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How BCAA’s Role as an Official Nominator is Driving Clean Air and Greentech Innovation

- Blog / Nominations
Tonny XIE, Bluetech Clean Air Alliance

Tonny Xie

Chairman and Director, Bluetech Clean Air Alliance

Beijing city skyline. Photo by zhang kaiyv on Unsplash

At Bluetech Clean Air Alliance (BCAA), we believe in the power of innovation to tackle our planet’s most pressing environmental challenges.

Founded in January 2013, our mission has always been clear: to accelerate the development and application of clean air and low-carbon technologies, contributing to both China’s and the United Nations’ sustainable development goals.

The numbers speak to a collective effort: between 2013 and 2023, the average concentration of particulate matter pollution in the air, specifically PM2.5, fell by 57%. Yet, the battle is far from over. Air pollution remains the single largest environmental health risk globally, linked to millions of premature deaths each year. Bridging the gap to World Health Organization guidelines demands a fundamental transformation of our energy and industrial structures.

 

Building China’s Leading Clean Air Innovation Platform

This imperative drove us to establish what has become China’s most impactful acceleration platform for clean air and carbon neutrality technology. The Bluetech Acceleration Platform is not just a network; it is a curated ecosystem that has become the central hub for the nation’s top innovators.

Through core modules like the Bluetech Carbon Neutrality Pioneers Award, the China Greentech IP Strategic Training & Acceleration Camp, investor matchmaking, and industrial demonstration projects, we have successfully attracted and centralized hundreds of China’s leading greentech startups, high-tech companies, and unicorns.

This critical mass of talent and technology, all concentrated within our platform, is collectively driving the green transition at an unprecedented scale and speed.

 

Powering Progress as an Official Earthshot Prize Nominator

The work building our ecosystem made our invitation to become an Official Nominator for The Earthshot Prize in 2021 a natural next step.

Being an Official Nominator aligns perfectly with our core mission, allowing us to leverage our platform’s unique vantage point to identify innovations with global impact. Indeed, The Earthshot Prize’s ambitious goals resonate deeply with our daily work.

Our nominator journey has been incredibly rewarding, with our flagship Bluetech Carbon Neutrality Pioneers Award serving as the premier gateway for discovering exceptional talent.

It was through this rigorous award process that we first identified both of our standout Earthshot nominees: 2023 Winners, GRST, and 2025 Finalists, ATRenew.

2023 Clean Our Air Winner, GRST

GRST first came to our attention as a standout participant in the Bluetech Carbon Neutrality Pioneers Award.

Their groundbreaking technology, which offers a cleaner pathway for battery manufacturing by reducing energy use and eliminating toxic solvents, directly tackles industrial air pollution. Witnessing GRST’s journey from our award program to becoming a 2023 Earthshot Winner was an immensely proud moment, a powerful validation of our scouting process. We continue to support their growth through our platform, facilitating key investor and partner connections.

2025 Build a Waste-Free World Finalist, ATRenew

Similarly, ATRenew (Ai Hui Shou) was identified and vetted through the Bluetech Carbon Neutrality Pioneers Award.

Its innovative model in building a circular economy for electronics perfectly embodies the system-level change that both our award and The Earthshot Prize seek to champion. We are now leveraging our acceleration platform to help amplify its impact and forge new strategic partnerships for global expansion.

Continuing the Momentum

Looking ahead, BCAA will continue to strengthen our position as China’s leading acceleration platform. We are deepening our focus on both clean air and carbon neutrality technologies and expanding our international collaborations to bring the best global practices to our network.

The fact that hundreds of China’s top-tier greentech enterprises are already centralized within our platform provides an unparalleled foundation to catalyze the next wave of breakthroughs.

The progress made in improving air quality is a powerful testament to what can be achieved when we act with determination and hope. We are fundamentally optimistic about the future of clean air, and the concentration of innovation within our platform is a primary reason for this optimism.

We are incredibly proud to partner with The Earthshot Prize. If you know of a solution that can help repair our planet, we encourage you to nominate them.
Together, through collaboration and a shared commitment to nomination, we can shape a cleaner, healthier future and accelerate the progress our world needs.

Learn more about Bluetech Clean Air Alliance and our Official Nominators.

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