DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

Investment in the critical minerals pipeline grew by 20% in 2021 and by 30% in 2022, led by lithium, copper and nickel. Although prices of some critical minerals such as copper have eased over the last year due to recession in the "old economy", prices for most critical minerals remain well above historical averages as supply struggles to catch up with demand. Production trends for nickel and cobaltLIMITED DIVERSIFICATIONThere has been only limited success in diversifying the geographical sourcing of critical minerals in recent years, the IEA said. China, which already dominates lithium processing, accounts for half of the world's planned new lithium chemical plants. Moreover, China's move to control exports of gallium and germanium underlines the concentration of supply in a host of smaller, esoteric metals that feed into the critical minerals landscape.

Persons: China's, IRENA, David Evans, Mark Potter Organizations: International Energy Agency, Investment, IEA, International Renewable Energy Agency, Thomson, Reuters Locations: Canada, Australia, China, Indonesia, United States, Europe, South America

The deal builds out Exxon's plan to develop an emerging market that makes money from reducing its own and others' greenhouse gases. Carbon sequestration is the favored strategy for U.S. oil and gas companies to reduce emissions while continuing to expand oil and gas production. Last year, Exxon struck its first commercial carbon storage deal with top ammonia maker CF Industries. The Denbury deal "reflects our determination to profitably grow our low carbon solutions business," Exxon CEO Darren Woods said in a statement. The all-stock transaction represents a 1.9% premium to Denbury's Tuesday close at 0.84 Exxon shares for each Denbury share.

Persons: Raymond James, Pavel Molchanov, Denbury, Darren Woods, Sabrina Valle, Arathy, Arunima Kumar, Savio D'Souza, Shilpi Majumdar, Conor Humphries Organizations: Denbury, Exxon Mobil Corp, Denbury Inc, Exxon, Linde AG, CF Industries, Carbon Solutions, Thomson Locations: HOUSTON, Plano , Texas, U.S, Texas, Alabama, Houston, Bengaluru

There are also some voluntary credits for mechanically removing CO2 directly from the air, which are currently much more expensive. In June, the CFTC—the federal regulator of derivatives—created an environmental task force focused on rooting out fraud in carbon markets. SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS How can we build trust in carbon offsets? A parallel effort by the Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity Initiative, or VCMI, is setting rules for the buyers of offsets. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has created an environmental task force focused on rooting out fraud in carbon markets and has called on whistleblowers to expose misconduct.

Persons: don’t, Nestlé, ”, Danny Cullenward, John Kerry, Morgan Stanley, Perrier, San, Ian McGinley, hasn’t, Guy Turner, ” Turner, andrew kelly, Mark Kenber, ” Kenber, William McDonnell, ” McDonnell, Dieter Holger Organizations: Futures Trading Commission, Sustainable Business, Institute, Carbon, American University . “, European Union, American University “, Paris Agreement, Council, Voluntary, Initiative, Trove, Futures, Reuters, dieter.holger Locations: U.S, San Pellegrino, Paris

But OPEC ministers and executives from oil companies told a two-day conference in Vienna governments needed to turn their attention from supply to demand. But record profits from oil and gas last year and relatively low returns from renewable energy prompted some investors to demand companies renew their focus on oil and gas to raise profits. DEMAND HITS RECORDMeanwhile, oil demand has reached new peaks of above 102 million barrels per day this year, recovering from a dip during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is expected to rise further, driven by strong demand from Asia and for petrochemical production, oil executives and analysts said. The oil industry has long said lower investment in oil and gas in the absence of a reduction in oil demand will only lead to higher prices.

Persons: Bernard Looney, Wael Sawan, Abu, Sultan al Jaber, Patrick Pouyanne, Jean Paul Prates, Prates, Amin Nasser, Dmitry Zhdannikov, Barbara Lewis Organizations: BP, of, Petroleum, Reuters, Bloomberg, Wall Street, Companies, Shell, BBC, Investments, Rystad Energy, Petrobras, PETR4, Saudi Aramco, Thomson Locations: Vienna, VIENNA, Ukraine, Asia, Abu Dhabi

☆ Climate startup Supercritical nabbed $13 million to help carbon removal projects get funded. Check out the 11-slide pitch deck it used to secure the funds from Lightspeed.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

London-based startup Supercritical just raised $13 million to help projects get funded via companies. London-based startup Supercritical has just raised $13 million from Lightspeed Venture Partners to help the "groundswell" of businesses pledging to invest in carbon removal. That's where carbon removal — tree-planting, sucking CO2 from the air using technology, or enhanced rock weathering — comes in. Long term, it wants to be the "no brainer" option for carbon removal purchases. Check out the 11-slide redacted pitch deck Supercritical used to raise the funds.

Persons: we've, Michelle You, Aaron Randall, Carbo Organizations: Lightspeed Venture Partners, Paris, Frontier Fund, RTP Global, Greencode Ventures, MMC Ventures Locations: London

☆ Why investors pumped $100 million into a startup using microbial fungi to turn soil into a crucial tool in the fight against climate change
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The startup Loam Bio wants to use fungi to boost soil health and help keep carbon in the ground. But soil carbon is in a sorry state, in part due to current agricultural practices. There are different types of soil carbon; some decompose easily while others can take thousands of years to break down. The soil microbiome could also change to start breaking down the carbon that gets fixed in soil, Bailey added. "The most important thing is that we're really accurately measuring the carbon that we store in the soil," Hudson said.

Persons: Guy Hudson, Chris Sacca's, Hacking, It's, Hudson, Monique, Britt Koskella, Koskella, Andy Bailey, Bailey, we're, Chris Shafto, Dr Brooke Bruning, you've Organizations: Green Tech, Service, Australian, Lowercarbon Capital, Lowercarbon, UC Berkeley, University of Bristol Locations: Australia, Brazil

☆ The recycling idea at Levi's, Adidas, Zara to stop trillions in fast fashion from going to waste
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( Carolyn Chun | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

The multi-trillion dollar fashion industry contributes significant greenhouse gas emissions, between 8% to 10% of total global emissions, according to the United Nations. With the majority of textiles in the fashion industry blended, it is harder to recycle one fiber without harming another. Spinnova partnered with the world's largest pulp and paper company this year, Suzano, to turn wood and waste into recycled textile fiber. Textile waste, by some measures, is a bigger issue than plastics waste, and it has a similar problem. Late last year it worked on a limited collection with fast fashion clothing giant — and consumer consumption flashpoint — Zara, using its recycled textile waste material.

Persons: LEVI, Alexander Donka, Paul Dillinger, Levi Strauss, Spinnova, Chloe Songer, Songer, Victor J, Levi's Levi Strauss, Dillinger, You've, we're, —, Stacy Flynn, Flynn, Levi's, Stella McCartney, — Zara Organizations: McKinsey, United Nations, McKinsey Sustainability, Co, Shoppers, Blue, Bloomberg, Getty, Adidas, CNBC Locations: Sweden, Africa, Zara, New York

[1/2] A Shell logo is pictured during the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva, Switzerland, May 23, 2022. His more cautious approach to the energy transition marks a change in tack from his predecessor Ben van Beurden who introduced the carbon reduction targets and the energy transition strategy. It is also exiting its European power retail businesses, which were seen only a few years ago as key to its energy transition. At the same time, Shell reported record profits of $40 billion last year on the back of strong oil and gas prices. Sawan previously flagged that the 2021 target to cut oil output by 20% the end of the decade was under review.

Persons: Denis Balibouse, Sawan, Wael Sawan's, Ben van Beurden, Shell, Bernard Looney, Lucas Herrmann, Herrmann, Ron Bousso, Elaine Hardcastle Organizations: European Business Aviation Convention, REUTERS, Shell, LONDON, BP, Reuters Graphics Reuters, U.S, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Investors, Thomson Locations: Geneva, Switzerland, New York, Shell, Lebanese, Namibia, London

☆ Delta Air Lines hit with proposed class action over carbon neutral claims
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A proposed consumer class-action lawsuit filed Tuesday alleges Delta Air Lines made "false and misleading" claims of being the world's first carbon-neutral airline while relying on invalid carbon offsets. The lawsuit, filed by California resident Mayanna Berrin in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, said Delta premised its carbon neutrality on the purchase of carbon offsets from the voluntary carbon market, rather than achieving carbon neutrality through sustainable fuels and carbon removals as initially promised. "Nearly all offsets issued by the voluntary carbon offset market overpromise and underdeliver on their total carbon impact due to endemic methodological errors and fraudulent accounting on behalf of offset vendors," Berrin's attorneys wrote in a complaint. The voluntary carbon offset market is an arrangement of companies and nongovernmental organizations that facilitate investment in green programs such as anti-deforestation and renewable energy. In exchange for their investment in these projects, companies receive carbon offsets in the form of credits that verify the amount of carbon that wasn't released because of the company's investments in offsets.

Persons: Mayanna, Delta, — Organizations: Delta Air Lines, Air Lines, Central, Central District of, Delta Locations: California, U.S, Central District, Central District of California, India, Indonesian, Cambodian

☆ Meet the climate startup turning a 5,000-mile stretch of seaweed from a plague of coastal communities into a giant carbon store
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

London-based Seaweed Generation is one such startup dedicated to seaweed sequestration. She's part of a wave of new "blue economy" entrepreneurs taking advantage of seaweed for carbon removal. Seaweed GenerationThe seaweed RoombaEstridge's Seaweed Generation has developed a robot that she described as a "Roomba meets Pac-Man." Seaweed Generation will work in waters with around 4,000 meters of depth and no upwelling current, which could bring sargassum back to the surface. Seaweed Generation has a planned pilot with the government of Antigua, which is invested in protecting its tourism industry.

☆ JPMorgan agrees to purchase $200 million worth of carbon removal
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

JPMorgan Chase announced Tuesday that it has agreed to spend more than $200 million on a combination of carbon removal technologies. The investment in carbon removal and long-term contracts with carbon removal companies is both a move to support the still nascent carbon removal industry and will enable the bank to remove the equivalent of the carbon emissions that are otherwise hard to abate from its direct operations by 2030, JPMorgan said. Climeworks is one of the market leaders in direct air capture, a process akin to vacuuming carbon dioxide out of the air. The deal with Charm aims to remove and store the equivalent of approximately 28,500 metric tons of carbon dioxide over five years. The carbon removal and storage deliveries from Charm for JPMorgan have already started, the bank said.

☆ This startup uses volcanic rock to capture carbon for the likes of Stripe and Microsoft. Check out the 20-slide pitch deck Undo used to raise $12 million.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A startup speeding up a natural rock weathering process for carbon removal just raised $12 million. A startup spreading volcanic rock on farms as a form of carbon dioxide removal has just secured $12 million in its first institutional round led by Chris Sacca's Lowercarbon Capital. "We get a 50,000-times increase in rates of reaction versus that natural process, and we can absorb far more CO2," Mann said. The startup makes money by selling carbon removal credits. Mann wants to help regulate the industry before others try selling enhanced rock weathering without fully understanding the process and what is required.

☆ Charm gets $53 million to turn corn leftovers into oil and inject it into abandoned oil and gas wells
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

The 112,000 tons of carbon dioxide that Charm will remove is more than ten times the total quantity of carbon dioxide that has been removed so far with human techniques. "It's sort of a brilliant, but accidental, discovery," Reinhardt told CNBC. "It's a little it's a little odd or unusual, but uniquely American, in that we're basically pumping barbecue sauce into old oil and gas wells," Reinhardt told CNBC. There are about 2 million abandoned oil and gas wells in the U.S., and owner-operators are eager to find another use for them, Reinhardt told CNBC. We will run out of waste biomass long before we before we exhaust the subsurface capacity," Reinhardt told CNBC.

☆ Charm Industrial is getting $53 million for turning agricultural waste into oil that can be pumped underground to lock away carbon dioxide for 1 million years
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The company says the oil hardens within days and it estimates the carbon dioxide is locked away for 1 million years. That's far more than the 6,055 tons that Charm Industrial has removed to date under pilot programs. Meeting that global climate goal will likely require billions of metric tons of carbon dioxide to be removed from the atmosphere by 2050. Startups like Climeworks are using fans to suck carbon dioxide out of the sky, while others are using enhanced weathering that speeds up the natural ability of minerals to store carbon dioxide. For its part, Charm Industrial buys agricultural waste from farmers and heats it to high temperatures in a contraption called a pyrolyzer.

☆ Pledge, a carbon accounting startup founded by ex-Revolut and Freetrade staffers, just raised $10 million with this 10-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

London-based carbon accounting startup Pledge just secured a $10 million Series A round. A startup founded by former staffers at Revolut and Freetrade has raised $10 million to build out its carbon accounting product aimed at the logistics industry. London-based Pledge, set up in 2021, enables businesses in the sector to track, reduce, and manage their carbon footprint. Some 70% of a company's emissions sit in its supply chain, which are referred to as scope three emissions. Pledge adheres to the Global Logistics Emissions Council framework, the only globally-recognized methodology for calculating greenhouse gas emissions in the logistics supply chain.

☆ How Biden's $369 billion sell to the climate tech industry is luring Europe's hottest startups to the US
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

President Biden's $369 billion climate sell is attracting some of Europe's biggest startups. Battery maker Northvolt and carbon removal firm Climeworks are both lining up US expansions. President Biden's $369 billion play to make the US the new hub for climate-friendly companies caused consternation among international allies. Europe's EV battery darling Northvolt is set to announce its highly anticipated US expansion in the coming weeks while carbon removal company Climeworks has already revealed plans to scale up Stateside. The company is also watching Europe's efforts to create a regulatory framework for the certification of carbon dioxide removal (CDR).

☆ Climeworks: 2023 CNBC Disruptor 50
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Cnbc.Com Staff | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The company created a demo prototype in 2012 and launched its first direct carbon capture plant in Iceland two years later. The company partners with CarbFix, which dissolves the captured carbon dioxide in water, then combines the mixture with basalt rock formations. The carbon dioxide converts into solid carbonate minerals in about two years. Climeworks also sells some of the carbon dioxide for use in sparkling water or soft drinks. Climeworks started providing certified carbon removal services to Microsoft, Spotify and Stripe earlier this year for an undisclosed price.

JPMorgan is bullish on aluminum producer Alcoa shares as the commodity's outlook becomes more positive. The outlook also looks promising for its proprietary, zero-carbon Elysis smelting technology, which eliminates all scope 1 emissions associated with aluminum smelting, instead emitting pure oxygen as a byproduct," said Peterson. Alcoa shares jumped 2.1% Monday during premarket trading. However, the aluminum producer's shares have declined 20.5% in 2023, and more than 40% over the past 12 months. AA YTD mountain Alcoa shares —CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.

☆ Amazon is the 500-pound gorilla in a room full of puppies when it comes to corporate buying of wind and solar power
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

In 2022, Amazon bought 10.9 gigawatts of clean power, making it the largest corporate buyer of renewable power in the world, according to data from the market research company BloombergNEF. It's also more than four times the amount of clean energy that the second-largest purchaser of clean power, Facebook parent company Meta , bought in 2022. Since 2019, Amazon has scaled from having one gigawatt of renewable energy to more than 20 gigawatts of publicly announced renewable power. Amazon is focused on building new wind and solar projects, Daitch told CNBC. But that's really more of a bridging solution and not our core strategy, which is around enabling new wind and solar projects," Daitch said.

☆ Why Porsche is investing $100 million on eFuels to keep its cars on the road
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Robert Ferris | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Porsche has invested more than $100 million in the development of eFuels. "With this approach we have another lever, another opportunity to reduce the CO2 footprint for the combustion engine-driven cars," said Karl Dums, senior manager of eFuels at Porsche. "Electric cars are more expensive to produce, so they are margin dilutive," said Daniel Schwarz, managing director at Stifel. "And Porsche managed to increase the share of electric cars and increase the profitability in parallel." But critics of Porsche's $100 million push into eFuels argue the resultant fuel will be too expensive and inefficient to ever compete with electrification.

☆ Microsoft M12 boss departs tech giant's VC arm to help turn London-based investor Systemiq Capital into the Sequoia of climate tech
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A founding partner at Microsoft's VC arm M12 has left to take up a GP role at a climate tech investor. Goldstein has joined Systemiq Capital and plans to turn it into the Sequoia of climate tech. One of the founding partners of Microsoft's venture arm M12 has left the company to join London-based investor Systemiq Capital, which he wants to help turn into the Sequoia of climate tech. Systemiq Capital, meanwhile, was spun out of advisory firm Systemiq in 2022 to allow it to thrive on its own, Goldstein said. The climate tech investor expects to reach final close on its second fund, worth $200 million, towards the end of 2023.

☆ Startups want to use blockchain technology to improve the carbon-credit markets. Here's why big names in the climate industry are warming up to the idea.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( April Joyner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Startups including Toucan and Topl are building blockchain tools for issuing carbon credits. Several companies, including Toucan, Return, Topl, and Open Forest Protocol, are now aiming to improve the transparency and reliability of carbon credits by coupling climate initiatives with blockchain technology. Erin MurphyThe need for greater transparency in carbon marketsCompanies buy carbon credits to offset the amount of greenhouse-gas emissions their business activity generates. Aureus EarthThe potential benefits of credits on the blockchainThat's where blockchain technology comes in, Murphy and other proponents said. Despite the flaws of that initial attempt, it showed ample market demand for blockchain-based carbon credits, Hoopes said.

☆ This startup founded by ex-Tesla, Google, and SolarCity staffers uses the ocean for carbon removal. Check out the 13-slide pitch deck Ebb Carbon used to raise $20 million.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ebb Carbon has found a way to remove carbon from the atmosphere while making the ocean less acidic. Check out the 13-slide pitch deck Ebb Carbon used to nab $20 million in Series A funding. California-based Ebb Carbon, founded in 2021, aims to capture and store carbon dioxide in the ocean while simultaneously tackling ocean acidification. Ebb Carbon has developed an electrochemical process that removes acidity from seawater while enhancing its ability to store carbon dioxide. Ebb CarbonThe alkaline release then helps to balance the pH of seawater locally, Ebb Carbon claims.

[1/4] A view of a computer-rendered image of Climeworks' Mammoth direct air capture plant is seen in this undated handout picture obtained by Reuters, June 28, 2022. Leading the charge, the U.S. government has offered $3.5 billion in grants to build the factories that will capture and permanently store the gas - the largest such effort globally to help halt climate change through Direct Air Capture (DAC) and expanded a tax credit to $180/tonne to bolster the burgeoning technology. The sums involved dwarf funding available in other regions, such as Britain which has pledged up to 100 million pounds ($124 million) for DAC research and development. That compares with $12 billion in federal spending to drive demand for personal and commercial electric vehicles, Boston Consulting Group estimated. Occidental Petroleum has said it is well positioned for federal grants for what could be the biggest Direct Air Capture plants in the world.

☆ Construction is bad for the planet. This startup's solution is to assemble buildings like they're flatpack furniture.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Spanish startup 011h is betting on timber as a humble hero to ease the climate and housing crises. Now, a Spanish construction company is hoping to spearhead the adoption of flat-pack buildings. When it is cut down for timber, carbon remains stored in the wood until it burns or decays. For Brennan, cost remains a big "but" — even if sustainable buildings are a no-brainer. If it's not affordable, if people cannot pay for it, then it's not sustainable," Carné said.

Search resuls for: "Carbon Re"

25 mentions found