The World Alliance for Efficient Solutions is a non-governmental organization promoting green energy and sustainable technologies.[1] [2]
The organization was announced on 26 July 2016 by André Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard at the completion of their circumnavigation of the globe with the solar-powered aircraft Solar Impulse (at that time named International Committee of Clean Technologies).[2] Its launch was confirmed in November 2017.[3]
During the final flight of their circumnavigation of the globe, Borschberg and Piccard announced the creation of a World Alliance for Clean Technologies (later renamed World Alliance for Efficient Solutions). The aim of this non-governmental organization is to promote green energy and sustainable technologies[4] [2] by bringing together for-profit companies creating green solutions.[5] [6]
World Alliance was launched in November 2017.[7] Piccard said that he and his organization, Solar Impulse Foundation, formed the World Alliance to help draw investors' and businesses' attention to new cleantech startups.[8] Piccard does not receive a salary for his leadership of the alliance, which is funded by donors including Air Liquide, Nestle and Solvay.
In November 2017 at COP23, Piccard tasked the World Alliance with a project to identify 1,000 technological solutions that are both profitable and good for the planet, with the goal to bring environmentalists and industrialists together.[9] He noted in a 2018 Smithsonian article that technologies developed for the solar-powered flight were already being repurposed in new ways, including new ceiling fans based on the solar airplane engines and refrigerators using the cockpit insulation.[10]
When speaking to government leaders, Piccard said he was consistently told that they wanted to protect the environment but it was too expensive.[11] To provide reassurance, in May 2018 Piccard and the Solar Impulse Foundation announced the Efficient Solutions Label, a certification involving a rigorous Ernst and Young-certified evaluation by independent experts to assess each solution's quality and ability to turn a profit.[12] According to Piccard, any Solar Impulse labeled solution must be the best in its class: the most environmentally friendly as well as economically viable and available for purchase today.[13]
In 2021 in a Reuters interview, Piccard stated that his organization had assembled a portfolio of 910 vetted and labeled solutions and expected to reach 1000 by mid-April 2021. Piccard told Reuters he plans to discuss the solutions with businesses and governments, especially those in the process of funding the global economic recovery from COVID-19.
During their travel around the world, Borschberg and Piccard brought together about four hundred associations promoting renewable energy.[4] [2] As of June 2017, several multinational corporations are members of the Alliance, among which Solvay, historical partner of Solar Impulse, Air Liquide and Engie.[14]