It's the changing of the seasons

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH:

Hey hey,

Hope all the U.S.-based folks had a fun Halloween. I’m at that tweener age where I’m not in the mood to celebrate myself and don’t have kids of my own to dress up and take around trick or treating. Hence, I settled for walking around and watching other people enjoy (and then watching the baseball game). There were lots of fun costumes on display around Brooklyn, so it was still very enjoyable over here.

Now, as we enter November, we’ll focus on how the changing of the seasons accompanies a changing of sentiment and memetics across climate conversations, plus lots more around the horn this week. Let’s dive in after a word from our partners.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CLIMATIZE

Didn’t get a chance to check out our recent coverage of Climatize? Or to take advantage of our special offer to get $50 for checking out and signing up? Here’s what you missed:

• Our deep dive on Climatize, an SEC-registered funding portal that democratizes renewable energy investment by giving everyday investors access to crowdfund community-scale solar and storage projects.

• My podcast episode with Climatize CEO, Will Wiseman.

• How to take advantage of the $50 offer to help accelerate community solar and battery energy storage deployment in the U.S. → click here. You can also use code COOL50 on their site.

ONE STORY IN A SENTENCE AND A CHART

• Google news searchers in general seem a lot less focused on and even concerned with climate change than they were even two years ago, signaling sizeable memetic shifts. Link.

NEWS, DATA, AND HEADLINES

• Bill Gates called for a "strategic pivot" in climate policy, arguing the world should prioritize preventing poverty and disease over near-term emissions targets while stating he would accept 0.1 degrees of additional warming to eradicate malaria. While I’m supportive of the idea that climate change is not necessarily the defining crisis of our times (really hard to say) and that it needn’t be everyone’s top priority (humans and our society are good at splitting up work), I’d also venture there’s too much uncertainty to suggest, as Gates’ did, that climate change will assuredly not be catastrophic (specifically, he said it will not be the end of civilization). On the whole, I reckon he’s right, but also a bit overconfident. I do agree on other talking points of his, such as that temperature alone isn’t the best metric to evaluate climate change on (it’s more of a dysregulation in a complex systems problem, says this news curator). Link.

• Rondo Energy began commercial operations of its first 100-megawatt-hour thermal battery in California's oil fields, using a 20-megawatt solar array to heat refractory bricks that generate steam for oil extraction. Link.

• Form Energy began deploying its first commercial 100-hour iron-air batteries at Great River Energy's Minnesota project, with CEO Mateo Jaramillo reporting the company has produced 100,000 electrodes and contracted over 200 MW of batteries amid surging AI-driven demand. That answers the questions I posed in this piece about the company’s standing, at least for now, though I’m still a bit weary of manufacturing delays. Link.

• Corning opened its Michigan silicon ingot and wafer factory, completing the domestic supply chain for all major solar panel components in the US, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. Link.

• The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter percent to 3.75%-4%, but Chair Jerome Powell signaled another December rate cut is "not a foregone conclusion" as the bank balances growing unemployment against inflation hovering at 3%, above the 2% target. Cheaper rates are generally more supportive for new energy infrastructure, the vast majority of which is cleaner, than existing energy infrastructure. Link.

• China promised to suspend its latest rare earth export restrictions for at least one year as part of a trade truce with President Trump, though earlier April regulations requiring export licenses for seven kinds of rare earths and magnets remain in effect. Link.

• Oregon-based Mazama Energy drilled the world's hottest enhanced geothermal well at 331°C, capable of producing up to 5 gigawatts of baseload geothermal energy. Link.

• Canadian geothermal startup Eavor released results from two years of drilling at its flagship Germany project, showcasing reduced drilling times at its closed-loop system. The company drilled 2.8 miles deep with twelve 1.8-mile horizontal wells. Link.

• Self-driving truck startup Waabi, backed by Uber and Nvidia, launched its new autonomous truck developed with Volvo Autonomous Solutions. Link.

• Uber began testing robotaxis in San Francisco ahead of a 2026 launch, with plans to deploy over 20,000 Lucid vehicles equipped with Nuro's self-driving system across all locations over six years. Link.

• Google signed a deal to back the restart of NextEra's Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa, following Microsoft's Three Mile Island restart project and the imminent restart of Holtec's Palisades plant in Michigan, which should soon become the first U.S. nuclear facility to return from permanent decommissioning. Link.

• The U.S. government announced an $80 billion deal with Westinghouse to build at least eight new nuclear power plants using gigawatt-sized AP1000 reactors and smaller versions. Of note here isn’t just the investment size but the embrace of large-scale reactors, after recent years have seen a predominant focus on as-of-yet unbuilt and unproven small modular reactors. Link.

• The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued TerraPower its final environmental impact statement, bringing Bill Gates' next-generation sodium-cooled Natrium reactor in Wyoming closer to becoming the first US commercial reactor using a coolant other than water, with a final safety evaluation expected by year-end. Link.

• Texas' grid operator reported total large load interconnection requests surged from 56 GW to 205 GW over the past year as data centers push to come online faster than traditional transmission planning can accommodate. Link.

• BYD reported a 33% drop in third-quarter profits to $1.1 billion amid growing domestic competition from rivals Geely and Changan, which saw sales increases of 96% and 84% respectively, though BYD maintains international market strength where Tesla is weakening. Link.

• The Delhi government canceled cloud seeding trials intended to create artificial rain to wash away air pollution after three unsuccessful attempts due to insufficient atmospheric moisture, with the $400,000 project potentially resuming when conditions improve. Link.

• Danish manufacturer Topsoe paused work on its $400 million electrolyzer factory in Virginia, even after receiving $135 million in tax credits, citing poor green hydrogen demand following the early sunsetting of federal tax credits under the GOP's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act." Link.

• Shell withdrew from its Atlantic Shores offshore wind project off New Jersey and New York, citing alignment with its power strategy to shift away from capital-intensive generation projects toward assets supporting trading and retail operations. Link.

• Here are some frightful post-Halloween numbers: EV sales are on track to comprise less than 6% of all new car sales in October, a significant decline from record sales in months before federal tax credits expired. Link.

• Jamaica's $150 million catastrophe bond will face a full trigger event requiring payouts to help the island recover from Hurricane Melissa, marking the first full weather-related cat bond payout since Hurricane Ian in 2022. Link.

• Hecate Energy quietly withdrew plans for Swiftsure, a 650-megawatt battery storage project that would have been New York's largest, with developer Fullmark Energy notifying state regulators in August without public announcement. Link.

• The Senate voted 52-45 to overturn Biden-era drilling restrictions in Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve, expanding eligible drilling land from 52% to 82% of the area, with Senator John Fetterman joining Republicans in support. Link.

• U.K. regulators opened an investigation into Drax over potentially misleading statements about wood pellet sourcing for its biomass power stations, as the sector faces increasing scrutiny over deforestation claims and its economic viability sans subsidies. Link.

• Earth's reflectivity has been declining for decades, with the Northern Hemisphere dimming faster than the Southern Hemisphere due to melting snow and ice exposing darker surfaces and reduced aerosol pollution in China, the U.S., and Europe. Link.

CURATED DEALS

Larger funding rounds:

• Perpetua Resources, based out of Donnelly, Idaho, announced $255 million in equity investments from Agnico Eagle Mines and JPMorgan Chase for an Idaho antimony project providing domestic supplies for defense and battery applications. Link.

• Empact, based out of Cologne, Germany, raised €100 million (~$116 million) from Sustainable Development Capital for its decentralized energy supply systems. Link.

• Dott, based out of Amsterdam, raised $70 million in debt funding and a Series B extension round, bringing its total Series B funding to over $150 million, to expand its e-bike business following its 2024 merger with TIER. Link.

Medium-sized funding rounds:

• Frontline Wildfire Defense, based out of Jackson, Wyoming, raised $48 million in Series A funding led by Norwest for its wildfire defense systems for homes, businesses, and communities. Link.

• Hypersonix Launch Systems, based out of Brisbane, Australia, raised $46 million in Series A funding led by High Tor Capital for its hydrogen-powered, 3D-printed hypersonic aircraft engines and UAVs. Link.

• Vammo, based out of São Paulo, Brazil, raised $45 million in Series B funding led by Ecosystem Integrity Fund to expand its battery-swapping network for electric motorcycles across Latin America. Link.

• Dracula Technologies, based out of Valence, France, closed a €30 million (~$34.8 million) Series A round led by Banque des Territoires for its battery-free IoT powered by ambient indoor light. Link.

• Pact, based out of Cambridge, U.K., raised $20 million in Series A funding co-led by Forbion and HV Capital for its collagen-based biomaterials designed to replace plastic textiles. Link.

• Immaterial, based out of Cambridge, U.K., raised £13.5 million (~$18.2 million) in Series A2 funding led by SLB, with participation from AP Ventures, Moeve, Finindus, and others, to scale its proprietary metal-organic framework technology for carbon capture, hydrogen storage, and HVAC energy reduction. Link.

• Agtonomy, based out of South San Francisco, raised $18 million in Series B funding led by DBL Partners to scale its AI-powered farm autonomy platform. Link.

• Maxwell+spark, based out of Rotterdam, raised $15 million in Series B funding from Klima and others for its lithium-ion battery systems. Link.

• Ridepanda, based out of San Francisco, raised $12.6 million in equity and debt led by Bikeleasing Group for its e-bike and scooter subscription platform. Link.

• Uluu, based out of Watermans Bay, Australia, raised ~$10.5 million in Series A funding led by Burda Principal Investments to build a commercial facility to convert seaweed into biodegradable plastic alternatives. Link.

• Altrove, based out of Paris, raised $10 million in seed funding led by Alven to make rare-earth-free and cobalt-free magnetic materials. Link.

Smaller funding rounds:

• MacroCycle, based out of Boston, raised $6.5 million in seed funding for its energy-efficient chemical recycling process designed to recover synthetic fibers from waste textiles using 80% less energy than virgin plastic production. Link. I also had the co-founders on my podcast previously; tune in to that conversation here if interested.

• aevoloop, based out of Leipzig, Germany, raised €3.25 million ($3.8 million) in seed funding led by Circulate Capital, plus nearly €5 million ($5.8 million) in public co-funding for its circular-plastic technology enabling fully recyclable, biodegradable polyolefins. Link.

• Plastomics, based out of St. Louis, raised $5.8 million in Series B funding led by Fulcrum Global Capital for its chloroplast engineering platform from soybean to corn. Link.

• Voltaic Marine, based out of Traverse City, Michigan, raised $3 million in pre-seed funding led by Antler to make aluminium electric boats for consumer, commercial, and defense markets. Link.

• Food System Innovations, based out of Chicago, received $2 million from the Bezos Earth Fund's AI for Climate and Nature Grand Challenge for its AI tools designed to help improve sustainable protein design. Link.

Not saying how much rounds:

• Space4Good, based out of the Hague, Netherlands, raised an undisclosed amount of funding led by Arches Capital to protect 50 million hectares of tropical rainforest using satellite-based analytics and predictive AI. Link.

Funds:

• Endgame Capital, based out of Brussels, raised €8 million (~$9.3 million) in a first close of its new climate tech fund that will support near-market solutions deployable within two years and capable of mitigating over 50 Mt CO₂e annually. Link.

Have a nice week ahead,

— Nick