"Technological innovation rather than government mandates is what will ultimately drive consumers to buy electric vehicles. Toyota seems to understand this as it unveiled new batteries this week that it says it plans to introduce in new vehicles in 2026 that would extend the vehicle range to 620 miles and reduce costs by 20%. This would be an industry breakthrough if and when it happens. Meantime, consumers deserve a choice of cars to buy."

"PowerCo, a subsidiary VW created last year, is leading the company’s search for natural resources and other critical battery ingredients. Ultimately, VW wants to secure its own supplies for battery plants outside China and not have to rely on Chinese suppliers for battery materials, most of whom are in China, VW board member and technology chief Thomas Schmall told The Wall Street Journal."

"JPMorgan also signed a deal with Charm Industrial, a carbon storage company that converts excess organic material such as corn stover — the stalks, leaves and cobs that remain in fields after the corn harvest, and which would otherwise decay and release carbon dioxide into the air — into a bio-oil and then put that oil into the ground in abandoned oil wells. The deal with Charm aims to remove and store the equivalent of approximately 28,500 metric tons of carbon dioxide over five years."

"The number of active projects show that the Gulf's offshore expertise, earned through decades of oil and gas operations, translates well to supporting wind farms currently under construction. Out of about 1,200 contracts signed by US companies for offshore needs like survey work, electric substations and cables, companies in the Gulf and the South have scored 23% of the total, according to a tally kept by the industry group Business Network for Offshore Wind." 

"Lithium production would also diversify Exxon’s portfolio and expose it to a rapidly growing market. The company is positioning other parts of its business to accommodate electric vehicles. Exxon executives have said many of its chemical products supply EV manufacturers, whose cars are made with plastics and other petroleum products."

"In the Pacific Northwest alone, there are multiple startups in the field. Muir AI, Earth Finance, Scope 5, and Carbon Direct focus on carbon accounting and reductions strategies, and some additional services. LevelTen Energy and Ever.green aid companies in forging contracts with clean energy producers."

Nichola Groom of Reuters reports that Enel is investing more than $1 billion into building a solar panel factory in Oklahoma. “Enel’s U.S. manufacturing arm, 3Sun USA LLC, selected the 300-acre site in Oklahoma because it has water and power utilities and a workforce in the region that can immediately support its large factory.” Read...

"The proposed tie-up would be by far the biggest U.S. energy deal announced so far this year. Some analysts have said the U.S. oil-and-gas sector is ripe for major corporate transactions this year, after energy prices surged last year and left companies with a large windfall of cash. In Oneok’s case, much of the cash portion would be financed through a debt offering, it said."

"The startup has pilot projects planned with NW Natural — Oregon’s largest natural gas utility — and another utility that Pan couldn’t name, but his hints suggest it’s NextEra Energy. Modern Hydrogen plans to ship its demo reactors, which will be the size of half a shipping container, to the utilities by the third-quarter of this year."