Environment

From Bill Gates to the pope, talk of carbon capture and its efficacy is dividing society

Published

2 years ago

October 25, 2023

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This image from 2016 shows a carbon capture project in Texas.

Houston Chronicle/hearst Newspapers Via Getty Images | Hearst Newspapers | Getty Images

The U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP28) is fast approaching, and businesses, politicians and environmental organizations are weighing up how best to slash emissions and tackle climate change both now and in the future.

From wind turbines and green hydrogen to solar panels and fossil fuels like natural gas, a host of sources and innovations are being touted as tools in the fight to safeguard the planet’s future, sparking intense debates about their merits and flaws.

Technologies related to carbon capture are also generating a huge amount of discussion, and the sector’s potential was a hot topic at the recent ADIPEC oil and gas conference in Abu Dhabi.

During an interview with CNBC at ADIPEC, the CEO of energy technology firm Baker Hughes was asked why carbon capture hasn’t been scaled to the point of commercialization and decarbonization.

“It is coming,” Lorenzo Simonelli replied. “And I look at all the different carbon capture processes that exist in our portfolio, but those also available in the market, and we are starting to see scalability,” he added.

“The Inflation Reduction Act in the United States, [and] some of the policies being introduced in Europe, do enable that,” Simonelli said. “And if I look at just our first half order intake, 50% of it was relative to CCUS.”

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According to the U.S. Department of Energy, CCUS — carbon capture, utilization and storage — refers to “a process that captures carbon dioxide emissions from sources like coal-fired power plants and either reuses or stores it so it will not enter the atmosphere.”

CCUS is different from carbon capture and storage, or CCS, which is when CO2 emissions related to industrial processes are captured and stored, rather than reused.

Other processes in the sector include direct air capture, with firms like Climeworks operating in the space.

Climeworks, which specializes in direct air capture and storage, has offices in Switzerland and Germany. Its clients include businesses such as Stripe and Microsoft, and the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund has invested in the company.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has spoken about using Climeworks to “pay for direct air capture” and while the sector has high-profile backers, it faces challenges.

The International Energy Agency, for instance, notes that capturing carbon dioxide from the air “is more energy intensive — and therefore more expensive — than capturing it from a point source.”

“Carbon removal technologies such as DAC are not an alternative to cutting emissions or an excuse for delayed action, but they can be an important part of the suite of technology options used to achieve climate goals,” the Paris-based organization adds.

Ex-BP CEO on the Paris Agreement and CCUS

Another high-profile figure speaking to CNBC at ADIPEC was Bob Dudley, the ex-CEO of energy giant BP.

He sought to contextualize the role of CCUS within the wider energy transition.

“By 2050 there’ll be 2 billion more people on the planet,” he said, arguing that every form of energy — including increases in nuclear — would be needed.

“We’ve got to have everything and decarbonize it, and there’s great new technologies that are doing that,” he said.

“I don’t know of a single scenario to get us to Paris without natural gas — cleaned up natural gas — displacing coal, that’s really important,” Dudley added, referring to 2015’s Paris Agreement.

“And second is CCUS,” he said. “And people say CCUS is only a tool for the oil and gas industry to perpetuate its life — that’s not true.”

While carbon capture has its advocates, the technology is divisive and has been questioned by a range of organizations.

In March 2023, for example, the environmental group Greenpeace expressed strong views on the subject in a political briefing published ahead of announcements from the U.K. government related to energy security.

“Carbon capture is not zero carbon; is unlikely to see dramatic cost reductions or be scalable; and is often used for greenwashing by oil and gas companies so they can carry on polluting,” it said.

“It doesn’t do what it says on the tin and certainly should not be prioritised as part of a green industrial strategy,” it added.

‘Pushing a snowball down a hill’

Pope Francis is another high-profile figure who’s weighed in on the subject.

In a recent letter titled Laudate Deum, or Praise God, Francis touched upon the use of technology to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Among other things, he noted that “some interventions and technological advances that make it possible to absorb or capture gas emissions have proved promising.”

“Nonetheless, we risk remaining trapped in the mindset of pasting and papering over cracks, while beneath the surface there is a continuing deterioration to which we continue to contribute,” he added.

“To suppose that all problems in the future will be able to be solved by new technical interventions is a form of homicidal pragmatism, like pushing a snowball down a hill.”

Environment

US solar tops 11.7 GW in a huge Q3 despite political roadblocks

Published

2 hours ago

December 9, 2025

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US solar tops 11.7 GW in a huge Q3 despite political roadblocks

The US solar industry just delivered another huge quarter, installing 11.7 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity in Q3 2025. That makes it the third-largest quarter on record and pushes total solar additions this year past 30 GW – despite the Trump administration’s efforts to kneecap clean energy.

According to the new “US Solar Market Insight Q4 2025” report from Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie, 85% of all new power added to the grid during the first nine months of the Trump administration came from solar and storage. And here’s the twist: Most of that growth – 73% – happened in red states.

Eight of the top 10 states for new installations fall into that category, including Texas, Indiana, Florida, Arizona, Ohio, Utah, Kentucky, and Arkansas. Utah jumped into the top 10 this quarter thanks to two big utility-scale projects totaling more than 1 GW.

But the report also flags major uncertainty ahead. Federal actions, including a July memo from the Department of the Interior (DOI), have slowed or stalled the approvals pipeline for utility-scale solar and storage. Without clarity on permitting timelines, Wood Mackenzie’s long-term utility-scale forecast through 2030 remains basically unchanged from last quarter.

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“This record-setting quarter for solar deployment shows that the market is continuing to turn to solar to meet rising demand,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, SEIA’s president and CEO. She added that strong growth in red states underscores how decisively the market is shifting toward clean energy. “But unless this administration reverses course, the future of clean, affordable, and reliable solar and storage will be frozen by uncertainty, and Americans will continue to see their energy bills go up.”

Two new solar module factories opened this year in Louisiana and South Carolina, adding a combined 4.7 GW of capacity. That brings the total new US module manufacturing capacity added in 2025 to 17.7 GW. With a new wafer facility coming online in Michigan in Q3, the US can now produce every major component of the solar module supply chain.

“We expect 250 GW of solar to be installed from 2025 to 2030,” said Michelle Davis, head of solar research at Wood Mackenzie and lead author of the report. “But the US solar industry has more potential. With rising power demand across the country, solar could do even more if current constraints were eased.”

SEIA also noted that, following an analysis of EIA data, it found that more than 73 GW of solar projects across the US are stuck in permitting limbo and at risk of politically motivated delays or cancellations.

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Environment

It’s happening: Chevy Spark EUV production kicks off in Brazil

Published

5 hours ago

December 9, 2025

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It's happening: Chevy Spark EUV production kicks off in Brazil

Chevy Spark EUV Production Officially Begins In Brazil

The spiritual successor to the beloved Chevy Geo Tracker, production of the new-for-2026 electric Spark EUV has officially begun in Brazil with more than 200 miles of range.

That’s right, kids. To know the Chevy Tracker is to love the Chevy Tracker. The tiny, top-heavy Suzuki-based SUV combined bold colors, fun styling, (relatively) good fuel economy, and real off-road chops (especially in ZR2 trim) with an affordable price tag to make the Tracker an early favorite among the serious rock-crawling crowds.

Like, really

2001 Chevy Tracker; via Harry Situations.

While it’s still too early to tell whether or not the all-new Chevy Spark EUV will come even close to that little proto-SUV, it seems we won’t have to wait much longer to find out – GM Authority reports that production of the 2026 Chevy Spark EUV has officially begun at Comexport’s Planta Automotiva do Ceará (PACE) plant, in the state of Ceará, Brazil.

GM Brazil invested the equivalent of $73 million to get the PACE factory ready to assemble GM’s modern, zero-emissions Chevy crossover for the South American and Middle Eastern markets – an investment big enough to earn a visit from Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was on-hand for the December 3rd kickoff event.

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“It’s not a car factory,” said Comexport Vice President and PACE shareholder, Rodrigo Teixeir. “(The) goal is to develop technology there, not simply assemble a vehicle.”

Production of the new Spark EUV began last week, with production of the equally new Chevy Captiva EV set to begin as early as Q1 of 2026.

2026 Chevy Spark EUV

The Made in Brazil Chevrolet Spark EUV is heavily based on the Chinese Baojun, and is powered by that vehicle’s single 75 kW (101 hp), 180 Nm (130 lb-ft) motor driving the front wheels. Power comes from the Baojun’s 42 kWh LFP battery that, with regenerative braking, is good for up to 360 km (220 miles) on the NEDC driving cycle.

Weirdly, the new Spark is also equipped with a 10.1″ infotainment screen and 8.8″ digital instrument cluster (above) that supports both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto standard – technology that GM claims lead to “unsafe” driver behaviors in North America.

Let us know what you think of the little electric SUV, and whether or not you think it would be a hit in the US (it would) in the comments.

SOURCE: GM Authority; images by GM, Harry Situations.

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Environment

Trump ban on wind power projects overturned by federal judge

Published

6 hours ago

December 9, 2025

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Trump ban on wind power projects overturned by federal judge

Power generating wind turbines tower over the rural landscape on July 5, 2025 near Pomeroy, Iowa.

Scott Olson | Getty Images

A federal judge on Monday struck down President Donald Trump’s sweeping ban on new wind power projects in the U.S., a major victory for an industry that has been singled out by the White House since the administration’s first day.

Judge Patti Saris of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled that Trump’s ban is “arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law,” tossing out the president’s action in its entirey.

Trump issued a memorandum on Jan. 20 halting permits and leases for offshore and onshore wind farms, pending federal review. Saris said that federal agencies had failed to provide a reasoned explanation for such a drastic change in U.S. policy.

Seventeen states led by New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Trump in May to overturn the president’s ban. They argued that it created “an existential threat to the wind industry.”

“This is a big victory in our fight to keep tackling the climate crisis and protect one of our best sources of clean, reliable, and affordable energy,” James said in a post on social media platform X.

States in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic in particular have been pursuing offshore wind projects to meet future energy demand as they seek to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions.

White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said in a statement that “offshore wind projects were given unfair, preferential treatment while the rest of the energy industry was hindered by burdensome regulations.”