Mansfield climate tech firm Aclarity earns Governor's Citation - The Sun Chronicle
Mansfield climate tech firm Aclarity earns Governor's Citation | Business | thesunchronicle.com
MANSFIELD — Gov. Maura Healey has awarded Governor’s Citations to 28 Massachusetts climate tech firms, including Aclarity in Mansfield.
The firms were previously named to Time Magazine’s Top GreenTech Companies for 2024.
Aclarity remove PFAS — commonly referred to as “forever chemicals” — from landfills, waste treatment facilities, industrial sites and aviation sites through an electro-chemical process.
The company, located at 241 Francis Ave., is run by Chief Executive Officer Julie Bliss Mullen and Chief Operations Officer Pamela Lynch.
“Aclarity is honored to have received this recognition ...,” Mullen said in a press release. “The elimination of PFAS from our environment is crucial. This is a pivotal time for effective PFAS management. As regulations increase, the trend towards forward thinking, holistic PFAS management practices is here to stay. Our team is proud to be helping to accomplish that.”
The company uses electricity to break carbon and fluorine bonds that make up PFAS compounds according to its website.
In awarding the citations last week, Healey said she is aiming to make Massachusetts a global leader in climate tech through a $1 billion investment in a program called Mass Leads Act.
A UMass Donahue Institute analysis found the proposal could generate $16.4 billion in economic activity — representing a 12-to-1 return on investment — and create 6,670 new jobs.
Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper said the companies that were recognized “are proving that climate action is good for business.”
“Each of these 28 companies is developing a technology we need to drive down emissions, promote food security and public health, and protect our vulnerable natural resources,” she said.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”