Holyoke, Maryland, USA
May 14, 2024
The winners of Fast Company’s 2024 World Changing Ideas Awards were announced today, highlighting fresh sustainability initiatives, cutting-edge AI developments, ambitious pursuits of social equity, and other creative projects that are helping mold the world.
Clean Crop Technologies (“Clean Crop”) project, ‘Using Cold Plasma to Treat Seeds’ won the Agriculture Category of Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas! Outside of the agriculture sector, many people are not aware that every year contaminants such as toxins, pathogens and molds contribute to $220 billion of in field crops loss value, oftentimes the seeds themselves are the vector for these contaminants. Clean Crop has fully decarbonized a new category of seed treatment technology, using air and electricity to generate cold plasma, making seeds cleaner and safer prior to planting for a post-fossil fuel world.
This year’s World Changing Ideas Awards showcase 50 winners, 127 finalists, and 172 honorable mentions—with health, education, energy, and AI among the most popular categories. A panel of Fast Company editors and reporters selected winners from a pool of more than 1,300 entries across climate, social justice, wellness, politics, technology, corporate social responsibility, and more. Several new categories were added this year, including beauty and fashion, health products, health services, materials, and science and technology. The 2024 awards feature entries from across the globe, including the Republic of Korea, Brazil, and Madagascar.
Fast Company’s Spring 2024 issue (on newsstands May 21, 2024) will unveil some of the world’s most creative minds and pioneering organizations that are seeking to disrupt the status quo. The solutions cover everything from renewable energy storage and waste in the fashion industry to a building made entirely from recycled concrete and a fridge that’s solar-powered and designed to run off the grid.
“It’s an honor for Clean Crop to be recognized in Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas,” says Dan White, CEO. “Winning the agriculture category affirms our innovative approach, using cold plasma, to not just revolutionize seed treatment but aligns with our vision to decarbonize the agriculture sector. This award is testament to the dedication of our team and the impact potential of Clean Current technology,”
“I was struck this year by the global sweep of the honorees,” says Fast Company editor-in-chief Brendan Vaughan. “It’s endlessly inspiring to see how the world is coming together to devise inventive solutions to our most challenging problems. We need ideas from everywhere, and this year’s World Changing Ideas Awards are an extraordinary encapsulation of the innovation and creativity that is so abundant around the globe.”
ABOUT CLEAN CROP TECHNOLOGIES: Clean Crop is a Holyoke, Massachusetts-based electro-chemical innovation company, specializing in food and agriculture solutions at industrial scale based in the Pioneer Valley since 2019. Clean Crop’s proprietary ‘Clean Current’ technology combines electricity and food-grade gasses to remove contaminants from seeds and foods to increase crop yields, reduce food waste, and increase food safety. In 2024, Clean Crop was honored to be named on TIME’s list of America’s Top Greentech Companies. To learn more about Clean Crop, visit cleancroptech.com.
ABOUT THE WORLD CHANGING IDEAS AWARDS: World Changing Ideas is one of Fast Company’s major annual awards programs and is focused on social good, seeking to elevate finished products and bold concepts that make the world better. Judges choose winners, finalists, and honorable mentions based on feasibility and the potential for impact. With the goals of awarding ingenuity and fostering innovation, Fast Company draws attention to ideas with great potential and helps them expand their reach to inspire more people to work on solving the problems that affect us all.
ABOUT FAST COMPANY: Fast Company is the only media brand fully dedicated to the vital intersection of business, innovation, and design, engaging the most influential leaders, companies, and thinkers on the future of business. Headquartered in New York City, Fast Company is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with our sister publication Inc., and can be found online at www.fastcompany.com.
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