"The aim is to bolster Chevron's main oil and gas businesses; help its multi-billion dollar diversification in areas like carbon capture and hydrogen; and create future opportunities in emerging tech."
Articles from Around the Web
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The U.S. Urgently Needs a Bigger Grid. Here’s a Fast Solution.
"In many places, upgrading power lines with advanced conductors could nearly double the capacity of existing transmission corridors at less than half the cost of building new lines, researchers found. If utilities began deploying advanced conductors on a nationwide scale — replacing thousands of miles of wires — they could add four times as much transmission capacity by 2035 as they are currently on pace to do."
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NBA Legend Rick Fox’s Next Act: Green Concrete Entrepreneur
"Fox wants to do something about those emissions with his startup, Partanna Global Inc. He’s the co-founder and chief executive officer of the company, which has offices in the Bahamas. They make concrete by swapping out cement for a proprietary mix containing blast-furnace slag from steel-making, or materials with similar properties, such as volcanic ash. Then they add brine, which is fluid waste from desalination plants, and aggregate, or crushed rocks. The process requires no fossil-fuel burning or analogous emissions from cooking limestone, the company says. Once set, the material absorbs some CO2, flipping the cement equation on its head."
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Toyota’s VC Arm Pours $300 Million In Funds Targeting AI And Green Tech Startups
"Founded in 2017, Toyota Ventures began as Toyota AI Ventures, a subsidiary of the Toyota Research Institute. It rebranded to its current name in 2021, when Toyota committed an additional $300 million to the arm. In addition to Toyota Ventures, Toyota operates Woven Capital, a startup investment arm targeting 'growth-stage' ventures in automation and clean energy. Woven’s six portfolio companies include AI and machine learning startup Nuro, which has raised over $2 billion from investors including SoftBank, Baillie Gifford, Fidelity, Greylock and Tiger Global."
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Bipartisan Outdoor Recreation Package Presents Bright Spot in Congress
"Increasing access to nature for more Americans in a responsible manner is a tried and true method for instilling a passion for environmental stewardship. In fact, it’s the sportsmen and women, hikers, mountain bikers, and rock climbers who are some of our nation’s greatest conservationists. These nature enthusiasts want to protect their backyards, and the more people we get outside, the more stewards we will have."
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Texas got more electricity from solar than coal last month
"Wind and solar don’t need to pay for fuel, so they can deliver low-cost power to ERCOT whenever the weather is favorable. That pushes down the prices that coal owners can earn during those high-renewables hours, reducing the amount of time when it makes economic sense to run their plants. Solar can only operate in the sunlight, yet it still managed to produce more megawatt-hours in March than Texas coal plants, which technically could run at any time of day."
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Brazil and Colombia are curbing destruction of Amazon rainforest
"Brazil was the country with the largest decrease in deforestation last year. The country still lost more primary forest than anywhere else in the world—11,000 square kilometres, equivalent to around half the area of New Jersey. But this figure was down 36% from 2022. It is Brazil’s lowest level of deforestation since 2015. Estimates from the country’s National Institute for Space Research also show a significant decrease, of 22% year on year, in the Brazilian Amazon between August 2022 and July 2023."
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China’s Flag Is Red, Not Green
"Despite these massive hydroengineering efforts, China can’t feed its own people or supply enough water for its industrial economy. More than 75% of China’s surface water supply is contaminated and undrinkable. Under current United Nations standards, the amount of water available in Beijing places the megalopolis in a state of 'extreme water scarcity.' Much of China’s farmland is too polluted by heavy minerals and salinization to grow edible crops. China is now the world’s largest importer of feed grains, accounting for 60% of global imports of soybeans. It also imports 70% of its cooking oils."
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Is Biden’s War on LNG the New Anti-Nuclearism?
"If idealistic politicians succeed in removing U.S. LNG from the global market, it will lead to the double whammy of increased coal and dirtier natural gas from emissions-agnostic countries like Russia. Like nuclear, the LNG export sector is highly vulnerable to political disruptions. A rejected export terminal, much like a failed reactor, can erode investor confidence enough to reverse the industry’s momentum. A German state-owned gas importer, SEFE, has already turned to Russia in response to the pause, and other committed buyers like Malaysia are reportedly getting cold feet. These developments are neither good for global security nor the climate."
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To rebuild the Key Bridge, remove permitting red tape
"Some may argue that permitting is needed to ensure that projects are complying with laws, such as environmental and property regulations. But parties who are operating under a permit by rule are incentivized to comply with the law on their own. A company that invests money to begin a project will lose that investment if the government shuts it down for non-compliance. Government micromanagement is unnecessary and only slows things down."