Aims to Combat Climate Change: Focus on Circular Solutions and Striving for Mega-ton Reductions
**Headline: FullCycle's Circular Economy Approach: A Dual Solution for Climate Change**
In a bold move to combat climate change, FullCycle, a forward-thinking firm, is harnessing the power of private capital to invest in innovative technologies that promote a circular economy (CE) and reduce both carbon dioxide (CO2) and short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs).
The circular economy, a concept gaining traction among consumers and investors, promotes sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing, and recycling materials. This approach significantly reduces resource extraction and waste generation, extending product lifecycles and reducing emissions associated with production and disposal.
FullCycle's strategy is unique. They are not a venture fund that invests in multiple companies; instead, they focus on a select few. Each platform company receives legal and technical support upfront, allowing for faster rollout and making FullCycle a master franchisee.
One of the firm's portfolio companies, Synova, uses technology to convert solid waste into valuable chemicals without producing gases such as methane. Synova's technology is considered world-changing and economically viable for six continents. Another portfolio company focuses on controlled environment agriculture, which allows food production in extreme climates and is economically viable in both rich and poor countries.
CE technologies have the potential to reduce CO2 equivalent emissions by about 9.3 billion metric tons, a figure comparable to all current emissions from transportation. Advanced process integration, AI, IoT, and blockchain frameworks within CE can save between 2.6–5.3 gigatonnes of CO2 by 2030 through optimization and efficient waste management.
SLCPs, such as methane, nitrous oxide, fluorinated gases, and particulates, have a rapid and potent greenhouse effect. CE technologies addressing organic waste recovery and improved waste management are effective in reducing methane emissions, a major SLCP. For example, efforts in Argentina focus on organic waste recovery policies that target SLCP reduction.
The effectiveness of CE technologies in reducing SLCPs and their comparison to CO2 emissions over a 20-year period can be understood by examining the key impacts and mechanisms involved. SLCP mitigation provides more immediate climate benefits because of the short atmospheric lifetime, leading to a faster reduction in warming potential over 20 years. In contrast, CO2 accumulates and persists for centuries, so while CO2 mitigation through CE has a slower immediate impact, it is critical for long-term climate stabilization.
FullCycle's innovative structure aims to reassure impact investors disenchanted with the rapid diminishing returns in solar and wind technology. The firm looks to back technologies with the potential to reduce emissions by at least one gigaton of CO2 and plans to invest in five to eight platform companies, providing dedicated funding for eight to 40 projects in climate change abatement verticals.
FullCycle's Carbon Return on Investment (CROI) is a tough criterion, requiring a high CO2 savings per annum. The firm is not interested in the speed of change but in condensing the timeframe for companies to become the standard technology replacing their 19th or 20th century versions. FullCycle aims to put $3bn to $5bn to work at favourable terms for limited partners.
As the fight against climate change continues, FullCycle's approach to combining circular economy strategies with innovative private equity-style financing and business acceleration techniques offers a promising solution for reducing both CO2 and SLCP emissions, achieving both immediate and sustained climate mitigation over a 20-year period and beyond.
[1] European Commission (2020). Circular Economy Action Plan. https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/circular-economy-action-plan_en
[2] World Economic Forum (2020). The circular economy: A roadmap for policymakers. https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-circular-economy-a-roadmap-for-policymakers
[3] United Nations Environment Programme (2019). Global Methane Assessment 2020. https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/28241/Global_Methane_Assessment_2020.pdf
[4] Climate and Clean Air Coalition (n.d.). Short-lived Climate Pollutants. https://www.ccac.int/slcp/slcp-overview
- The ceaseless fight against climate change sees innovation as a key player, with companies like FullCycle leveraging environmental-science and technology to invest in solutions that promote a circular economy, particularly focusing on reducing carbon dioxide emissions and short-lived climate pollutants.
- In an effort to combat climate change, FullCycle, a pioneering firm, is utilizing finance and investing strategies to back technologies that not only combat carbon dioxide but also address the rapid and potent greenhouse effect of short-lived climate pollutants, such as methane.
- As part of their commitment to climate change abatement, FullCycle's portfolio includes Synova, a company using technology to convert waste into valuable chemicals, thereby reducing methane emissions, a major short-lived climate pollutant. This Technology, deemed world-changing, is economically viable for six continents.
