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Fervo Energy leads Time’s top green tech companies of 2026

top spot

Fervo Energy has claimed the No. 1 spot on Time magazine’s and Statista’s 2026 list of America’s Top GreenTech Companies. Photo via fervoenergy.com

The accolades keep coming for Houston-based geothermal energy company Fervo Energy.

Fervo sits atop Time magazine’s and Statista’s 2026 list of America’s Top GreenTech Companies. Fervo ranked No. 6 on the list last year.

The ranking honors 250 companies in the U.S. based on their environmental impact, innovation and financial strength. Fervo joins five other Houston-area companies on the list.

  • No. 49 Quaise Energy, an MIT Energy Initiative spinout that’s developing a drilling system designed to convert existing power stations for geothermal power production
  • No. 71 Plus Power, which develops, owns and operates battery energy storage systems
  • No. 98 Utility Global, whose technology enables industrial decarbonization
  • No. 199 Solugen, whose technology converts plant-based feedstocks into carbon-negative chemicals
  • No. 215 Noodoe, which specializes in EV charging stations and software

Fervo says its approach to enhanced geothermal systems (EGS)—including horizontal drilling, AI-enabled drilling and exploration, advanced reservoir engineering, and fiber-optic sensing—demonstrates how validated technology can help deliver reliable zero-emission power.

“By applying drilling technology from the oil and gas industry, we have proven that we can produce 24/7 carbon-free energy resources in new geographies across the world,” Fervo co-founder and CEO Tim Latimer said last year.

Other recent recognitions for Fervo includes:

  • The 2025 Houston Innovation Awards named it Scaleup of the Year
  • MIT Technology Review put Fervo on its 2025 list of the 10 global climatech companies to watch
  • Time named Fervo one of the 100 Most Influential Companies of 2025
  • Fervo was hailed as the Global Cleantech Group 100 North American Company of the Year
  • Fervo was among Congruent Ventures’ and Silicon Valley Bank’s 50 by 2050 companies, all of which are poised to advance global decarbonization over a 25-year span
Just last month, Fervo secured $421 million in debt financing for the construction of its 500-megawatt Cape Station geothermal project in Utah. And in December, the company landed an oversubscribed $462 million Series E round of funding, pushing its valuation to an estimated $1.4 billion. Fervo filed for an IPO earlier this year.
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Utility Global’s H2Gen technology aims to decarbonize the heavy industrial sector. Photo courtesy of Utility Global

Houston company raises $100M Series D to scale industrial decarbonization tech

fresh funding

Houston-based Utility Global has raised $100 million in an ongoing Series D round to globally deploy its decarbonization technology at an industrial scale.

The round was led by Ara Partners and APG Asset, according to a news release. Utility plans to use the funding to expand manufacturing, grow its teams and support its commercial developments and partnerships.

“This financing marks a critical step in Utility’s transition from a proven technology to full-scale global commercial execution,” Parker Meeks, CEO and president of Utility Global, said in the release. “Industrial customers are no longer looking for pilots or promises; they need deployable solutions that work within existing assets and deliver true economic industrial decarbonization today that is operationally reliable and highly scalable. Utility’s technology produces both economic clean hydrogen and capture-ready CO2 streams, and this capital enables us to scale and deploy that impact globally with speed, discipline, and rigor.”

Utility Global's H2Gen technology produces low-cost, clean hydrogen from water and industrial off-gases without requiring electricity. It's designed to integrate into existing industrial infrastructure in hard-to-abate assets in the steel, refining, petrochemical, chemical, low-carbon fuels, and upstream oil and gas sectors.

“Utility is tackling one of the most difficult challenges in the energy transition: decarbonizing hard‑to‑abate industrial sectors,” Cory Steffek, partner at Ara Partners and Utility Global board chair, said in the release. “What sets Utility apart is its ability to compete head‑to‑head with conventional fossil‑based solutions on cost and reliability, even as it materially reduces emissions. With this new funding, Utility is well-positioned for its next chapter of commercial growth while maintaining the technical excellence and capital discipline that have defined its development to date.”

Utility Global reached several major milestones in 2025. After closing a $53 million Series C, the company agreed to develop at least one decarbonization facility at an ArcelorMittal steel plant in Brazil. It also signed a strategic partnership with California-based Kyocera International Inc. to scale global manufacturing of its H2Gen electrochemical cells.

The company also partnered with Maas Energy Works, another California company, to develop a commercial project integrating Maas’ dairy biogas systems with H2Gen to produce economical, clean hydrogen.

"These projects were never intended to stand alone. They anchor a deep and growing pipeline of commercial projects now in development globally across steel, refining, chemicals, biogas and other hard-to-abate sectors worldwide, Meeks shared in a 2025 year-in-review note. He added that 2026 would be a year of "focused acceleration to scale."

Utility Global’s technology enables reduction of greenhouse gas emissions along with generation of low-carbon fuels and chemicals. Photo courtesy of Utility Global

Houston energy company focused on decarbonization raises $53M series C

money moves

Houston-based Utility Global, a maker of decarbonization-focused gas production technology, has raised $53 million in an ongoing series C round.

Among the participants in the round are Canada’s Ontario Power Generation Pension Plan, the XCarb Innovation Fund operated by Luxembourg-based steel company ArcelorMittal, Houston-based investment firm Ara Partners, and Saudi Aramco’s investment arm.

Also, Utility Global and ArcelorMittal have agreed to develop at least one decarbonization facility at an ArcelorMittal steel plant.

The latest infusion of cash will support the rollout of Utility Global’s eXERO technology, including establishment of the company’s first commercial facilities in 2026.

“With the successful completion of its demonstration program at a commercial steel facility resulting in the first hydrogen ever produced from blast furnace off-gasses in a single reactor, the company has shifted to commercial deployments,” Utility Global says in a news release.

Utility Global’s technology enables reduction of greenhouse gas emissions along with generation of low-carbon fuels and chemicals.

“Our eXERO solution is the first of its kind to convert process gasses into clean hydrogen in a single reactor, onsite, in a cost-effective manner that extends the life of existing customer assets and processes while providing significant emissions reductions,” says Claus Nussgruber, CEO of Utility Global.

The six finalists for the sustainability category for the 2023 Houston Innovation Awards weigh in on their challenges overcome. Photos courtesy

4 biggest challenges of Houston-based sustainability startups

Houston innovation awards

Six Houston-area sustainability startups have been named finalists in the 2023 Houston Innovation Awards, but they didn't achieve this recognition — as well as see success for their businesses — without any obstacles.

The finalists were asked what their biggest challenges have been. From funding to market adoption, the sustainability companies have had to overcome major obstacles to continue to develop their businesses.

The awards program — hosted by EnergyCapital's sister site, InnovationMap, and Houston Exponential — will name its winners on November 8 at the Houston Innovation Awards. The program was established to honor the best and brightest companies and individuals from the city's innovation community. Eighteen energy startups were named as finalists across all categories, but the following responses come from the finalists in the sustainability category specifically.

    Click here to secure your tickets to see who wins.

    1. Securing a commercial pilot

    "As an early-stage clean energy developer, we struggled to convince key suppliers to work on our commercial pilot project. Suppliers were skeptical of our unproven technology and, given limited inventory from COVID, preferred to prioritize larger clients. We overcame this challenge by bringing on our top suppliers as strategic investors. With a long-term equity stake in Fervo, leading oilfield services companies were willing to provide Fervo with needed drilling rigs, frack crews, pumps, and other equipment." — Tim Latimer, founder and CEO of Fervo Energy

    2. Finding funding

    "Securing funding in Houston as a solo cleantech startup founder and an immigrant with no network. Overcome that by adopting a milestone-based fundraising approach and establishing credibility through accelerator/incubator programs." — Anas Al Kassas, CEO and founder of INOVUES

    "The biggest challenge has been finding funding. Most investors are looking towards software development companies as the capital costs are low in case of a risk. Geothermal costs are high, but it is physical technology that needs to be implemented to safety transition the energy grid to reliable, green power." — Cindy Taff, CEO of Sage Geosystems

    3. Market adoption

    "Market adoption by convincing partners and government about WHP as a solution, which is resource-intensive. Making strides by finding the correct contacts to educate." — Janice Tran, CEO and co-founder of Kanin Energy

    "We are creating a brand new financial instrument at the intersection of carbon markets and power markets, both of which are complicated and esoteric. Our biggest challenge has been the cold-start problem associated with launching a new product that has effectively no adoption. We tackled this problem by leading the Energy Storage Solutions Consortium (a group of corporates and battery developers looking for sustainability solutions in the power space), which has opened up access to customers on both sides of our marketplace. We have also leveraged our deep networks within corporate power procurement and energy storage development to talk to key decision-makers at innovative companies with aggressive climate goals to become early adopters of our products and services." — Emma Konet, CTO and co-founder of Tierra Climate

    4. Long scale timelines

    "Scaling and commercializing industrial technologies takes time. We realized this early on and designed the eXERO technology to be scalable from the onset. We developed the technology at the nexus of traditional electrolysis and conventional gas processing, taking the best of both worlds while avoiding their main pitfalls." — Claus Nussgruber, CEO of Utility Global

    At last year's awards program, Cemvita Factory's co-founders, Tara and Moji Karimi, accepted the award for the Green Impact Business category. This year, Moji Karimi served as a judge

    18 Houston energy startups named finalists for innovation awards program

    companies to watch

    The 2023 Houston Innovation Awards announced its 52 finalists — a large portion of which are promising energy transition startups.

    The awards program — hosted by EnergyCapital's sister site, InnovationMap, and Houston Exponential — will name its winners on November 8 at the Houston Innovation Awards. The program was established to honor the best and brightest companies and individuals from the city's innovation community.

    The following startups, which all have an energy transition element to their business, received a finalist position in one or two categories.

    Click here to secure your tickets to see who wins.

    • ALLY Energy, helping energy companies and climate startups find, develop, and retain great talent, scored two finalist positions — one in the Female-Owned Business category and the other in the Social Impact Business category.
    • Eden Grow Systems, next generation farming technologies, is a finalist in the People's Choice: Startup of the Year category.
    • Feelit Technologies, nanotechnology for preventive maintenance to eliminate leaks, fires and explosions, increase safety and reduce downtime, is a finalist in the Female-Owned Business category and the People's Choice: Startup of the Year category.
    • Fervo Energy, leveraging proven oil and gas drilling technology to deliver 24/7 carbon-free geothermal energy, scored two finalist positions — one in the Sustainability Business category and the other in the People's Choice: Startup of the Year category.
    • FluxWorks, making frictionless gearboxes for missions in any environment, is a finalist in the Hardtech Business category.
    • Helix Earth Technologies, decarbonizing the built environment and heavy industry, is a finalist in the Hardtech Business category.
    • INOVUES, re-energizing building facades through its non-invasive window retrofit innovations, making building smarter, greener, and healthier for a better and sustainable future, was named a finalist in the Sustainability Business category.
    • Kanin Energy, helping heavy industry monetize their waste heat and decarbonize their operations, was named a finalist in the BIPOC-Owned Business and the Sustainability Business categories.
    • Mars Materials, developing a carbon-negative pathway for carbon fiber and acrylamide production using CO2 and biomass as raw materials, is a finalist in the BIPOC-Owned Business category.
    • Molecule, an energy/commodity trading risk management software that provides users with an efficient, reliable, responsive platform for managing trade risk, is a finalist in the Digital Solutions Business category.
    • Rhythm Energy, 100 percent renewable electricity service for residential customers in Texas, is a finalist in the People's Choice: Startup of the Year category.
    • Sage Geosystems, a cost-effective geothermal baseload energy solution company, also innovating underground energy storage solutions, was named a finalist in the Sustainability Business category.
    • Solugen, decarbonizing the chemical industry, is a finalist in the Hardtech Business category.
    • Square Robot, applying robotic technology to eliminate the need to put people into dangerous enclosed spaces and eliminate taking tanks out of service, is a finalist in the Hardtech Business category.
    • Syzygy Plasmonics, a deep decarbonization company that builds chemical reactors designed to use light instead of combustion to produce valuable chemicals like hydrogen and sustainable fuels, is a finalist in the Hardtech Business category.
    • Tierra Climate, decarbonizing the power grid faster by helping grid-scale batteries monetize their environmental benefits and change their operational behavior to abate more carbon, was named a finalist in the Sustainability Business category.
    • Utility Global, a technology company converting a range of waste gases into sustainable hydrogen and syngas, was named a finalist in the Sustainability Business category.
    • Venus Aerospace, a hypersonics company on track to fly reusable hypersonic flight platforms by 2024, is a finalist in the Hardtech Business category.

    Additionally, two energy companies were named to the Corporate of the Year category, which honors corporations that supports startups and/or the Houston innovation community. Aramco Ventures and Chevron Technology Ventures are two of the four finalists in this category.

    Lastly, Jason Ethier, co-founder of Lambda Catalyzer and host of the Energy Tech Startups podcast, and Kendrick Alridge, senior manager of community at Greentown Labs, scored finalist positions in the Ecosystem Builder category, as individuals who have acted as leaders in developing Houston’s startup ecosystem.

    Click here to see the full list of finalists.

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    Fervo promotes strategy leader to COO as flagship geothermal project nears launch

    new leader

    Houston geothermal unicorn Fervo Energy has named Sarah Jewett as its new COO.

    Jewett steps into the role as the company prepares for its flagship Cape Station geothermal project to deliver its first power later this year.

    Jewett joined Fervo in 2020 as director of strategy and most recently served as the company's senior vice president of strategy. She spoke with HETI on the potential of geothermal energy in 2024.

    Before Fervo, Jewett served as senior director of corporate development for Houston-based Select Energy Services. She ran hydraulic fracturing crews for Schlumberger in the Permian Basin and Alaska's North Slope early in her career.

    In the COO role, Jewett is tasked with creating "the centralized infrastructure required to execute on what the company believes is the most significant commercial opportunity for clean, firm power in history," according to a company release.

    “What Sarah has built over the last six years has been foundational to the company’s success. From the time she joined, she has brought an unwavering people-first mindset and outstanding dedication to building things that last,” Tim Latimer, CEO and co-founder of Fervo, added in the release. “As we move into the next phase of our growth, there is no better person to lead the operating core of this company.”

    Jewett holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Dartmouth College.

    Fervo announced the addition of four heavyweights to its board of directors this spring, including Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay, Hewlett-Packard, and Spring-based HPE. Shortly after, the company filed for its highly anticipated $1 billion-plus IPO. Read more here.

    UH study finds Gulf Coast best positioned for emerging carbon removal technology

    coastal impact

    The Gulf Coast is an ideal spot for deploying a new ocean-based carbon removal technology that uses seawater to capture and store carbon dioxide, according to a new study from the University of Houston.

    The study was led by UH Cullen College of Engineering Professor Mim Rahimi and published in Nature’s Communications Sustainability journal. Abdelrahman Refaie, a PhD student at UH, authored the paper. It aimed to develop a plan for implementing an electrochemical marine carbon dioxide removal (e-mCDR) technology that treats seawater to increase the ocean’s ability to absorb and store carbon dioxide from the air.

    Currently, oceans absorb about 30 percent of human-produced carbon dioxide emissions each year, according to UH, making it a great natural resource for carbon removal.

    The team at UH scouted and analyzed 38 coastal facilities across the U.S.—including power plants, desalination plants, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals—before determining the Gulf Coast as an attractive option. The South Hub, or the Gulf Coast along Texas and Louisiana, ranked the top-performing area for the technology due to the industrial infrastructure, affordable electricity, hydrogen transportation and storage networks.

    Other regions like California and the Northeast also scored well due to their clean energy mix and carbon removal potential, according to UH.

    “The South hub has one of the highest diversity factors between power plants, desalination and LNG,” Refaie said in a news release. “That means if, logistically, down the road LNG is not open for this implementation, then we have another option in the area. It reduces the risk factor.”

    UH says the findings show how companies could commercialize the technology, which could boost coastal economies.

    “The question we had wasn’t technical, rather, it was logistical in regard to implementation down the road,” Rahimi said. “This would be a roadmap if a company or the government wants to utilize this technology.”

    Rahimi aims to increase awareness about e-mCDR technology and its potential impact. He recently discussed the ocean-centric carbon removal work with members of Congress in March at the Carbon to Sea’s 2026 Hill Day.

    “I think faculty at the University of Houston can do more of this kind of work,” Rahimi said in a separate release. “Meeting with Members of Congress gives us a chance to help policymakers better understand the science and engineering happening at our university. That kind of engagement is an important part of moving new technologies forward. It also shows how the work we do on campus can have a real impact on communities beyond the university.”

    The latest Houston energy breakthroughs + more top headlines for June

    Trending News

    Editor's note: June brings exciting news in the energy transition sector, from major milestones in clean energy production for Cemvita and Merichem to the release of the 2026 Fortune 500 list. Below are the five most-read stories published on EnergyCapitalHTX from June 1-14, 2026:

    1. Houston startup strikes deal to develop hydrogen production plant in Canada

    Houston-based cleantech startup Vema Hydrogen has reached a tentative agreement with Canada-based CHARBONE Corp. to develop a hydrogen production and processing plant in Québec. The deal would couple Vema’s production of engineered mineral hydrogen with CHARBONE’s purification, compression and distribution capabilities. Engineered mineral hydrogen, also known as orange hydrogen, is produced underground by accelerating naturally occurring geochemical reactions in iron-rich rock formations. Continue reading.

    2. Cemvita reaches breakthrough in sustainable fuel feedstock production

    Houston-based biotech company Cemvita announced that it recently reached a critical milestone in the development of its FermOil product, which can be used to create Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and other renewable fuels at industrial scale. The company completed a 75,000-liter industrial fermentation run at Belgium's Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant. The campaign achieved target technical metrics for the production of FermOil, Cemvita’s renewable natural oil (RNO). Continue reading.

    3. Houston chemical co. completes successful field trial of cleaner natural gas processing tech

    Houston-based Merichem Technologies has announced successful results from the field trial of its new hydrogen sulfide (H2S) removal technology in the Permian Basin. The technology, known as ECOTREAT, removed more than 99 percent of hydrogen sulfide gas from natural gas streams, or “sour gas,” without producing solid waste during the month-long trial. It also showed sustained performance even when operating above the unit’s design capacity. Continue reading.

    4. 6+ must-attend Houston energy transition events for June 2026

    Editor's note: Summer is here, and June brings a slate of must-attend events for those in the energy transition sector. The month continues with EPC Show and InnovateEnergy Week. Mark your calendars and register now. Continue reading.

    5. Houston lands 27 Fortune 500 headquarters, led by energy heavyweights

    Houston is a giant among U.S. hubs for corporate headquarters. The 2026 Fortune 500 lists 27 companies based in the Houston area, with many energy companies claiming top spots. Houston ties with Chicago for the second-most Fortune 500 headquarters, preceded only by New York City (53). Dallas-Fort Worth is home to 23 Fortune 500 headquarters. Texas leads the nation for Fortune 500 headquarters (57), with California in the No. 2 spot and New York at No. 3. Continue reading.

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