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Houston investor backs carbon capture startup's series A

promising tech

CarbonQuest, a company with a compact carbon capture technology, announced it received series A funding from Houston-based Riverbend Energy Group. Photo via CarbonQuest

Houston investors are betting on a New York-based carbon capture startup's technology.

CarbonQuest announced it received series A funding from Houston-based Riverbend Energy Group. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded in 2019, the company created its Distributed Carbon Capture technology that captures CO2 from buildings and onsite power generation systems, then liquifies and transports it to local businesses that need carbon for their production processes.

“We are one of the few carbon capture companies with commercial products on the market today, and this investment will enable us to continue bringing distributed carbon capture to a wider swath of the market,” Shane Johnson, president and CEO of CarbonQuest, says in a news release. “We are also excited to attract new talent and expand our North American operations.”

The company's compact, modular carbon capture solution has already been deployed in several New York City buildings and reports that it is focused on natural gas emissions from distributed onsite power generation in 2024. The fresh funding will help CarbonQuest lower its cost for customers and address new market segments, including biogenic sources of CO2, utility infrastructure, and more, per the release.

Additionally, the company plans to advance development of its Carbon Management Software, a platform that provides real-time data and analytics for users. Riverbend's Joe Passanante and Eric Danziger will join CarbonQuest’s board of directors as a part of the deal.

“We are thrilled to partner with CarbonQuest, a company at the forefront of distributed carbon capture technology,” Passanante, managing director at Riverbend, says in the release. “This investment reflects our commitment to advancing solutions that play a critical role in decarbonization.

"CarbonQuest’s innovative approach not only addresses that need, but also offers scalable, economically viable solutions that can be deployed across a wide range of markets," he continues. "We are excited to collaborate with CarbonQuest’s experienced and talented team and believe this partnership will be a game changer in multiple markets, helping to unlock the full potential of distributed carbon capture and significantly contribute to global climate goals.”

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Carbon Clean says its tentative partnership with Merrill, Wisconsin-based AGRA Industries should speed up adoption of Carbon Clean’s CaptureX technology in the biofuel industry. Photo via CarbonClean.com

Houston co. enters new carbon capture collaboration focused on biofuels industry

cleaning up

Carbon Clean, a carbon capture company whose North American headquarters is in Houston, has forged a deal with a contractor to build modular carbon capture containers for the agricultural sector.

The company, based in the United Kingdom, says its tentative partnership with Merrill, Wisconsin-based AGRA Industries should speed up adoption of Carbon Clean’s CaptureX technology in the biofuel industry.

Carbon Clean’s technology has been installed at 49 sites around the world. Eighty percent of the sites have prefabricated modular carbon-capture containers, reducing construction and installation time.

The partnership will enable customers to capture CO2 released during the biofuel fermentation stage, enabling the production of fuels with lower carbon-intensity ratings. This will improve the ability of biofuel producers to claim federal tax credits, Carbon Clean says.

“Carbon Clean’s collaboration with AGRA Industries is a win-win for biofuel producers. Customers will benefit from the expertise of a leading agricultural engineering specialist and our modularized, innovative carbon capture technology that is cost-effective and simple to install,” Aniruddha Sharma, chair and CEO of Carbon Clean, says in a news release.

Carbon Clean’s customers include companies in the cement, steel, refinery, and energy-to-waste sectors.

Among the investors in Carbon Clean, founded in 2019, are Chevron, Samsung Ventures, Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, and WAVE Equity Partners. To date, the company has raised $260 million in funding, according to data platform Tracxn.

The pilot project is a cornerstone of an extended agreement between ExxonMobil Technology and Engineering and Danbury, Connecticut-based clean energy company FuelCell Energy. Photo via exxonmobil.be

ExxonMobil extends European fuel cell pilot project

next step

The Esso fuel business of Spring-based ExxonMobil is forging ahead with a pilot project at its Dutch refinery in Rotterdam to test technology aimed at reducing carbon emissions and simultaneously generating electricity and hydrogen.

The pilot project is a cornerstone of an extended agreement between ExxonMobil Technology and Engineering and Danbury, Connecticut-based clean energy company FuelCell Energy. The deal is now set to expire at the end of 2026.

ExxonMobil and FuelCell announced the pilot project in 2023.

“The unique advantage of this technology is that it not only captures CO2 but also produces low-carbon power, heat, and hydrogen as co-products,” Geoff Richardson, senior vice president of ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions, said last year.

The Rotterdam facility, which opened in 1960, will be the first location in the world to test the technology. The technology eventually could be rolled out at additional ExxonMobil sites.

The European Union is among the funders of the pilot project. FuelCell is making carbonate fuel cells for the project at its manufacturing plant in Torrington, Connecticut.

The extended agreement enables FuelCell to incorporate elements of the jointly developed technology into carbon capture products currently being marketed to customers. ExxonMobil and FuelCell are working on formalizing an arrangement for selling the new technology.

“The technology, which captures carbon while simultaneously generating electricity and hydrogen, could improve the economics of carbon capture and could potentially lower the barrier to broader adoption of carbon capture in the marketplace,” according to a FuelCell news release.

FuelCell says its 10-year partnership with ExxonMobil has focused on developing technology that reduces carbon emissions from emission-intensive sectors while generating electricity and hydrogen in the process — “something that no other fuel cell technology or conventional absorption systems can do.”

Navigating the energy transition is a relay race, and the baton is in Houston, says this energy executive. Photo courtesy of SCS

O&G exec: Houston is where the future of energy is taking shape

Q&A

Earlier this month, a West Texas-based oilfield equipment provider announced that it was opening an office in the Ion Houston. It's all a part of the company's energy transition plan.

SCS Technologies, based in Big Spring, Texas, has a new strategy and innovation-focused office in the Ion, the company announced last week. The company, which provides CO2 capture measurement and methane vapor recovery equipment for the energy, industrial, and environmental sectors, also announced René Vandersalm as the new COO.

These are just the latest moves for the company as the world moves away from hydrocarbons and toward a greener future, CEO Cody Johnson tells EnergyCapital, explaining that he recognizes Houston has a role in the energy transition.

"This is a relay race – a race that has already started," he says. "Houston is the place where the baton will be handed off – it’s the place where the race is occurring. SCS Technologies is determined to be part of this solution dreamed of and planned in Houston and then executed in the Permian Basin, where we call home."

In an interview with EnergyCapital, Johnson weighs in on the new office and the future of his company.

EnergyCapital: How has SCS’s business evolved amid the energy transition?

Cody Johnson: SCS Technologies was founded to design and fabricate customized Lease Automated Custody Transfer units in the Permian Basin. These LACT units were used primarily to measure the quality and quantity of crude oil at all points of custody transfer. Essentially, SCS Technologies produced the premier "crude cash registers" for the Permian Basin.

As the oil and gas industry has adapted into the energy transition industry, our customers and the communities we operate in have a growing need for SCS Technologies to use our design and fabrication of measurement skids to measure the quality and quantity of CO2 or to design and fabricate methane — and other vent gases — Vapor Recovery Units. SCS Technologies’ design and fabrication expertise in measurement skids, pump skids, and compression skids, coupled with our Permian Basin based training and fabrication campus, ideally positioned us to answer the call to fill the expertise and capacity gap.

EC: How are you preparing for the future of energy?

CJ: Society has been powered for the past 100 years or so by the management of hydrocarbon molecules. The essential tools for that have been and continue to be oil rigs, pipelines, and refineries in large part. This has given society many benefits but at a price to the environment that isn’t sustainable. Over the next 50 years, society will complete a transition away from managing hydrocarbon molecules and towards managing electrons. Those electrons are created by wind, solar, geothermal, or nuclear processes and travel down copper wires. Managing this transition that is already occurring and working together to do it in the near-term future of energy.

As we execute this transition over the next several decades from managing molecules to managing electrons to provide energy, molecule management companies must find ways to reach net zero emissions in their management practices. This means primarily capturing and managing methane vapors and capturing and sequestering CO2. This is starting in 2023 in a meaningful way and needs to continue past 2030 and probably past 2050 to have any chance to meet the globally shared social goal to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 and stay below a maximum increase of 1.5 degrees C in global temperatures.

The clock is ticking, and we are behind. The largest molecule management infrastructure investment in history must happen for us to reach these goals. It's mission-critical as one of the three things we simply cannot fail at to achieve net zero by 2050. SCS Technologies is very focused on being an intentional part of the tremendous supply chain buildout to support the infrastructure buildout.

EC: How does the new office in the Ion support these plans?


CJ: SCS Technologies needs to collaborate with the brightest minds working on the energy transition challenges. To contribute meaningfully to the overall effort and to be the thought leader in the methane vapor recovery and CO2 compression and measurement niche, we need to be at the heart of the energy transition collaboration community. That beating heart is the Ion in Houston.

EC: What role does your new COO, René Vandersalm, play in SCS evolving with the energy transition?


CJ: René is a proven executive in growing mission-critical design and fabrication capacity without sacrificing quality. René’s experience, capabilities, and global network will play a key role in our path forward.

EC: Based in West Texas, SCS has a growing presence in Houston. Why do you see Houston as a leader in the energy transition?

CJ: West Texas has an amazing group of oil and gas professionals and infrastructure. We are proud of that heritage and will always maintain our roots and foundation there. Houston has the only community of engineers, scientists, universities, companies, investors, and key professional service providers that can deliver on the buildout of the molecule management infrastructure required to buy the electron management infrastructure folks time to transition fully to green energy after 2050.

This is a relay race – a race that has already started. Houston is the place where the baton will be handed off – it’s the place where the race is occurring. SCS Technologies is determined to be part of this solution dreamed of and planned in Houston and then executed in the Permian Basin, where we call home.

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This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.

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ERCOT steps up grid innovation efforts to support growing power demand

grid boost

As AI data centers gobble up more electricity, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) — whose grid supplies power to 90 percent of Texas — has launched an initiative to help meet challenges presented by an increasingly strained power grid.

ERCOT, based in the Austin suburb of Taylor, said its new Grid Research, Innovation, and Transformation (GRIT) initiative will tackle research and prototyping of emerging technology and concepts to “deeply understand the implications of rapid grid and technology evolution, positioning ERCOT to lead in the future energy landscape.”

“As the ERCOT grid continues to rapidly evolve, we are seeing greater interest from industry and academia to collaborate on new tools and innovative technologies to advance the reliability needs of tomorrow’s energy systems,” ERCOT President and CEO Pablo Vegas said in a news release. “These efforts will provide an opportunity to share ideas and bring new innovations forward, as we work together to lead the evolution and expansion of the electric power grid.”

In conjunction with the GRIT initiative, ERCOT launched the Research and Innovation Partnership Engagement (RIPE) program. The program enables partners to work with ERCOT on developing technology aimed at resolving grid challenges.

To capitalize on ideas for grid improvements, the organization will host its third annual ERCOT Innovation Summit on March 31 in Round Rock. The summit “brings together thought leaders across the energy research and innovation ecosystem to explore solutions that use innovation to impact grid transformation,” ERCOT said.

“As the depth of information and industry collaboration evolves, we will continue to enhance the GRIT webpages to create a dynamic and valuable resource for the broader industry to continue fostering strong collaboration and innovation with our stakeholders,” said Venkat Tirupati, ERCOT’s vice president of DevOps and grid transformation.

ERCOT’s GRIT initiative comes at a time when the U.S. is girding for heightened demand for power, due in large part to the rise of data centers catering to the AI boom.

A study released in 2024 by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) predicted electricity for data centers could represent as much as 9.1 percent of total power usage in the U.S. by 2030. According to EPRI, the share of Texas electricity consumed by data centers could climb from 4.6 percent in 2023 to almost 11 percent by 2030.

A report issued in 2024 by the federal government’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory envisions an even faster increase in data-center power usage. The report projected data centers will consume as much as 12 percent of U.S. electricity by 2028, up from 4.4 percent in 2023.

In 2023, the EPRI study estimated, 80 percent of the U.S. electrical load for data centers was concentrated in two states, led by Virginia and Texas. The University of Texas at Austin’s Center for Media Engagement reported in July that Texas is home to 350 data centers, second only to Virginia.

“The U.S. electricity sector is working hard to meet the growing demands of data centers, transportation electrification, crypto-mining, and industrial onshoring, while balancing decarbonization efforts,” David Porter, EPRI’s vice president of electrification and sustainable energy strategy, said. “The data center boom requires closer collaboration between large data center owners and developers, utilities, government, and other stakeholders to ensure that we can power the needs of AI while maintaining reliable, affordable power to all customers.”

Policy adviser tapped to lead ‘nuclear renaissance’ in Texas

going nuclear

As Texas places a $350 million bet on nuclear energy, a budget and policy adviser for Gov. Greg Abbott has been tapped to head the newly created Texas Advanced Nuclear Energy Office.

Jarred Shaffer is now director of the nuclear energy office, which administers the $350 million Texas Advanced Nuclear Development Fund. The fund will distribute grants earmarked for the development of more nuclear reactors in Texas.

Abbott said Shaffer’s expertise in energy will help Texas streamline nuclear regulations and guide “direct investments to spur a flourishing and competitive nuclear power industry in the Lone Star State. Texas will lead the nuclear renaissance.”

The Texas Nuclear Alliance says growth of nuclear power in the U.S. has stalled while China and Russia have made significant gains in the nuclear sector.

“As Texas considers its energy future, the time has come to invest in nuclear power — an energy source capable of ensuring grid reliability, economic opportunity, and energy and national security,” Reed Clay, president of the alliance, said.

“Texas is entering a pivotal moment and has a unique opportunity to lead. The rise of artificial intelligence and a rebounding manufacturing base will place unprecedented demands on our electricity infrastructure,” Clay added. “Meeting this moment will require consistent, dependable power, and with our business-friendly climate, streamlined regulatory processes, and energy-savvy workforce, we are well-positioned to become the hub for next-generation nuclear development.”

Abbott’s push for increased reliance on nuclear power in Texas comes as public support for the energy source grows. A 2024 survey commissioned by the Texas Public Policy Institute found 55 percent of Texans support nuclear energy. Nationwide support for nuclear power is even higher. A 2024 survey conducted by Bisconti Research showed a record-high 77 percent of Americans support nuclear energy.

Nuclear power accounted for 7.5 percent of Texas’ electricity as of 2024, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute, but made up a little over 20 percent of the state’s clean energy. Currently, four traditional reactors produce nuclear power at two plants in Texas. The total capacity of the four nuclear reactors is nearly 5,000 megawatts.

Because large nuclear plants take years to license and build, small factory-made modular reactors will meet much of the shorter-term demand for nuclear energy. A small modular reactor has a power capacity of up to 300 megawatts. That’s about one-third of the generating power of a traditional nuclear reactor, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

A report from BofA Global Research predicts the global market for small nuclear reactors could reach $1 trillion by 2050. These reactors are cheaper and safer than their larger counterparts, and take less time to build and produce fewer CO2 emissions, according to the report. Another report, this one from research company Bloomberg Intelligence, says soaring demand for electricity — driven mostly by AI data centers — will fuel a $350 billion boom in nuclear spending in the U.S., boosting output from reactors by 63 percent by 2050.

Global nuclear capacity must triple in size by 2050 to keep up with energy demand tied to the rise of power-gobbling AI data centers, and to accomplish decarbonization and energy security goals, the BofA report says. Data centers could account for nine percent of U.S. electricity demand by 2035, up from about four percent today, according to BloombergNEF.

As the Energy Capital of the World, Houston stands to play a pivotal role in the evolution of small and large nuclear reactors in Texas and around the world. Here are just three of the nuclear power advancements that are happening in and around Houston:

Houston is poised to grab a big chunk of the more than 100,000 jobs and more than $50 billion in economic benefits that Jimmy Glotfelty, a former member of the Texas Public Utility Commission, predicts Texas will gain from the state’s nuclear boom. He said nuclear energy legislation signed into law this year by Abbott will provide “a leg up on every other state” in the race to capitalize on the burgeoning nuclear economy.

“Everybody in the nuclear space would like to build plants here in Texas,” Inside Climate News quoted Glotfelty as saying. “We are the low-regulatory, low-cost state. We have the supply chain. We have the labor.”

6 must-attend Houston energy transition events in October 2025

Must-Attend Meetings

Editor's note: October is here, and there are many energy events to plug into in Houston this month. From summits and forums to global conferences, there are the energy events to put on your calendar. Learn more below, and register now.

Oct. 7-8: Annual Energy Summit — Resilience in Energy Supply Chains

The ninth annual energy summit is co-hosted by Baker Botts and the Center for Energy Studies at Rice University's Baker Institute. This year's theme, “Resilience in Energy Supply Chains,” will focus on what is shaping the future of energy, and how markets, innovation, and economic growth will define the evolution of global energy supply chains.

This two-day event begins Oct. 7 at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. The event will also be livestreamed. Get tickets here.

Oct. 14: Current Trends in the Energy Industry

Join SABA and Vinson & Elkins LLP for an evening filled with insightful discussions and networking opportunities for seasoned professionals and those new to the energy industry. Learn from experts about the latest developments in the energy industry, sustainability efforts, and new policies shaping the future.

This event takes place at 6 pm at Vinson & Elkins LLP headquarters. Get tickets here.

Oct. 14-16: SAF North America

The leading event for the sustainable aviation fuel ecosystem is taking place in Houston, America’s fuel and energy hub. SAF North America brings together the SAF value chain under one roof for three days of high-level discussion. Attendees of the conference will hear from leading experts, who will provide insights on the aviation industry and discuss SAF scale-up, energy security, and pathways to decarbonize aviation in North America. There will also be dynamic exhibitions and networking opportunities.

This event begins Oct. 14 at the Marriott Marquis. Register here.

Oct. 16: Future of Global Energy Conference

The Future of Global Energy Conference, presented by Shell USA, Inc., brings together leaders from across industry, academia, and government to explore the forces shaping the future of energy. Houston is leading the way in the energy sector, leveraging its deep industry expertise, unmatched energy ecosystem, and spirit of innovation. The 2025 conference will spotlight Houston’s ongoing leadership in policy, technology development, and project execution that position the region for long-term success.

This event begins at 8:30 am at Hilton Americas. Register here.

Oct. 21-23: Energy Independence Summit

At Infocast’s inaugural Energy Independence Summit, top leaders across energy, finance, and policy will convene to evaluate where the energy market is headed next. Attendees will gain critical insights into how capital is being deployed, which technologies are emerging as the most viable under OBBBA, how domestic supply chains are affecting costs and timelines, and what regulatory levers may help stabilize the sector. The summit will feature 100 speakers, 24 sessions, networking opportunities, and more.

This event takes place Oct. 21 at the C. Baldwin, Curio Collection by Hilton. Register here.

Oct. 29: 2025 Global Energy Summit

Hosted by the World Affairs Council of Greater Houston, the Global Energy Summit examines the dynamic forces shaping today’s energy landscape. Attendees will engage with a diverse set of industry experts and global thought leaders on the future of energy security, access, and technological advancement. Opening remarks will be made by Cristina Saenz de Santa Maria, COO Maritime of DNV, followed by panel discussions featuring speakers from DNV, Accenture, Amazon Web Services, Center for Houston’s Future, Siemens, SLB, and NRG.

This event begins at 5 pm on Oct. 29 at the Omni Houston. Get tickets here.

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