover our labelled solutions, meet members of our staff and listen to Bertrand Piccard on stage. This week, the entire...
On May 14th 2019, in the Palace of Nations in Geneva, UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) and the Solar Impulse Foundation will debate the role of start-ups in...
The Solar Impulse Foundation and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have signed a landmark agreement for the provision of financial advisory services to innovative environmental solutions...
The European project was built upon the premise of safeguarding peace by creating the European Coal and Steel Community. Coming as it did in the aftermath of WWII, Robert Schuman’s plan was...
Underwater turbines could provide renewable energy to off-grid communities who rely on fossil fuels. In most of the roughly 11’000 inhabited islands around the world, power supply is a big...
The Belgian region of Wallonia partners with the Solar Impulse Foundation to speed up the 1000 solutions challenge, bring Walloon cleantech solutions to the world and help the region...
Earth’s cornucopia of life has evolved over 550 million years. Along the way, five mass extinction events have caused serious setbacks to life on our planet. The fifth, which was caused by a...
Discovering individual animals, following their movements, identifying and locating animal and plant species, assessing their habitat, and preventing poaching are just a few examples...
This article is published in collaboration with World Economic ForumThe total number of animals has halved since the 1970s in what some scientists have termed the start of Earth’s...
Ambee helps citizens monitor pollution and take actions to avoid the most toxic areasWhat’s the issue?Invented in India to face an ever-increasing air pollution challenge, Ambee is...
This eco-driving coach can help reduce fuel consumption up to 10% What’s the issue?While many topics are still open for discussion, few doubts remain over the fact that cars pollute. First,...
Looking for new opportunities, giving companies the chance to scale, taking financial risks, supporting companies... Cleantech investors have a crucial role to play in the...
The Solar Impulse Efficient Solution Label is now part of the EuroQuity network, enabling its solutions to access an exclusive business partner and investor matching...
E-commerce is now part of our everyday lives. We buy pretty much anything in a matter of seconds with a simple click, and we expect purchases to arrive at our doorstep...
Drones, marketplaces, IoT and sensors, blockchain technologies, artificial intelligence… After having radically transformed our everyday lives, all these...
Today is the 108th International Women’s Day. This year’s theme is “Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change”, and strongly focuses on the importance of women involvement in climate...
Dear COP24 Negotiators,During these next couple of weeks, in Katowice, Poland, you will have to decide on measures urgently needed to ensure the future quality of life on earth for humanity....
The story behind Lactips is first and foremost about the encounter of two different worlds and two complementary people. Frédéric Prochazka, a researcher...

1000 Solutions — June 05, 2018
World Environment Day: Solutions to fight plastic pollution

Written by Tristan Lebleu
The Solar Impulse Foundation, and UN Environment have very similar approaches when it comes to protection of the environment: we believe in the importance to highlight solutions rather than problems.This is why a few weeks ago, in collaboration with UN Environment, we decided to launch a call for solutions...

News — June 04, 2018
EU Sustainable Energy Week: the energy transition needs leaders!

Written by Tristan Lebleu
The EU must continue to lead the clean energy transition. In 2017, for the first time, wind, solar and biomass surpassed coal in electricity generation, according to a study by Sandbag and Agora Energiewende. In total, renewable energies generated 30% of Europe's electricity in 2017.While these are good signs...

1000 Solutions — May 31, 2018
Data: the key to make our air great again

Written by Tristan Lebleu
Air pollution is a silent killer. Every year, an alarming 7 million people die due to their exposure to polluted air, according to the World Health Organization’s most recent study on the topic, making it the fourth-largest cause of death worldwide. Globally, 9 out of 10 people breathe air that contains high...

News — May 29, 2018
World Alliance for Efficient Solutions: Why Become a Member?

Written by Tristan Lebleu
COLLABORATE WITH PEERSWe believe collaboration is the key to success. Solutions exist but they are hidden in startups who need business partnerships to implement and scale their technologies. This is one of the key reasons why we created the World Alliance for Efficient Solutions: to...

Insights — May 25, 2018
African solutions tackling the continent’s environmental challenges

Written by Tristan Lebleu
A fast growing entrepreneurial ecosystem is tackling the continent’s numerous challenges by leveraging tech and digital. According to a study by Partech Venture - which announced the launch of a 120M$ fund dedicated to African startups in January - 124 startups raised 560M$ in 2017, an astonishing 53% YoY...

News — May 23, 2018
The Solar Impulse Efficient Solution Label: a new approach to...

Written by Tristan Lebleu
Let’s take a quick look back: in November 2017, at the Bonn Climate Change Conference, we launched the World Alliance for Efficient Solutions to bring together the main actors involved in developing, financing or promoting products, services, processes and technologies that protect the environment in a...
News — May 04, 2018
#1000Solutions: the startup community joins our challenge!
Written by Tristan Lebleu
13 years later, Cleantech Open has helped foster the clean tech movement globally, with over 1500 startups accelerated worldwide, who’ve raised 1.2B$, and created over 3000 jobs. Over the past decade, organizations to support cleantech entrepreneurs have been created all over the world. There are numerous...

News — May 04, 2018
Solar Impulse Foundation and UN Environment call on all innovators...

Written by Tristan Lebleu
Ending plastic pollution, and more globally “Ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns” (Sustainable Development Goal 12), is a challenge we take very seriously at the Solar Impulse Foundation, and many of the members of our World Alliance for Efficient Solutions are tackling this issue (see...

News — April 24, 2018
1000 solutions - Help us make sure they are the right ones

Written by Tristan Lebleu
Obviously, to select a thousand, you need quite a lot more than that to choose from, so you have a whole lot of leg work in simply reaching out and finding them. And then you must identify which should be awarded the Efficient Solutions label, which serves to show to the world that solutions exist that make...

News — April 20, 2018
Earth Day 2018: solutions to end plastic pollution exist

Written by Tristan Lebleu
Every year, approximately 8 million metric tons of plastics escape to our oceans. This overwhelming figure doesn’t mean much to most people, as it is hardly understandable. But the consequences of it on our environment are very clear: “from poisoning and injuring marine life to disrupting human hormones, from...

News — April 11, 2018
On the road to #1000Solutions

Written by Chiara Cosenza
In April, the Solar Impulse Foundation, Bertrand Piccard and members of the World Alliance for Efficient Solutions participated in the inaugural Geneva Climate Show. Members of the World Alliance had the opportunity to meet with investors, display their solution on the #1000 solutions booth, and serve as...

News — March 31, 2018
Donald Trump agrees to sign Paris Agreement

Written by Chiara Cosenza
In occasion of April Fools' Day, we thought it would be fun to imagine the President of the United States of America, changing his mind and agreeing to sign the Paris agreement and join the global effort toward sustainability. But, is it a joke?We believe this is possible....

News — March 29, 2018
Easter traffic: soon cleaner...but no less annoying

Written by Rémy Kalter
So while we are probably some way from consigning traffic jams to the scrap heap of history, we seem to be moving that way for fossil-fuel powered vehicles and dirty mobility options. So we need alternatives, and that’s why we at the Solar Impulse Foundation have committed to select 1000 clean, efficient and...

News — March 28, 2018
World Alliance members at the Climate Show in Geneva

Written by Chiara Cosenza
Bertrand Piccard will be speaking at the opening and taking part in a panel discussion, and five of our members will be displaying their solutions during the marketplace exhibition. These solutions exist across a range of topics, from an easier and cheaper way to install offshore wind turbines to railway...

News — March 22, 2018
Clean water: continuing a family legacy

Written by Nathalie Berger
But most renewable energy production methods today do not require water to produce energy, and these solutions exist and are financially viable even though they are not yet available at the required scale. Take a company like BlueRise, for example, that has developed an Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion...