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Darren Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil, speaks during the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, on May 1, 2023.

Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images

Exxon Mobil is working on technology to directly remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere with the goal of slashing sky-high costs by half, CEO Darren Woods said Friday.

Woods said direct air capture technology holds huge long-term potential as a tool to address climate change. But it is currently unaffordable at scale, with the removal of atmospheric emissions costing between $600 to $1,000 per ton.

“If you tried to apply that across the emissions challenge the planet has, the world won’t be able to pay for that,” the CEO said during Exxon’s quarterly earnings call. “We’re focused on how we can make this technology broadly applicable at a cost that society can afford.”

The oil major has launched a pilot project in Baytown, Texas, to test the feasibility of its proprietary direct air capture process. Woods acknowledged the technology would still be too expensive to scale globally, even if Exxon reduced its current cost by 50%, but achieving that goal would demonstrate the value of the concept and drive further development.

The price needs to come down to somewhere around $100 per ton of carbon captured for the technology to become a viable tool to fight climate change, Woods said. He added that atmospheric emissions are extremely dilute and require a massive amount of air to be processed to remove a single ton of carbon dioxide.

“This is a tough challenge to break and I’m not pretending like we’re going to be the ones to solve it,” Woods said. “But I am confident that we will give it our all, applying our capabilities.”

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Dozens of universities and companies in addition to Exxon are working to make direct air capture scalable, the CEO said. Regardless of who breaks through, Exxon will play a major role in the market, he said.

“Once we have a technology that gets to the right cost level, you’re going to need global deployment at scale,” Woods said. “I suspect that the technology that will be required for the future, lower cost direct air capture, will be different than what we’ve got today and will require some of the technical capabilities that we have.”

Exxon is also a leading player in efforts to ramp up carbon capture and storage technology, a different process that removes higher concentration emissions streams from industrial processes. The oil major is building a pipeline and storage network along the Gulf Coast, with three contracts signed to remove emissions from the operations of CF Industries, Nucor and Linde.

Carbon capture and direct air capture are controversial tools to address climate change. The technologies are expensive and difficult to scale; so far, very few projects have reached the final investment stage.

Some activists accuse the oil industry of investing in the technology to prolong the life of fossil fuels. The International Energy Agency has described carbon capture as “critical” to achieve net-zero global emissions by 2050 but said that the oil and gas industry needs to prove that the technology can operate at scale. The IEA has also warned the industry against overreliance on the technology as a solution to climate change.

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GE Vernova lands repower orders for 1 GW of US wind turbines

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GE Vernova lands repower orders for 1 GW of US wind turbines

GE Vernova’s onshore wind business announced that it received orders in 2024 to repower over 1 gigawatt (GW) of wind turbines in the US.

Wind energy repowering is all about breathing new life into older turbines. By swapping out aging parts like turbines, blades, and nacelles for the latest tech, wind farms see significant boosts in efficiency, power capacity, and overall lifespan. Other infrastructure and control systems can also get a second life.

Adding new components to existing infrastructure and grid connections means it’s less expensive to extend the life of the wind farm with fewer resources. New components make the turbines less prone to breakdowns which means less maintenance, so there are fewer operational costs. 

The repowering projects for which GE Vernova received orders will use nacelles and drive trains that it manufactures in its Pensacola, Florida, factory.

“As the United States works to meet the doubling of projected demand for more energy, repower projects like these help US workers in US factories take advantage of what we already have, where we already have it,” said Matt Lynch, general manager of Repower at GE Vernova. 

The orders were booked between the first and fourth quarters of 2024. GE Vernova’s wind repower projects are expected to come online between 2024 and 2027.

GE Vernova’s onshore wind business has a total installed base of approximately 56,000 turbines and nearly 120 GW of installed capacity worldwide.

Read more: Cleantech investments to top fossil fuels for the first time in 2025


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Kia’s NACS adapters available now; Supercharger access still pending

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Kia's NACS adapters available now; Supercharger access still pending

Kia’s official first-party NACS adapters are now ready to ship out, but owners will have to wait to use them on Tesla Superchargers until later this quarter.

The rollout of Supercharger access to non-Tesla brands is hitting a fever pitch this year, with several brands added to the “coming soon” list, and even beyond that, VW and Honda have both made their own announcements that access is coming soon.

But for most vehicles, charging on Superchargers will require an adapter for the time being, as most brands aren’t adding native NACS ports to their vehicles until a future date (the current exceptions are the 2025 Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq 5 which have native ports).

Each manufacturer is dealing with adapter rollouts separately, and Kia’s ready to announce that their adapters are ready to go.

Kia told us today that shipments of first-party adapters are currently en route to dealerships, and certain owners will be getting a notification soon to claim their adapter.

In Kia’s previous announcement about adapter availability, it said that any 2024 or 2025 EV6 or EV9 owners who took delivery after September 4 would get a free NACS adapter. Those owners should receive a push notification soon in their Kia Connect app through which they can claim their adapter.

For other owners, adapters will be available from Kia dealers for $249, which is roughly in line with the average cost we’ve been seeing for these adapters. Dealers should be getting the adapters any day now.

However, these adapters will be of limited usefulness for the next several weeks. You’ll be able to use them to charge at Tesla destination chargers, or any home charger with a Tesla/NACS plug on it, but Supercharger access still requires a handshake between the car and the charging network, and that handshake is currently disabled.

Originally, Kias were going to gain access on January 15th, but that was pushed back until the “back end of this quarter.” Some owners found out a loophole to allow for charging on the network, but that loophole was closed just yesterday.

As a result, Kia is also including “definitive instructions” on how to use the adapters along with each shipment. It wants to ensure that everyone is using them properly, especially given the recent back-and-forth about, uh, unsanctioned methods to access the network before official availability.

Kia’s EV6 with the native NACS port has also taken longer to arrive than Hyundai’s 2025 Ioniq 5. Ioniq 5s are already shipping (and can even charge faster than Teslas at a Supercharger, a feat the EV6 should also achieve), but EV6s haven’t yet hit dealerships. They should be on around the same timeline as Supercharger access, and ought to be available in the back half of this quarter.

So… Kia fans will still have to wait a little bit, but at least you’ll have the adapters ready to go for when the floodgates open later this quarter.

If you’re looking to buy one of the fastest-charging EVs on the road today, use our link to check local dealers and get in line for when they get the new 2025 Kia EV6s in stock.


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Kempower and Ziegler partner on EV fast charging for fleets

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Kempower and Ziegler partner on EV fast charging for fleets

EV charger manufacturer Kempower and Ziegler Energy Solutions have paired up to deliver EV fast charging infrastructure for commercial fleets.

To put it simply, Finland and US-based Kempower brings DC fast chargers to the table, and Ziegler Energy Solutions’ (ZES’s) specialty is infrastructure, energy efficiency, and operational flexibility, along with sales and service.

“As businesses and municipalities increasingly transition to electric fleets, reliable and adaptable EV charging infrastructure with the highest uptime is paramount,” said Troy Monson, general manager of Ziegler Energy Solutions. “Partnering with Kempower enables us to deliver scalable, user-friendly solutions that support our customers’ electrification goals and operational needs.”

ZES, which is now a Kempower Certified Partner, helps fleet operators address challenges like high mileage, uptime demands, and energy cost management using its EV fleet planning tools that simulate real-world scenarios like duty cycles, charging schedules, and energy needs. It also has a leasing program, and integrates solar and battery storage into fast charging infrastructure.

This means Kempower can now offer its DC fast chargers to fleet operators with ZES’s support, ensuring uptime and reliability.

Read more: GM is using AI to find ideal spots for EV charging stations


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Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here. –trusted affiliate link*

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