hou knew?

Calling all energy startups, Amazon enters the DAC chat, and more things to know this week

Events not to miss, nomination deadline for awards program for innovative energy businesses, and more things to know this week. Photo via Getty Images

Editor's note: It's a new week — start it strong with three quick things to know in Houston's energy transition ecosystem. Submit an energy transition company to an awards program, read how Amazon entered the DAC conversation, and learn about events not to miss this week.

Houston Innovation Awards nominations coming to a close

Photo via Getty Images

If you haven't heard, EnergyCapital's sister site, InnovationMap, is accepting nominations for the 2023 Houston Innovation Awards. The deadline to submit is tomorrow, September 19, and there are several categories that might be of interest to the Houston energy transition ecosystem, such as:

  • Hardtech Business, honoring an innovative company developing and commercializing a physical technology
  • Digital Solutions Business, honoring an innovative company developing and programming a digital solution to a problem in an industry
  • Sustainability Business, honoring an innovative company providing a solution within renewables, climatetech, clean energy, alternative materials, circular economy, and beyond
  • Corporate of the Year, honoring a corporation that supports startups and/or the Houston innovation community
  • People's Choice: Startup of the Year, selected via an interactive voting portal during the event
Now, these are only a few categories this year. To submit a nomination and read more about the awards, click here.

Events to have on your radar

Photo courtesy of The Cannon

  • September 21 — The Rice Alliance Energy Tech Venture Forum is an opportunity to learn about the latest emerging technologies, meet investors to seek funding, see promising companies, and more. (Note: I'm moderating a panel about venture investment at 2 pm)
  • September 21 — UH Energy Symposium, a panel series, is hosting its next installment, entitled Plastics, Chemicals, Circularity: What's Next?
  • September 28 — Chevron Technology Ventures seeks to identify novel technologies and innovation systems that stand to transform and improve facility-focused operational efficiencies, via the Chevron Technology Ventures Pitch Competition. Six Houston companies will compete to win a tailored field trial opportunity with CTV experts, plus a six-month, complimentary, flexible-workspace membership at The Cannon.

Amazon makes investment in direct air capture by way of Houston-based Oxy

Photo via 1pointfive.com

Houston-based cleantech company 1PointFive is among the recipients of e-commerce giant Amazon’s first investments in carbon-fighting direct air capture (DAC).

Amazon has agreed to buy 250,000 metric tons of carbon removal credits from Stratos, 1PointFive’s first DAC plant, over a 10-year span. That commitment is equivalent to the amount of carbon stored naturally across more than 290,000 acres of U.S. forecasts, says Amazon.

As Amazon explains, DAC technology filters CO2 from the atmosphere and stores it in underground geological formations. Aside from being stored, removed carbon can be used to make building materials like bricks, cement, and concrete. Read more.

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A View From HETI

A team at the University of Houston is changing the game for sodium-ion batteries. Photo via Getty Images

A research lab at the University of Houston has developed a new type of material for sodium-ion batteries that could make them more efficient and boost their energy performance.

Led by Pieremanuele Canepa, Robert Welch assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at UH, the Canepa Research Laboratory is working on a new material called sodium vanadium phosphate, which improves sodium-ion battery performance by increasing the energy density. Energy density is the amount of energy stored per kilogram, and the new material can do so by more than 15 percent. With a higher energy density of 458 watt-hours per kilogram — compared to the 396 watt-hours per kilogram in older sodium-ion batteries — this material brings sodium technology closer to competing with lithium-ion batteries, according to the researchers.

The Canepa Lab used theoretical expertise and computational methods to discover new materials and molecules to help advance clean energy technologies. The team at UH worked with the research groups headed by French researchers Christian Masquelier and Laurence Croguennec from the Laboratoire de Reáctivité et de Chimie des Solides, which is a CNRS laboratory part of the Université de Picardie Jules Verne, in Amiens France, and the Institut de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Bordeaux, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France for the experimental work on the project.

The researchers then created a battery prototype using the new materia sodium vanadium phosphate, which demonstrated energy storage improvements. The material is part of a group called “Na superionic conductors” or NaSICONs, which is made to let sodium ions move in and out of the battery during charging and discharging.

“The continuous voltage change is a key feature,” Canepa says in a news release. “It means the battery can perform more efficiently without compromising the electrode stability. That’s a game-changer for sodium-ion technology.”

The synthesis method used to create sodium vanadium phosphate may be applied to other materials with similar chemistries, which could create new opportunities for advanced energy storage. A paper of this work was published in the journal Nature Materials.

"Our goal is to find clean, sustainable solutions for energy storage," Canepa adds. "This material shows that sodium-ion batteries can meet the high-energy demands of modern technology while being cost-effective and environmentally friendly."

Pieremanuele Canepa, Robert Welch assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at UH, is leading a research project that can change the effectiveness of sodium-ion batteries. Photo courtesy of UH

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