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On June 20, as a way of marking the summer solstice, deep tech scale-up Synhelion, a spin-out of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), inaugurated what is being billed as the world’s first industrial solar fuel plant.

The plant, which is based in Jülich, Germany and is called Dawn, demonstrates how the entire technology chain, from concentrated sunlight to synthetic liquid fuel, can work on an industrial scale. It features a 20-meter-high solar tower and a mirror field (see the photo). The solar tower contains a solar receiver, a thermochemical reactor, and a thermal energy storage that the company says enables cost-efficient solar fuel production around the clock.

“The inauguration of Dawn marks the beginning of the era of solar fuels – a turning point for sustainable transportation,” Dr. Philipp Furler, CEO and Co-Founder, said in a statement. Solar fuels can directly replace fossil fuels and are fully compatible with the global existing fuel infrastructure – from storage and transportation to internal combustion engines and aircraft engines.

E-fuels, which are also known as Power-to-X fuels and are made using renewable or decarbonized electricity, could be a viable pathway to Net Zero and scale up rapidly by 2030, underpinned by a massive expansion of cheaper renewable electricity and anticipated cost reductions of electrolyzers, according to an International Energy Agency (IEA) report on the role of e-fuels in de-carbonizing the transport sector.
Swiss International Airlines in an investor in Synhelion. The ETH spin-out has a network of international partners, which include Lufthansa Group and Zurich Airport.

Read on to learn more about this story and other important technology news impacting business.

I’ve been involved in the annual VivaTech conference in Paris since its inception in 2016, and it continues to be one of my favorite global events to attend each year. This year’s event, which attracted 165,000 attendees – surpassing the notable Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas – was not only the biggest by far, but it was also the most successful to date. Credit goes to the conference organizers, including my good friend Maurice Levy, as well as President Emmanuel Macron’s strong support for the tech sector and entrepreneurship in France. The excitement in Paris was so profound that I felt compelled to write a follow-up to my earlier VivaTech column.

I’m thrilled to see France leading Europe in AI development and implementation. According to the French government, the country now has more than 600 AI startups, and of these, 50% are profitable or envision that they will be in the next three years. Some €3.2 billion was raised by AI startups in France in 2022 alone. What’s more, AI talent that previously moved abroad to work for the largest tech firms in the U.S. are now returning to France to launch their own companies. Two great examples: Mistral AI, valued at €6 billion after only its series B round, and H, which just raised a €205 million seed financing round that includes European, U.S. and Asian investors, as well as the French government.

It’s incredible progress, but we can’t stop here – France needs to keep driving AI growth and the rest of Europe can’t afford to fall further behind. In Q1 of this year, only 12% of Europe’s startup investment dollars went to AI. Knowing you either disrupt or get disrupted, that figure is concerning. Meanwhile, in the U.S., the number was 38% (and I am honestly surprised it wasn’t higher)

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SurfCleaner’s unique patented technology – which emulates the human heart - recovers hydrocarbon contaminants from water surfaces including oil, diesel, petrol, and other pollutants, and recycles them. It is being used by operators of gold, copper, zinc and iron ore mines, oil and petrochemical companies, steel, copper and aluminum producers, ports, oil terminals and in power generation. Customers include Exxon Mobil, EDF, Equinor, Taiwan Power, Ports of Stockholm, among others.

The Swedish scale-up’s skimmer separator hybrid improves water quality by recovering hydrocarbon pollutants, helping clients with their sustainability goals by reducing volatile organic compounds (VOC), emissions and carbon footprints, says the company. The collected by-products, such as oil, can be reused and resold, contributing to the circular economy and generating new income streams.

“Our vision is clear: to make a direct sustainable impact on the environment,” says Founder and Chief Sustainability Officer Christina Lundbäck.

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Number of startups that are receiving funding from a consortium of NATO allies as part of the group’s one billion euro ($1.1 billion) innovation fund.
The NATO Innovation Fund announced this week that it is investing in Space Forge, a Welsh company that harnesses the conditions of space – such as microgravity and vacuum conditions – to build semiconductors in orbit. The company was named a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer earlier this month.
The other three startups are Fractile, a London-based computer chipmaker aiming to make large language models (LLMs) like those that power ChatGPT, run faster; Germany's ARX Robotics, which designs unmanned robots with functions ranging from heavy-lifting to surveillance and British manufacturer iCOMAT, which makes lighter materials for vehicles.
The alliance unveiled the fund in the summer of 2022, months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, promising to invest in technologies that would enhance its defenses. The fund is backed by 24 of NATO's 32 member states, including Finland and Sweden, which joined the alliance earlier this year.