Occidental, November 7, 2023, [Press Release]
Occidental and BlackRock have formed a joint venture to develop STRATOS, the world’s largest direct air capture facility, in Texas. The facility will capture up to 500,000 tonnes of CO2 per year from the atmosphere and store it underground. BlackRock will invest $550 million on behalf of clients in the project, which is expected to be operational in mid-2025. The joint venture aims to provide a solution to help the world reach net zero emissions.
ExxonMobil’s ‘Back-To-The-Future’ Mining Move
By Tim Treadgold, Forbes, November 13, 2023
ExxonMobil is planning to produce lithium, a key battery metal, from its oil and gas fields in Texas. The company has partnered with a start-up called Global Thermostat, which has developed a technology to capture carbon dioxide from the air and use it to extract lithium from brine. ExxonMobil hopes to produce 10,000 tonnes of lithium per year by 2025, enough to power 200,000 electric vehicles. This move is a way for ExxonMobil to diversify its portfolio and reduce its carbon footprint, while also taking advantage of the growing demand for lithium.
Interior approves new offshore wind project along New York-New Jersey coast
By Breanne Deppisch, Washington Examiner, November 22, 2023
The Interior Department has approved the Empire Wind projects offshore New York and New Jersey, which are jointly owned by Equinor and BP. The projects are the sixth commercial-scale offshore wind development to be approved by the Biden administration, which aims to achieve 30 GW of offshore wind power by 2030. The projects will have a combined capacity of 2,076 megawatts, enough to power about 700,000 homes, and will create over 1,000 jobs during the construction and operation phases.
America’s first ‘enhanced’ geothermal plant just got up and running
By Maria Gallucci, Canary Media, November 28, 2023
Fervo Energy, a Houston-based startup, has launched America’s first enhanced geothermal plant in Nevada. The plant uses horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to create artificial fractures in hot rocks, allowing water to circulate and generate steam for electricity. The plant also uses a technology developed by Google to store excess energy as heat in the underground reservoir, creating a form of thermal battery.
Why the future of wave energy runs through Colorado
By Sam Brasch, CPR News, November 27, 2023
National Renewable Energy Laboratory researchers are helping prepare four wave energy devices for testing at PacWave South, a new grid-connected wave energy test site off the Oregon coast. The NREL researchers are using lab-fabricated waves and software to simulate ocean conditions and optimize the performance and durability of the devices.
