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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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ExxonMobil expands Gulf Coast CCS business with Louisiana deal

carbon contract

Spring-based energy powerhouse ExxonMobil has picked up another project in the carbon capture and storage (CCS) market.

Natural gas pipeline operator Williams Cos. has tapped ExxonMobil to transport and store up to one metric ton per year of CO2 from Williams’ natural gas collection and processing plant in southwest Louisiana’s Haynesville Shale.

Williams will transport natural gas via its Louisiana Energy Gateway pipeline, then process the natural gas and deliver it to the Gulf Coast for export as liquefied natural gas (LNG). The LNG will be used in power generation, residential and commercial heating, and industrial processes.

Williams recently agreed to acquire Momentum Midstream for up to $5.5 billion to expand Williams’ LNG presence in the Haynesville Shale. Haynesville is the country’s third-largest producer of natural gas.

Once the deal closes, Williams will own a $1.5 billion project in southwest Louisiana that will expand capacity of the Transco natural gas distribution system. The system serves power and LNG-export customers. Williams will also gain over 4,000 miles of pipeline and more than one million acres.

While Williams is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, it has a significant presence in Houston. Last month, Green Street’s Real Estate Alert reported Williams bought the 64-story, 1.4 million-square-foot Williams Tower south of The Galleria from Invesco Real Estate for more than $300 million. The company will occupy about 360,000 square feet in the skyscraper for its Houston hub.

Williams employs about 800 people in Bayou City, including roughly 700 who work at Williams Tower, and plans to hire another 100 by the end of this year.

The Williams deal is ExxonMobil’s seventh CCS contract. ExxonMobil’s CCS portfolio supports LNG, lower-carbon-intensity steel, ammonia, natural gas processing, industrial gases and methanol.

ExxonMobil has established a “carbon superhighway” along the Gulf Coast to fuel its CCS business. The company owns and operates a more than 1,300-mile CO2 pipeline system, the largest in the U.S.

“Carbon capture is becoming an increasingly important part of industrial operations, but capture alone doesn’t solve the problem of high emissions,” says ExxonMobil. “What matters next is how CO2 is transported, used, and stored.”

ExxonMobil’s CCS initiatives are aimed at capturing a chunk of the rapidly growing CCS market in the U.S. Straits Research forecasts the market will grow from $5.66 billion this year to $13.56 billion by 2034.

“It’s not every day you get to witness the birth of a new American industry, but that’s exactly what’s happening right now at the U.S. Gulf Coast,” Dominic Genetti, senior vice president of CCS at ExxonMobil, wrote in an article published last year on the company’s website.

Fervo Energy, Mercury Fund leaders named first experts in residence for TEX-E

energy mentors

Two leading companies in Houston's clean energy scene have been named the Texas Exchange for Energy & Climate Entrepreneurship's first experts in residence.

TEX-E announced this month that Houston-based geothermal unicorn Fervo Energy and venture capital firm Mercury Fund have joined the nonprofit's new Expert-in-Residence partnership. The program aims to connect TEX-E Fellows with "the people and organizations shaping the future of energy and entrepreneurship."

The 2026 TEX-E Fellows were named in June and include 67 students from six Texas universities and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Nineteen are from Houston universities. See the full list here.

Through the Expert-in-Residence program, fellows will be able to network and work with:

"More than anything, students need the determination and creativity to step outside of their comfort zones and tackle problems that lack clear answers. At Fervo, we've consistently bet on young people who lack traditional 'hard skills' but are willing to embrace uncertainty and learn on the job. That open-mindedness will take students far," Jewett said in a prepared statement. Fervo named Jewett as COO in June.

TEX-E was founded in 2022 through partnerships with MIT Martin Trust Center for Entrepreneurship and Greentown Labs. It works with university students from six schools: Rice University, University of Houston, Prairie View A&M University, The University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University and MIT.

The organization named Houston venture capital and innovation leader Sandy Guitar as its new executive director last year. Guitar previously served as general partner and managing director at Houston-based VC firm HX Venture Fund and is co-founder of Weathergage Capital.

TEX-E is known for its student track within the Energy Venture Day and Pitch Competition at CERAWeek. It awarded $50,000 to student teams from the University of Texas and Rice University. Read more here.

BP to sell Houston’s Archaea Energy after $4.1 billion bet on biogas

RNG exit

Oil and gas conglomerate BP is unloading its Houston-based U.S. renewable natural gas business just four years after buying it.

The British company announced the planned sale of Archaea during its most recent earnings call but offered few details.

On the call, BP’s new CEO, Meg O’Neill, said her company had put Archaea on the market and already had attracted interest from potential buyers. BP acquired Houston-based Archaea Energy, the country’s largest producer of renewable natural gas (RNG), in 2022 for about $4.1 billion.

BP, whose North American headquarters is in Houston, is streamlining its portfolio. As such, O’Neill said Archaea represents a “capital intense” approach to biogas instead of the “capital light” approach BP now favors.

“If there’s somebody who sees an opportunity to create additional value, who will invest in that business, who will build on the foundation, because our team has made really good progress in improving the profitability of that business, then that will be a good outcome,” O’Neill told Wall Street analysts.

The proposed sale of Archaea is part of BP’s effort to sell about $20 billion in assets by the end of next year.

Archaea captures biogas, a natural byproduct of waste decomposition at landfills and dairy farms, and converts it into electricity or RNG. This process leads to cleaner air, less odor, and more sustainable energy than traditional fossil fuels.

Archaea was slated to be a cornerstone of BP’s plan to boost its biogas supply by roughly 600 percent to the equivalent of about 70,000 barrels of oil per day.

Bioenergy had been identified as one of bp’s five pillars of its multibillion-dollar energy transition initiative.

Another pillar: EV charging. Last month, BP agreed to sell its EV charging business in Austria to Switzerland’s Volenergy, along with 250 BP-branded stores and a fleet of business vehicles.

“By concentrating our capital on the assets and markets where BP can be most competitive and best serve customers, we are strengthening our balance sheet and creating a stronger downstream portfolio,” Richard Harding, interim executive vice president of downstream at BP, said of the Volenergy deal.

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