The Triple bottom line (TBL) framework is increasingly becoming important in corporate sector. Organisations are not only evaluating their performance from financial perspective but are also focusing on environmental and social perspectives to create greater business value. This has also been the result of questions on the ‘how’ aspect and not just the ‘why’ and ‘where’ to become the ultimate distinguishers in business. This change in corporate mindset has been brought in by the diminishing natural resources, which a few generations ago, was perceived to be endless.
While there are many companies including MNCs and start-ups who have made major breakthroughs in the processes and product innovations, there are some honourable mentions which are truly revolutionary.
Mission – Accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.
This automobile giant has proved that electric vehicles can be a cooler driving option with quicker and better prospects than gasoline cars. With the aim of moving towards a zero-emission future, it has not only built all-electric vehicles but has also become the pioneer of clean energy by building solar and integrated renewable energy solutions for businesses and households.
Mission – Less pollution, more art.
It is an MIT spinoff specialised in building cleantech solutions. It began as a lab experiment of building a tool to capture soot from a burning candle using solvents like vodka. This green startup works in converting carbon emissions into advanced materials like inks and other sustainable industrial feedstock.
Some of the notable developments include KAALINK and AIR-INK. KAALINK is a retrofit technology that captures carbon emissions from vehicles or chimneys before it escapes into the atmosphere. The pollutants which are captures are then recycled into AIR-INK, a safe water-based writing instrument.
Mission – To have every farmer grow an acre of algae and produce his/her own fuel.
This is an equipment tech company dedicated to the development of energy efficient algae production systems for the creation of algae-based biofuels. Basically, it focuses on the development of energy-efficient yet commercial solutions to processing of algae biomass. Algae has a lot of potential in becoming a future energy source in the world.
Mission – To provide the platform for a fully modernized, market-driven grid that offers consumers choice in energy while driving the democratization of power.
Founded in 2016, Power Ledger is a fast-growing tech start-up that has developed an energy and environmental commodity trading platform so that our energy markets become more efficient. The blockchain enabled company aims to create a world powered by renewable energy. With its peer-to-peer proprietary application, it helps customers optimise their energy usage by allowing them to share any surplus with others without giving any subsidies. For instance, a consumer with solar panels can store and sell excess energy to another household/organisation/grid using the company’s trading platform.
Solving environmental problems through innovative solutions is the need of the hour. Companies should work towards mitigating the environmental problems and not just aim at generating profits for shareholders. As Wendell Berry rightly said, the Earth is what we all have in common. Let’s work collectively towards reducing, reusing and recycling the usage of natural resources to conserve nature and hence preserve humanity.