How Earthshot Prize Winner ATS Is Turning Waste Heat Into A Clean Energy Revolution
Earth Shot - Advanced Thermovoltaic Systems / Fort Collins, CO | Elliot Ross, 2024
The Earthshot Prize, launched by Prince William in 2020, is one of the most prestigious environmental awards, recognizing bold, scalable solutions to global challenges. Among this year’s winners is US-based Advanced Thermovoltaic Systems (ATS) which offers a simple, safe and reliable solution to transform industrial waste heat into electricity for use in hard to abate industries, with the potential to save gigatonnes of CO2. For industries worldwide, this breakthrough represents a fundamental shift in how energy is recovered and utilized.
Speaking at the Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony, Prince William stated: “I believe our world can be rich in possibility, in hope, and in optimism. That is why The Earthshot Prize exists. To champion the game-changers, the inventors, the makers, the creatives, the leaders; to help them build upon the amazing things they’ve already achieved; to speed their innovations to scale and to inspire the next generation to create the future we all need.”
A Defining Moment for ATS
For Kelly Adams, winning the Earthshot Prize is both an honor and a pivotal moment. “Winning The Earthshot Prize is an incredible honor and a defining moment for our team. It validates years of hard work and reinforces our belief that solving the energy and climate crises requires bold, scalable solutions,” Adams stated. “Winning the prize is also a call to action. It reinforces our belief that transforming how we generate and use energy is not just possible but necessary,” he added. The recognition provides ATS with a powerful platform to accelerate its work, scale its impact, and collaborate with global leaders tackling the energy and climate crises.
The Enormous Potential of Waste Heat Recovery
The world is facing an urgent energy challenge: power demand is outpacing generation and transmission supply. And yet, at the same time, we waste an enormous amount of energy—60% of industrial energy generated is lost as waste heat—enough to power four billion households. Power plants, data centers, and heavy industries generate immense amounts of excess heat that simply dissipates into the atmosphere.
“If we could capture and convert waste heat into clean power, we could make industries more efficient, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, and expand access to energy—all without increasing emissions,” Adams explains. The scale of the opportunity is massive, spanning industries globally, with the potential to save millions of tons of CO2 emissions. By 2040, the company estimates eliminating the equivalent of 830,000 swimming pools filled with oil.
By reframing waste heat as an untapped resource, ATS is proving that energy efficiency is not just about generation but about recovery. “For too long, the focus has been on generating more energy, when in reality, we lose more than half of what we already produce,” Adams notes. “If we can efficiently capture and convert it into electricity, we can increase energy efficiency, reduce emissions, and expand clean power access without adding more strain to the grid.”
ATS’s Breakthrough Technology
At the core of ATS’s innovation is a cutting-edge thermovoltaic system that disrupts traditional energy recovery methods. Unlike conventional waste heat recovery technologies—which are often bulky, expensive, and difficult to integrate—ATS has developed a compact, scalable solid-state solution with no moving parts that can be integrated into existing infrastructure with minimal disruption. While solar panels rely on sunlight, ATS’s technology harnesses infrared radiation—the energy emitted as heat—to generate electricity.
“140 years ago, the modern steam turbine revolutionized how we generate electricity, becoming the backbone of global energy infrastructure. Today, we stand at the edge of a new paradigm shift,” Adams states. “This is a game-changer. Instead of allowing waste heat to dissipate, our system captures it and turns it into usable electricity with high efficiency.”
ATS disrupts the status quo by shifting how we think about energy production—no longer just about generation but also about recovery. By making heat a viable power source, we unlock a vast, untapped reservoir of clean energy, and ATS is radically redefining what’s possible.
A Scalable Solution with Global Impact
The implications of ATS’s technology are profound and potentially enormous. When widely adopted, ATS’ technology can significantly cut industrial energy waste, reducing both costs and carbon emissions across sectors and geographies. Industries like cement, steel, and glass manufacturing, where high temperatures are an unavoidable part of the process, stand to benefit the most and recover and repurpose gigawatts of lost energy.
More than just a technological breakthrough, ATS is changing the way companies think about energy. Through its Energy as a Service (EaaS) model, industries can implement the solution without massive upfront costs. Companies can capture and use their own waste heat as a revenue-generating asset, lowering costs while accelerating decarbonization. “This fundamentally changes the game. Instead of seeing energy loss as inevitable, businesses can now treat waste heat as a valuable resource—one that powers their operations and reduces emissions,” Adams explains.
Challenging Conventional Thinking
Adams emphasizes that shifting perspectives is often more difficult than solving technical challenges. “Often, the biggest obstacles aren’t technical but overcoming entrenched ways of thinking,” he says. “For years, waste heat was accepted as an inevitable loss. We challenged that assumption, and that shift in perspective led to a game-changing solution.”
Kelly Adams, ATS CEO | Advanced Thermovoltaic Systems
Another major challenge is securing investment for first-of-a-kind (FOAK) technology. “Investors tend to favor proven solutions, making it difficult for pioneering innovations to reach scale,” Adams notes. “Bridging this gap requires visionaries willing to back transformative ideas—those who see not just the risks, but the potential to redefine entire industries.”
Advice for the Next Generation of Innovators
For those looking to drive meaningful change, Adams offers straightforward advice: “Stay relentless. Expect skepticism, but don’t let it slow you down. Build a team that believes in the mission, surround yourself with people who challenge you, and focus on execution. Bold ideas don’t change the world on their own—bringing them to scale is what creates impact.”
And, as he emphasizes, the time to act is now. “The time for incremental steps has passed. The world needs transformative solutions, and those who are willing to take risks today will shape the future.”
