big deal

Houston carbon capture company signs MOU with PETRONAS

PETRONAS will use Carbon Clean's scalable CCS technology as a part of the agreement. Photo via carbonclean.com

Carbon Clean announced a new partnership with PETRONAS CCS Solution, a subsidiary of PETRONAS, to collaborate and evaluate Carbon Clean’s carbon capture and storage technology.

The two companies will assess carbon capture technology by aiming to “identify synergies and explore future collaboration opportunities,” according to a news release.The primary focus of the MOU is Carbon Clean's CycloneCC tech, which can reduce the installed cost of carbon capture by up to 50 percent. Both companies will collaborate to develop how the modular technology can be used for post-combustion CO2 capture.

“PETRONAS has a pioneering approach to decarbonization, viewing carbon capture as a lever to transform its business,” Aniruddha Sharma, chair and CEO of Carbon Clean, says in the release. “It is turning the low-carbon energy transition into an opportunity to drive green growth. Carbon Clean is proud to support PETRONAS in achieving its net zero targets by providing a cost-effective approach to carbon capture.”

The modular design assists with easily installation and makes it more efficient to integrate with operations that are already up and running. The physical footprint of CycloneCC occupies up to 50 percent less space than conventional carbon capture solutions. The equipment itself is 10 times smaller and includes rotating packed bed (RPB) technology that uses centrifugal force to make carbon capture process run more efficiently.

“CycloneCC’s modular design enables companies to stagger their investment, adding units in line with their decarbonization goals,” Sharma said in a news release. “We are making carbon capture logistically viable and easy to scale.”

Carbon Clean also has partnered with AGRA Industries, as the biofuel industry could use Carbon Clean’s CaptureX technology. The United Kingdom-based company operates its U.S. headquarters in the Ion.

Carbon Clean’s other customers include companies in the cement, steel, refinery, and energy-to-waste sectors. Among the investors in Carbon Clean are Chevron, Samsung Ventures, Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, and WAVE Equity Partners. Since it's founding in 2019, the company has raised $260 million in funding, according to data platform Tracxn.

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A View From HETI

Austin-based Tesla's Robotaxis have hit the road. Photo via tesla.com

Tesla’s Robotaxi service has taken to the streets of Houston. In a brief statement Saturday, April 18 on its X social media account, Tesla Robotaxi says the autonomous rideshare service just launched in Texas’ two biggest metro areas — Houston and Dallas.

“Try Tesla Robotaxi in Dallas & Houston!” Tesla CEO Elon Musk says in a reposting on X of the Robotaxi announcement.

One of Robotaxi’s competitors, Alphabet-owned Waymo, beat the Tesla service to the Dallas, Houston, and Austin markets. Another competitor, Amazon-owned Zoox, has Dallas flagged for its autonomous rideshare service.

Robotaxi previously kicked off in Austin, where Tesla is based and manufactures electric vehicles, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Nearly 50 Robotaxis operate in Austin, where the service’s inaugural rides happened last year, and more than 500 in the San Francisco area.

Of the three rides logged in a 31-square-mile area in Dallas as of Monday morning, the average fare was $7.96 and the average trip was 3.5 miles, according to an online tracker of autonomous rideshare services. The tracker showed only one Robotaxi was on the roads in Dallas.

As of Monday morning, a 25-square-mile area in Houston had two Robotaxis on the road, according to the online tracker. The average fare for five recorded rides was $11.34 and the average trip was six miles.

“We want Robotaxi pricing to be simple and easy for you to understand,” according to the Robotaxi website. “Initially, as part of our introductory program, we will charge a simple, affordable rate plus applicable taxes and fees for all rides within the available service area.”

The tracker shows the Robotaxi in Dallas did not have a human aboard to monitor each trip, and only one of Houston’s two Robotaxis did not have a human monitor in the driver’s seat.

For now, all passengers ride in Tesla Model Y cars. Robotaxi operates from 6 am-2 am daily.

To use the service, you first must download the Robotaxi app, which works only on iPhones.

Robotaxi lets you stream music and adjust climate settings and seat positioning from the Robotaxi app or the vehicle’s touchscreen. Climate and media settings are stored in your Robotaxi profile and automatically transfer from one vehicle to another. If you own a Tesla, certain profile settings and media preferences are available in your own car as well as in a Robotaxi.

In January at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Musk said a “widespread” network of driverless rideshare vehicles would be operating in the U.S. by the end of this year, CNBC reported.

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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

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