This year’s Sustaintech Xcelerator Cycle 2 (2023) focuses on carbon removal with the aim to eliminate carbon dioxide (CO2) and/or greenhouse gases from the atmosphere at scale The second run of Sustaintech Xcelerator will focus on solutions in three main areas:​ Nature-based approaches such as afforestation and reforestation Technology based approaches such as carbon capture and storage Enablers such as digital tools and capabilities on carbon accounting and sourcing of ESG data, with a preference for solutions that can help SMEs implement viable technology solutions to green their operations

According to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the atmospheric gases responsible for causing global warming and climate change. The major GHGs are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N20). Less prevalent --but very powerful -- greenhouse gases are hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6). Oxford Net Zero explained, Greenhouse Gas Removal, GGR (also known as negative emissions) encompasses a wide range of proposed techniques to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. While there are some proposed methods for removing greenhouse gases other than CO2, the vast majority of GGR methods involve the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere and its long-term storage so that it doesn’t find its way back into the atmosphere. Here is a definition we like from World Resource Institute – Carbon dioxide removal (CDR), also called carbon removal, is the process of removing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it. Carbon has naturally circulated from the atmosphere to forests, soils and oceans for millennia as part of the carbon cycle, but CO2 concentrations have steadily increased since the Industrial Revolution. Carbon removal seeks to accelerate and augment the natural carbon cycle to reduce the level of CO2 in the atmosphere.

‘Decarbonisation’ tends to refer to the process of reducing ‘carbon intensity’, lowering the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced by the burning of fossil fuels. Generally, this involves decreasing CO2 output per unit of electricity generated. Reducing the amount of carbon dioxide occurring as a result of transport and power generation is essential to meet global temperature standards set by the Paris Agreement and UK government. (TWI-Global)

According to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies – Natural solutions often involve growing more organisms that naturally absorb CO2. Technological solutions rely on machines to remove carbon from the atmosphere, while hybrid solutions use technology or biological changes to supplement the natural CO2 removal processes.

Sustaintech Xcelerator is a joint initiative supported by DBS Bank, Temasek, GenZero, the World Bank, Capgemini, Google Cloud, Verra and the National University of Singapore Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions. These organisations are striving to exponentially increase the impact of carbon removal solutions in partnership with climate innovators around the world.

During the 6 months of the programme, you will be assigned a dedicated mentor from our partner organisations. The accelerator will start with a discovery phase where we will dive further into your mission, current needs and plans in order to craft a bespoke support plan for you throughout the 6 months. For example, each selected applicant will receive technology resources from Google Cloud, access research expertise at NUS and will pitch at the various showcase conferences. In Cycle 1, we worked with the World Bank, SGInnovate and Ecosperity Conference organised by Temasek for these showcases and our start-ups forged meaningful connections along their scale-up journey. In a nutshell, being in the xcelerator, each team will speak weekly to the dedicated mentors, and every 2-3 week, participate in the the masterclasses arranged by partners; showcase demo mid-term and at the end of the programme. Throughout the process, we will work with you to connect you to relevant stakeholders in the Singapore ecosystem to help accelerate your development and to explore opportunities for localising your solutions.

We will organise a matchmaking experience to ensure that both parties get the most out of the accelerator engagement. We recommend that you meet bi-weekly at the minimum – virtually and/or in-person.

Our mentoring team is built from relevant experts across our partner organisations and from our extended network of NGOs, academic institutions, CDR specialists, NbS project developers and other technical experts. We will share more details of the panel with the confirmed cohort.

Yes, we will be providing grants of S$50,000 (Singapore Dollar) to each of the 5 successful applicant (project team/company) that make it into the Sustaintech Xcelerator. The grant of $50,000 is to be used to support the development of MVPs, proof-concepts and other tangible deliverables that will help to accelerate your solutions and will be disbursed based on agreed milestones.