The Grid
12% of 37 billion tonnes per year
Decarbonisation Pathway| 7 Sectorsmore details
| Sector | Emissions today | Decarbonisation pathway |
|---|---|---|
| Clean generation | Near zero | Rapidly growing — solar, wind, geothermal and nuclear are the core of the transition; the primary destination for energy capital globally |
| Dirty generation | Bulk of the ~12% residual — coal, gas and oil power stations are the single largest addressable emissions source | Shrinking — the speed varies enormously by geography and policy; gas peakers retain a role during the transition in high-renewables grids |
| Transmission & distribution | Small — primarily losses in wires | Critical bottleneck — grid capacity is increasingly the binding constraint on renewable deployment; transformer lead times of 2–4 years in some markets; the low-voltage distribution network was not designed for bidirectional flow from distributed generation; a major and urgent investment requirement regardless of losses |
| Storage | Near zero | Strategically growing — storage is structurally mandated by the physics of solar and wind intermittency; short-duration batteries are scaling rapidly; long-duration storage remains the unsolved problem at grid scale |
| Grid software & intelligence | Negligible | Increasingly critical — as distributed generation, storage and flexible demand multiply, software is what makes the grid manageable; demand response, virtual power plants, network modelling and dispatch optimisation are all growing investment themes |
| Fugitive emissions | Significant — methane leaks from pipelines and gas flaring at wellheads are potent near-term warming sources | Shrinking — declines as fossil fuel use falls; near-term abatement via leak detection and flaring reduction is high-leverage given methane's 80x potency over 20 years |
| Refinery own-use | Significant — refineries burn fuel to process fuel | Shrinking — declines as liquid fuel demand falls with transport electrification; a long tail given the pace of ICE fleet turnover |
Transmission
Aquila Energy
FeaturedNew Zealand
Propose a network of satellites to beam energy to where ever it's needed. Really.
Aquila’s central idea is that lasers are becoming cheaper faster than batteries, with cost dropping at about 60% with every doubling of production.
Investors
Blackbird
Infravision
FeaturedAustralia
In order to keep up with the energy transition, grid infrastructure is also going to require new large-scale energy networks quickly. Infravision facilitate this by replacing traditional stringing methods with unmanned heavy lifting drones. They hold the record for the world’s longest single span drone flight pulling power lines a distance of 1400m.
Founders
Investors
Bandera
Grid software
Neara
FeaturedAustralia
Cloud-based software solutions provide energy and utility companies with an engineering-grade digital twin of their transmission and distribution infrastructure. It performs complex engineering-grade analysis automatically and at a whole-of-network scale.
Founders
IND Technology
FeaturedAustralia
IND's premise is simple but powerful: detect the precursors to failure before faults occur.
Sensors mounted on poles up to 5km apart capture radio-frequency signals emitted by stressed or failing components. These signals are analysed in real time, locating anomalies to within 10m so that maintenance crews can intervene proactively instead of waiting for the next scheduled inspection. The result is a shift from periodic, reactive inspections to continuous, data-driven prevention. IND has solutions for both overhead and underground powerlines, allowing utilities to use a single detection platform across rural bushfire corridors, suburban feeders, and dense urban cables.
Investors
Virescent
GridCog
gridcog.com ↗Australia
Software platform to deliver confidence in investment in new clean energy infrastructure by accurately forecasting the commercial and environmental outcome of different technical and commercial project options.
GridSight
gridsight.ai ↗Australia
AI-powered platform that helps electricity networks manage and distribute renewable energy.
Generation
Fervo Energy
FeaturedUSA
Fervo is rapidly gaining a great deal of interest, not least raising over $400m in Dec 2025 to accelerate the development of their Cape Station geothermal project.
In their projects, cold water is pumped underground, heated up by the Earth’s temperature, and brought back to the surface. Modern Organic Rankine Cycle generating technology converts the geothermal energy into electricity in a highly efficient process that emits no carbon or other harmful pollutants. Using this technology, 100% of the water is reinjected back into the ground.
Pretty basic. Pretty clever.
Investors
Breakthrough Energy Ventures
Oxford PV
oxfordpv.com ↗UK
Thin film perovskite solar cell technology. Currently at 28% conversion efficiency.
Reading
19/11/2025
21/05/2025