Editor's note: Dive headfirst into the new week with three quick things to catch up on in Houston's energy transition.
Events not to miss
Put these Houston-area energy-related events on your calendar.
- Tie Houston is hosting a discussion called Beyond Energy: Expanding Climate Action Horizons on November 12.
- Celebrate Houston innovation at the fourth annual Houston Innovation Awards on November 14.
- Taking place in Downtown Houston November 19 to 20, the Global Clean Hydrogen Summit will provide project developers, buyers, and financiers with the information they need to establish winning strategies for global clean hydrogen markets.
- The Ion is hosting Dan Ammann, President of ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions for a fireside chat on November 21.
Expert opinion: What health innovation's rise can teach us
If we can channel the same sense of urgency and public commitment toward climate change as we did for health crises in the past, climate tech could overcome its current obstacles. Photo via Getty Images
Guest columnist Nada Ahmed is the founding partner at Houston-based Energy Tech Nexus, a startup hub for the energy transition.
Over the past several decades, climate tech has faced numerous challenges, ranging from inconsistent public support to a lack of funding from cautious investors. While grassroots organizations and climate innovators have made notable efforts to address urgent environmental issues, we have yet to see large-scale, lasting impact.
A common tendency is to compare climate tech to the rapid advancements made in digital and software technology, but perhaps a more appropriate parallel is the health tech sector, which encountered many of the same struggles in its early days.
Observing the rise of health tech and the economic and political support it received, we can uncover strategies that could stabilize and propel climate tech forward. Read more.
Switch flipped: Houston-area solar farm goes online
Recurrent Energy's Liberty Solar project near Houston is now operational, adding 134 megawatts of clean energy capacity to power 15,000 homes annually in the MISO market. Photo via recurrentenergy.com
A clean energy developer and operator of solar and energy storage assets has announced the completion and commercial operation of a Houston-area farm that will power 15,000 homes a year.
Recurrent Energy's Liberty Solar project outside of Houston has powered on and will expand solar energy capacity in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator market. Recurrent Energy is an Austin-based a subsidiary of Canadian Solar.
“Projects like Liberty Solar are instrumental to meeting the soaring demand for electricity in Texas,” Executive Director of Texas Solar Power Association Mark Stover says in a news release. "We commend Recurrent Energy for pushing through the development process and working with corporate buyers to deliver new, predictable, clean power to the MISO region of Texas.” Read more.