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Luxe rideshare service with EV evolution plans expands Houston-area coverage to two suburbs

on a roll

Alto, which plans an imminent evolution into electric vehicles, has expanded its service in the Houston area. Photo courtesy of Alto

Some big news for outside-the-Loop ridesharing users: Luxury rideshare company Alto, which currently operates in Inner Loop and Greater Houston, will expand its current service areas to The Woodlands and Spring.

Woodlands and Spring residents who’ve used Alto in Houston can look forward to the service in December and join a waitlist now. Importantly, new users who register now will receive the first three months of Alto membership completely free. (Be sure to check the site for important details.) Memberships run $12.95 per month, or $119 for annual or family memberships. The company promises unlocked fares that are 30-50 percent lower than usually promoted.

Founded in 2018 and launched in Houston in 2020, Alto elevates basic ridesharing with a fleet of company-owned, clearly branded, 5-star crash rated luxury SUVs. For safety, cloud-based cameras capture both interior and exterior videos of the ride. The company has previously announced its plans to evolve its fleet into being completely electric.

Choosy customers can select their preferred ride “vibe” — meaning an upbeat or chill music choice and even level of conversation with the driver — via the app. Vehicles are appointed with chargers, drinks, and even upscale scents (no smelly trips here).

In effort to create a more consistent customer-service based experience, Alto drivers aren’t contractors or side-hustlers but rather employees who receive benefits. A major benefit: Alto doesn’t put time restrictions on departures, meaning users who are running late don’t have to frantically message the driver.

As those who’ve used Alto are familiar, Alto drivers are professional and personable (without being overbearing) and tend to drive much slower and conservatively — something that should be considered for those behind schedule. Importantly, Alto builds 10 to 15-minute pick up windows to adjust for demand and cleaning between rides.

As for the new area users: consider this a chance to cruise Market Street in The Woodlands or Old Town Spring in regal rideshare style.

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

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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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