S'pore firms venture into US green economy, with batteries and lettuce

They see potential and are offering solutions across renewable energy, agri-food tech

- Bhagyashree Garekar

WASHINGTON - At a time when his peers in America's multitrillion-dollar green economy are losing sleep over the return of President-elect Donald Trump, Mr Leon Farrant is cool as a cucumber in his company headquarters in Singapore.

His business, Green Li-ion, pulled off a neat trick in 2024 in the US state of Oklahoma - setting up a plant that can turn spent lithium-ion batteries into shiny new American-made battery kits.

Making lithium-ion batteries is an unusually dirty business, heavily dependent on importing critical and scarce raw materials and taking a toll on the environment.

Green Li-ion is the only company in North America to offer a commercially scalable recycling process that fully recovers valuable battery materials, minimizing waste and environmental damage. This is about as close as a green-tech firm can get to being Trump-proof.

It is well known that climate-change sceptic Trump prioritises fossil fuels. His administration may repeal parts of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act through which the Biden administration has funnelled billions of dollars towards solar power, electric vehicles, carbon sequestration, hydrogen and other clean energy technologies.

Mr Farrant, a 40-year-old Australian and Singapore permanent resident, is among a small tribe of savvy Singapore-based entrepreneurs slowly finding a footing in the world's largest green economy.

The US accounts for 60 per cent of global green economy market capitalization, followed by Taiwan with 6 per cent, and China with 5 per cent, according to the London Stock Exchange Group study, Investing in the green economy 2024.

Another entrepreneur, Mr Jogjaman Jap, is the founder and chief executive of Spectronik, a start-up that makes hydrogen fuel cells.

Bigger players in his field are fretting over the lack of nationwide hydrogen infrastructure in the US. They fear that generous government subsidies could dry up or big regulatory changes are coming.