DOE grants $13.7M tax credit to power Houston clean hydrogen project

power move

Permascand USA's new Houston facility will manufacture high-performance electrodes from new and recycled materials. Photo via Getty Images

Permascand USA Inc., a subsidiary of Swedish manufacturing company Permascand, has been awarded a $13.7 million tax credit by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to expand across the country, including a new clean hydrogen manufacturing facility in Houston.

The new Houston facility will manufacture high-performance electrodes from new and recycled materials.

"We are proud to receive the support of the U.S. Department of Energy within their objective for clean energy," Permascand CEO Fredrik Herlitz said in a news release. "Our mission is to provide electrochemical solutions for the global green transition … This proposed project leverages Permascand’s experience in advanced technologies and machinery and will employ a highly skilled workforce to support DOE’s initiative in lowering the levelized cost of hydrogen.”

The funding comes from the DOE’s Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Credit program, which focuses on clean energy manufacturing, recycling, industrial decarbonization and critical materials projects.

The Permascand proposal was one of 140 projects selected by the DOE with over 800 concept papers submitted last summer. The funding is part of $6 billion in tax credits in the second round of the Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Credit program that was deployed in January.

So far credits have been granted to approximately 250 projects across more than 40 states, with project investments over $44 billion dollars, according to the Department of Treasury. Read more here.

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Texas has the most utility-scale solar capacity installed and is home to 20 percent of the overall U.S. solar fleet. Photo via Getty Images

Texas passes California on national report of top solar states

by the numbers

For the first time, Texas has passed California in the second quarter of 2024 to become the top solar state in the country.

The American Clean Power Association's quarterly market report found that, by adding 3,293 megawatts of new solar year-to-date, Texas has the most utility-scale solar capacity installed, comprising 20 percent of the overall U.S. solar fleet. The American Clean Power Association, which represents over 800 energy storage, wind, utility-scale solar, transmission, and clean hydrogen companies, found that Texas is home to 21,932 megawatts of capacity,

By utilizing clean energy initiatives, Texas included 1.6 gigawatts of new solar, 574 megawatts of storage, and 366 megawatts of onshore wind. With more than 28,000 megawatts, Texas had the highest volume of clean power development capacity in the second quarter. About 163,000 megawatts of capacity overall are in the works throughout the United States. Texas ranks No. 1 for total operating wind capacity and total operating solar capacity, and comes in second for operating storage capacity.

Texas again led in production levels with clean power construction projects nationally, which boasts more than 19,000 megawatts worth of clean power energy currently under construction. With almost 28.3 gigawatts in advanced development or under construction, Texas continues to come in at No.1, as California is next with over 16.4 gigawatts in the state’s project pipeline.

California added more than 1,900 megawatts of new clean power capacity in the second quarter, with its clean energy development behavior leaning more towards adding storage, which amounts to 60 percent of California’s year-to-date clean power installations.

According to the report from SmartAsset, the Lone Star State has the most clean energy capacity at 56,405 megawatts due to its sheer size for solar capacity, but continues to trail states with similar geographic characteristics in overall clean energy prevalence.

Another report published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, says Texas will make up 35 percent of new utility-scale solar capacity in the U.S. this year, followed by California (10 percent) and Florida (6 percent).

While Texas’ solar efforts have shown positive trends, the state ranked No. 38 in a report by WalletHub that determined it was the thirteenth least green state.

Gold H2 has aligned itself with an oil and gas company, making its Black 2 Gold microbial technology available for the first time. Photo via cemvita.com

Houston clean hydrogen producer teams up with O&G for series of pilots

piling on pilots

Gold H2, a Houston-based producer of clean hydrogen, is teaming up with a major U.S.-based oil and gas company as the first step in launching a 12-month series of pilot projects.

The tentative agreement with the unnamed oil and gas company kicks off the availability of the startup’s Black 2 Gold microbial technology. The technology underpins the startup’s biotech process for converting crude oil into proprietary Gold Hydrogen.

The cleantech startup plans to sign up several oil and gas companies for the pilot program. Gold H2 says it’s been in discussions with companies in North America, Latin America, India, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

The pilot program is aimed at demonstrating how Gold H2’s technology can transform old oil wells into hydrogen-generating assets. Gold H2, a spinout of Houston-based biotech company Cemvita, says the technology is capable of producing hydrogen that’s cheaper and cleaner than ever before.

“This business model will reshape the traditional oil and gas industry landscape by further accelerating the clean energy transition and creating new economic opportunities in areas that were previously dismissed as unviable,” Gold H2 says in a news release.

The start of the Black 2 Gold demonstrations follows the recent hiring of oil and gas industry veteran Prabhdeep Singh Sekhon as CEO.

“With the proliferation of AI, growth of data centers, and a national boom in industrial manufacturing underway, affordable … carbon-free energy is more paramount than ever,” says Rayyan Islam, co-founder and general partner at venture capital firm 8090 Industries, an investor in Gold H2. “We’re investing in Gold H2, as we know they’ll play a pivotal role in unleashing a new dawn for energy abundance in partnership with the oil industry.”

Bracewell announced that Jennifer Speck has joined the firm's tax department as a partner in the Houston office. Photo via LinkedIn

Energy-focused law firm names new Houston partner

new hire

A law and government relations firm serving energy, infrastructure, finance, and technology industries has named a new Houston partner.

Bracewell announced that Jennifer Speck has joined the firm's tax department as a partner in the Houston office. Speck will advise clients on energy transition tax incentives.

Some of her experiences include onshore and offshore wind, solar, carbon capture, clean hydrogen and clean fuel projects. She recently served as senior manager of tax and regulatory compliance at Navigator CO2 Ventures LLC. She graduated in 2010 with a B.F.A. in mental health psychology from Northeastern State University, and received her J.D., with honors, from The University of Tulsa College of Law in 2012.

"Jenny has significant experience in critical tax credits for carbon capture and other energy transition projects," Elizabeth L. McGinley, chair of Bracewell's tax department, says in a news release. "Her knowledge of these, and other, tax incentives strengthens our ability to help clients take full advantage of the tax benefits available under the Inflation Reduction Act."

Nationally recognized, Bracewell's tax department is known for its experience involving tax matters related to the energy industry. Bracewell has also led the development of one of the country's largest multidisciplinary energy transition legal teams.

These five Houston-based energy transition research news articles trended this year on EnergyCapital. Image via Getty Images

From carbon studies to hydrogen solutions, here's what Houston energy research news trended in 2023

Year in Review

Editor's note: As the year comes to a close, EnergyCapital is looking back at the year's top stories in Houston energy transition. When it comes to the future of energy, Houston has tons of forward-thinking minds hard at work researching solutions to climate change and its impact on Earth. The following research-focused articles that stood out to readers this year — be sure to click through to read the full story.

New study from Houston research team looks at how the Earth cycles fossil carbon

A Rice University professor studied the Earth's carbon cycle in the Rio Madre de Dios to shed light on current climate conditions. Photo courtesy of Mark Torres/Rice University

Carbon cycles through Earth, its inhabitants, and its atmosphere on a regular basis, but not much research has been done on that process and qualifying it — until now.

In a recent study of a river system extending from the Peruvian Andes to the Amazon floodplains, Rice University’s Mark Torres and collaborators from five institutions proved that that high rates of carbon breakdown persist from mountaintop to floodplain.

“The purpose of this research was to quantify the rate at which Earth naturally releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and find out whether this process varies across different geographic locations,” Torres says in a news release. Click here to continue reading article from November.

Rice University team breaks records with new sunlight-to-hydrogen device

Rice University engineers have created a device that absorbs light, converts it into electricity, and then uses the electricity to split water molecules and generate hydrogen. Photo courtesy Gustavo Raskoksy/Rice University

A team of Rice University engineers have developed a scalable photoelectrochemical cell that converts sunlight into clean hydrogen at a record-setting pace.

The lab led by Aditya Mohite, an associate professor at Rice, published the findings in a study in Nature Communications late last month, in collaboration with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which is backed by the Department of Energy. In it, the team details how they created a device that absorbs light, converts it into electricity, and then uses the electricity to split water molecules and generate hydrogen.

Austin Fehr, a chemical and biomolecular engineering doctoral student at Rice and one of the study’s lead authors, says in a statement that the device "could open up the hydrogen economy and change the way humans make things from fossil fuel to solar fuel." Click here to continue reading article from August.

Houston research shows how much hydrogen-powered vehicles would cost at the pump

Researchers at the University of Houston are proposing that supplying hydrogen for transportation in the greater Houston area could also be profitable. Photo via UH.edu

It's generally understood that transitioning away from gas-powered vehicles will help reduce the 230 million metric tons of carbon dioxide gas released each year by the transportation sector in Texas.

Now, researchers at the University of Houston are proposing that supplying hydrogen for transportation in the greater Houston area could also be profitable.

The research team has done the math. In a white paper, "Competitive Pricing of Hydrogen as an Economic Alternative to Gasoline and Diesel for the Houston Transportation Sector," the team compared three hydrogen generation processes—steam methane reforming (SMR), SMR with carbon capture (SMRCC), and electrolysis using grid electricity and water—and provided cost estimates and delivery models for each. Click here to continue reading article from November.

Houston university to lead new NSF-back flooding study

A Rice University study will consider how "design strategies aimed at improving civic engagement in stormwater infrastructure could help reduce catastrophic flooding." Photo via Getty Images

Houston will be the setting of a new three-year National Science Foundation-funded study that focuses on a phenomenon the city is quite familiar with: flooding.

Conducted by Rice University, the study will consider how "design strategies aimed at improving civic engagement in stormwater infrastructure could help reduce catastrophic flooding," according to a statement.

The team will begin its research in the Trinity/Houston Gardens neighborhood and will implement field research, participatory design work and hydrological impact analyses.

Rice professor of anthropology Dominic Boyer and Rice's Gus Sessions Wortham Professor of Architecture Albert Pope are co-principal investigators on the study. They'll be joined by Phil Bedient, director of the Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters Center at Rice, and Jessica Eisma, a civil engineer at the University of Texas at Arlington. Click here to continue reading article from October.

Research team lands DOE grant to investigate carbon storage in soil

Two Rice University researchers just received DOE funding for carbon storage research. Photo by Gustavo Raskosky/Rice University

Two researchers at Rice University are digging into how soil is formed with hopes to better understand carbon storage and potential new methods for combating climate change.

Backed by a three-year grant from the Department of Energy, the research is led by Mark Torres, an assistant professor of Earth, environmental and planetary sciences; and Evan Ramos, a postdoctoral fellow in the Torres lab. Co-investigators include professors and scientists with the Brown University, University of Massachusetts Amherst and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

According to a release from Rice, the team aims to investigate the processes that allow soil to store roughly three times as much carbon as organic matter compared to Earth's atmosphere.

“Maybe there’s a way to harness Earth’s natural mechanisms of sequestering carbon to combat climate change,” Torres said in a statement. “But to do that, we first have to understand how soils actually work.” Click here to continue reading article from September.

Baker Hughes rolls out new energy tech for hydrogen sector

upgraded

Houston-based energy technology company Baker Hughes is rolling out two new products — pressure sensors for the hydrogen sector.

Designed to provide long-term stability and withstand harsh conditions, the Druck pressure sensors are geared toward gas turbines, hydrogen production electrolysis, and hydrogen filling stations, the company says.

Gordon Docherty, general manager of the Druck product line, calls the new hydrogen technology “an exciting breakthrough in the world of pressure measurement.”

“Hydrogen plays a key role in the transition to a more sustainable, lower-emissions future but also poses challenges for infrastructure and equipment due to hydrogen embrittlement,” Docherty says in a news release.

Baker Hughes’ Druck hydrogen pressure sensors will be displayed September 27-28 at the Hydrogen Technology Expo Europe in Bremen, Germany.

The company’s other hydrogen products include compressors, valves, gas turbines, and pumps.

During its second-quarter earnings call in July, Baker Hughes reported that it’s boosting R&D spending for its “New Energy” strategy. This includes money earmarked for hydrogen technology. As of July, Baker Hughes had spent about $40 million this year on small-scale R&D projects.

The company has spent decades working on hydrogen innovations. It created the world’s first hydrogen compressor in 1962. And in 2008, it built the world’s first turbine running solely on hydrogen.

Baker Hughes’ advancements in hydrogen technology come as the market for clean hydrogen grows. A report published this year by professional services firm Deloitte predicts the global market for clean hydrogen will expand to $1.4 trillion per year by 2050, up from a projected $642 billion in 2030.

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Tesla sales tumble 13% as Musk backlash, competition and aging lineup turn off buyers

Tesla Talk

Tesla sales fell 13% in the first three months of the year, another sign that Elon Musk’s once high-flying electric car company is struggling to attract buyers.

The double-digit drop is likely due to a combination of factors, including its aging lineup, competition from rivals and a backlash from Musk’s embrace of right wing politics. It also is a warning that the company’s first-quarter earnings report later this month could disappoint investors.

Tesla reported deliveries of 336,681 globally in the January to March quarter. The figure was down from sales of 387,000 in the same period a year ago. The decline came despite deep discounts, zero financing and other incentives.

Analysts polled by FactSet expected much higher deliveries of 408,000.

Dan Ives of Wedbush said in a note to clients that Tesla is seeing soft demand in the United States and China, as well as facing pressure in Europe.

“The brand crisis issues are clearly having a negative impact on Tesla...there is no debate,” he said.

Ives said that Wall Street financial analysts knew the first-quarter figures were likely to be bad, but that it was even worse than expected, calling them a “disaster on every metric.”

The sales drop came three weeks after President Donald Trump held an extraordinary press conference outside the White House in which he praised Tesla, blasted boycotts against the company and bought a Tesla himself while TV cameras rolled in an effort to help lift sales.

“I don’t like what’s happening to you,” said Trump, before slipping into a red Model S and exclaiming, “Wow. That’s beautiful.”

After falling as much as 6% in early Wednesday, Tesla stock shot up more than 5% in afternoon trading after a report from Politico, citing anonymous sources, that Musk may soon step down from leadership of his Department of Government Efficiency, the cost-cutting group that has led to tens of thousands of federal workers losing their jobs.

Tesla investors have complained the DOGE work has diverted Musk's focus from Tesla, where he is the CEO. On Tuesday, New York City's comptroller overseeing pension funds down $300 million this year on Tesla holdings called for a lawsuit accusing a distracted Musk of "driving Tesla off a financial cliff.”

Tesla’s stock has plunged by roughly half since hitting a mid-December record as expectations of a lighter regulatory touch and big profits with Donald Trump as president were replaced by fear that the boycott of Musk's cars and other problems could hit the company hard.

Analysts are still not sure exactly how much the fall in sales is due to the protests or other factors. Electric car sales have been sluggish in general, and Tesla in particular is suffering as car buyers hold off from buying its bestselling Model Y while waiting for an updated version.

Still, even bullish financial analysts who earlier downplayed the backlash to Musk’s polarizing political stances are acknowledging that it is hurting the company, something that Musk also recently acknowledged.

“This is a very expensive job,” Musk said at a Wisconsin rally on Sunday, referring to his DOGE role. “My Tesla stock and the stock of everyone who holds Tesla has gone roughly in half."

The protests come as the Austin, Texas electric vehicle maker faces fierce competition from other EV makers offering vastly improved models, including those of BYD. The Chinese EV giant unveiled in March a technology that allows it cars to charge up in just five to eight minutes.

Tesla is expected to report earnings of 48 cents per share for the first quarter later this month, up 7% from a year earlier, according to a survey of financial analysts who the car company by research firm FactSet.

Nearly all of Tesla’s sales in the quarter came from the smaller and less-expensive Models 3 and Y, with the company selling less than 13,000 more expensive models, which include X and S as well as the Cybertruck.

Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week announces 2025 dates, key events

comeback tour

Six local organizations focused on the energy transition have teamed up to bring back Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week.

The second annual event will take place Sept. 15-19, according to an announcement. The Ion District will host many of the week's events.

Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week was founded in 2024 by Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, Halliburton Labs, Greentown Labs, Houston Energy Transition Initiative (HETI), Digital Wildcatters and Activate.

“Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week was created to answer a fundamental question: Can we achieve more by working together than we can alone?” Jane Stricker, senior vice president at the Greater Houston Partnership and executive director of HETI, said in the release.

So far, events for the 2025 Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week include an introduction to climatetech accelerator Activate's latest cohort, the Rice Alliance Energy Tech Venture Forum, a showcase from Greentown Labs' ACCEL cohort, and Halliburton Labs Pitch Day.

Houston organizations New Climate Ventures and Digital Wildcatters, along with Global Corporate Venturing, are slated to offer programming again in 2025. And new partners, Avatar Innovations and Decarbonization Partners, are slated to introduce events. Find a full schedule here.

Other organizations can begin entering calendar submissions starting in May, according to the release.

Last year, Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week welcomed more than 2,000 attendees, investors and industry leaders to more than 30 events. It featured more than 100 speakers and showcased more than 125 startups.

"In 2024, we set out to build something with lasting impact—rooted in the ingenuity of Houston’s technologists and founders. Thanks to a collaborative effort across industry, academia, and startups, we’ve only just begun to showcase Houston’s strengths and invite others to be part of this movement," Stricker added in the release. "We can’t wait to see the city rise to the occasion again in 2025.”

Dow aims to power Texas manufacturing complex with next-gen nuclear reactors

Clean Energy

Dow, a major producer of chemicals and plastics, wants to use next-generation nuclear reactors for clean power and steam at a Texas manufacturing complex instead of natural gas.

Dow's subsidiary, Long Mott Energy, applied Monday to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a construction permit. It said the project with X-energy, an advanced nuclear reactor and fuel company, would nearly eliminate the emissions associated with power and steam generation at its plant in Seadrift, Texas, avoiding roughly 500,000 metric tons of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions annually.

If built and operated as planned, it would be the first U.S. commercial advanced nuclear power plant for an industrial site, according to the NRC.

For many, nuclear power is emerging as an answer to meet a soaring demand for electricity nationwide, driven by the expansion of data centers and artificial intelligence, manufacturing and electrification, and to stave off the worst effects of a warming planet. However, there are safety and security concerns, the Union of Concerned Scientists cautions. The question of how to store hazardous nuclear waste in the U.S. is unresolved, too.

Dow wants four of X-energy's advanced small modular reactors, the Xe-100. Combined, those could supply up to 320 megawatts of electricity or 800 megawatts of thermal power. X-energy CEO J. Clay Sell said the project would demonstrate how new nuclear technology can meet the massive growth in electricity demand.

The Seadrift manufacturing complex, at about 4,700 acres, has eight production plants owned by Dow and one owned by Braskem. There, Dow makes plastics for a variety of uses including food and beverage packaging and wire and cable insulation, as well as glycols for antifreeze, polyester fabrics and bottles, and oxide derivatives for health and beauty products.

Edward Stones, the business vice president of energy and climate at Dow, said submitting the permit application is an important next step in expanding access to safe, clean, reliable, cost-competitive nuclear energy in the United States. The project is supported by the Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.

The NRC expects the review to take three years or less. If a permit is issued, construction could begin at the end of this decade, so the reactors would be ready early in the 2030s, as the natural gas-fired equipment is retired.

A total of four applicants have asked the NRC for construction permits for advanced nuclear reactors. The NRC issued a permit to Abilene Christian University for a research reactor and to Kairos Power for one reactor and two reactor test versions of that company's design. It's reviewing an application by Bill Gates and his energy company, TerraPower, to build an advanced reactor in Wyoming.

X-energy is also collaborating with Amazon to bring more than 5 gigawatts of new nuclear power projects online across the United States by 2039, beginning in Washington state. Amazon and other tech giants have committed to using renewable energy to meet the surging demand from data centers and artificial intelligence and address climate change.

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