The global energy transformation requires a holistic energy system transition not just for electricity supply, but also a deep and fundamental change to how heat and cooling energy services are provided - all within the larger context of balancing energy supply and demand. This scene-setting presentation drew on the International Renewable Energy Agency’s (IRENA) recent Global Energy Transformation report and detail a view on how this transition can be scaled up quickly and affordably.

The national perspective of waste to energy (WtE) option as a sustainable urban energy solution in Sri Lanka is explored. Recently, the government has given emphasis for WtE, not only to manage municipal solid waste (MSW) but also to achieve targets in renewable energy and nationally determined contributions. Yet, no significant progress is seen, indicating a variety of challenges related to waste collection, composition, heating value, quantity, transport distance, expertise, finance, land, etc.

Under a scheme of community-based renewable energy, a 10-MW solar farm will co-locate with 5.0 MW Biomass project with organized people's participation.

Rice is the world's number one food crop and Asia accounts for 91% of global production. For every kilogram of rice, a kilo or more of straw is produced as a by-product. There are currently few commercial uses for rice straw, so around 300 million tonnes of it are simply burned in the field each year across Asia. Governments are now banning this practice, because of its harm to human health and the environment.

PtPtm Energy Systems LLC is a Plastics to Power™ Conversion Technology, a barge-mounted or shore-based system to provide wide regional elimination of marine debris, coastal plastic thrash, biomass, municipal non-recyclables, and semi-hazardous waste while producing up to 5 MW power, clean desalinated water, and industrial process heat to shore-side communities. An economic model based on FMCG life cycle costing can readily fund this system, which can be deployed in many locations, especially in the Asian or Oceanic archipelagos.

The ‘missing middle’ or ‘valley of death’ is a common cause of cleantech startup stall, needing to access debt and equity in the $20,000 to $500,000 range while typically lacking mature internal capacity, skills, financial literacy and access to traditional investment. This presentation will discuss learnings from the development of an Uberis Capital impact investment fund aiming to tackle this challenge. This fund works in partnership with Sevea to provide operational and strategical support to investees to reduce the “early stage” risk and foster sustained growth.

Using real-life examples in the solar and energy efficiency space in South East Asia, this presentation highlighted key factors which make business attractive to impact and venture capital investors.

Within three months of raising its seed round of capital, cleantech startup Nepra encountered the 'cliff of death' following a fire that reduced its facilities to ashes. What followed was a story of resilience and determination by their promoter team and investors as they rebuilt the enterprise from scratch not only for survival but also to significantly accelerate and scale the business.

Renewables will dominate new investments in power for the next 25 years. An estimated $2 trillion is expected to be infused in equity in wind & solar by 2050. This presentation gives an investor's perspective on mapping the opportunities in sustainable energy, current risks in the energy ecosystem, and how clean energy entrepreneurs can navigate the "valleys of death". The presentation also discussed some case studies from successful startups.

While it is easy for large developers to access finance, Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) face huge challenges due to their balance sheet and creditworthiness issues. Ernst & Young (EY) is working on large scale solar rooftop deployment project in 17 states in India. Innovative products have been developed to roll out finance to these MSMEs. Access to MSME finance is the only way to roll out roof-tops and distributed generation on a mass scale in the country.