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Shell fuels energy transition with roll out of EV charging stations

coming soon

After recently divesting from wind and solar energy initiatives, Shell has plans to quadruple EV charging stations in the next several years. Photo via shell.com

As it downshifts sales of fuel for traditional vehicles, energy giant Shell is stepping up its commitment to public charging stations for electric vehicles.

In a new report on energy transition, Shell lays out an aggressive plan for growing its public network of charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs). The company plans to boost the global number of public EV charging stations from about 54,000 today to around 70,000 by 2025 and about 200,000 by 2030.

The projected growth from today to 2030 would represent a 270 percent increase in the number of Shell-operated EV charging stations.

“We have a major competitive advantage in terms of locations, as our global network of service stations is one of the largest in the world,” Shell says in the report.

Shell’s global network of service stations is shrinking, though. In the report, the company reveals plans to close a total of 1,000 gas stations in 2024 and 2025. Today, more than 45,000 Shell-branded gas stations are located in over 90 countries.

Aside from Shell gas stations, the company’s Shell Recharge business unit operates public EV charging stations along streets, at grocery stores, and at other locations in 33 countries.

Shell, whose U.S. headquarters is in Houston, is ramping up its EV charging network amid forecasts of slowing demand for oil and rising demand for EVs. Other than EV charging, Shell is focusing on biofuels and integrated power as components of its revamped product mix.

“Shell is well positioned to become a profitable leader in public charging for electric vehicles, meeting the growing demand from drivers who need to charge on the go,” the report says.

To accelerate its EV charging presence in the U.S., Shell in 2023 purchased Volta, a San Francisco-based operator of EV charging stations. Shell says it now operates one of the largest public EV charging networks in the U.S., with more than 3,000 charging points in 31 states and another 3,400 under development.

“The availability of charging points will be critical for the growth in electric vehicles,” the report says.

Last month, Shell divested from a solar energy subsidiary, before later announcing an exit from a wind energy joint venture.

"In-line with our Powering Progress strategy, Shell continues to hone our portfolio of renewable generation projects in key markets where we have an advantaged position," Glenn Wright, senior vice president at Shell Energy Americas, said in a news release at the time.

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The new bp pulse station is the first bp pulse branded Gigahub in the US and will be open to the public. Photo via bp.com

bp bets big on EV infrastructure, opens new Houston charging center

plugging in

Energy giant bp is opening a large electric-vehicle charging site at its American headquarters in Houston.

The new bp pulse station is the first bp pulse branded Gigahub in the US and will be open to the public. The Gigahub, will offer 24 high-speed EV charge points with Tritium 150kW DC fast chargers. The chargers will be integrated with the bp pulse app, which assists users to locate the site, access real-time charging availability, and WiFi capabilities.

"As we expand our global footprint, I am thrilled to unveil our first EV charging Gigahub in the US,” Emma Delaney, bp executive vice president for customers and products, says in a news release. “With leading fast charging positions already in key markets in the UK, China, and Germany, we're learning about customer charging preferences on the go.”

The plan for bp pulse includes continued deployment of additional charging points at high-demand spots like major metropolitan areas, bp-owned properties, and airports. The company has also been awarded grant funds through programs including National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure and California Energy Commission, which will help to provide charging infrastructure at sites in Virginia,California, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Kentucky.

Last year, bp announced plans to invest $1 billion in EV charging infrastructure by 2030, with $500 million invested in by the end of 2025.

"We're excited to bring bp pulse to America's energy corridor and expand our presence in the US public EV-charging market," CEO of bp pulse Americas Sujay Sharma said in a news release "This project will bring fast, reliable charging to EV drivers when and where they need it, helping support faster electric-vehicle adoption in the US. We look forward to welcoming new and existing EV drivers to our growing network."

A tie-up between Diamondback and Endeavor, if it succeeds, would create a player in the massive Permian Basin oil and gas field that straddles Texas and New Mexico. Photo via Unsplash

Potential $50B Texas energy giant emerges as Diamondback seeks to buy rival Endeavor

big deal

Diamondback Energy will attempt to buy rival Endeavor Energy Resources to create an energy giant in the Southwestern United States worth more than $50 billion.

Growing confidence in an economic recovery, particularly in the U.S., has driven massive deals in the energy sector in recent months, including Chevron's $53 billion acquisition of Hess in October, and a $59.5 billion deal two weeks before that by Exxon Mobil, its biggest acquisition since buying Mobil two decades ago.

A tie-up between Diamondback and Endeavor, if it succeeds, would create a player in the massive Permian Basin oil and gas field that straddles Texas and New Mexico.

It would be the third largest producer in the Permian behind Exxon and Chevron, overseeing 838,000 acres and potentially producing 816,000 oil-equivalent barrels each day.

Diamondback said Monday that it will buy Endeavor in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $26 billion.

Endeavor is the largest private operator in the Permian Basin. Drillers can pull more than 4 million barrels of oil equivalent from the Permian daily and the rush is on to secure prime real estate in the largest oil field in the United States with little sign that the U.S. economy is slowing as many had expected.

“Our companies share a similar culture and operating philosophy and are headquartered across the street from one another, which should allow for a seamless integration of our two teams," Diamondback Chairman and CEO Travis Stice said in a prepared statement.

Despite broad expectations that it would dip into recession in a turbulent global economy, the U.S. has proven surprisingly resilient, with a red hot job market and economic growth that has surprised almost everyone. The nation’s economy grew at an unexpectedly brisk 3.3% annual pace from October through December.

Shareholders of Diamondback Energy Inc. will own about 60.5% of the combined company, while Endeavor’s equity holders would own approximately 39.5%.

“Diamondback and Endeavor’s assets are highly contiguous and offer opportunities to capture operational and overhead synergies through a combination,” Stifel's Derrick Whitfield said in an analyst note, explaining that the deal will add low-cost inventory to Diamondback's Midland Basin position.

The Diamondback, Endeavor deal confirmed Monday includes approximately 117.3 million shares of Diamondback common stock and $8 billion in cash, and will create a huge operator in the Permian Basin that straddles Texas and New Mexico.

The combined company will be based in Midland, Texas.

The boards of both companies have approved the deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter. It also has all of the necessary Endeavor approvals, the companies said.

Diamondback's stock rose nearly 2% before the market open.

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Texas ranks below average on most energy-efficient states report

room to improve

Despite being home to a booming energy sector, Texas ranks below average on a new list of the country’s most and least energy-efficient states.

The list, compiled by personal finance website WalletHub, puts Texas at No. 34 for energy efficiency. It ranked 27th for energy efficiency of homes and 41st for energy efficiency of cars. Texas improved by one spot on the 2026 report, after coming in at No. 35 last year and No. 36 in 2024.

California took the top spot on the list this year, beating out Vermont, which claimed the No. 1 rank in 2025. South Carolina ranked No. 48. Due to data limitations, Alaska and Hawaii were excluded from WalletHub’s analysis.

In the WalletHub study, California had the lowest residential energy consumption per capita and the third-highest efficiency for home energy. At the bottom of the list, South Carolina ranked 48th for energy efficiency of homes and 35th for energy efficiency of cars.

Here’s who joined California in the top 5:

  • No. 2 Vermont
  • No. 3 New York
  • No. 4 Washington
  • No. 5 Massachusetts

WalletHub notes the average U.S. family spends at least $2,000 per year on utilities, and the average consumer spent $2,411 on gasoline in 2024.

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that adopting energy-efficient measures in the home could reduce a family’s utility costs by as much as 25 percent. As for gas, the agency found a more fuel-efficient vehicle could save the average driver more than $1,000 per year.

“Energy efficiency doesn’t just help save the planet — it also helps save you money by lowering the amount of electricity, gas, oil, or other types of energy you need to consume,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo says.

“While there are some steps you can take to become more energy-efficient on your own, living in the right area can give you a big boost,” he adds. “For example, certain states have much better public transportation systems that minimize your need to drive, at least in big cities. Some places also have better-constructed buildings that retain heat better during the winter or stay cooler during the summer.”

WalletHub compiled the listing using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, National Climatic Data Center, U.S. Energy Information Administration, and Federal Highway Administration.

Utility Global's H2Gen named one of the best inventions of 2026

Best of 2026

One of the year's most buzzworthy innovations comes from a Houston-based leader in the energy transition. Utility Global's H2Gen recently made Time magazine’s list of the 300 best inventions of 2026.

The H2Gen is an innovative system that produces low-cost clean hydrogen from water and industrial off-gases. The company says the process doesn’t require electricity, a notable claim since hydrogen production typically consumes a lot of power.

"Using a tubular electrochemical cell containing a proprietary electrolyte and water, the company can turn industrial off-gases into hydrogen at scale—no extra electricity required," writes Time. "Bonus: the process also pulls out carbon dioxide as a separate stream, where it can be captured and kept out of the atmosphere.

CEO Parker Meeks tells Time, it's “a practical pathway to decarbonize existing industrial assets."

The startup is on a roll. It has raised $100 million so far in an ongoing Series D round to offer its decarbonization technology at industrial scale around the world.

H2Gen is joined by 10 other inventions with Texas connections onTime's list, as well as one "special mention."

In North Texas, they are:

Samsung
Plano-based Samsung Electronics America pulled off a hat trick this year, with three products making Time’s list. First up is the Galaxy S26 Ultra smartphone. It packs a more powerful camera, Galaxy AI features, and pro-level content creation tools. But Time singled out its new built-in privacy display as the phone’s “biggest selling point.”

Samsung’s Bespoke AI Family Hub refrigerator also got smarter. When AI first came to the Family Hub in 2024, it could recognize some fresh foods, but you still had to log packaged items by hand, Time noted. Now, with Google Gemini built in, the fridge can identify more than 2,000 packaged foods, read handwritten labels, and warn you when food is about to expire. It then uses what’s inside to build grocery lists and suggest recipes.

And for gamers, there’s the Odyssey G8 monitor. Its 6K resolution leapfrogs the 4K standard, delivering what Samsung calls “exceptional visual clarity and detail” on a screen big enough for gaming and multitasking.

OxeFit
Plano-based OxeFit’s XS1 Peak is about the size of a treadmill but works like an entire gym. It can be set up for strength training, simulated skiing or kayaking, Pilates, or rowing. What makes it stand out is a built-in virtual spotter. According to Time, the machine “uses AI, computer vision and sensors to correct the user’s form, change resistance in the middle of a rep and reduce the weight when the user is struggling, much like a human spotter.”

EssilorLuxottica
EssilorLuxottica, the French eyewear giant whose U.S. headquarters is in Farmers Branch, makes Essilor Stellest lenses. The lenses correct nearsightedness while also slowing the eye growth that makes it worse over time. Stellest is the first and only eyeglass lens authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to control myopia, Time said. The lenses look like regular glasses but contain 1,021 tiny lenslets. In a U.S. trial of kids ages 6-12, myopia progression slowed by an average of 71 percent over two years compared with standard lenses.

Helpany
Helpany, a startup based in Phoenix that manufactures its devices in DFW, makes Paul, a ceiling-mounted gadget that uses radar and AI to spot subtle changes in how residents move and flag those at higher risk of falling. Helpany says the technology can cut falls by as much as 72 percent.

Aurora Innovation
Aurora, based in Pittsburgh with a corporate and operations hub in Coppell, rolled out its second-generation Driver 2 system in July. By September, Driver 2 trucks had logged more than 500,000 driverless miles without a single at-fault crash, Time reported, and the company expects 200 of them on the road by the end of 2026.

Colossal Biosciences
Dallas-based Colossal Biosciences built an artificial egg by placing an ultra-thin, transparent silicone membrane inside a rigid 3D-printed cup, letting scientists watch the embryo develop. Twenty-six chickens have already been hatched.

In Austin, they are:
Cedar Park-based Hyliion landed on Time’s list with its Karno Power Module, a modular generator designed to produce power wherever it’s needed. The Karno represents a big pivot for the company. Hyliion got its start building electrified powertrains for 18-wheelers before shifting into power generation after acquiring the Karno generator technology from GE Aerospace. Founded in Pittsburgh in 2015, the company relocated to Cedar Park in 2018.

The other Austin-associated honoree is Moment Energy. As more electric vehicles hit the road, a growing number of their batteries are nearing retirement, while demand for power keeps climbing. Moment Energy found a way to tackle both problems at once. The company’s Megafactory 1, which opened in Vancouver, Canada, in June, turns old EV batteries into modular energy storage systems for hospitals, factories, data centers, and other big power users. “Our goal is to make sure these batteries don’t end up in landfills,” founder Edward Chiang told Time.

In the “Special Mentions” category, Austin-based Renzoe Box gained notice for its refillable custom makeup palette for on-the-go people. Licensed architect René Graham designed the box. She graduated from Houston's Rice University, and was born and raised in Dallas.

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A version of this article first appeared on CultureMap.com.

Houston researchers develop heating method to recover critical minerals from e-waste

hot new research

Researchers at Rice University have developed a new technique to efficiently recycle electronic waste and harvest critical minerals using rapid heating.

Most electronic devices use flame-retardant plastic. The plastic is formulated from a critical metal called antimony.

However, recapturing antimony is typically a challenging task since it first has to be released from the plastic. As it is released, other compounds can form, such as organic bromides, which are toxic and difficult to capture. However, the organic bromides can also be reused and have applications in industrial chemicals when safely captured.

“Conventionally heating the plastic releases the antimony in a volatile and difficult-to-collect form as well as creating and releasing hazardous organic bromide compounds,” Leo Haoxin Ye, first author of the paper and a graduate student at Rice, said in a news release. “Other options are risky or more impractical, such as using strong acids, organic solvents or multistep treatment options.”

To address this issue, leading Rice chemistry professor James Tour, Ye and their team adapted Tour’s flash Joule heating technique, which heats materials to hundreds of degrees Celsius in milliseconds, according to Rice.

The team ground up flame-retardant plastic waste and placed it between two sheets of electrically heated carbon paper before using what’s known as isothermal-clamped flash Joule heating to release and collect the antimony.

The team found that limiting the time the plastic spent in the high temperature range dramatically reduced the production of the hazardous organic bromide compounds. The plastic remained between 200 degrees and 500 degrees Celsius for only 9.4 milliseconds, according to Rice.

Through the process, the team recovered 90 percent of antimony from tested materials and converted 83 percent of the bromide into hydrogen bromide. Their findings were published this month in the journal Nature Chemical Engineering.

“Isothermal-clamped flash Joule heating could improve the speed, safety and practicality of antimony recovery from discarded flame-retardant plastics,” Tour added in the release. “This represents an important step forward to conserving and reusing our critical antimony supply while also regenerating bromide salts for reuse.”

The study noted that the world is currently trending toward producing 82 million metric tons of flame-retardant plastic waste by 2030, which adds to the fact that e-waste is the fastest-growing solid waste stream in the world.

The research was funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

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