Environmental services firm names Houston energy leader to board

onboarding

Houston-based Milestone Environmental Services, which provides environmental services and carbon management, named energy leader and former Chevron executive Barbara J. Burger to its board of managers. Photo courtesy

Barbara Burger has joined the board of one of the largest energy waste sequestration companies.

“I am very pleased to welcome Dr. Barbara Burger to the Milestone Board and look forward to her invaluable insights and contributions,” Milestone President and CEO Gabriel Rio says in a news release. “Barbara’s impressive career in the energy industry coupled with her passion for education, sustainability, and resolving the challenges facing the energy transition will undoubtedly prove beneficial for Milestone, our customers, and our other stakeholders.”

Burger, who previously served as vice president of innovation at Chevron and president of Chevron Technology Ventures, also holds adviser roles and board positions at other innovative companies.

“I look forward to working with the Milestone team as they build on their leading environmental services business and develop an energy transition-critical carbon capture and sequestration business,” Burger adds.

Burger, who was awarded InnovationMap's inaugural Trailblazer Award in 2021, is senior adviser to Lazard, on the board of directors of Heliogen, and more. She also actively serves the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Activate, and the Houston Symphony.

Last fall, Milestone Environmental Services announced that it has been acquired by affiliates of SK Capital Partners for an undisclosed amount.

Milestone Carbon has leased more that 22,000 acres of land in the Permian Basin for the permanent geologic sequestration of CO2. Photo via milestone-es.com

Innovative Houston-based CO2 capture company gets acquired

M&A moves

Houston-based Milestone Environmental Services announced this month that it has been acquired by affiliates of SK Capital Partners for an undisclosed amount.

The New York-based private investment firm, which specializes in the materials, ingredients, and life sciences sectors, now has a controlling stake of Milestone, which will continue to be led by its president and CEO Gabriel Rio.

Rio founded Milestone in 2014. The company is one of the largest independent providers of waste management services for the U.S. energy and industrial sectors. It focuses on permanent carbon sequestration services through its proprietary slurry injection process, which stores hydrocarbon waste over a mile underground.

The company's subsidiary, Milestone Carbon, is developing injection sites that permanently and securely sequester CO2. Earlier this month, Milestone Carbon announced that it has leased more that 22,000 acres of land in the Permian Basin for the permanent geologic sequestration of CO2 as part of the "sequestration hub" it is developing.

According to the company, once operating, the hub will help reduce emission related to natural gas processing, electricity generation and other industries. It's slated to be one of the first sequestration hubs in the basin.

"We founded Milestone to boldly advance sustainability in the energy industry and beyond," Rios says in a statement. "Our offerings enable companies to reduce their carbon footprint and enhance their ability to meet sustainability goals. Permanent, safe sequestration of carbon is an essential part of combating climate change, and Milestone has the strategy and capabilities to play a leading role in delivering solutions to multiple industries.”

According to a statement, Milestone has sequestered more than 2 million tons of CO2e through its injection process. The company has stated that it believes its sequestration hub will help attract new industries and technologies, hydrogen, low-carbon ammonia, and low-carbon power, to West Texas.

"We are highly impressed with the market-leading, sustainability-driven business that Gabriel and the Milestone management team have built," Jack Norris, a managing director of SK Capital, said in a statement. "It is well-positioned to further grow its core business in difficult-to-abate industries as environmental regulations become more stringent and Milestone’s customers are increasingly focused on meeting ambitious decarbonization targets. We are excited to partner with management to capture this growth opportunity as well as support its further progress towards becoming a leader in CCS and other related markets.”

Earlier this summer, Houston-based Occidental also got in on a carbon capture acquisition. Occidental says its all-cash acquisition of Carbon Engineering is set to close by the end of 2023. The Canada-based company focuses on direct carbon capture (DAC), which vacuums about 50 percent to 60 percent of the carbon dioxide from the air that passes through the system’s fans.

Oxy was granted $600 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop South Texas Direct Air Capture (DAC) Hub earlier this year. It’ll be located on about 106,000 leased acres within a Kleberg County site at the iconic King Ranch. The hub will comprise 30 individual DAC projects.

The U.S. Department of Energy also recently invested more than $10 million in funding for four DAC projects with Houston ties.

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ENGIE strikes clean energy deal with Houston biomanufacturer

energy match

ENGIE North America has signed an agreement with Aker BioMarine to supply around-the-clock, Texas-sourced clean energy to the Norwegian company's Houston manufacturing facility.

The deal is through ENGIE's 24/7 offering, which allows users to "match electricity consumption with local renewable generation on an hourly basis," rather than annual renewable energy matching, according to a news release.

Houston-based ENGIE NA will match 90% of Aker BioMarine's hourly electricity consumption at its Houston facility through renewable energy certificates that link electricity consumed to clean power generated. The renewable energy will be sourced largely from ENGIE's Impact Solar Project in Lamar County, Texas.

“Working with companies that have made sustainability a core part of their strategy is essential to delivering meaningful progress,” Taymur Bunkheila, regional VP and retail supply lead for ENGIE’s U.S. 24/7 product, said in the release. “By aligning energy solutions with operational needs, we can help organizations improve transparency, strengthen accountability, and deliver measurable outcomes. This agreement demonstrates how companies can take practical steps today while building toward long-term sustainability objectives.”

Aker BioMarine, which develops sustainable marine-based ingredients, processes the majority of its krill and algae products at its Houston facility. The company says the deal with ENGIE marks an important step in reducing the environmental footprint of its operations.

“Through this agreement, we expect to reduce our Scope 2 emissions, marking an important milestone in our broader sustainability journey,” Matts Johansen, CEO at Aker BioMarine, added in the release. “ENGIE has delivered an affordable, innovative and transparent solution that allows us to match our electricity consumption for our Houston manufacturing facility with renewable power generation. The transparent data ENGIE provides strengthens our climate reporting while helping us continue delivering high-quality products with a lower environmental footprint."

ENGIE has more than 11 gigawatts of renewable energy projects in operation or under construction in the U.S. and Canada. The company is targeting 95 gigawatts by 2030

ExxonMobil announces date to move legal headquarters to Texas

save the date

Energy giant Exxon Mobil Corp. has set a date to move its legal headquarters to Texas.

The Spring-based company announced this week that the redomiciliation from New Jersey to Texas is expected to be effective July 1. Exxon's board of directors unanimously recommended redomiciling in the Lone Star State in March, and shareholders approved the move to Texas at the company’s annual meeting in May.

As part of the move, ExxonMobil Holdings Corp. will replace Exxon Mobil Corp. of New Jersey and become the publicly traded parent company. Exxon reports that its shares will continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “XOM,” and that shareholders do not need to take action.

At the time of the recommendation, Exxon said the move would not affect business operations, management, strategy, assets or employee locations.

Exxon Chairman and CEO Darren Woods added that the redomiciliation was in part due to Texas' business-friendly environment and policies.

"Over the past several years, Texas has made a noticeable effort to embrace the business community. In doing so, it has created a policy and regulatory environment that can allow the company to maximize shareholder value,” Woods said in a news release. "Aligning our legal home with our operating home, in a state that understands our business and has a stake in the company’s success, is important.”

The Associated Press reports that about 30 percent of Exxon's employees work in Texas. Exxon's legal headquarters has been based in New Jersey since 1882, when it was Standard Oil Company.

Exxon moved its operational headquarters from Irving, Texas, to the Houston area in 2023.

Exxon was the highest-ranking Houston-area company on this year's Fortune 500 list, coming in at No. 9. Houston tied with Chicago for the second-most Fortune 500 headquarters on this year's list, with Texas leading the nation for the most Fortune 500 headquarters (57).

“Texas is the undisputed headquarters of headquarters,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in a news release. “The world’s leading businesses invest with confidence in Texas because of our welcoming business climate, predictable regulatory environment, and skilled and growing workforce. People and businesses are choosing Texas because Texas works.”

Houston startups named to World Economic Forum cohort for carbon removal, clean technologies

top honor

Two Houston-based startups have been selected to join the World Economic Forum's Technology Pioneers community.

The two-year program aims to help mission-driven, early-stage start-ups scale their innovations through multi-stakeholder initiatives, co-creating partnerships and other gatherings for community members. One-hundred startups are selected each year from around the globe, this year hailing from 23 countries and working in AI, energy, space, biotech markets and more.

Cleantech startup Vaulted Deep was one of 11 energy and climate companies to be named to the cohort. Julia Reichelstein and Omar Abou-Sayed founded the company in 2023. Its technology injects excess organic waste underground to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Last year, Vaulted Deep inked a 12-year deal with Microsoft to remove up to 4.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from the environment.

The startup has earned several accolades in recent years, including a No. 3 spot on Fast Company’s list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2026. It was also recently named to market intelligence and advisory firm Cleantech Group's annual Global Cleantech 100 list for a second year in a row.

"Waste management is one of the world's great invisible infrastructure systems ... The need for new infrastructure is growing as disposal challenges become more complex and regulations evolve. Vaulted is building the first new disposal pathway for organic waste in decades by putting it deep underground, permanently," the company shared in a LinkedIn post. "This year, we're joining the World Economic Forum's 2026 Tech Pioneers alongside innovators working on the many interconnected challenges shaping our future."

Houston-based Venus Aerospace was also selected to join the cohort, along with six other spacetech companies. The company was founded in 2020 by Sassie and Andrew Duggleby.

The startup specializes in next-generation rocket engine propulsion as a cleaner alternative to traditional combustion engines. The company's rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) burns fuel more efficiently and completed a successful high-thrust test flight last year. Venus says it’s the only company in the world that makes a flight-proven, high-thrust RDRE with a “clear path to scaled production.”

"Frontier technologies matter most when they expand what people, industries, and nations can do," Sassie Duggleby, co-founder and CEO of Venus, said in a news release. "For Venus, RDRE does not just represent a more efficient engine. It is a foundation for faster movement, more capable space systems, and new forms of connectivity across the planet. Being named a Technology Pioneer validates the potential of this technology to help shape a future where distance is less limiting."

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