Way more Waymo

KEEPING COOL WITH ERTHTECH TALENT

Hi,

Two days, two Keep Cool emails! A first for everything.

No long intro as a result. Here are the climate and energy tech headlines and fundraising rounds that caught my attention from the last full week of Q1 2025 (that went quickly…)

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ONE STORY IN A SENTENCE PARAGRAPH (AND A CHART)

• Per IRENA, global renewable energy growth hit a record high in 2024 at 585 gigawatts of capacity added. That accounted for more than 90% of all capacity additions. Still, even that growth fell well short of the pace that international targets to triple renewable capacity by 2030 would require. Solar is far and away the leader of all renewables in terms of its growth. And by country, China is to the rest of the world as solar is to the rest of the renewables, accounting for 64% of all renewable capacity additions. Again though, mind you (not to dampen the mood too much), greenhouse gas emissions, whether in China or globally, are still at or near all-time highs. Link. Link.

LEAD STORY

I cannot emphasize enough how astounding it is that Waymo, as of today, already manages hundreds of thousands of weekly paid, autonomous, all-electric rides. And that’s mostly just in San Francisco, though between SF, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Austin, the company is now well above 200k weekly rides, on average. Further, this week, we learned Waymo is expanding into D.C. Indubitably, it will hit other cities across the country soon.

My bet? By some time next year in 2026, Waymo could do 1 million paid, autonomous, all-electric rides weekly. And keep s-curving and scaling from there.

tl;dr — Autonomous vehicles aren’t some “5 year-down-the-line-thing.” They’re here, they’re happening. They’re safer and help reduce emissions. In another decade, they’ll be as ubiquitous and forgettable as the supercomputer in our pockets. Link. Link. Link.

THIS WEEK IN CLIMATE & ENERGY TECH

THE GOOD

• Residential battery energy storage deployment (BESS) in the U.S. also skyrocketed 64% in 2024 year over year. 500,000 homes now collectively feature more than 3 GWh of installed BESS capacity. California and Texas lead, but don’t discount other states! Link.

• Sticking on the battery beat, China's Huadian Group announced winners for a 6 GWh battery energy storage system (BESS) tender offer. Average bids came in at $65/kWh, which are very low prices for lithium-ion phosphate (LFP) battery energy storage systems. More than 80% of bidders quoted prices below $69/kWh. Link.

• Still in the battery world, Nissan and SK On signed a $661 million supply agreement for SK On to provide ~100 GWh of high-nickel batteries (often NMC chemistry) to Nissan for EVs between 2028 and 2033. The batteries will be used for EVs assembled at Nissan's plant in Mississippi. Link.

• Hyundai officially opened an EV "Metaplant" in Georgia ($7.6 billion investment) and announced it plans to increase its production capacity from 300,000 to 500,000 vehicles per year. The announcement came the same day President Trump announced 25% tariffs on imported vehicles and parts. Link.

• Hyundai also announced it plans to invest $6 billion to build a steel plant in Louisiana that will use electric arc furnace technology and likely a natural gas-based direct reduced iron process. These technologies can cut carbon emissions significantly (up to say, 50%, which is not that dissimilar from switching from a combustion engine car to an electric one), compared to traditional coal-fired blast furnace operations. Link. For more reading, I’ve written about the topic extensively in these pages previously here: Hyundai is not the first to greener steel production by any means.

• Commonwealth Fusion Systems started building its ‘SPARC’ tokamak in Massachusetts, with plans to have "the world's first commercially relevant fusion energy machine" operational by 2027. I’m very skeptical of the timeline but excited about the progress! I do think the world will see an operational 50 MW fusion reactor within the next decade. Link.

• Staying on the fusion beat, Type One Energy published a collection of papers claiming there are "no scientific barriers" inherent to its stellarator fusion power plant design. It now plans to raise over $200 million in Series A funding to develop a stellarator fusion plant. It previously raised $82.4 million in seed funding. The company plans to build its ‘Infinity One’ prototype at a retired Tennessee Valley Authority coal plant in 2026, with completion expected by early 2029. Same comment as in the above bullet re: timeline, with the same note on general optimism. Link.

• The “smart” electrical panel startup Span unveiled a new device it’s calling ‘Span Edge’ to enter the utility market on top of its residential business. It claims this panel can be installed directly on top of existing utility electric meters in ~15 minutes, helping utilities manage electricity flows more efficiently and proactively while also facilitating more household adoption of EV charging infrastructure and heat pumps. Link.

• Schneider Electric announced it will invest over $700 million in its U.S. operations through 2027 to support AI and the general energy sectors. That includes an expansion of its circuit breaker production facility in Missouri and more power transmission and distribution products in Texas and North Carolina. Link.

• The DOE reissued a $900 million solicitation for small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) deployment, which brings at least one clean energy technology under the fold of the Trump Administration’s stated goal to "unleash American energy." That said, the revised initiative removed all mention of any “community benefits requirements” originally included in the 2024 offering. Link.

• Speaking of SMRs, Oklo, a publicly listed, U.S.-based SMR developer, claims it’s on track to deploy its first commercial power plant at Idaho National Laboratory by early 2028. I’m skeptical, but I’m rooting for them and the technology category in general. Link.

• New York state took the first step towards establishing a cap-and-invest program, including greenhouse gas reporting rules that would require companies to track emissions as early as next year (with an initial proposed reporting deadline of 2027). Link.

• A new transparent solar cell technology developed by the EU-funded CitySolar project achieved record efficiency, which could unlock more integration of solar cell technology into windows. Link.

• Earth AI announced promising discoveries of metal and minerals deposits across Australia that others had overlooked. The company uses AI algorithms trained on historical exploration data as part of its process. So the next time someone feeds you the platitude that AI is bad for the planet because of its energy intensity, well, take it with a grain of salt (or tungsten or copper or gold). Link.

THE INBETWEENS

• Global electricity consumption grew 4.3% in 2024, nearly double the annual average growth rate over the past decade. Load growth is real; AI is not the main driver. Nor is it necessarily bad; people in India need air conditioning, after all. Link.

• The U.S. maintained its pole position as the world's top LNG exporter in 2024, shipping 11.9 billion cubic feet overseas per day. This is a very nuanced macroeconomic story overall and a perfect example of being neither good nor bad, per se. I wrote more about why here a while ago. Link.

• China's BYD reported annual sales exceeding $100 billion for the first time, surpassing Tesla's $97.7 billion. BYD's net income also rose 34% to ~$5.5 billion as it expands across Asia, Europe, and elsewhere with lower-priced electric vehicles. All other global auto manufacturers are on notice, as I feel like I say weekly at this point. Link.

• The EPA will no longer shut down "any stage of energy production" absent an imminent health threat, according to a new memo that also curtails efforts to address pollution in poorer communities. EPA administrator Lee Zeldin said the changes will "allow the agency to better focus on its core mission," which he described as "lowering the cost of buying a car, heating a home and running a business." Link.

• President Trump ordered far-reaching changes to federal disaster preparedness and response, shifting the burden of climate resilience away from Washington to states and local governments. The executive order in question called for a "National Resilience Strategy" by June and a "National Risk Register" by November. TBD what that means. Link.

• President Trump announced new 25% tariffs on imported cars and parts, effective April 3, which could raise prices of imported vehicles by anywhere from $5,000-$12,500. Nearly half of all cars sold in the U.S. last year were imported. Link.

• President Trump also announced additional 25% tariffs on any nation buying Venezuelan oil or gas, effective April 2. Venezuela's oil buyers include China (which imports 68% of all Venezuelan oil), India, Spain, Italy, and, ironically, the U.S. itself (lol). Link.

THE BAD

• The Arctic Ocean reached its lowest winter ice cover in 47 years of satellite monitoring after a record-breaking year for heat in 2024. The loss of ice in general globally risks accelerating climate feedback loops; darker, open ocean waters absorb solar energy much more readily than ice, given ice actually reflects it because of its albedo effect. Link.

• Mentions of "climate change" and related environmental terms in earnings calls of S&P 500 companies fell 76% over the past three years. The decline is now accelerating even more under the Trump administration. Despite this "greenlarping," some companies and investors (notably, some pension funds) are still increasing investments and making new climate commitments. Link.

• The DOE has reportedly created a "hit list" of clean energy projects that it could terminate, including four of seven hydrogen hubs and over $900 million in grant recipients from the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy. The cuts focus on projects that have spent less than 45% of their funding to date and also on projects in ‘blue’ states. The potential cuts could affect up to $4 billion in funding when all is said and done. Link. Link.

• The EPA has reportedly canceled 49 individual grants worth over $230 million between January 20 and March 7, according to a document provided to the Sierra Club in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. Nearly half of the canceled grants were related to environmental justice initiatives; others focused on research into lower-carbon construction materials, product labeling, and more. Link.

• The Texas Senate passed a bill that would require 50% of new power plant capacity to come from "dispatchable generation other than battery energy storage," which could dramatically change the state's (currently very laissez-faire and competitive) energy market that features very strong solar and wind growth (as well as BESS growth, though that was excluded, as noted above). Link.

• Baltimore utility customers will have to pay a surcharge of more than $700 million to keep two coal-fired power plants owned by Houston-based Talen Energy operating for four more years. The plants were scheduled to close this year, but PJM Interconnection officials basically said they’re not ready to lose that generation capacity. Reminder: coal is the worst of all energy generation options for health and environmental outcomes. Link.

• JPMorgan Chase's asset management unit became the latest Wall Street firm to withdraw from the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative. More green larping! Link.

• Vertical farming startup Plenty filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, becoming yet another indoor farming company (and climate tech company) to do so. The company has raised almost $1B. It will continue operating a vertical strawberry farm in Virginia and an R&D facility in Wyoming for now. Link.

• Stegra, Sweden's largest climate tech startup (post Northvolt's demise), was denied a $152 million grant from the Swedish government despite EU approval. The green steel startup has raised €7.7 billion (~$8.3B) from investors like Microsoft / Mercedes Benz. Link.

• Plant-based seafood producer Olala! also ceased operations after three years in business. Link.

CURATED DEALS

Larger funding rounds:

• Micromobility startup “Also” spun out of Rivian (the major U.S. EV startup) with $105 million in funding to develop non-automobile EVs like bikes, scooters, and other "micromobility solutions." The company aims to launch its first product in the U.S. and Europe early next year. Eclipse Ventures invested. Link.

• GravitHy, based out of Marseille, France, raised (~$65) million in equity funding to make low-carbon (direct reduced iron, i.e., DRI) iron using hydrogen and the direct (ultimately to reduce emissions from steel production. Japan Hydrogen Fund, Marcegaglia, Ecolab, Rio Tinto, Siemens, Engie New Ventures, and InnoEnergy invested. Link.

• Marvel Fusion, based out of Munich, raised €50 million (~$54.1 million) in extended Series B funding to pursue commercial nuclear fusion with a laser-based, inertial confinement (as opposed to magnetic confinement) approach. EQT Ventures, Siemens Energy Ventures, and the European Innovation Council Fund invested. Link.

Medium-sized funding rounds:

• GridPoint, based out of Reston, Virginia, raised $45 million in equity funding to help commercial buildings use energy more efficiently with its energy management system that monitors and controls systems like heating, cooling, and lighting to optimize energy usage. Marunouchi Innovation Partners led. Link.

• Aleph Farms, based out of Rehovot, Israel, raised $29 million in equity funding from undisclosed investors to make lab-grown meat products. Link.

• Sunday, based out of Boulder, Colorado, raised $25 million in equity funding from S2G Investments for its more environmentally friendly lawn care products. The company uses property analysis to create personalized lawn care plans that purportedly require only a third as much fertilizer and a tenth as many pesticides as other comparable products. Link.

• SolarBank Corporation, based out of Toronto, raised $19 million in equity funding by selling shares in a direct offering with an unnamed institutional investor. The company develops utility-scale solar as well as community solar projects. Link.

• XGS Energy, based out of Houston, closed a $13 million equity bridge round and noted it plans to raise between $60-100 million in growth equity soon. The company develops geothermal energy technologies that don’t require dramatic water consumption and are less tied to specific geological conditions than other geothermal approaches. Investors included Aligned Climate Capital, ClearSky, ClimateIC, and WovenEarth Ventures. Link.

Smaller funding rounds:

• Topanga, based out of Los Angeles, raised an $8 million Series A round to help commercial kitchens reduce food waste and packaging costs using AI tools, smarter scales, and a reusable container system. Blue Bear Capital led. Link.

• Lumi AI, based out of Toronto, raised $3.7 million in seed funding to develop its supply chain data analytics platform. AgFunder led. Link.

• Grassa, based out of the Netherlands, raised €3.6 million (~$3.9 million) from Perspectieffonds Gelderland and insiders Fransen Gerrits and Brightlands Venture Partners to extract protein from grasses for more sustainable protein development. Link.

• ClimateCamp, based out of Antwerp, raised €3.5 million (~$3.8 million) in seed funding for its collaborative platform that aims to help sales, procurement, and sustainability teams reduce Scope 3 emissions. Expon Capital led. Link.

• Novac, based out of Modena, Italy, raised €3.5 million (~$3.8 million) in seed funding to develop solid-state supercapacitors and other components for EVs. Eureka! Venture led. Link.

• AtmoCooling, based out of Seattle, raised $2.6 million in pre-seed funding to make large-scale evaporative cooling systems that use seawater to lower temperatures in hot, arid regions. Nucleus Capital and Revent Ventures co-led. Link.

• DeCharge, based out of Hyderabad, India, raised $2.5 million in seed funding to build a network of fast EV chargers. Lemniscap led the round. Link.

• ARK Capture Solution, based out of Brussels, raised €2.2 million (~$2.4 million) in pre-seed funding to develop all-electric, modular carbon capture systems for industries including petrochemicals, glass, and steel manufacturing. Aperam Ventures and Seeder Fund co-led. Link.

• Differential Bio, based out of Munich, came out of stealth with €2 million (~$2.2 million) in pre-seed funding to build a biomanufacturing software platform. Ananda Impact Ventures and ReGen Ventures led. Link.

• Maiven Energy, based out of London, raised €1.7 million (~$1.8 million) for its software platform designed to offer business owners insights into climate policies that may impact them. Pale Blue Dot, Ada Ventures, Tiny VC, Ventures Together, and others participated. Link.

Other funding rounds

• Xiaomi, based out of Beijing, raised ~$5.5 billion in a share sale to expand its EV business, with reports indicating the electronics giant is investing heavily in its EV division and increasing the size of a planned second factory. This follows Chinese EV giant BYD raising ~$5.6 billion earlier this month in Hong Kong's largest IPO in four years. Link.

• Terrestrial Energy, based out of North Carolina, went public via SPAC in a move that valued the company at ~$1.5 billion and raised roughly $280 million. It will use the funds to further develop its nuclear fission-focused molten salt reactor technology. Link.

Funds

• Private equity giant EQT, based out of Stockholm, raised €21.5 billion (~$23.2 billion) for its latest infrastructure fund, which will invest in energy, decarbonization, electrification, and resource efficiency efforts. Link.

• Daphni, based out of Paris, raised €200 million (~$215 million) toward a targeted €250 million (`$270 million) for its third fund. It focuses on “mission-driven” investments, many of which include climate and energy tech companies. Link.

• Apple (yes, that one, so I don’t even need to link it), based out of Cupertino, invested ~$100 million in a second clean energy fund for renewable energy projects in China. The fund, managed by Schroders, aims to add 550,000 MWh of wind and solar capacity annually to the Chinese grid. Link.

PODCAST

I recently had the pleasure of joining the Runway podcast with Mauro Battellini to chat, well, everything! Well, maybe not everything, but we hit:

• My career journey and interests, ranging from literature, finance, and media in general to writing this newsletter and investing in startups

• Unpacked what "climate tech" means (and/or doesn’t) in today's context

• Examined the impact of Trump's presidency on climate and energy tech

• Discussed finance, the capital stack, and why other types of investment are much more crucial ultimately for progress than a myopic focus on venture capital

• Highlighted the oft and ever-overlooked topic of methane emissions

• Analyzed innovations in EV charging, batteries, and grid technology

• Talked about China's dominance in global clean energy manufacturing.

Sound worthwhile? Tune in on Spotify here and Apple here.

JOBS

Most mineral exploration companies use what is now outdated technology. It can take 10+ years to discover, let alone develop and operate, a mine.

ExploreTech, on the other hand, aims to expedite mineral discovery timelines with a full-stack and vertically integrated approach (software, hardware, and field operations). Founded by Stanford PhD geoscientists, it works on exploration projects globally and recently raised a $2 million pre-seed funding round. Now, it’s hiring a Founding Software Engineer and a Founding Geophysicist. If you're looking for a new challenge and it sounds to you like you fit the bill, send a brief email introducing yourself to Alex Miltenberger ([email protected]), and/or apply via exploretech.ai/careers.

OTHER ‘COOL’ STUFF

Pursuant to a recent article Paul Gambill and I wrote on carbon removal, in which Paul imagined…

…I thought it was cool to see Sony Interactive Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony, launch ‘CleanPlay,’ a new PS5 application where gamers are shown insights into their energy usage and are offered opportunities to support renewable energy projects, earning digital in-game rewards if they contribute. I don’t game much anymore, but I put in many hours on my PS2 (maybe PS3?) in high school. Link.

Have a wonderful week ahead,

– Nick