Peak China?

Hi hi,

ICYMI last week, Louie Woodall of Climate Proof and I are hosting a happy hour to celebrate the ~end~ of Climate Week (circa two weeks from now). If you want to come hang, sign up via the link below or via this link if the embed doesn’t work for you.

ONE STORY IN A SENTENCE AND A CHART

• According to recent modeling from Ember, continued Chinese dominance in its electrification efforts, both across the power sector and transportation, may well see its total energy consumption (and therewith, greenhouse gas emissions), peak soon. Link.

NEWS, DATA, AND HEADLINES

• In Brazil, wind and solar generated 34% of electricity in August, the first month intermittent renewables crossed the one-third threshold. The sources produced a monthly record 19 terawatt-hours as hydroelectric output fell to a four-year low. Link.

• The world's biggest battery project secured £750 million (~$1 billion) in public and private financing and will begin construction immediately in northern England. Link.

• Holtec International says that the Indian Point nuclear plant could be restarted for an estimated $10 billion, five years after it began shutting down. Company president Kelly Trice confirmed revival is technically possible, but would require overcoming opposition and securing political and financial support from state and federal administrations. Link.

• Anglo American and Teck unveiled plans to merge into Anglo Teck, creating a $50+ billion mining heavyweight and top-5 global copper producer. The combined company could produce 1.2+ million tons of copper annually. Link.

• Tesla notched its one millionth Powerwall installation globally this week. The company also received approval from the Nevada DMV to begin testing autonomous vehicles on public roads in the state. It will need to complete self-certification for operations to offer robotaxi rides, similar to its Austin services. Link. Link.

• Further, Tesla unveiled its new Megablock, a system that pairs four Megapacks around one transformer to enable 1 gigawatt-hour deployment in 20 business days. The 86,000-pound units are 75% battery cells by weight and require just three electrical connections per pack, versus the 24 connections currently required. The company is targeting shipments in late 2026. Link.

• Meanwhile, in terms of EV sales, Tesla's market share fell to 38% in the U.S. in August, its lowest ever recorded, signalling stronger domestic competition with Ford’s EV sales rising 19% year-over-year in the month. Overall, EV sales hit almost 10% of total U.S. car sales. Link. Link. Link.

• Finally in Tesla land, Elon Musk also announced Tesla will begin manufacturing transformers, expanding beyond its core battery and vehicle production capabilities. TBD on the full details there, but it could be a welcome addition considering how significant transformer shortages currently are in the U.S. Link.

• BYD now offers 13 different models for sale in Europe, more than double their offering from two years ago, as they accelerate expansion efforts in the region. Link.

• Zoox launched its fully driverless robotaxi service to the public in Las Vegas with vehicles sans steering wheels or pedals. Lyft customers in Atlanta can also now be matched with May Mobility autonomous vehicles, though these rides include standby operators during the pilot phase. Link. Link.

• Eco Wave Power installed a first-of-its-kind 100-kilowatt wave energy system at the Port of Los Angeles with seven steel floaters that convert hydraulic pressure to electricity. The company plans a 1-megawatt installation in Portugal by September 2026 and envisions 60 megawatts along LA's 8-mile breakwater. I podcasted with the CEO of this company a while back in case you’re curious to learn more about wave energy (see here). Link.

• Project Nexus, America's second canal-based solar array, went online in California's Central Valley, featuring 1.6 megawatts of generation capacity across Turlock Irrigation District canals. The $20 million state-funded pilot generates electricity while potentially also offering co-benefits like reduced water evaporation and algae growth. Link.

• Fervo Energy selected Baker Hughes to provide equipment for its 500-megawatt Cape Station geothermal plant in Utah, with Baker Hughes designing and delivering equipment for five power-generating units totaling 300 MW and a 2028 target for completion. Link.

• Momentick partnered with Sompo Japan Insurance, Sompo Risk Management, and JGC Corporation to launch the world's first methane detection solution integrated with insurance, using satellite imagery to identify and measure emissions around insured assets. Link.

• The Sweetwater Carbon Storage Hub completed drilling for the nation's deepest carbon storage well in Wyoming, reaching 18,437 feet vertical depth with preliminary data described as "highly encouraging" for building sustainable and scalable carbon solutions. Link.

• Oil fell to the lowest since May with West Texas Intermediate settling below $62 a barrel, down 3.3% for the week ahead of a weekend OPEC+ meeting where Saudi Arabia is expected to seek the OK for additional output increases. Link.

• The DOE announced grant opportunities totalling $134 million for fusion energy programs, with $128 million available through the Fusion Innovative Research Engine for seven teams and $6.1 million granted to 20 Innovation Network for Fusion Energy projects for materials science, laser technologies, and fusion modeling. Link.

• Google inked a deal with Salt River Project to test long-duration energy storage in Phoenix, funding pilots to evaluate real-world performance of non-lithium-ion technologies for grid reliability and sustainability goals. Link.

• Nio announced a $1 billion share offering to fund further EV development, causing shares to sink. The 11-year-old company, which has never posted a profit, delivered a record 31,305 vehicles in August, including 10,575 of its new $27,000 Onvo L90 SUV. Link.

• Ram officially canceled its all-electric pickup truck plans, citing insufficient demand for full-size battery electric trucks in North America. Stellantis will reassess its product strategy and discontinue development of the full-size BEV pickup. Link.

• The EPA proposed ending its Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, which collects emissions data from 8,000+ facilities nationwide. As Heatmap reports, this could disable the carbon capture tax credit (45Q) that Republicans recently expanded, as companies can only claim the credit by filing technical details through this EPA program. Link.

• After ICE conducted its biggest workplace raid under the Trump administration at a Hyundai-LG EV battery plant in Georgia last week, in which it arrested hundreds of mostly South Korean workers, construction of the plant is now paused. Hyundai CEO José Muñoz estimates the raid alone will cause a 2-3 month minimum delay to proceedings. Link.

• Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney will delay the 2026 requirement for zero-emission vehicles to account for 20% of automakers' sales, suggesting the adjustment to the sector's timeline is in response to Trump's tariffs. Link.

• Queensland, Australia, may have to deal more proactively with thousands of methane-leaking coal boreholes, two of which (abandoned exploratory holes) are leaking at alarming rates. An estimated 130,000 abandoned coal exploration bores in Queensland's Surat and Bowen basins feature unknown decommissioning quality. Link.

• Fortescue canceled plans for a $210 million EV battery plant in Detroit, citing the elimination of federal tax credits as a key factor in the decision. Link.

• Portland General Electric and Mitsubishi Power canceled a proposed hydrogen production, storage, and generation complex in Oregon, further imperiling the nascent Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub and the hydrogen industry as a whole. Link.

• Alaska's Salmon River is turning orange from thawing permafrost, which is releasing toxic metals into water, with iron, cadmium, and aluminum all now exceeding EPA thresholds in nine of the river’s ten tributaries. The contamination threatens chum salmon spawning and has caused declines in other fish populations. Link.

CURATED DEALS

Larger funding rounds:

• CuspAI, based out of Cambridge, England, raised $100 million Series A co-led by New Enterprise Associates and Temasek for its AI platform designed to accelerate discovery and development of new, more sustainable materials. NVentures, Samsung Ventures, and Hyundai Motor Group also participated. Link.

• DataCrunch, based out of Helsinki, raised €55 million (~$64.3 million) in Series A funding to provide renewable energy-powered AI cloud infrastructure for European data center clients. byFounders, Skaala, Varma, and Tesi co-led. Link.

• AMSilk, based out of Germany, raised €52 million (~$60.8 million) in equity funding led by Athos to make biodegradable silk-based biomaterials for textiles and consumer products. MIG Capital and Novo Holdings also participated. Link.

• ReOrbit, based out of Helsinki, raised $53 million in Series A funding led by Springvest to make sovereign satellites for governments. Varma, Elo, Icebreaker.vc, Expansion VC, 10x Founders, and Inventure also invested. Link.

• Kin Insurance, based out of Chicago, raised $50 million in Series E funding at a $2 billion pre-money valuation, plus $200 million in debt, for its home insurance platform focused on disaster-prone states. QED Investors and Activate Capital co-led. Link.

• Nitricity, based out of Fremont, California, raised $50 million in Series B funding co-led by World Fund and Khosla Ventures to make organic nitrogen fertilizers by combining air, water, renewable energy, and upcycled almond shells. Link.

Medium-sized funding rounds:

• Deep Fission, based out of Berkeley, CA, went public via reverse merger with Surfside Acquisition Inc., raising $30 million to make underground small modular nuclear fission reactors. The company is targeting first reactor deployment for 2026 (ambitious). Link.

• Proxima Fusion, based out of Munich, raised €15 million (~$17.6 million) in extended Series A funding (raising its total Series A raise to €145 million) to make stellarator-based nuclear fusion technology. Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Venture Capital, the European Innovation Council Fund, and Brevan Howard invested. Link.

• LeydenJar, based out of Leiden, Netherlands, raised €13 million (~$15.2 million) in equity funding co-led by Extantia and Invest-NL to make silicon anode technologies to improve lithium-ion battery performance. Link.

• Standard Fleet, based out of San Francisco, raised $13 million in Series A funding led by Nova Threshold for its fleet management platform that can combine telematics, digital key access, and payments across vehicle types. Link.

• Puro.earth, based out of Helsinki, raised €11 million (~$12.8 million) in Series B funding led by Nasdaq for its carbon-credit platform that acts as a certification service for carbon removal suppliers and issues tradable CO₂ Removal Certificates. Link.

• Maeving, based out of Coventry, U.K., raised £8 million (~$10.9 million) in extended Series A funding to make electric motorcycles with removable batteries. The company also raised a £3 million debt facility from HSBC UK. Equity investors included Venrex, Future Planet Capital, and Elbow Beach Capital. Link.

• Nuclearn, based out of Phoenix, raised $10.5 million Series A led by Blue Bear Capital for its AI tools that are designed to help modernize nuclear plant operations. SJF Ventures, AZ-VC, and Nucleation Capital also invested. Link.

Smaller funding rounds

• Photara, based out of San Carlos, California, raised $8 million in seed funding led by Voyager Ventures and Kibo Invest for its metallization technology that reduces solar panels' silver use by 85% while boosting overall efficiency. Ahren Innovation Capital, WovenEarth Ventures, Prelude Ventures, and Breakthrough Energy Fellows also invested. Link.

• Rock Flour Company, based out of Copenhagen, raised €6.1 million (~$7.2 million) in seed funding to use glacial rock flour to improve soil fertility and drive accelerated carbon removal via enhanced rock weathering. Export and Investment Fund of Denmark and Novo Holdings invested. Link.

• MOPO, based out of Sheffield, U.K., secured £5 million (~$6.8 million) from Norway's Norfund for its rentable battery systems designed to deliver more affordable energy across sub-Saharan African nations. Link.

• Cascade Bio, based out of Denver, Colorado, raised $6 million, including $2.8 million in seed funding led by Endurance28 and $3.2 million in NSF funding for its enzyme-based processes replacing petrochemicals with biomanufacturing. I also wrote more about the business more than two years ago here (and failed to ever migrate to my new site). Link.

• ORF Genetics, based out of Kópavogur, Iceland, raised €5 million (~$5.85 million) for its barley-based molecular farming platform designed to produce specialized proteins for cultivated meat. Link.

• Candid Intelligence, based out of San Francisco, raised $5.5 million in seed funding led by Quiet Capital for its AI platform designed to shorten pre-construction planning for large infrastructure projects. Link.

• Dig Energy, based out of Manchester, New Hampshire, raised $5 million in seed funding co-led by Azolla Ventures and Avila VC to build water-jet drilling rigs to cut shallow geothermal drilling costs by up to 80%. Link.

• Messium, based out of London, raised $4.5 million in seed funding co-led by UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund and Expansion Aerospace Ventures for its hyperspectral satellites focused on helping farmers optimize their fertilization decisions. Link.

• Standab, based out of Stockholm, raised €3.6 million (~$4.2 million) in equity funding co-led by Spintop Ventures and Almi Invest GreenTech to make standardized charging racks for e-bikes and e-scooters as part of its micromobility and charging-as-a-service business. Link.

• Otovo USA, based out of Houston, launched with $4+ million in funding from EIC Rose Rock for its home energy service business that combines installations and management of solar, batteries, generators, and EV chargers. Link.

• Act-ion Battery Technologies, based out of Dallas, raised $4 million in extended Series A funding co-led by Kyobo Life Insurance Group and KB Investment to make more sustainable battery cathode materials. Link.

• Moon Five Technologies, based out of Berkeley, California, received $3.4 million in grant funding from the California Energy Commission to install 450+ EV chargers at disadvantaged multifamily properties in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Link.

• Kora Power, based out of Sacramento, raised $2.6 million in funding co-led by Moneta Ventures and Growth Factory Ventures for its full-stack home energy system that combines batteries, inverters, a smart panel, and an energy trading platform. Link.

• X-Hemp, based out of Cressy, Australia, raised ~$2.3 million in seed funding, including $1 million from Danehill Group, to make “hempcrete” concrete alternatives. Link.

• Greenitio, based out of Singapore, raised $1.5 million in seed funding led by SGInnovate for its mushroom-based chitosan biopolymer platform designed for more sustainable cosmetics and specialty chemicals production. Link.

• Renewcast, based out of Rome, raised €1 million (~$1.17 million) in equity funding from 2C Ventures Fund I for its renewable energy forecasting platform. Link.

Not saying how much rounds

• Mevaldi, based out of Geleen, Netherlands, raised an undisclosed amount of funding from High-Tech Gründerfonds and ICIG Ventures to make bio-based building blocks for sustainable polymers and polyurethanes. Link.

• Nozomi Networks, based out of San Francisco, was acquired by Mitsubishi Electric for an undisclosed sum after raising $266 million total for its cybersecurity systems targeted at industrial and critical infrastructure-focused clients. Link.

Funds

• Macquarie Group’s climate fund raised A$1 billion (~$660 million) from Australia's second-largest pension fund to invest in renewable energy projects. Link.

• KawiSafi Ventures, based out of Nairobi, Kenya, launched its second fund with $90 million in commitments approved to make climate tech investments in Africa. Link.

• Vireo Ventures, based out of Berlin, Germany, closed on €50 million (~$58.5 million) first fund backed by Encevo, Verbund X, EnBW New Ventures, European Investment Fund, NRW.Bank, and 80+ industry experts to electrify industries. Link.

• Una Terra, based out of Zurich, Switzerland, raised an additional €50 million (~$58.5 million) with backing from CDP VC Green Transition Fund, Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, and Deutsche Nachhaltigkeit for its circular economy fund. Link.

One shot

More content from recent travels, this time featuring the Grand Canyon:

Adios,

— Nick