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2 Houston energy leaders bet on carbon capture with recent acquisitions

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Recently, two HETI members announced acquisition and investment into carbon capture businesses. Photo via htxenergytransition.org

CCUS will play a pivotal role in the global energy transition by decarbonizing carbon-intensive industries, including energy, chemicals, cement, and steel. CCUS is one of the few proven technologies to significantly lower net emissions. However, the unique nature of decarbonization presents many complex challenges. With greater funding and growing policy support, the widespread adoption of CCUS technologies is becoming more technically feasible and economically viable than ever before.

Houston, with its existing CCUS infrastructure, large concentration of CCUS expertise, and high storage capacity, is the ideal location to deploy and derisk CCUS projects at unprecedented speed and scale. Recently, two HETI members announced acquisition and investment into carbon capture businesses.

SLB + Aker Carbon Capture (ACC)

SLB, a pioneer in carbon capture technologies, announced an agreement to acquire major ownership in Aker Carbon Capture (ACC), a pure-play carbon capture company. The move combines SLB’s established CCUS business with ACC’s innovative CCUS technology to support accelerated industrial decarbonization at scale.

“For CCUS to have the expected impact on supporting global net-zero ambitions, it will need to scale up 100-200 times in less than three decades,” said Olivier Le Peuch, chief executive officer, SLB. “Crucial to this scale-up is the ability to lower capture costs, which often represent as much as 50-70% of the total spend of a CCUS project. We are excited to create this business with ACC to accelerate the deployment of carbon capture technologies that will shift the economics of carbon capture across high-emitting industrial sectors.”

Chevron New Energies + ION Clean Energy

Chevron New Energies, a division of Chevron U.S.A. Inc., announced a lead investment in ION Clean Energy (ION), which provides post-combustion point-source capture technology through its third-generation ICE-31 liquid amine system. This investment expands and complements Chevron’s growing portfolio of CCUS technologies.

“ION’s solvent technology, combined with Chevron’s assets and capabilities, has the potential to reach numerous emitters and support our ambitions of a lower carbon future,” said Chris Powers, vice president of CCUS & Emerging, Chevron New Energies. “We believe collaborations like this are essential to our efforts to grow carbon capture on a global scale.”

“This investment from Chevron is a huge testament to the hard work of our team and the potential of our technology,” said ION founder and executive chairman Buz Brown. “We appreciate their collaboration and with their investment we expect to accelerate commercial deployment of our technology so that we can realize the kind of wide-ranging commercial and environmental impact we’ve long envisioned.”

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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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Energy Transition and Digital Transformation collide at next week's Can't Miss energy event. Image via Shutterstock.

Can't Miss: Reuter's Data-Driven Oil and Gas Conference

DIGITAL SUSTAINABILITY

June 20-21 | Reuter’s Data-Driven Oil and Gas Conference

Energy Transition and Digital Transformation collide at next week’s Data-Driven Oil and Gas USA 2023 conference from Reuter’s Events. Join leaders in technology as they discuss digital best practices in upstream energy and how to balance going beyond Industry 4.0 with goals for energy sustainability.

“Reuters Events: Data Driven Oil & Gas 2023 will be the space for decision makers to get together to take their business to the next level by overcoming cultural blockers, breaking down silos and exploring innovative technologies to improve the bottom line and maximize output,” says Lee Cibis, global project director for oil and gas at Reuters Events.

With a robust speaker lineup, attendees can expect to hear insightful case studies, lessons learned, and visions for a lower-carbon energy future enabled by digitalization and innovative technologies. Be sure to catch a multi-operator perspective at the Tuesday panel, “One Common Goal,” which appears to echo sentiments from OTC about the importance of partnering, with emphasis on the data interoperability needed from and between vendors and operators alike.

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Houston companies partner to advance industrial carbon capture tech

green team

Carbon Clean and Samsung E&A, both of which maintain their U.S. headquarters in Houston, have formed a partnership to accelerate the global use of industrial carbon capture systems.

Carbon Clean provides industrial carbon capture technology. Samsung E&A offers engineering, construction and procurement services. The companies say their partnership will speed up industrial decarbonization and make carbon capture more accessible for sectors that face challenges in decarbonizing their operations.

Carbon Clean says its fully modular columnless carbon capture unit, known as CycloneCC, is up to 50 percent smaller than traditional units and each "train" can capture up to 100,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

“Our partnership with Samsung E&A marks a major milestone in scaling industrial carbon capture,” Aniruddha Sharma, chair and CEO of Carbon Clean, said in a news release.

Hong Namkoong, CEO of Samsung E&A, added that the partnership with Carbon Clean will accelerate the global rollout of carbon capture systems that “are efficient, reliable, and ready for the energy transition.”

Carbon Clean and Samsung E&A had previously worked together on carbon capture projects for Aramco, an oil and gas giant, and Modec, a supplier of floating production systems for offshore oil and gas facilities. Aramco’s Americas headquarters is also in Houston, as is Modec’s U.S. headquarters.

Major Houston energy companies join new Carbon Measures coalition

green team

Six companies with a large presence in the Houston area have joined a new coalition of companies pursuing a better way to track the carbon emissions of products they manufacture, purchase and finance.

Houston-area members of the Carbon Measures coalition are:

  • Spring-based ExxonMobil
  • Air Liquide, whose U.S. headquarters is in Houston
  • Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, whose U.S. headquarters is in Houston
  • Honeywell, whose Performance Materials and Technologies business is based in Houston.
  • BASF, whose global oilfield solutions business is based in Houston
  • Linde, whose Linde Engineering Americas business is based in Houston

Carbon Measures will create an accounting framework that eliminates double-counting of carbon pollution and attributes emissions to their sources, said Amy Brachio, the group’s CEO. The model is expected to take two years to develop, and between five and seven years to scale up, Bloomberg reported.

The coalition wants to create a system that will “unleash markets and competition,” unlock investments and speed up the pace of emissions reduction, said Brachio, former vice chair of sustainability at professional services firm EY.

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it,” said Darren Woods, chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil. “The first step to reducing global emissions is to know where they’re coming from — and today, we don’t have an accurate system to do this.”

Other members of the coalition include BlackRock-owned Global Infrastructure Partners, Banco Satanader, EY and NextEra Energy.

“Transparent and consistent emissions accounting is not just a technical necessity — it’s a strategic imperative. It enables smarter decisions and accelerates real progress across industries and borders,” said Ken West, president and CEO of Honeywell Energy and Sustainability Solutions.

Wind and solar supplied over a third of ERCOT power, report shows

power report

Since 2023, wind and solar power have been the fastest-growing sources of electricity for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and increasingly are meeting stepped-up demand, according to a new report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The report says utility-scale solar generated 50 percent more electricity for ERCOT in the first nine months this year compared with the same period in 2024. Meanwhile, electricity generated by wind power rose 4 percent in the first nine months of this year versus the same period in 2024.

Together, wind and solar supplied 36 percent of ERCOT’s electricity in the first nine months of 2025.

Heavier reliance on wind and solar power comes amid greater demand for ERCOT electricity. In the first nine months of 2025, ERCOT recorded the fastest growth in electricity demand (5 percent) among U.S. power grids compared with the same period last year, according to the report.

“ERCOT’s electricity demand is forecast to grow faster than that of any other grid operator in the United States through at least 2026,” the report says.

EIA forecasts demand for ERCOT electricity will climb 14 percent in the first nine months of 2026 compared with the same period this year. This anticipated jump coincides with a number of large data centers and cryptocurrency mining facilities coming online next year.

The ERCOT grid covers about 90 percent of Texas’ electrical load.

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