Cleantech: Berlin wants to be at the forefront of the race to reach a zero carbon economy
Photo by COUP.
I was invited by The Hundert to write an OPINION piece about the Berlin cleantech startup scene for their 10th issue on sustainability.
Major cities all around the world will play an increasingly important role in addressing the challenges of climate change, and Berlin wants to be at the forefront of this race to reach a zero carbon economy. The German capital wants to be a pioneer, and is the ideal example to illustrate that even large urban areas can achieve climate neutrality.
Christiane Averbeck, Executive Director of Climate Alliance Germany, reiterates the commitment of the city to being climate neutral through drafting the first bike traffic law in Germany and envisioning a fully connected network of bike lanes. She adds that “Berlin switched off the coal power plant Klingenberg — a huge success for the local anti-coal movement,” which will lead to a quicker replacement of the other three coal power plants by renewable energy and heat.
Many citizens are also encouraging a healthy and less climate-damaging lifestyle through countless vegan restaurants, urban gardening projects and even a zero-waste supermarket startup by the name of Original Unverpackt. Their aim is to eliminate plastic in the world, and founder Milena Glimbovski recently appeared on the German version of ‘Shark Tank’ to take her business online.
Sustainability startups are pitching solutions for moving toward a greener future all over the city, and greatly succeeding in their ventures, such as solar startups Little Sun, who are making cheap and sustainable energy available across the globe. Fashion startups like Dit Is Balin and Design for Circularity are reducing waste and encouraging fair trade in the clothing industry, and Einhorn Kondome produce “fairstainable” vegan condoms in designer chip bags.
But how did Berlin become this center for sustainable projects?
According to Paul Grunow, physicist and board director of the Photovoltaik-Institut Berlin, the reason is simple: “Similar to the booming IT startup scene in Berlin, these issues have the potential to be disruptive in terms of breaking up existing models of the old industry with its big energy, chemistry, and automotive companies located in the old western part of Germany.”
Ecoligo cofounder Markus Schwaninger adds that “locations such as the EUREF Campus that accumulate expertise in the CleanTech sector also facilitate the exchange between the startups, which is especially important in the early stages.” For other entrepreneurs, sustainability describes a relationship between the company, its customers, and partners. “We decided to build an actual, profitable, and sustainable business rather than focusing on raising the next round,” said Simon Becker, co-founder of Cabin Spacey.
However, the scene isn’t all moonshine and roses, and for many people, things are simply not moving fast enough. According to Maik Günther, PhD student at the Freie Universitat, Berlin will become a cutting-edge clean-tech hub only if we are able to build “stronger partnerships between the industry and startups”. For The Beam Magazine founder, Benjamin Schulz, the major problem is that “while the city is rich in ideas and talent, it is sometimes very poor in real economic impact and investment.”
Another issue is the dissonance between entrepreneurs and the support they receive from the government. And yet local governments are starting to understand that supporting a sustainable future is a city’s best investment, with the new municipal government of Berlin developing a strong strong political orientation towards decarbonisation as confirmed by Hans-Josef Fell, president of the Energy Watch Group. A recent study investigating the feasibility of reducing Berlin’s CO2 emission by 85% and achieving climate neutrality by 2050 concluded that the climate-neutral transformation of the Berlin energy system would in fact be possible and will ultimately stimulate the growth of value-added activities and employment in the city.
When hearing “digital economy”, San Francisco is usually the first city that comes to mind. The city’s dominance stems from their (r)evolution having kicked off decades ago. When it comes to CleanTech, Berlin could become the torchbearer. The three most important elements needed here are: a greater awareness by all sectors, government policies that support carbon neutrality, and larger investments into cleantech.
Berlin represents disruptiveness more than any other city in Europe, and I would argue that it is in the city’s DNA to become the radical leader in sustainability.