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Highlights from the inaugural Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week

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Last month, the inaugural Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week 2024 successfully highlighted the GHP and HETI's mission. Photo via GHP

Houston has become the hub for startups and companies looking to scale innovative technologies that are transforming the energy industry and advancing a sustainable, low-carbon future. Last month, the inaugural Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week 2024 successfully highlighted this mission.

Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, Halliburton Labs, Greentown Labs, Digital Wildcatters launched the inaugural startup week in collaboration with the Partnership’s Houston Energy Transition Initiative. The week brought together leading energy and climate venture capital investors, industry leaders, and startups from around the world.

Over 30 events took place from September 9-13, featuring more than 100 speakers and 125 startups. Attendance numbers came in at over 1,400 people across the week’s anchor events, and additional events were individually organized by organizations and startups in Houston’s ecosystem.

“By hosting the Houston Energy & Climate Startup Week, we're not just showcasing our city's strengths - we're actively shaping its future. This event is a critical catalyst for fostering collaboration, investment and talent development within the burgeoning energy and climate tech ecosystem. This week is about demonstrating our commitment to that future and inspiring the next generation of energy innovators,” says Janice Tran, Kanin Energy CEO & Co-Founder

The Kickoff event, sponsored by Repsol, Microsoft and BBVA, hosted fireside chats by several of Houston’s leading startups, including Solugen, Cemvita, Kanin Energy and Syzygy.

“Houston is at the forefront of not just energy innovation, but industrial innovation more broadly. With the momentum that's built over the last few years, it's the perfect time to showcase our progress and drive further advancements in climate solutions,” says Gaurab Chakrabarti, Solugen CEO and co-founder.

Houston is home to more than 65 incubators and accelerators and over 260 cleantech and climate tech startups. The region continues to build momentum and is focused on attracting investment for this growing sector, seeing a 577 percent growth since 2019. According to Partnership data, there has been over $1.95 billion and 175 deals with cleantech and climate tech startups.

"Houston is uniquely positioned to tackle the greatest challenge of our time - producing more energy with fewer emissions. This city is where energy innovation scales and opportunity thrives. As a natural hub for startups and investors, Houston brought this to life during Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week. Years in the making, this event was launched to answer the question: Can the whole be greater than the sum of its parts? This past week proved it can. We look forward to continue building on this successful week,” says Jane Stricker, senior vice president at Greater Houston Partnership and executive director of the Houston Energy Transition Initiative.

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This article originally ran on the Greater Houston Partnership's Houston Energy Transition Initiative blog. HETI exists to support Houston's future as an energy leader. For more information about the Houston Energy Transition Initiative, EnergyCapitalHTX's presenting sponsor, visit htxenergytransition.org.

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The new Houston office is part of BBVA’s corporate and investment banking unit in the U.S. and will partner with global BBVA cleantech finance teams. Photo via bbva.com

Global bank announces new Houston hub for powering energy transition projects

cha-ching

Spanish financial services company BBVA Group has created a hub in Houston for financing energy transition projects in the U.S.

BBVA made the announcement at the first-ever Houston Energy & Climate Week, which the bank sponsored.

“The United States has a unique opportunity to lead the global transition to a more sustainable economy. Our office in Houston, the energy transition capital of the world, will be a key component of our sustainability strategy, complementing and integrated with our New York operations,” Alvaro Aguilar, BBVA’s head of strategic projects in the U.S., says in a news release.

The new Houston office is part of BBVA’s corporate and investment banking unit in the U.S. The local hub will partner with BBVA cleantech finance teams in New York City, London, and Madrid.

“We aim to make sustainability a driver of growth, support decarbonization projects, and position BBVA as the leading player in sustainable finance in the United States,” says Javier Rodríguez Soler, BBVA’s global head of sustainability.

BBVA’s U.S. sustainability strategy supports energy companies and those that promote renewable energy, including wind and solar, as well as emerging cleantech options, such as energy storage systems, hydrogen, and carbon capture. It also covers sectors like electric vehicles and energy efficiency.

As of June 2024, BBVA had amassed $279 billion in sustainability business toward its 2025 goal of $332 billion.

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Texas drivers continue to pump the brakes on EVs, shows new report

EV adoption

Even though Texas is home to Tesla, a major manufacturer of electric vehicles, motorists in the Lone Star State aren’t in the fast lane when it comes to getting behind the wheel of an EV.

U.S. Department of Energy data compiled by Visual Capitalist shows Texas has 689.9 EV registrations per 100,000 people, putting it in 20th place for EV adoption among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. A report released in 2023 by the University of Houston and Texas Southern University found that a little over 5 percent of Texans drove EVs.

California leads all states for EV adoption, with 3,025.6 registrations per 100,000 people, according to Visual Capitalist. In second place is Washington, with an EV adoption rate of 1,805.4 per 100,000.

A recent survey by AAA revealed lingering reluctance among Americans to drive all-electric vehicles.

In the survey, just 16 percent of U.S. adults reported being “very likely” or “likely” to buy an all-electric vehicle as their next car. That’s the lowest level of interest in EVs recorded by AAA since 1999. The share of consumers indicating they’d be “very unlikely” or “unlikely” to buy an EV rose to 63 percent, the highest level since 2022.

Factors cited by EV critics included:

  • High cost to repair batteries (62 percent).
  • High purchase price (59 percent).
  • Ineffective transportation for long-distance travel (57 percent).
  • Lack of convenient public charging stations (56 percent).
  • Fear of battery running out of power while driving (55 percent).

“Since AAA began tracking consumer interest in fully electric vehicles, we’ve observed fluctuations in enthusiasm,” said Doug Shupe, corporate communications manager for AAA Texas. “While automakers continue investing in electrification and expanding EV offerings, many drivers still express hesitation — often tied to concerns about cost, range, and charging infrastructure.”

18 Houston-based energy companies land on Forbes Global 2000 list

Forbes 2000

More than 60 Texas-based companies appear on Forbes’ 2025 list of the world’s 2,000 biggest publicly traded companies, and nearly half come from Houston, the majority in the energy sector.

Among Texas companies whose stock is publicly traded, Spring-based ExxonMobil is the highest ranked at No. 13 globally.

Rounding out Texas’ top five are Houston-based Chevron (No. 30), Dallas-based AT&T (No. 35), Austin-based Oracle (No. 66), and Austin-based Tesla (No. 69).

Ranking first in the world is New York City-based J.P. Morgan Chase.

Forbes compiled this year’s Global 2000 list using data from FactSet Research to analyze the biggest public companies based on four metrics: sales, profit, assets, and market value.

“The annual Forbes Global 2000 list features the companies shaping today’s global markets and moving them worldwide,” said Hank Tucker, a staff writer at Forbes. “This year’s list showcases how despite a complex geopolitical landscape, globalization has continued to fuel decades of economic growth, with the world’s largest companies more than tripling in size across multiple measures in the past 20 years.”

The U.S. topped the list with 612 companies, followed by China with 317 and Japan with 180.

Here are the rest of the Texas-based companies in the Forbes 2000, grouped by the location of their headquarters and followed by their global ranking.

Houston area (those in the energy sector are in bold)

  • ConocoPhillips (No. 105)
  • Phillips 66 (No. 276)
  • SLB (No. 296)
  • EOG Resources (No. 297)
  • Occidental Petroleum (No. 302)
  • Waste Management (No. 351)
  • Kinder Morgan (No. 370)
  • Hewlett Packard Enterprise (No. 379)
  • Baker Hughes (No. 403)
  • Cheniere Energy (No. 415)
  • Corebridge Financial (No. 424)
  • Sysco (No. 448)
  • Halliburton (No. 641)
  • Targa Resources (No. 651)
  • NRG Energy (No. 667)
  • Quanta Services (No. 722)
  • CenterPoint Energy (No. 783)
  • Coterra Energy (No. 1,138)
  • Crown Castle International (No. 1,146)
  • Westlake Corp. (No. 1,199)
  • APA Corp. (No. 1,467)
  • Comfort Systems USA (No. 1,629)
  • Group 1 Automotive (No. 1,653)
  • Talen Energy (No. 1,854)
  • Prosperity Bancshares (No. 1,855)
  • NOV (No. 1,980)

Austin area

  • Dell Technologies (No. 183)
  • Flex (No. 887)
  • Digital Realty Trust (No. 1,063)
  • CrowdStrike (No. 1,490)

Dallas-Fort Worth

  • Caterpillar (No. 118)
  • Charles Schwab (No. 124)
  • McKesson (No. 195)
  • D.R. Horton (No. 365)
  • Texas Instruments (No. 374)
  • Vistra Energy (No. 437)
  • CBRE (No. 582)
  • Kimberly-Clark (No. 639)
  • Tenet Healthcare (No. 691)
  • American Airlines (No. 834)
  • Southwest Airlines (No. 844)
  • Atmos Energy (No. 1,025)
  • Builders FirstSource (No. 1,039)
  • Copart (No. 1,062)
  • Fluor (No. 1,153)
  • Jacobs Solutions (1,232)
  • Globe Life (1,285)
  • AECOM (No. 1,371)
  • Lennox International (No. 1,486)
  • HF Sinclair (No. 1,532)
  • Invitation Homes (No. 1,603)
  • Celanese (No. 1,845)
  • Tyler Technologies (No. 1,942)

San Antonio

  • Valero Energy (No. 397)
  • Cullen/Frost Bankers (No. 1,560)

Midland

  • Diamondback Energy (No. 471)
  • Permian Resources (No. 1,762)
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A version of this article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

Hydrogen Technology Expo expected to bring largest event yet to NRG Center

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The Hydrogen Technology Expo North America returns to NRG Center this month, June 25-26, and is slated to be the largest yet with an expected 10,000 attendees, 500 exhibitors, 200 speakers and more than 100 hours of content.

The 2025 event will feature cutting-edge technologies, interactive panel discussions and networking opportunities while targeting industries looking to adopt hydrogen and fuel cell technology to help decarbonize their sectors. The event will be co-located with the Carbon Capture Technology Expo North America.

The 2025 expo will introduce the new Ammonia Zone, a dedicated area fostering collaboration with industries leveraging ammonia as a key component in the hydrogen economy. It will also offer one- and two-day passes for the first time.

The expo is divided into five tracks:

  • Strategic forum
  • Hydrogen and alternative fuel production
  • Infrastructure and integration
  • Mobility and propulsion systems
  • Carbon capture, utilization and storage

Speakers include Martin Perez, former associate director for carbon capture at the office of clean energy demonstrations for the U.S. Department of Energy; Frank Wolak, president and CEO of Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association; Seema Santhakumar, hydrogen market development leader –Americas at Baker Hughes; Rich Byrnes, chief infrastructure officer for Port Houston; and many others. A full list of exhibitors can be found here.

Technologies on display will include storage systems, industrial plant technologies, liquefaction technologies, advanced materials and composites, gasification technology, simulation and evaluation, safety systems, hydrogen fuels, hydrogen injectors, line assemblies, fuel-cell control units and more.

“The Hydrogen Technology Expo offers industry leaders a valuable opportunity to network and stay informed about the latest developments in the rapidly evolving world of hydrogen,” Susan Shifflett, Executive Director at Texas Hydrogen Alliance, said. “We’re a proud partner of the show.”

Entry to the exhibition hall is free of charge. Passes start at $450. Find more information about how to register here.

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