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Houston hydrogen company partners to test tech with O&G business

teamwork

Dumore Enterprises will test and deploy HNO International's innovative Hydrogen Carbon Cleaner and hydrogen-diesel blending technology on Dumore's extensive fleet of vehicles and equipment. Photo via Getty Images

Houston-based hydrogen-focused clean energy technologies company HNO International Inc. has announced a partnership.

The company has teamed up with oilfield and industrial services provider Dumore Enterprises, which will aim to test and deploy HNO International's innovative Hydrogen Carbon Cleaner and hydrogen-diesel blending technology on Dumore's extensive fleet of vehicles and equipment, according to HNO.

"We are thrilled to partner with Dumore Enterprises to push the boundaries of hydrogen's potential in fuel systems," Chairman of HNO International Donald Owens says in a news release.

The goal will be to provide better real-world data on how hydrogen can improve fuel economy,reduce emissions, enhance engine cleaning, and lower maintenance costs. Dumore's fleet includes diesel trucks, forklifts, and industrial equipment. The fleet will undergo a 30-day testing period at its Trinidad operations.

"Partnering with HNO International allows us to be at the forefront of hydrogen's role in reducing emissions," Managing Director of Dumore Enterprises Alex Jodhan adds. "We are excited to test and showcase the benefits of hydrogen carbon cleaning on our fleet and look forward to sharing the results with our industry partners and customers."

The findings from work hopes to provide insights into the adoption of hydrogen technologies in commercial fleets and heavy equipment industries. The companies hope the test results will lead to a large-scale deployment of HCC and hydrogen-blending technology globally.

"By deploying our hydrogen carbon cleaning system on Dumore's fleet, we aim to showcase how hydrogen can transform engine performance, improve efficiency, and reduce emissions at an unprecedented scale,” Owens continues.

Ford Motor Company and TXU Energy are partnering to create a first-of-its-kind retail energy offering for Ford electric SUV and truck customers in Texas via the TXU Free EV Miles program. Photo courtesy of Ford

Texas energy company partners with Ford for first-of-its-kind deal

EV deal

Buckle up, Ford drivers and TXU Energy customers — you're going to want to speed toward this deal.

Ford Motor Company and TXU Energy are partnering to create a first-of-its-kind retail energy offering for Ford electric SUV and truck customers in Texas via the TXU Free EV Miles program.

The program offers Ford EV customers the opportunity to charge their vehicle at home for free during an 18-hour window. Enrollment for the “Free EV Miles program” is open to interested Ford and TXU Energy customers.

“This partnership with Ford fits squarely into TXU Energy’s broader strategy of educating customers on the benefits of owning an EV, removing barriers to making the switch, and increasing grid resiliency,” Sam Sen, vice president of energy transition solutions for TXU Energy, says in a news release. “We are proud to support Ford’s Texas EV customers with flexible, free charging hours and the significant cost savings that come with it.”

Ford EV customers will receive a credit on their TXU Energy bill for all home energy used for vehicle charging during all year free charging hours from 7 p.m an 1 p.m. The program hopes to help support grid reliability efforts and clean energy usage since it will encourage energy consumption during off-peak hours.

According to Ford, around 80 percent of charging takes place at home. Charging can even be scheduled through the Preferred Charge Times feature in the FordPass app or in-vehicle touchscreen. If customers need to charge outside of the free hours, they will pay a fixed rate, which is the same rate as the rest of their home according to Ford.

“Encouraging our electric vehicle customers to charge at off-peak hours through programs like Free EV Miles helps to save them money while supporting a more sustainable, resilient electrical grid,” Bill Crider, senior director, global charging and energy services at Ford, says in a news release. “Ford electric SUV and trucks already have a lower operating and maintenance cost compared to gas-powered vehicles, and at-home charging offers additional financial perks and future vehicle-to-grid services never before possible, which Ford is committed to leading for our customers.”

The program will allow Ford F-150 Lightning, Mustang Mach-E, and Escape Plugin Hybrid customers to benefit from bill credits when they enroll in the Free EV Miles energy plan. They can also earn additional benefits from both Ford and TXU Energy like a $100 welcome bonus from Ford and a $250 bonus from TXU Energy. Enrolled customers will begin receiving automatic rebates for at-home charging costs during the free charging hours.

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.

Empact Technologies announced a multi-year agreement with Ampliform, which originates, builds, develops, and operates utility-scale solar and solar plus storage projects. Photo courtesy of Empact

Houston software company to manage IRA compliance for solar, storage company with national presence

tapping into tech

Houston company's Inflation Reduction Act compliance management software has scored a new partner.

Empact Technologies announced a multi-year agreement with Ampliform, which originates, builds, develops, and operates utility-scale solar and solar plus storage projects. The Empact platform uses a combination of software and services to ensure projects meet IRS regulatory requirements, which focus on wage and apprenticeship, domestic content, and energy and low-income community incentives. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed

Empact will partner specifically with Ampliform’s project Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) firms, subcontractors, and key suppliers of steel and iron products. In addition, they will work through a project’s life cycle for EPC’s solar modules, trackers, and inverters to manage prevailing wage & apprenticeship, domestic content, and other tax incentive qualification and compliance.

“The team at Ampliform had the leadership and foresight to recognize the significant risks of IRA non-compliance and the need to have third party compliance management in place prior to construction kick-off," Charles Dauber, CEO and founder of Empact, says in a news release. We look forward to helping Ampliform fully leverage the IRA tax incentives to develop and build their project development pipeline.”

Ampliform has approximately 700MW of projects in short-term development. Ampliform also plans 3GW of projects in its development pipeline. Ampliform’s future expansion plans exceed more than 13GWdc in total. Empact will manage the IRA compliance for these projects. According to a Goldman Sachs report, the IRA is estimated to provide $1.2 trillion of incentives by 2032.

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Zero-emission electric air taxi network to land in Texas in 2027

Electric Travel

San Jose, California-based aerospace company Archer Aviation is bringing its air-taxi system to the “Texas triangle” of Houston, Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth.

Currently, the planned zero-emission electric air taxi networks will use Archer’s Midnight air taxi to “turn 60- to 90-minute drives to major airports, business districts and major destinations into 10- to 20-minute flights,” the company said in a news release. Archer plans to begin flights in the Texas triangle next year.

The Midnight air taxi is an all-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. It can carry four passengers and a pilot and is designed for consecutive flights of about 20 miles.

Archer cites the Texas triangle as one of the busiest and fastest-growing “megaregions” in the country due to its proximity to coastal regions, major airports, and a number of business districts.

Archer Chief Commercial Officer Nikhil Goel described the air taxi experience to CW Houston as “100 times quieter than a helicopter for the price of an Uber Black.” He added that the air taxis are a combination of a helicopter, a small airplane and a drone.

In Houston, Archer’s air taxi network will aim to connect George Bush Intercontinental, William P. Hobby and Sugar Land Regional Airport with downtown destinations, including the Thompson Hotel helipad, and Galveston.

In Austin, it plans to link the city's Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and Austin Executive Airport with the F1 Circuit Helipad at the Circuit of the Americas. Archer debuted its Midnight aircraft at the F1 Prix in the Fan Zone and the F1 Paddock at Austin’s COTA.

The Dallas-Fort Worth network is slated to include Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Dallas Love Field, Addison Airport, Arlington Municipal Airport, Fort Worth Meacham International Airport and Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport, plus major business hubs like Frisco Station.

“Texas is setting the bar for America’s leadership in the next generation of aviation,” Adam Goldstein, founder and CEO of Archer Aviation, said in the release. “Our planned networks will make the benefits of electric air taxis real for Texans — trading hours in traffic for minutes in the air, while connecting the biggest airports, business districts and sporting hubs in ways that America’s largest megaregion needs to grow.”

Archer is working with state and local partners to develop charging infrastructure and plans to pursue Texas operations through the White House’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program, according to the release. It recently completed its "No Roads" flight tour, which included multiple flights over the San Francisco Bay, and flew to seven cities over three days.

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This article first appeared on InnovationMap.com.

Fervo Energy scores third consecutive nod on MIT climatech list

top honor

Houston-based geothermal power company Fervo Energy has notched a three-peat on MIT Technology Review’s annual 10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch List.

“The newly public company is betting that Al’s power boom will help turn enhanced geothermal energy into a scalable reality,” MIT Technology Review says of the three-time honoree.

Fervo went public in May through a $2.2 billion IPO.

Other Fervo recent milestones include:

“We are in the midst of a once-in-a-generation surge in power demand that is likely to dictate the outcome of the American success story in both artificial intelligence and industrial growth, but also the extent to which people have access to affordable, reliable power,” Tim Latimer, co-founder, chairman, president and CEO, said during Fervo’s second-quarter earnings call.

“The stakes have never been higher,” he added, “and I’ve never been more convinced that Fervo is uniquely positioned to meet this moment.”

Also making MIT Technology Review’s fourth annual list were:

  • Greentown Houston alum Energy Dome, based in Milan, Italy. “Energy Dome is using the gas to deliver cheap long-duration energy storage for the grid,” MIT Technology Review says.
  • Greentown Houston alum Moment Energy, based in Vancouver, Canada. “The startup is betting that repurposing — rather than recycling — used EV batteries will help buoy much-needed U.S. supply,” MIT Technology Review says.
  • Greentown Boston member Form Energy, based in Somersville, Massachusetts. It’s a three-time honoree. “Form’s 100-hour batteries could make clean energy more weather-resilient and help power data centers,” MIT Technology Review says.

Greentown Labs is an incubator for climatech and energy startups that's co-located in Houston and Boston. Fervo is also an alum of Greentown Houston.

“Whether early-stage startup or multinational corporation, the businesses we’ve chosen are working on technologies to help us address climate change or adapt to our warming world,” MIT Technology Review says. “There’s an urgent need for these innovators: We must begin to drastically reduce emissions to avoid the deadliest impacts of climate change, while also contending with its harmful effects.”

ExxonMobil and Chevron top Q3 estimates on higher prices and strong output

Q3 Report

ExxonMobil and Chevron both reported better than expected quarterly results Friday as the oil majors benefited from higher prices and record production.

Besides the disruption caused by the wars in Iran and Ukraine that have driven up the cost of fuel, Exxon is also seeing strong production in its fields in Guyana and the Permian Basin in the Southwest. Chevron said its results include one month of production in Venezuela where it’s making a big investment.

Utilization at Exxon's U.S. Gulf Coast refineries was at 100%, and U.S. Gulf Coast diesel production was at the second-highest on record.

The price of diesel, currently about $6.32 per gallon, is up 71% since last year, according to AAA. Diesel surpassed $6 last month — a record. Regular gasoline is up about 38% in the past year as well. To that end, some state officials have been offering gas tax holidays and other measures to ease costs.

Pain at the pump

The cost of crude oil — the main ingredient in gasoline as well as diesel — has been volatile amid ongoing uncertainty about the war's future. The conflict with Iran has impeded most shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway that previously served as a delivery route for a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas.

Both Brent crude and benchmark U.S. crude were at over $100 a barrel on Friday. Brent is still near the high end of its range since the war with Iran began. The highest price for the most actively traded contract in the market for Brent crude since then is nearly $120, reached in March.

At the beginning of the month, the Group of Seven wealthy democracies announced that they planned to release 100 million barrels of oil and fuel products in the coming weeks, starting with “substantial” amounts of diesel.

The release follows on from a March announcement that International Energy Agency member countries would release 426 million barrels of oil and products to stabilize the oil market. European Union countries committed about 92 million barrels, a promise weighted toward refined products made from crude such as diesel.

President Donald Trump has been trying to tamp down soaring energy costs ahead of the U.S. midterm elections. As part of those efforts, he announced earlier this month that the U.S. struck a deal to obtain diesel from Russia. Congress has criticized the deal as fueling Russia’s war against Ukraine, violating existing U.S. laws and drawing the U.S. closer to Russia. Even as Congress has tried to push back, the first tanker carrying Russian diesel to the United States set sail a week ago.

Results beat Wall Street expectations

Darren Woods, ExxonMobil chairman and CEO, noted that investments such as the expansion of its Beaumont refinery in Texas have contributed to an increase in its distillate production by approximately 40% since 2019.

For the third quarter, net income more than doubled to $3.72 per share. On an adjusted basis, profit totaled $4.23 per share, easily topping the average analyst estimate of $4.12 per share.

Revenue during the three months ended in September rose 33% to $113.16 billion, also beating estimates.

The Spring, Texas-based company also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.07 and set a $20 billion stock buyback plan.

Houston-based Chevron said it earned $9.9 billion, or $5.06 per share, during the third quarter, as revenue surged 36% to $67.8 billion. Its results handily topped estimates.

Crude utilization at Chevron's U.S. refineries totaled 98%. Those refineries processed more than 1 million barrels of crude oil per day. The company said it set production records at its Eastern Mediterranean and Australian assets.

Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil company, has had a presence in Venezuela since 1923. Last month it announced it will invest $7 billion over the next five years in Venezuela. It said Friday that following an accounting-related change during the quarter, it’s now including those results.

Overall capital expenditures during the quarter were lower compared with a year ago because it spent less in the Permian Basin.

Mike Wirth, Chevron’s chairman and CEO, said that the company signed agreements to reduce Bakken midstream costs by about 50%, strengthening the asset’s competitiveness. Chevron increased its holdings in the Bakken fields in North Dakota and Montana following its $53 billion acquisition of Hess Corp. last year.

Shares of Exxon rose 1.3% in morning trading. The stock is up 64% in the past 12 months. Chevron's stock climbed 1.8%.

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