City offers free composting services to Houstonians looking to reduce landfill contributions

do your part

Looking to start composting? This is your month to try it out with free drop-off spots in Houston. Photo via Getty Images

The City of Houston Solid Waste Management Department is launching a free Food Waste Drop-Off pilot program through the end of February.

The program is in collaboration with Council Member Sallie Alcorn, Zero Waste Houston and the City of Houston Health Department, and allows residents to drop off food scraps at four different locations. The locations are:

Kashmere Multi-Service Center, Mondays from 2 to 5 pm
Acres Homes Multi-Service Center, Tuesdays from 2 to 5 pm
Alief Neighborhood Center, Wednesdays from 4 to 7 pm
Sunnyside Multi-Service Center, Thursdays from 3 to 6 pm

Houston residents, businesses, and institutions generate 6.2 million tons of municipal solid waste per year according to the Solid Waste Department program.

“You’ll find when you start composting your food scraps, there is a lot less trash generated in your home, at your curb, and taken to the landfill,” Alcorn says in a news release.

The Solid Waste Management Department provides solid waste services with the collection, disposal, and recycling of discarded material in an environmentally-friendly and cost effective way.

“The Solid Waste Department is eager to continue to provide innovative programs that divert waste from the landfill and actively engage Houston residents,” says Mark Wilfalk, Director of Solid Waste Management in the release.

Houston Methodist has several ongoing and future initiatives dedicated to reducing the hospital system's carbon footprint. Photo via HoustonMethodist.org

How this Houston hospital is leading sustainable health care

seeing green

The United States health care sector contributes around 8.5 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, and one Houston hospital is committed to doing its part in reducing the industry's carbon footprint.

Houston Methodist, which recently opened a new tech hub in the Ion in midtown, has put in place several initiatives that reflect a more sustainable future for health care. The organization, which has seven hospitals in the Houston area, revealed some of these ongoing and planned projects at a recent event.

"Houston Methodist is always looking ahead on ways — not only of how we are taking care of patients — but what are we doing to create this environment and making the right efforts for sustainability, which we should all be doing," Michelle Stansbury, vice president of innovation and IT applications at Houston Methodist, says on this week's episode of the Houston Innovators Podcast. "We have to protect this environment that we have or it may not be the same for our children going forward."

The hospital system is currently in the design phase for installing solar panels on the Josie Roberts Administration Building in the Texas Medical Center. This project, in partnership with Houston Methodist's Energy and Facilities workgroup, will be the first step toward renewable energy consumption for the hospital.

Houston Methodist has already rolled out food composting initiatives at its locations in Sugar Land, The Woodlands, and Willowbrook locations — with plans for additional campuses to follow. According to a presentation from Jason Fischer, director of the Office of Sustainability at Methodist, the hospital system has already diverted nearly 100,000 lbs. of food waste from landfills.

Preventing waste recycling or reusing items is another focus of Houston Methodist, Stansbury says, from creating a workflow that enables reusing items that are able to be sanitized rather than thrown away to sustainably getting rid of expired materials. The U.S. has rules about the shelf lives of health care products, but other countries don't have as strict of mandates.

"We're sending (supplies) to other countries that can still use these products," Stansbury explains. "Knowing that we're helping to care for other individuals, to me I think it's very valuable. Other countries don't have the resources that the United States does."

Another notable initiative is incorporating greenspace for patients to enjoy. Houston Methodist is currently in construction on a 26-story hospital tower in the Texas Medical Center that will feature the Centennial Rooftop Garden on the 14th floor.

The Houston Methodist's sustainability team has several other initiatives both ongoing and in the works. More information is available on the hospital's website.

Centennial Tower’s 14th floor will feature an outdoor rooftop garden. Rendering courtesy of Houston Methodist

By opting into composting, Moonshot customers are avoiding contributing to landfill methane emissions. Photo via Moonshot Compost/Facebook

Houston sustainability startup increases Texas impact, diverts 3.5M lbs of landfill waste

the power of composting

Houston-based Moonshot Compost is marking its three-year anniversary this month, demonstrating a successful execution of a sustainable waste management model.

Chris Wood and Joe Villa started the company in July 2020, collecting and measuring food waste in their personal vehicles. Today, Moonshot operates with a team of drivers utilizing its data platform to quantify the environmental benefits of composting.

“People like to compost with us,” Wood said. “When we first started, I don't think we ever thought we would get to so much weight so quickly. We've diverted over 3.5 million pounds of food waste since we launched, and our rate of collection is about 250,000 pounds a month now.”

Moonshot ensures every collection is weighed to calculate its precise impact. Its proprietary system uses QR codes, allowing users to understand both their individual and collective contribution to the composting effort.

Despite starting in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the service has solidly grown. Currently, Moonshot serves 65 commercial and over 600 residential subscribers across Houston, Austin, Dallas, and Waco.

One of Moonshots significant achievements is its Diversion Dashboard, which presents the climate equivalencies of the diverted food waste, highlighting how composting contributes to the reduction of greenhouse gases.

"By composting, you're avoiding landfill methane emissions, which constitute 10 percent of global greenhouse emissions," Wood said.

Moonshot offers subscription programs for both residential and commercial clients. The residential subscription includes a drop-off option for $10 per month or an at-home pick-up service for $29 per month. Each pick-up includes a clean bin exchange. For commercial clients, the base fee is $110 per month, with weekly pick-ups and bin exchanges.

The company's next significant milestone, Wood said, is to divert 5 million pounds of food waste in Houston. As of now, Moonshot expects to reach its 5 million pound goal by mid-2024.

“We think that Houston is sending 5 million pounds of food waste to the landfill every day,” Wood said. “Once we've diverted 5 million pounds in Houston, that'll be the first time that we've diverted a day's worth of food waste in Houston.”

As part of Moonshots most recent compost result update, Moonshot subscribers based in Houston have diverted 3,444,704 pounds of waste from landfills and saved 2,328,366 pounds of carbon dioxide. Visit here for more information on its impact across Austin, Dallas and Houston.

Wood emphasized the importance of changing perceptions on composting: "It’s not disgusting. You already generate food waste at home and work. Composting makes your trash cleaner."

With this mission, Moonshot Compost continues to transform perceptions and practices around waste management and sustainability.

Chris Wood and Joe Villa started the company in July 2020. Photo via Moonshot Compost/Facebook

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Here's how Texas ranks as an energy efficient state

by the numbers

How energy efficient is the Lone Star State? A new report finds that Texas has some room for improvement in that department.

In its 2024 "Most & Least Energy-Efficient States" report, WalletHub ranks Texas at No. 36 out of the 50 states with a score of 47.5 out of 100 points.

The report ranked each state on both its home and auto efficiency. Texas came in No. 32 for home energy efficiency, which factored in the National Weather Service's annual degree days.

For auto efficiency, Texas came in at No. 38, but ranked No. 43 for vehicle-fuel efficiency specifically and No. 20 for transportation efficiency.

"We divided the annual vehicle miles driven by gallons of gasoline consumed to determine vehicle-fuel efficiency and measured annual vehicle miles driven per capita to determine transportation efficiency," according to WalletHub, which used data from the U.S. Census Bureau, National Climatic Data Center, U.S. Energy Information Administration, and U.S. Department of Transportation - Federal Highway Administration.

Source: WalletHub

Texas receives mixed reviews when it comes to energy reports from WalletHub. A June report found that Texas ranked as the fourth cheapest state for energy, and in April the state was found to be the thirteenth least green state.

Zooming in on Houston, the reports don't look any better. Earlier this month, the Bayou City was ranked the third worst metro when it comes to the country's greenest cities.

Texas automaker invests in first-of-its-kind EV charging station initiative

plugging in

A charging network founded by eight of the world’s top automakers have announced that they have broken ground on their first electric vehicle charging station.

IONNA will work to transform a historic district gas station into a new "Rechargery" in North Carolina. The initiative is backed by Plano-based Toyota, along with BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Kia, and Stellantis.

With plans to open locations across the country, the station will provide 10 covered parking bays and will be accessible to both CCS and NAC chargers. The charging ports will be capable of up to 400 kilowatts and 800+ Volts. The site will also include an indoor driver’s lounge, coffee service, food/beverage, restrooms, and WIFI.

“We are excited to announce our support of IONNA to deploy DC fast chargers throughout the U.S. and Canada,” Ted Ogawa, president and CEO of Toyota Motor North America, says in a news release. “We believe this will not only promote the adoption of BEVs and increase customer confidence in the technology, but it will provide our Toyota and Lexus customers with access to IONNA’s rapidly growing charging network in North America.”

IONNA will “enable urban and long-distance EV mobility for all with over 30,000 ultra-fast-and-reliable charging points by 2030” according to the company.

IONNA also announced Jackie Slope as the Chief Technology Officer. Slope previously worked with customer experiences at Crypto.com Arena and Madison Square Garden.

“Having spent my career raising the bar around the customer experience I am excited to find ways to innovate and elevate the charging experience by serving the customer above all else in this new and exciting industry,” Slope said in a news release.

While the North Carolina location is the first of its kind, IONNA plans to expand its Rechargery stations around North America soon.

In other EV news, Hyundai Motor and Kia launched a project on Sept. 25 to develop lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cathode material. Hyundai Steel and cathode material market leader EcoPro BM will aim to synthesize materials directly without creating a precursor for LFP battery cathode material production

DOE backs ERCOT-connecting project, ExxonMobil's big CCS deal, and more top Houston energy transition news

what's trending

Editor's note: From the Department of Energy backing a project that will connect ERCOT to other states' grid to energy innovators being named finalists in the Houston Innovation Awards, these are the top headlines that resonated with EnergyCapital readers on social media and daily newsletter this week.

$360M DOE grant to fund project that will connect ERCOT to US power grid

For the first time, Texas's ERCOT grid will be connected to other states' grids thanks to funding from the Department of Energy. Photo via Getty Images

Thanks to recently announced funding, the power grid for the territory served by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) will be connected to grids in other states.

Officials hope building a 320-mile transmission line that connects the ERCOT electric grid to electric grids in the Southeast will prevent power outages like the massive blackout that occurred in 2022 when a winter storm blasted Texas.

San Francisco-based Pattern Energy says its Southern Spirit project will cost more than $2.6 billion. Full-scale construction is supposed to get underway in 2028, and the project is set to go online in 2031. Continue reading.

ExxonMobil signs biggest offshore CCS lease in the U.S.

The offshore site is adjacent to a CO2 pipeline network that ExxonMobil acquired in 2023 with its $4.9 billion purchase of Plano-based Denbury Resources. Photo via ExxonMobil.com

Spring-based ExxonMobil continues to ramp up its carbon capture and storage business with a new offshore lease and a new CCS customer.

On October 10, ExxonMobil announced it had signed the biggest offshore carbon dioxide storage lease in the U.S. ExxonMobil says the more than 271,000-acre site, being leased from the Texas General Land Office, complements the onshore CO2 storage portfolio that it’s assembling.

“This is yet another sign of our commitment to CCS and the strides we’ve been able to make,” Dan Ammann, president of ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions, says in a news release. Continue reading.

Houston-area researchers score $1.5M grant to develop storm response tech platform

OpenSafe.AI, a new platform that utilizes AI, data, and hazard and resilience models to support storm response decision makers, has secured an NSF grant. Photo via Getty Images

Researchers from Rice University have secured a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to continue their work on improving safety and resiliency of coastal communities plagued by flooding and hazardous weather.

The Rice team of engineers and collaborators includes Jamie Padgett, Ben Hu, and Avantika Gori along with David Retchless at Texas A&M University at Galveston. The researchers are working in collaboration with the Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters (SSPEED) Center and the Ken Kennedy Institute at Rice and A&M-Galveston’s Institute for a Disaster Resilient Texas.

Together, the team is developing and hopes to deploy “Open-Source Situational Awareness Framework for Equitable Multi-Hazard Impact Sensing using Responsible AI,” or OpenSafe.AI, a new platform that utilizes AI, data, and hazard and resilience models "to provide timely, reliable and equitable insights to emergency response organizations and communities before, during and after tropical cyclones and coastal storm events," reads a news release from Rice. Continue reading.

Houston geothermal co. expands DOD partnership with South Texas initiative

Sage Geosystems will onboard its technology at the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi. Photo via Naval Air Station Corpus Christi/Facebook

Expanding on its partnership with the United States Department of Defense's Defense Innovation Unit, Sage Geosystems has been selected to conduct geothermal project development initiatives at Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi.

Along with the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program, Sage will provide its proprietary Geopressured Geothermal Systems technology, will be able to evaluate the potential for geothermal baseload power generation to provide clean and consistent energy at the Naval Air Station base.

“We’re pleased to expand our partnership with the DOD at NAS Corpus Christi to demonstrate the advantages of geothermal technology for military energy independence,” Cindy Taff, CEO of Sage Geosystems, says in a news release.Continue reading.

Houston energy transition innovators named finalists for annual awards program

Nearly 20 Houston startups and innovators were named finalists for the 2024 Houston Innovation Awards this week. Photo via Getty Images

The Houston Innovation Awards have named its honorees for its 2024 awards event, and several clean energy innovators have made the cut.

The finalists, which were named on EnergyCapital's sister site InnovationMap this week, were decided by this year's judges after they reviewed over 130 applications. More 50 finalists will be recognized in particular for their achievements across 13 categories, which includes the 2024 Trailblazer Legacy Awards that were announced earlier this month.

All of the honorees will be recognized at the event on November 14 and the winners will be named. Registration is open online. Representing the energy industry are 21 finalists. Continue reading.

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