The Week in Cleantech: 5 March 2023

Last week, we analysed 1781 cleantech-related news articles from 202 sources. Here are the top stories we found.

BP to build low-carbon green hydrogen cluster HyVal in Valencia, Spain

• BP has announced plans to build a green hydrogen cluster called HyVal at its Castellón refinery in Spain, which will be developed in two phases and entail an investment of up to €2bn.
• The project will have up to 2GW of electrolysis capacity by 2030 and produce green hydrogen, biofuels, and renewable energy to decarbonise BP’s operations at the refinery.
• The first phase includes a 200MW capacity electrolysis plant, which will produce up to 31,200 tonnes of green hydrogen per annum, while the second phase involves expanding the plant's capacity to up to 2GW of net installed power.

Covered in: NS Energy and 8 other sources.

Official: Tesla will build gigafactory in Mexico for next-gen EVs

• During Tesla's 2023 Investor Day, CEO Elon Musk announced that the company will build its sixth gigafactory in Mexico near Monterrey, with an estimated investment of over $5 billion.
• The factory will produce next-generation all-electric vehicles and is expected to be the biggest EV plant in the world.
• The new plant will be an additional manufacturing site, supplementing Tesla's existing factories, and is part of the company's goal to achieve 20 million units of annual manufacturing capacity globally.

Covered in: InsideEVs and 7 other sources.

BrightFarms to expand its footprint with four additional greenhouse hubs

• Indoor farming company BrightFarms is constructing four regional greenhouse hubs in the Eastern and Central US, with the first in Illinois.
• The facilities will enable the firm to reach two-thirds of the US and increase revenue tenfold by 2025.
• The hubs will create over 1,000 jobs, and will be located near major metropolitan areas, with a combined footprint of up to 200 acres, capable of producing around 150 million pounds of leafy greens per year.
• The company has partnered with KUBO Group and Green Automation Group to build the most advanced indoor farms in the country.

Covered in: iGrow News and 1 other source.

Tesla opens some US Superchargers to other EVs, offers CCS retrofit

• Tesla is allowing EVs from other brands to charge at select Supercharger sites in the US, while also offering a Combined Charging Standard (CCS) retrofit for its own vehicles.
• The company is currently piloting the open Supercharging program at 10 sites in the US, and is also offering a CCS adapter for Tesla vehicles requiring an additional hardware retrofit.
• Tesla's move towards interoperability with other EV charging standards is a step towards claiming federal funds and aligning with the Biden administration's $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) funding plan.

Covered in: Green Car Reports and 3 other sources.

Liquibox develops recycle-ready urn-liners to meet green initiatives

• Liquibox, a Sealed Air company, has developed a recyclable version of its patented urn-liner product line, which is compatible with recycling streams and reduces the company's ecological footprint.
• The liner is a disposable liner that lines the inside of a metal beverage urn or decanter, providing a safe quality and better-tasting beverage for consumers.
• The development of recyclable urn-liners improves the overall sustainability of the food service industry, reduces waste in landfills, and meets the growing demand for eco-friendly practices.

Covered in: Environmental Leader and 1 other source.

Topcon agriculture introduces its latest transplanting control

• Topcon Agriculture has launched a new solution, Transplanting Control, that uses GNSS-based guidance, autosteering, and control to reduce labor requirements and boost efficiency for specialty farmers.
• The system eliminates the need for manual labor to outline fields, instead using GNSS-based guidance to locate crop rows and optimize crop placement.
• Farmers can expect to increase crop production by up to 15% or more, while also saving time and reducing potential errors.

Covered in: iGrow News and 1 other source.

RWE becomes a top tier renewable energy company in the United States

• RWE, a leading renewable energy company, has completed the acquisition of Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses, making it the fourth largest renewable energy company in the US and the second largest solar owner and operator.
• The newly created RWE Clean Energy is poised to drive growth in onshore wind, solar energy, and battery storage, with a portfolio of 8 GW of renewable energy projects and a development platform of more than 24 GW.
• RWE’s ambitious growth plans are backed by a project pipeline of more than 24 GW in onshore wind, solar, and battery storage, and secured seabed leases offering the potential of about 3.9 GW of capacity in offshore wind.

Covered in: Batteries News and 8 other sources.

Divert Inc. announces $1B infrastructure deal with Enbridge Inc. to tackle food waste and combat climate change

• Divert Inc. has signed an infrastructure development agreement worth $1bn with Enbridge Inc, securing $80m in growth equity from Enbridge and $20m from Ara Partners.
• The funding will be used to accelerate the expansion of its anaerobic digestion facilities that convert wasted food into clean renewable energy, potentially offsetting nearly 400,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually.
• Divert has plans to scale its facilities to cover every major geographic region in the US within the next eight years, ensuring that 80% of the population lives within 100 miles of its facilities.

Covered in: Environment + Energy Leader and 7 other sources.

$114 billion meat giant Cargill partners with Cubiq Foods to scale plant-based fat

• Cargill, the world's third-largest meat producer, is partnering with food tech startup Cubiq Foods to co-develop and commercialize plant-based fat technologies.
• The companies aim to close the "flavor gap" in plant-based foods by replicating the visual appearance, mouthfeel, and bite of conventional animal fat.
• Cargill invested in Cubiq last spring and participated in a $5.75 million funding round.
• The global plant-based food market is expected to reach $74.2 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 11.9 percent from 2020 to 2027.

Covered in: Green Queen and 1 other source.

New York battery-recycling project gets $375 million US backing

• The US Energy Department's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program is providing funding to Li-Cycle, a battery recycling firm, to recover battery-grade lithium carbonate, cobalt sulfate, nickel sulfate, and other critical materials from manufacturing scrap materials and used batteries.
• The project aims to reduce the US reliance on global supply chains or new mining and create a domestic battery supply chain.
• The funding comes as the White House seeks to have half of all vehicle sales in 2030 be zero-emission and demand for lithium is projected to exceed current production by 2030.

Covered in: Energy Now and 12 other sources.

US Department of Energy releases guidance for second award cycle of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s $6bn civil nuclear credits program

• The US Department of Energy has released application guidance for the second award cycle of the Civil Nuclear Credit (CNC) Program, a $6bn investment made possible by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to prevent the premature retirement of nuclear reactors across the country.
• The second award cycle is open to owners or operators of nuclear reactors that are at risk of closure by the end of the four-year award period, including such reactors that ceased operations after November 15, 2021.
• The CNC Program promotes the continued operations of nuclear reactors to ensure clean electricity and preserve thousands of clean energy jobs.

Covered in: NS Energy and 4 other sources.

LG Energy Solution and Honda break ground for new JV EV battery plant in Ohio

• Honda and LG Energy Solution will invest $3.5 billion in a joint venture EV battery plant in Ohio, which is expected to create 2,200 jobs and have an annual production capacity of approximately 40GWh.
• The plant is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2024 and will produce pouch-type lithium-ion batteries exclusively to Honda auto plants to produce EVs for North America.
• Honda also plans to invest $700 million to re-tool several of its existing auto and powertrain plants in Ohio for the production of electric vehicles.

Covered in: Green Car Congress and 4 other sources.

BMW pilots hydrogen cars with Toyota fuel cells

• BMW has launched a pilot fleet of hydrogen-powered cars called the BMW iX5 Hydrogen, which uses fuel cells from Toyota and can reach speeds of over 112 mph.
• The vehicle has two hydrogen tanks that can be refilled within three to four minutes and will be used for international demonstration and trial.
• BMW CEO Oliver Zipse believes hydrogen is a crucial part of the energy transition, with the International Energy Agency describing it as a versatile energy carrier that can be used in various sectors.

Covered in: Carbon Herald and 7 other sources.

'Valid alternative': Could dry-molded fiber containers spell the end of plastic milk bottles?

• Packaging manufacturer PulPac and global consultancy PA Consulting have developed a technology to make dry-molded fiber (DMF) into beverage containers, offering a sustainable alternative to cardboard and single-use plastics.
• DMF is made by dry-molding cellulose pulp into solid packaging, which requires less water and energy during production and can take various shapes and forms.
• The companies plan to release the bottles at scale by 2025, with the prototype already able to store water, dairy, non-carbonated soft drinks, adult beverages, and hair- and skin-care products.
• The bottle can also be customized with bespoke shapes, sizes and decorations to reflect brand identity.

Covered in: FoodNavigator and 1 other source.

Motif FoodWorks explores molecular farming for animal-free proteins

• Motif FoodWorks is exploring whether corn could be used as a host for animal-free meat and dairy proteins by partnering with molecular farming start-up IngredientWerks.
• Motif currently makes myoglobin via precision fermentation, but is also investigating whether using corn as an expression system might make economic or environmental sense.
• IngredientWerks claims its protein production system operates at a lower cost and carbon footprint than fermentation production.

Covered in: AFN and 1 other source.

Iceland Foods inks PPA to offtake electricity from new British solar farm

• UK supermarket chain Iceland has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Octopus Energy's Breach solar farm in Cambridgeshire.
• The deal will see Iceland procure around 64 GWh of renewable electricity every year, covering around 14% of the retailer's annual electricity needs for its stores across the UK.
• The 67 MW Breach solar farm is due to come online at the end of this year.

Covered in: edie and 2 other sources.

SBTi validates Heidelberg Materials' 2030 CO2 reduction targets

• Heidelberg Materials' 2030 carbon reduction targets have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) under its new 1.5°C framework.
• The company aims to reduce gross scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 26.7% per tonne of cementitious material by 2030 from the base year 2020, and reduce gross scope 3 GHG emissions from purchased goods and services by 25% within the same timeframe.
• These commitments align with the company's goal of reducing specific net CO2 emissions to 400kg/t of cementitious material by 2030, a 47% reduction compared to 1990 levels.

Covered in: CemNet and 1 other source.

Neste helps reduce GHG emissions globally by 11.1M tons in 2022

• Neste Corporation helped customers reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 11.1 million tons globally in 2022, aiming to reduce emissions by 20 million tons by 2030.
• The company's renewable production capacity is currently 3.3 million tons annually, but expansions in Singapore, California, and Rotterdam will increase capacity to 6.8 million tons by the end of 2026.
• Neste is committed to reducing GHG emissions from its production by 50% by 2030 and reaching carbon-neutral production by 2035.

Covered in: Biodiesel Magazine and 1 other source.

Climate accounting platform Persefoni appoints Kristina Wyatt as Chief Sustainability Officer

• Persefoni has appointed Kristina Wyatt as Deputy General Counsel and Chief Sustainability Officer.
• In her new role, Wyatt will lead Persefoni's sustainability team in supporting the firm's customers and partners with evolving ESG climate-related disclosure requirements.
• Persefoni's platform enables companies and institutional investors to measure, analyze, plan, forecast, and report on their carbon footprint.

Covered in: ESG Today and 1 other source.

Clean Fuels hires new senior communications manager

• Clean Fuels Alliance America has appointed Katherine Reed as senior communications manager to support the implementation of the association's marketing and communications plan, manage Clean Fuels' social media channels, and coordinate with partner organizations to promote the industry.
• Reed brings more than 10 years of marketing and communications experience and will be an asset to Clean Fuels' growing industry.
• She is excited to contribute to the efforts of decarbonization and further develop relationships with Clean Fuels members and stakeholders.

Covered in: Biodiesel Magazine and 1 other source.

EU lawmakers strike deal to establish European Green Bond standards

• The European Parliament and the European Council have agreed on the creation of standards for proposed European Green Bonds (EuGB) and voluntary disclosure guidelines for green bond issuers to prevent greenwashing in the sustainable bond market.
• Issuers wishing to use the EuGB designation will need to follow a strict set of investment and transparency criteria, including ensuring that all proceeds are invested in activities aligned with the EU Taxonomy.
• The proposed rules will now be sent for confirmation by the Council and the European Parliament and will apply 12 months after entering into force.

Covered in: ESG Today and 3 other sources.

UK gov urges businesses to prepare for packaging waste reforms

• From February 28, obligated packaging producers in England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland must collect information on the amount and type of packaging they have supplied during 2023, with Wales following soon.
• Those with a turnover of more than £2 million and who handle more than 50 tonnes of packaging each year must also report this information to the Environment Agency twice a year.
• The UK government says this shift of cost is estimated to be around £1.2 billion per year across all local authorities once EPR is fully operational.

Covered in: Circular and 2 other sources.

California introduces textile recycling bill

• California Senator Josh Newman has introduced a bill, SB 707, which would require producers of clothing and other textiles to implement and fund a state-wide collection and recycling program for textiles.
• The program aims to create a "first of its kind" extended producer responsibility (EPR) textile recycling and repair program to combat the rise of fast fashion, which has a long-lasting and devastating impact on the planet.

Covered in: Ecotextile and 1 other source.

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