Tell me some good news

Hello,

Lots of good news to enjoy this week (as well as some of the inevitable bad), including that EV and PHEV sales outpaced conventional combustion engine car sales in China last month. As the meme goes, there are many horrors in the world, but not (as many) in this room tonight.

P.S., if you missed it, we had a deep dive out on greener steel on Thursday that one reader described as “an awesome, and educational, article!” Read here.

In today’s email:

• One story in a chart and a sentence

• Climate tech and energy headlines from the week

• Climate tech fundraising announcements

THIS WEEK IN CLIMATE TECH & ENERGY

One story in a sentence (and a chart)

• Analysis from the EDF, armed with data from MethaneAIR, found that methane leak rates in some oil and gas basins in the U.S. are as high as 7.8%. Link.

13 headlines

The good

• The DOE announced $2.2 billion in grants for eight power transmission projects that span 18 states. Recipient stakeholders include companies like Form Energy, which aims to produce iron-air batteries for long-duration energy storage and is building a factory in West Virginia. Link.

• The DOE’s LPO announced $1.45 billion in conditional loan funding for Qcells’ solar manufacturing plant in Georgia, which will produce finished solar panels and panel components. Link.

• The DOE also awarded $85 million to four domestic heat pump manufacturers to accelerate their electric heat pump and heat pump hot water heater manufacturing efforts across five factories. Link.

• Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’ VP pick, is a permitting reform and clean energy champion. That said, that permitting has also entailed ramming through tar sands pipelines to the objection of tribal communities in the past. Nothing’s ever 100% straightforward in climate & clean energy. Link. Link. Link.

• Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon continues to decline, decreasing 46% year over year. Link.

• More than half the cars sold in China last month–a larger auto market than the U.S.’s–were electric (including plug-in hybrids). This marks the first month in which EV sales have outstripped conventional combustion engine vehicle sales in China. Link.

• Only 95 cars with an internal combustion engine were sold in Norway in June. Norway has the most aggressive policy to accelerate EV sales of any country in the world. Link.

• Americans have tapped more than $8 billion in home energy tax credits from the IRA so far. Link.

• Spiritus announced it applied for a Class VI permit in Wyoming for its Orchard One direct air capture project. The permit requests permission to inject up to 6 million metric tons of CO2 over 30 years. Orchard One is one of the first DAC projects to enter permitting. Link.

• Speaking of permitting, Brookfield Renewable has started permitting what could become one of the world’s largest hybrid solar and BESS facilities in terms of battery capacity in Oregon. Link.

The bad

• SunPower, once a $9 billion company, filed for bankruptcy this week. Link.

• The EPA issued its first emergency ban in 40 years, targeting DCPA / Dacthal, a common weed killer, citing that it poses “serious risks” to unborn babies. Link.

• Close to 20% of gas imported by the European Union still comes from Russia. Granted, that’s down from closer to 40% in 2021, pre-war. Still, this stat highlights the intricacies of energy interdependence, as the EU actively finances Ukraine’s war effort against Russia while simultaneously supporting Russia’s economy by buying gas from them. Link.

CURATED DEALS

Larger funding rounds

🔌 Lucid, based out of Newark, CA, noted it will receive another $1.5 billion capital injection from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, already its majority shareholder. More here. (U.S., Transportation)

🛰️ Muon Space, based out of Mountain View, CA, raised $56.7 million in Series B funding to “design, build, and operate satellite constellations” optimized for providing new data. Activate Capital led. More here. (U.S., Data Applications)

Medium-sized funding rounds

🔌 3V Infrastructure, based out of New York, came out of stealth with up to $40 million in equity funding to install level-two EV chargers in apartment buildings, hotels, hospitals, and other multi-unit properties. An affiliate of Greenbacker Capital Management led. More here. (U.S., Transportation)

⚡ H3X, based out of Denver, CO, raised $20 million in Series A funding to make electric motors. Infinite Capital led. More here. (U.S., Transportation / Industry)

📊 Datch, based out of New York, raised $15 million in Series A funding for its industrial AI startup designed to increase operational efficiency. Third Prime led. More here. (U.S., Industry)

⚛️ General Fusion, based out of Richmond, Canada, raised $14.6 million from Canadian Nuclear Laboratories and the Business Development Bank of Canada to build a demonstration of its fusion reactor. More here. (Canada, Energy)

⚡ SYSO, based out of Boston, raised $14.5 million in Series B funding to operate renewable and battery energy storage assets. Kimmeridge led. More here. (U.S., Energy)

🌱 Plonts, based out of Oakland, CA, raised $12 million in seed funding to make plant-based foods. Lowercarbon Capital led. More here. (U.S., Food & Agriculture)

⚡ Branch Energy, based out of Houston, raised $10.8 million in Series A funding for its software designed to make building electricity use less opaque as well as cleaner and cheaper. Prelude Ventures and Zero Infinity Partners led. More here. (U.S., Energy / Data Applications)

Smaller funding rounds

🍄 Mushroom Material, based out of Auckland, New Zealand, raised $8.5 million in seed funding to make mushroom-based materials that can replace polystyrene plastics. Wavemaker Partners and Seeds Capital led. More here. (New Zealand, Industry)

🦠 Biomatter, based out of Vilnius, raised ~$7.1 million to make new enzymes for use in chemical manufacturing, agriculture, and more. Inventure, UVC Partners, and others invested. More here. (Lithuania, Industry / Food & Agriculture)

🔬 VSParticle, based out of Delft, Netherlands, raised ~$7.1 in extended Series A funding for its nanoparticle synthesis technologies that have applications in green hydrogen. NordicNinja and Plural co-led. More here. (Netherlands, Industry)

♨️ Cala Systems, based out of Boston, raised $5.6 million in seed funding to make smarter heat-pump water heaters. Clean Energy Ventures and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center led. More here. (U.S., Built Environment)

🌴 NoPalm Ingredients, based out of Wageningen, Netherlands, raised ~$5.5 million in seed funding to scale production of its alternative palm oil made from yeast. Rubio Impact Ventures led. More here. (Netherlands, Food & Agriculture)

🧱 Cocoon, based out of London, raised $5.4 million in pre-seed funding to turn steel production runoff  ("slag") into a less-emissions-intensive cement alternative. Wireframe Ventures, Gigascale Capital, and others invested. More here. (U.K., Industry)

⛏️ Energy Domain, based out of Fort Worth, TX, raised $5 million in Series A funding for its online marketplace for mineral and royalty rights. Investors weren’t disclosed. More here. (U.S., TK)

🌾 Agrobiomics, based out of Copenhagen, Denmark, raised ~$4.4 million in equity funding to make biostimulants that make plants more resilient to stressors like drought and salinity. NOON Ventures led. More here. (Denmark, Food & Agriculture)

🏠 Adept Materials, based out of Somerville, MA, raised $4 million in seed funding to develop its paint material, which it says can help buildings control internal humidity. D.R. Horton led. More here. (U.S., Built Environment / Adaptation)

🧥 AmorSui, based out of New York, raised $3.5 million in seed funding to make more sustainable personal protective equipment (such as lab coats). Gold House Ventures, The MBA Fund, and The Rev Up Fund invested. More here. (U.S., Industry)

💸 Climatize, based out of Santa Cruz, CA, raised $1.75 million in pre-seed funding to help retail investors invest in distributed energy projects. Myriad Venture Partners led. More here. (U.S., Energy / Finance)

🔍 Chromacity, based out of Edinburgh, Scotland, raised ~$1.3 million in equity funding to make laser technology used in materials analysis, pollution monitoring, and more. Eos Advisory, Kelvin Capital, Scottish Enterprise, and Innovate UK participated. More here. (U.K., Industry)

Other financing rounds

🔋 Aypa Power, based out of Austin, TX, raised $323 million in debt financing for its 600 MWh battery project outside Boise, Idaho. More here. (U.S., Energy)

✈️ Twelve, based out of Berkeley, CA, raised $45 million in debt financing to build its first SAF production plant in Moses Lake, Washington. More here (paywall). (U.S., Transportation)

New funds

💰 TechMet, based out of Dublin, Ireland, raised $180 million from the Qatar Investment Authority to make investments in critical minerals mining. More here. (Ireland, Funds)

CLIMATE JOBS

Climate Engagement Director, Harris for President

Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign is hiring a Climate Engagement Director to “manage the campaign’s national programmatic efforts to reach, engage, and mobilize climate voters nationwide.”

Adios,

– Nick