Net Zero

1. UK grid overhaul
2. Exxon goes electric
3. GE Vernova’s tariff plan
4. Geothermal’s big potential
5. Energy war escalates

The case for extremely long undersea power lines, and USPS misses an EV deadline.

UK grid overhaul

UK energy officials unveiled plans for a sweeping overhaul of the country’s power system, aiming to nearly eliminate fossil fuels from the mix by 2030. The plan will offer express access to the power grid for some new clean energy projects, and make it easier for national-level officials to overrule municipal governments in approving proposals, particularly large onshore wind farms. The plan will require up to £240 billion in investment by 2030, and while opposition politicians warned it will raise electric bills, the energy secretary said that reducing the country’s reliance on natural gas will eliminate price volatility from the market.

Exxon goes electric

The data center boom is pushing US oil companies into territory they’ve scrupulously avoided until now, one that has largely backfired for their European rivals: Selling electricity.

In a strategy document published this week, ExxonMobil revealed that it’s planning to operate power plants, fueled by natural gas and equipped with carbon capture technology, at data centers. That would mark a first foray into the power market for the company, which up to now has only run power plants for its own refineries and LNG facilities. It’s not alone: A Chevron executive said this week that the company is working on a similar plan.

“What we’re offering is decarbonized power,” Exxon CEO Darren Woods said in a call with reporters. “With this urgent need for power generation to meet the needs of data centers and the growth in AI, there are very few opportunities in the short term to power those and do it in a way that minimizes, if not completely eliminates, the emissions. We’re uniquely positioned to do that with our carbon capture and storage business.”

As the AI boom has accelerated, Big Tech companies have talked a big game about sourcing power from low-carbon sources like renewables, geothermal, and advanced nuclear; the latest deal announced by Google this week aims to invest $20 billion in renewables for data centers by 2030. But the reality is that much of the data boom will be powered by gas, either on-site or through the grid. Tech companies are under immense competitive pressure to scale their AI operations as quickly as possible, and their bets on clean power won’t deliver as fast as they need.

GE Vernova’s tariff plan

GE Vernova, one of the world’s biggest energy equipment manufacturers, isn’t worried about US President-elect Donald Trump’s expected tariffs. Orders for gas and grid equipment are surging so much that the company is backlogged for some orders until 2029, CEO Scott Strazik told reporters this week. The wind turbine business, however, remains “humble,” and the company hasn’t booked a new order for offshore wind turbines in 37 months. Tariffs won’t do much to change that situation, Strazik said: Canada, China, and Mexico, the countries Trump has most targeted for potential new tariffs, account for only 5% percent of the company’s supply chain. “So we can manage, and we can adjust.”

Geothermal’s big potential

Subterranean heat has the potential to supply more energy to the world than wind, the International Energy Agency said, the first time it has ranked geothermal’s potential as second only to solar.

Technology advances, especially drilling techniques borrowed from the US fracking industry, are making it possible to tap hotter resources deeper underground. By 2050, the IEA said, geothermal could go from providing less than 1% of global energy to more than 15%, and could be especially useful for Asian countries trying to reduce their reliance on coal, as well as for powering data centers. But governments need to do more to clear red tape, the Paris-based agency warned.

Energy war escalates

Russia launched one of its largest attacks on energy infrastructure in Ukraine since the 2022 invasion, officials said, with a barrage of nearly 300 drones and missiles targeting assets in Western Ukraine. The latest attack, at least the 11th on energy infrastructure this year, will exacerbate the daily multi-hour blackouts that have gripped Ukrainian cities for at least a month, as temperatures dive below freezing. Russian forces also struck a convoy from the International Atomic Energy Agency that was working near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, an attack that the US ambassador to Ukraine said escalated the risk of a catastrophic accident.

Western officials, meanwhile, seem ready to escalate countermeasures against Russia’s energy sector. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the oversupply of crude oil in the global market presents an opportunity to ramp up sanctions against Moscow — which have already caused Russia to shutter part of the world’s biggest LNG plant — without leading to global energy price spikes. And the EU’s new energy commissioner said his top priority was to end Europe’s reliance on Russian energy imports.

New Energy

• The Biden administration is preparing its next fusillade in its clean energy trade war with China, doubling the tariffs it imposes on imported solar wafers and polysilicon.
• Germany will scrap €350 million in subsidies for green hydrogen projects after it couldn’t reach an agreement with European regulators on how much support it could offer.

Fossil Fuels

• The unit of ExxonMobil that produces oil from Canada’s tar sands fields wants more government support to stand up an $11 billion carbon capture project.

Finance

• Driven mainly by giants like TPG and Brookfield, the amount of money in dedicated climate tech investment funds rose to a record $86 billion in 2024, a hopeful sign for future growth even as investments out of these funds slowed down this year.
• A new type of insurance that millions of smallholder farmers in Africa hope can stave off climate impacts doesn’t always work as intended.

Tech

• A new sustainable aviation fuel manufacturer in Texas, Pathway Energy, says its biomass-based fuels are 550% less carbon-intensive than traditional jet fuel.
• Frontier, the carbon removal purchasing consortium that includes major banks and tech companies, announced its latest purchase, paying about $300 per ton for carbon removal credits from an enhanced rock weathering project in Brazil.
• An ArcelorMittal steel factory in Belgium, which is converting its emissions into ethanol fuel, said it has crossed a key production milestone, producing enough ethanol to economically ship it out via large-scale shipping by barge.

EVs

• Deliveries of new electric trucks for the US Postal Service are far behind schedule, with only 93 of 3,000 delivered. Manufacturing problems at the defense contractor Oshkosh, which is producing the trucks, are behind the delay, The Washington Post reported.

Dave Jones, global insights programme director at the research group Ember, argued this week for a subsea power line connecting North America and Europe.

In an exclusive interview with Semafor’s Reed Albergotti, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai said he’s ready to work on a “Manhattan Project” for AI when Donald Trump moves into the White House next year.

“I think there is a chance for us to work as a country together,” he said. “These big, physical infrastructure projects to accelerate progress is something we would be very excited by.”