With a global push toward decarbonization, scientists and innovators keep on exploring next-generation solutions to meet energy demands sustainably. Fourth-generation fuels, a cutting-edge development in renewable energy, are gaining attention for their ability to tackle climate challenges head-on. But what exactly are fourth-generation fuels, and how could they reshape our economy, society, and environment? 

What Are Fourth-Generation Fuels? 

Fourth-generation fuels are advanced biofuels that integrate renewable energy technologies with carbon capture and storage (CCS). They are designed to be carbon-negative, meaning they actively remove more CO₂ from the atmosphere than they emit during their lifecycle. 

Key Characteristics: 

• Feedstocks: Fourth-generation fuels are produced using non-food biomass, algae, or synthetic methods that leverage captured CO₂ and renewable hydrogen. 

• Carbon Capture Integration: The production process involves capturing CO₂ from the atmosphere or industrial sources, storing it underground or utilizing it in other processes. 

• Technological Advances: These fuels often rely on innovative technologies like artificial photosynthesis, engineered microorganisms, or bioreactors. 

Examples include synthetic fuels made by combining captured CO₂ with green hydrogen and biofuels derived from carbon-absorbing crops paired with BECCS (Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage). 

Economic impact 

The development of fourth-generation fuels has the potential to revolutionize the global economy. By driving significant investments in advanced manufacturing, biotechnology, and carbon capture infrastructure, these fuels can catalyze economic growth and establish technological leadership for nations that embrace them. They also offer an opportunity to enhance energy security by reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels, as their production relies on locally available feedstocks and renewable energy sources. However, the economic promise of fourth-generation fuels comes with challenges. High initial costs for production and infrastructure development remain substantial barriers, and scaling these technologies will require policy support, subsidies, and sustained private-sector investment. 

Societal impact 

Fourth-generation fuels can significantly influence societal structures, starting with job creation. The rise of this industry is expected to generate high-quality jobs in sectors such as research, engineering, agriculture, and clean energy. Rural communities, in particular, may benefit from new opportunities in biomass cultivation and carbon storage projects. Additionally, the adoption of cleaner alternatives to fossil fuels will lead to reduced air pollution, improving public health by minimizing respiratory illnesses, especially in urban and industrialized areas. Moreover, these fuels encourage collaboration between governments, businesses, and local communities, fostering a collective commitment to sustainable practices and empowering citizens to participate in the fight against climate change.  

Environmental impact 

The environmental benefits of fourth-generation fuels are profound. By capturing and storing atmospheric CO₂, they offer a tangible solution for achieving net-negative emissions, which is essential for addressing climate change. This ability to offset emissions is particularly valuable for sectors that are difficult to decarbonize, such as aviation and heavy industry. Furthermore, these fuels are produced using non-arable land or algae-based systems, which reduces competition with food production and helps preserve biodiversity. By integrating renewable energy sources like wind and solar into their production processes, fourth-generation fuels align seamlessly with broader decarbonization strategies and further minimize reliance on fossil fuels, setting a new benchmark for environmental responsibility. 

Challenges and Future Outlook 

While the promise of fourth-generation fuels is immense, several challenges remain: 

• High Development Costs: Achieving commercial viability requires substantial R&D and infrastructure investments. 

• Policy and Regulatory Support: Clear and consistent policies, including carbon pricing and subsidies, are essential to incentivize adoption. 

• Technological Uncertainty: Scaling up these advanced technologies involves overcoming technical hurdles and ensuring reliability. 

Despite these obstacles, the potential benefits make fourth-generation fuels a critical component of the global energy transition. With coordinated efforts from governments, industries, and researchers, these fuels could help pave the way toward a sustainable, carbon-negative future. 

Context 

Our client operates manufacturing sites worldwide and is proactively addressing the challenges of the energy transition to ensure the long-term resilience and sustainability of its operations.

In response to a changing energy landscape, the company launched a strategic foresight initiative to assess potential stress on national electric grids in countries hosting key production sites. The goal was to anticipate risks related to electricity availability.

Missions

In this context, we supported our client in:

• Electricity Outlook: Projecting electricity generation trends through 2040 in 19 countries across Asia, the Americas, and Europe, based on national policies, energy mix evolution, and infrastructure developments.
• Low-Carbon Share: Evaluating the share of low-carbon electricity in each country’s electricity mix today and in 2040.
• Mobility Electrification: Estimating the adoption of electric vehicles and its projected impact on national electricity demand

Key figures

123Fab

1 topic, 2 key figures, 3 startups to draw inspiration from

Hydropower is a form of renewable energy that draws its power from the movement of water. Today, it accounts for over 20% of global electricity production.

Hydropower plants: towards small-scale and modular solutions

Hydropower, one of the oldest electricity production methods, generates up to 90% of electricity in countries like Norway, Brazil, and Canada. However, large-scale projects like China’s Three Gorges Dam have raised concerns due to their environmental and social impacts, including biodiversity loss and population displacement.

To address the drawbacks of traditional hydropower, innovators are developing solutions:

• Smaller-Scale Designs: Startups like Turbulent create modular vortex turbines that minimize environmental impact by operating without large dams.
• Fish-Friendly Turbines: Companies like Natel Energy are pioneering turbine designs that greatly improve fish survival rates.
• Standardized Containers: NuSTREEM’s NuCONTAINER system uses prefabricated standard shipping containers as powerhouses, reducing foundational requirements and on-site construction.

Tidal energy: taping the ocean’s energy

Tidal energy is generated from the natural rise and fall of the tides, caused by the moon’s gravitational pull. In France, the Rance tidal power plant—opened in 1966—was the first in the world and remains the only one in the country still operating today.

While traditional plants like Rance use the tidal range to produce electricity, newer technologies focus on tidal stream generators, which look like underwater wind turbines. Off the coast of Brittany, for example, these turbines help power the island of Ouessant by capturing the energy of moving water.

To further reduce environmental impact and expand deployment, other innovative solutions are being developed:

• Underwater Kites: Swedish startup Minesto is pioneering “underwater kite” systems that can generate electricity in slower currents, vastly expanding potential deployment areas.
• Floating Platforms: Companies like Orbital Marine Power are developing floating tidal turbines, making installation and maintenance easier while reducing environmental impact.
• AI-Optimized Arrays: Machine learning algorithms are being developed to optimize the placement and operation of tidal turbine arrays, maximizing energy capture.

Wave energy: unlocking the motion of the sea

Oceans, considering that about 70% of the Earth’s surface is taken by water, have not been well tapped for energy. There are various systems in place, namely floating and submerged devices, but most are at the development stages. The International Energy Agency estimates wave energy can provide as much power as 60 nuclear plants combined.

To tap into this vast resource, several companies are developing innovative solutions:

• Grid Connected Wave Energy Array: Eco Wave Power develops patented technology that captures wave energy from coastal structures and converts it into electricity.
• Offshore Buoys: Sweden’s CorPower Ocean has designed a compact wave energy converter in the form of a buoy, inspired by the pumping motion of the human heart, increasing efficiency in capturing wave energy.

Seawater thermal energy: heat from the sea

Seawater thermal energy utilizes the temperature differential between warm surface seawater and cooler deeper water to provide heating and cooling solutions. Through heat exchangers and pumps, this process transfers thermal energy from the sea into climate control systems for buildings located near the coast. Monaco for instance, produces nearly 20% of its energy from seawater heat pumping.

Rain-powered solar panels: a future innovation

Researchers from Tsinghua University in China are currently working on a new type of solar panel that can generate electricity even in the rain.

2 Key Figures

20%

Hydropower accounts for 20% of the world’s total electricity and 90% of global renewable energy

X2

To meet net zero goals hydropower needs to double by 2050

3 startups to draw inspiration from

Minesto

Founded in 2007 as a spin-off from Swedish aerospace manufacturer Saab, Minesto is a developer of marine energy technology. The company offers an innovative underwater kite-like structure equipped with a horizontal-axis turbine, designed to efficiently extract energy from the ocean and tidal currents, even at low velocities.

Turbulent

This Belgian startup aims to provide reliable and affordable energy to even the most remote communities. Turbulent Hydro has developed an innovative vortex turbine that generates low-cost electricity without requiring large-scale infrastructure projects or causing significant environmental impact.

CorPower Ocean

A Swedish company developing wave energy converters to generate clean electricity from ocean waves. Their technology uses a unique system inspired by the pumping principle of the human heart, with a heaving buoy on the surface that absorbs energy from waves.

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In the race to decarbonize, hard-to-abate industries like transport, mobility, energy, manufacturing, and heavy industries face immense challenges. These sectors are pivotal in achieving global climate goals but require transformative innovation to overcome their reliance on high-emission processes. Enter design fiction: a tool for imagining and prototyping future scenarios that inspire radical innovation while addressing the complexities of decarbonization. 

What is Design Fiction? 

Design fiction is a speculative approach that blends storytelling with prototyping to explore “what if?” scenarios. It goes beyond forecasting trends or analyzing probabilities—it creates immersive, tangible provocations that challenge assumptions and inspire innovation. By developing speculative artifacts such as fictional news reports, prototypes, or policy drafts, design fiction brings possible futures to life, encouraging stakeholders to engage with them. Rather than predicting the future, it envisions alternative realities that push boundaries, provoke dialogue, and open up new possibilities for transformative action.

For hard-to-abate industries, design fiction offers a way to: 

• Explore the integration of emerging low-carbon technologies. 

• Rethink supply chains and production models. 

• Address societal, regulatory, and consumer behavior shifts in response to decarbonization. 

Why hard-to-abate industries need design fiction 

These industries operate within complex ecosystems, often constrained by entrenched practices, high capital costs, and regulatory pressures. Traditional approaches to innovation may fall short in imagining transformative solutions. Design fiction enables stakeholders to: 

1. Visualize low-carbon futures: Crafting scenarios where new technologies—such as hydrogen fuel, carbon capture, or electrified transport systems—are operational within a reimagined value chain. 
2. Challenge assumptions: Provoking fresh thinking about entrenched norms, such as the necessity of fossil fuels in energy-intensive manufacturing. 
3. Align stakeholders: Engaging diverse actors—from policymakers to engineers—through tangible prototypes and narratives that illustrate shared goals. 
4. Test policy and business models: Simulating the implementation of carbon pricing, circular economy strategies, or renewable energy integrations in controlled, fictional contexts. 

Examples of Design Fiction scenarios  

Net-Zero Factories 

A speculative scenario where AI-driven, autonomous factories produce goods using 100% renewable energy, with zero waste and closed-loop recycling systems. What roles would human workers play? What new supply chain dependencies could arise? 

Hydrogen-Powered Transport 

Fictionalized blueprints for hydrogen-powered shipping fleets or aviation systems, paired with narratives about new infrastructure and regulatory frameworks. 

Energy Communities 

A future where localized energy grids enable heavy industries to share renewable energy surpluses, reducing dependency on centralized grids. How might this disrupt existing energy markets? 

How to Implement Design Fiction in Your Organization 

• Assemble a cross-disciplinary team: Combine expertise in engineering, design, sociology, and business to capture diverse perspectives. 

• Identify key challenges: Focus on specific pain points, like process emissions in steel manufacturing or the electrification of long-haul transport. 

• Develop artifacts and scenarios: Create visual, tangible, or interactive prototypes (e.g., mock-ups of decarbonized supply chains or AI-driven energy optimization systems). 

• Facilitate collaborative workshops: Use the scenarios to engage stakeholders in brainstorming and co-creating actionable solutions. 

• Iterate and integrate: Refine the outputs based on feedback, and use insights to inform strategic roadmaps, R&D investments, or policy proposals. 

The Way Forward 

Design fiction is not just a tool for creative exploration; it is a catalyst for systemic change. By challenging entrenched assumptions and fostering collaboration, it can help hard-to-abate industries envision and accelerate their decarbonization journeys. As the world demands urgent climate action, the ability to think boldly and imagine differently is more critical than ever. 

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Before diving into treatment technologies, we recommend reading the first article in this series, where we explore what PFAS are and their devastating environmental and health impacts.

PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a group of synthetic chemicals widely used in industrial and consumers products. Due do their persistence and resistance to degradation, they accumulate in the environment and pose significant health risks. Addressing PFAS contamination requires a combination of well-established and emerging treatment technologies that focus on treatment, and increasingly, destruction.

Mature PFAS treatment technologies

Several well-established technologies are currently used for PFAS removal, including:

• Granular Activated Carbon (GAC): One of the most studied methods for removing PFAS, commonly used in drinking water treatment. It helps absorb organic compounds, as well as taste, odor, and synthetic chemicals. GAC works well for longer-chain PFAS like PFOA and PFOS but is less effective for shorter-chain ones like PFBS and PFBA, which don’t adsorb as easily.
• Anion Exchange Resins (AER): They are like tiny magnets that attract and hold onto impurities, preventing them from passing through the water system. Negatively charged PFAS are attracted to the positively charged anion resins. This method can treat almost all PFAS chain lengths but is more expensive than GAC.
• Nanofiltration or Reverse Osmosis Membranes: High-pressure membrane filtration systems, i.e. nanofiltration and reverse osmosis, have been highly effective in eliminating over 90% of PFAS, including short-chain compounds.

Emerging PFAS treatment technologies

A few new innovative technologies are being developed to enhance PFAS removal efficiency:

• Selective Absorbents: Companies like Puraffinity are pioneering precision technologies to target PFAS removal. Their Puratech absorbent solution is designed to integrate seamlessly into existing treatment systems and can be tailored to capture specific PFAS compounds.
• Foam Fractionation: Oxyle has developed a multi-stage foam fractionation, catalytic destruction, and machine learning monitoring process. This method has shown to eliminate over 99% of PFAS.

While these technologies improve PFAS capture, they do not destroy the compound. This limitation has driven interest in developing destruction technologies.

Emerging PFAS destruction technologies

Unlike traditional removal methods, destruction technologies aim to completely break down PFAS compounds rather than simply capture them. While holding promise, these technologies are still energy-intensive and costly.

• Supercritical Water Oxidation (SCWO): This oxidation process converts organic contaminants into water, carbon dioxide, and inert mineral residue. 347Water has developed AirSCWO systems, which have been proven effective in destroying PFAS-laden ion exchange resins.
• Electrochemical Oxidation: This technique is an electrochemical reaction that degrades PFAS compounds on a large scale while producing little to no waste, making it a potential solution for large-scale PFAS degradation.

Additionnally, researchers are working on next-generation PFAS destruction technologies such as low-temperature mineralization, plasma technology, and sonolysis.

Destruction technologies require high PFAS concentrations to be effective and tend to be energy-intensive, making them less suitable for diluted waste streams. Furthermore, these technologies are quite immature, requiring validation before large-scale deployment. To address these challenges, technology providers have been exploring hybrid solutions that combine both removal and destruction methods to provide a holistic solution. For instance, Gradiant has developed a technology that enables on-site PFAS removal and destruction, eliminating the need for waste handling, landfilling, or incineration.

3 startups to draw inspiration from

Oxyle

A Swiss start-up that developed a technology which is claimed to have over 99% removal of PFAS with lower energy use compared to traditional methods. The three-stage process involves foam fractionation, catalytic destruction, and machine learning monitoring.

Gradiant

A U.S.-based water and wastewater treatment solutions provider, Gradiant has developed ForeverGone, a technology that is capable of removing and destroying PFAS on site, without the need for waste handling, landfilling, or incineration. It is different from conventional solutions such as granular activated carbon (GAC) and ion exchange

Puraffinity

A UK-based start-up which focused on developing precision technologies for the removal of PFAS from water. Puraffinity has developed an absorbent solution called Puratech, which integrates perfectly into existing water treatment systems and can be adapted to target specific PFAS compounds.

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Context 

With the growing influence of internal investment funds within large corporations, we have developed a barometer to assess the state of Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) in France.​

Missions

In this context, we :

• Developed a structured questionnaire
• Conducted an exhaustive mapping of French investment funds (around 40 funds identified)
• Leveraged our network to facilitate connections
• Implemented a multichannel approach (email, LinkedIn, phone) to reach contacts outside our network
• Administered the questionnaire to 25 funds, ensuring market representativity
• Processed and coded data, converting qualitative responses into quantitative indicators
• Performed in-depth analysis and synthesized results to identify key trends
• Designed the barometer with the support of our in-house design teams​

Key figures

Context 

GTT launched GTT Strategic Ventures, its corporate venture capital fund, in 2023. Through three foundational workshops, we helped GTT establish the strategic direction of the fund, clarify its investment thesis and build the tools for efficiency decision-making. ​

In 2024, we supported GTT to onboard its newly appointed board members. ​

Missions

In this context, we supported our client to:

• A foundational workshop to fully grasp the fundamental responsibilities of both a board member and board observer​
• A case study workshop on the delicate balance between maximizing partnership benefits and maintaining the integrity and independence of the board​
• A second case study on the typical annual cycle of a board, focusing on the crucial role of efficient reporting mechanisms​

Key figures

Context 

Aster Fab is part of a European consortium supporting innovation through the EIC ACCESS+ program. This initiative is designed to help European startups accelerate their growth by providing financial support and access to specialized services.

Who can apply?

• EIC Awardees (Pathfinder, Transition, Accelerator)
• Seal of Excellence holders
• Spin-offs from EIC Awardees

Financial support

• Research package – up to 60,000€
  • Access to infrastructure and R&D support
  • Prototyping and Proof of Concept
• Business acceleration – up to 30,000€
  • Acceleration, Incubation and Venture building
  •  Business Planning
  • Internationalisation
• Skills improvement – up to 10,000€
  • Coaching & Mentoring
  • HR & Talent
• Access funds – up to 30,000€
  • IP & Legal
  • Due Diligence
  • Support fundraising

Key figures