Environment

The energy giant Shell has joined a slew of strategic investors including All Nippon Airways, Suncor Energy, Mitsui, and British Airways in funding LanzaJet, the company commercializing a process to convert alcohol into jet fuel.  A spin-off from LanzaTech, one of the last surviving climate tech startups from the first cleantech boom that’s still privately

On a recent morning in downtown Shenzhen, Lingyu queued up to order her go-to McMuffin. As she waited in line with other commuters, the 50-year-old accountant noticed the new vegetarian options on the menu and decided to try the imitation spam and scrambled egg burger. “I’ve never had fake meat,” she said of the burger

Last week the Canadian Supreme Court ruled that the national government’s plan to tax carbon emissions was legal in a decision that could have significant implications for the nation’s climate-focused startup companies. The ruling put an end to roughly two years of legal challenges and could set the stage for a boom in funding and

Michael Proman Contributor More posts by this contributor The future of sports tech: Here’s where investors are placing their bets Cities traditionally have been bustling hubs where people live, work and play. When the pandemic hit, some people fled major metropolitan markets for smaller towns — raising questions about the future validity of cities. It’s

A growing number of companies have emerged over the last few years determined to reduce waste in the electric vehicle battery market. Chief among these is recycling firm Redwood Materials, which has quickly expanded since its launch in 2017 by Tesla co-founder JB Straubel to become the largest lithium-ion battery recycler in North America. Now

As the Ubers of the world continue to scale, a smaller on-demand transportation startup has raised some funding in Germany, underscoring the opportunities that remain for startups in the space targeting specific service niches. Blacklane — the Berlin startup that provides on-demand black-car chauffeur services in Berlin, London, Dubai, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Singapore

A new alliance between Swedish electric performance automaker Polestar and EV infrastructure startup ChargePoint takes aim at the charging experience with the debut of an in-car app that will let customers seamlessly charge their Polestar 2 model vehicles. Seamless charging — being able to pull up to a charging station, plug in and let the

The Swiss-based, venture capital-backed, direct air capture technology developer Climeworks is partnering with a joint venture between the government of Norway and massive European energy companies to map the pathway for a business that could provide not only the direct capture of carbon dioxide emissions from air, but the underground sequestration and storage of those

Northvolt, the Swedish battery manufacturer which raised $1 billion in financing from investors led by Goldman Sachs and Volkswagen back in 2019, has signed a massive $14 billion battery order with VW for the next 10 years. The big buy clears up some questions about where Volkswagen will be getting the batteries for its huge

Nancy Pfund Contributor Nancy Pfund is founder and managing partner of DBL Partners, a venture capital firm whose goal is to combine top-tier financial returns with meaningful social, environmental and economic returns in the regions and sectors in which it invests. It seems that every week a new agribusiness, consumer packaged goods company, bank, technology

Jim Jackson developed timber and farmland in Eastern Washington, protected from coastal rains by the peaks of the Cascade mountains, building out a clutch of apple farms and other properties on the state’s sunny side for 40 years. Traditionally, he raised money to expand operations for his farms through his existing network, which meant asking

Volkswagen AG is gearing up to seize the top spot as the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer with plans announced Monday to have six 40 gigawatt hour (GWh) battery cell production plants in operation in Europe by 2030. To get there, the automaker put in a 10-year, $14 billion order with Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt

About four years ago, social impact organization Norrsken Foundation launched a small program investing around €30 million in capital it had received from its wealthy patron, Klarna co-founder Niklas Adalberth. Now, that initiative has become its own impact investment firm, Norrsken VC and, according to people familiar with the firm, is about to close on

Micah Kotch Contributor Micah Kotch is the managing director at URBAN-X. Individual solutions to the collective crisis of climate change abound: backup diesel generators, Tesla powerwalls, “prepper” shelters. However, the infrastructure that our modern civilization relies on is interconnected and interdependent — energy, transportation, food, water and waste systems are all vulnerable in climate-driven emergencies.

As NASA is quick to remind people, the investments it funnels toward space exploration often wind up improving life on Earth — and it’s now in the business of speeding up some of that work through startups. SMART, a startup founded in 2020, has a partnership with NASA through the Space Act Agreement and is

Amazon is expanding customer deliveries via electric cargo vehicle to San Francisco, making the Bay Area the second of 16 total cities the company expects to bring its Rivian-sourced EVs to in 2021.  San Francisco’s unique terrain and climate were a couple of the reasons Amazon said it chose the city for its second round

Karma Automotive has raised a $100 million lifeline from outside investors, as reported by Bloomberg, with the struggling electric vehicle maker’s fortunes likely buoyed by the current market optimism on other EV companies including Tesla. Karma is the reincarnated version of Fisker Automotive, which previously faced bankruptcy before being acquired by Wanxiang Group in 2014.

Tesla’s 2014 acquisition of SolarCity turned the electric vehicle manufacturer into the undisputed largest player in residential solar, but that lead has steadily eroded as its major competitor, Sunrun, surged ahead with more aggressive plans. Now with the $3.2 billion dollar acquisition of the residential solar installation company, Vivint Solar, Sunrun looks to solidify its

Replenysh has been kicking since 2016, but up til now, the Orange County, California startup hasn’t done much press. That changes today, as the company announces that it has raised a $2 million seed round with the fairly lofty goal of transforming recycling in the U.S. A press release outlining Replenysh’s plans offers up plenty

As perennial front runner for the title of probably-the-most-evil tech company, Amazon has a long way to go to rehabilitate its image as a take-no-prisoners, industry-consolidating wealth machine. In a bold effort to do so, the company announced today that it would buy the rights to Seattle’s KeyArena, an aging stadium currently under redevelopment in

DroneBase, a Los Angeles-based provider of drone pilots for industrial services companies, has raised $7.5 million during the pandemic to double down on its work with renewable energy companies. While chief executive Dan Burton acknowledged that the company was fundraising prior to the pandemic, the industrial lockdown actually accelerated demand for the company’s services. Even

Roger Duncan Contributor Roger Duncan is a former Research Fellow at the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin and the former General Manager of Austin Energy. He is the co-author of the upcoming book, “The Future of Buildings, Transportation and Power.” The economic lockdown resulting from the coronavirus pandemic has had an

(Reuters) – The U.S. Senate on Wednesday passed a major conservation bill that would permanently direct $900 million a year to a long-standing federal program aimed at acquiring and protecting public lands. The 73-25 vote in the Republican-led chamber was a rare bipartisan effort led by Republican Senators Cory Gardner of Colorado and Steve Daines

FILE PHOTO: The European Central Bank (ECB) logo is pictured before a news conference on the outcome of the meeting of the Governing Council in Frankfurt, Germany, January 23, 2020. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Euro zone banks are heavily exposed to carbon-intensive industries and face significant climate-change related risks so they must start to

A diver tries to cut a rope from the tail of a whale shark near Koh Tao Island, Thailand June 13, 2020, in this still image obtained from a social media video. Sarakorn Pokaprakarn/via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. BANGKOK (Reuters) – Divers in Thailand have captured dramatic

Finland-based Swappie has closed a €35.8 million ($40.6M) Series B to expand into new markets in Europe. The ecommerce business refurbishes and resells used iPhones, taking care of the entire process from testing and repairing used handsets, to selling the refurbished devices via its own marketplace, with a 12-month warranty. Local VC and private equity

(Reuters) – Six European Union countries, including Germany, France and the Netherlands, have called for EU legislation and increased funding to support hydrogen, a low-carbon technology in line for cash from the bloc’s coronavirus recovery fund. FILE PHOTO: European Union flags fly outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, February 19, 2020. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File

(Reuters) – Unilever Plc (ULVR.L) said on Monday it will invest 1 billion euros in a fund to invest in climate change projects and reduce to net zero greenhouse gas emissions from all its products by 2039, 11 years ahead of the Paris Agreement deadline. FILE PHOTO: Unilever headquarters in Rotterdam, Netherlands August 21, 2018.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – An earthquake with a 5.7 magnitude shook Bingol province in eastern Turkey on Sunday, causing the collapse of a military observation tower which injured three people, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said. Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD) said the epicentre of the quake was in the Karliova district of Bingol. Soylu

(Reuters) – An earthquake of magnitude 5.6 has struck the Taiwan region early on Sunday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said. The quake was at a depth of 20 km (12.43 miles), EMSC said. It was revised from its initial measurement of magnitude 6 and depth of 55 km. Taiwan, a self-ruled island that

(Reuters) – Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Friday unveiled what he called a “blueprint” for enabling energy extraction, mining, grazing and logging in federal forests by speeding up environmental reviews and permitting. FILE PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue holds a U.S. flag-themed face mask while speaking about the nation?s food supply chain during

Volkswagen has started to sell a home-charging device as the automaker prepares to bring its new ID family of electric vehicles to market. The ID.3 is the first electric vehicle under the ID label and will only be sold in Europe. Customers who made reservations for the launch edition, known as ID.3 1st, will be

BRASILIA (Reuters) – Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest rose for a 13th consecutive month in May, government data showed on Friday, despite President Jair Bolsonaro’s deployment of the military to fight soaring environmental destruction in the region FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: An aerial view shows a deforested plot of the Amazon near Porto Velho, Rondonia

LONDON (Reuters) – The Scottish government said on Friday it has set up a 62 million pound ($78 million) fund to help the energy industry recover from the impacts of the coronavirus crisis and the collapse in oil and gas prices. The energy transition fund will support businesses in the sector over the next five

FILE PHOTO: An inmate hand crew, wearing orange, uses chain saws and hand tools to cut a line through vegetation that is reddened by fire retardant on one side and charred by fire on the other at a wildfire dubbed the Cave Fire, burning in the hills of Santa Barbara, California, U.S., November 26, 2019.

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Amazon is seen in Lauwin-Planque, northern France, April 22, 2020. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol (Reuters) – E-commerce companies Amazon Inc and eBay Inc have been instructed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to stop selling unproven or unsafe disinfectants, including products falsely marketed as killing COVID-19, on their platforms, Bloomberg reported

HAVANA (Reuters) – Luminous yellow and blue fish dart through the fragments of coral hanging from rows of pipes anchored to the seabed in Guanahacabibes, in western Cuba, while scientists in diving gear annotate their observations on waterproof clipboards. Divers check a coral reef being raised for research by the National Aquarium of Cuba in

South Africa-based renewable energy startup Sun Exchange has raised $3 million to close its Series A funding round totaling $4 million. The company operates a peer-to-peer, crypto-enabled business that allows individuals anywhere in the world to invest in solar infrastructure in Africa. How’s that all work? “You as an individual are selling electricity to a

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable discussion with law enforcement in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., June 8, 2020. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) – The Trump administration on Tuesday overturned an Obama-era rule that barred hunters in Alaska national preserves from baiting bear

JAKARTA (Reuters) – An earthquake with a 6.0 magnitude struck south of Buru Island in the Moluccas Islands province in eastern Indonesia, the country’s meteorology, climatology and geophysical agency (BMKG) said on Tuesday. The quake, which had a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), was not expected to trigger a tsunami, the agency added in

ABIDJAN (Reuters) – Below average rainfall in most of Ivory Coast’s cocoa-growing regions last week meant more downpours were needed to strengthen the crop, farmers said on Monday. FILE PHOTO: A farmer works on a cocoa farm in Bobia, Gagnoa, Ivory Coast, December 6, 2019. REUTERS/Thierry Gouegnon/File Photo Ivory Coast, the world’s top cocoa producer,

Tropical Storm Cristobal is seen on a northern track over the Gulf of Mexico in a satellite image taken June 7, 2020. NOAA/Handout via REUTERS HOUSTON (Reuters) – Tropical Storm Cristobal on Sunday slowed its advance through the Gulf of Mexico, bringing a coastal storm surge, high winds and rain to southeast Louisiana, where it

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Tropical Storm Cristobal on Saturday dumped rain from Louisiana to the Florida peninsula as it moved through the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, prompting evacuations of several southeast Louisiana towns and dozens of offshore oil platforms. Workers disembark from a helicopter after being evacuated from oil production platforms ahead of Tropical Storm Cristobal,

BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombia has captured 50 people and charged them with illegally trafficking plants and animals as part of efforts by authorities to protect the environment, the government said in a statement on Friday. The Andean country is the world’s second most biodiverse country after neighboring Brazil and is home to over 50,000 recorded

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump announced on Friday he will open up a 5,000 square mile conservation area in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of New England to commercial fishing. U.S. President Donald Trump talks about a U.S. jobs report amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic as he addresses a news conference as

FILE PHOTO: The Environmental Protection Agency headquarters is seen in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 19, 2020. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released on Thursday a proposed overhaul of how major clean air rules are written by changing the cost-benefit analysis process, a move that would affect the stringency of future

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. senators on Thursday introduced a bipartisan bill that would direct the Agriculture Department to help farmers, ranchers and landowners use carbon dioxide-absorbing practices to generate carbon credits, a rare collaboration on climate change. FILE PHOTO: Republican Senator Mike Braun speaks during a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing, on Capitol

People pull the body of a dead pregnant elephant out of the water, after the animal was allegedly fed with firecracker-stuffed pineapple and died, in Malappuram, India, May 27, 2020 in this still image taken from a video. ANI/Reuters TV via REUTERS KOCHI, India (Reuters) – A pregnant elephant died in India apparently after eating