From the Goldman Sachs investment in a water quality solutions provider to the world’s largest direct air capture plant, below is a round-up of the latest happenings around the globe -
1. Goldman Sachs and Stanley Capital Partners Strategic Investment
SePRO, which is an Indiana-based company established in 1994 to develop solutions aimed at protecting, preserving, and restoring nature, with a focus on plant protection and water resource management products and services announced a major investment by Stanley Capital Partners (SCP), alongside Goldman Sachs’s minority investment. The deal, whose financials remain undisclosed, is made when water quality increases in importance, with changing temperatures and environmental conditions adding to the prevalence of nutrient pollution, algae, and invasive species problems.
2. Uber and BYD Partnership
As the cost and financing of electric vehicles remain a hurdle for most, Uber and BYD partner to bring 1,000 new BYD EVs onto the Uber platform. This partnership will offer drivers best-in-class pricing and financing for BYD vehicles. Currently, the initiative is focused on Europe and Latin America, which will expand to the Middle East, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
3. Blackstone's Acquisition
Blackstone’s energy-focused private equity business acquires a majority stake in renewables and power infrastructure-focused engineering and consulting firm Westwood Professional Services. This company, which was founded in 1972, specializes in areas of wind energy, solar energy, energy storage, power delivery, EV infrastructure, commercial, institutional, residential, and public infrastructure projects. This investment by Blackstone is the latest in a series of investments which included the acquisition of power solutions provider Trystar in July, and of electrical insulator solutions company Sediver Group in June. They (Blackstone) aim to invest $100 billion in energy transition and climate change solutions projects over the next decade.
4. UK ESG Regulation
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that a new law will be brought forward next year to regulate ESG rating agencies that evaluate a company’s ESG performance. This new UK law announcement comes at a time when there is a global drive to increase transparency in the sector.
5. SEC Climate Disclosure
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent climate disclosure – which aims to provide information to participants of the stock market regarding climate-related financial risks faced by companies, their response to these risks, financial impact of severe weather events, and, in some cases, greenhouse gas emissions originating from their operations – faced several legal challenges with nine court petitions filed within 10 days, including a lawsuit against the rule filed by 25 Republican state attorneys general, led by Iowa AG Brenna Bird, and another appeals court motion requesting a stay of the rules. Addressing these claims, SEC in a brief filed this week with the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals said this:
“This case is not about climate change or environmental policy; it is about protecting investors”
6. Spiritus' Carbon Capture Facility
Spiritus, a direct capture company, has filed for a Class VI permit to build a massive carbon dioxide removal (CDR) facility in Wyoming named Orchard One. This project is aimed to capture 6 million metric tons of CO2 over 15 years. To put things in perspective - The average passenger vehicle emits about 4.6 metric tons of CO2 per year. So, 6 million tons of CO2 is equivalent to the annual emissions of around 1.3 million cars. It is initially set to capture 50,000 metric tons per year, gradually increasing to 750,000 metric tons annually. Currently, the biggest facility is Mammoth, located in Iceland which captures 36,000 tons of CO₂ per year. But that is not even the best part, Orchard one can cut down the cost of capturing one ton of carbon from the current industry range of $600-$1,000 per ton to less than $100 per ton.
7. FedEx and RMI Partnership
Addressing the need to advance electric vehicle charging infrastructure, FedEx and Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) partnered to launch GridUp, a tool to predict energy and power needs for EV charging. This tool helps identify which areas have high EV growth potential, estimate energy requirements, and determine optimal charger locations. As Pat Donlon, VP of Global Vehicles at FedEx accurately puts the need for advancing EV charging infrastructure as –
“You can order all the electric vehicles in the world over the next few years, but none of that matters if the grid capacity isn’t there to support charging them”
Like if you loved it, Subscribe to support us & Share if you learned something new.
Sources
Comments