Mexico has elected Claudia Sheinbaum, a climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, as its next president. Sheinbaum, who will become the country’s first female president, has significant climate credentials and has pledged to invest in renewable energy. However, she will face enormous challenges in breaking with her mentor’s policies, especially when it comes to the country’s state-owned oil company, Pemex.
Octopus Energy, a British company backed by Al Gore, is revolutionizing the power grid by incentivizing customers to use less electricity during peak times. The company has grown rapidly and is now launching in the United States, specifically in Texas. This innovative approach to energy consumption is gaining popularity and could potentially change the way we think about electricity usage.
Mark Gudiksen from Piva Capital discusses the challenges of investing in battery technology. While there are many battery startups and advancements in the field, it can be difficult to predict which ones will be successful in the long run. Battery companies are capital-intensive and it is hard to de-risk them technically, making it a complex and competitive market for investors.
In other news, the International Energy Agency expects global clean energy investment to reach $2 trillion by 2024, while the U.N. chief is calling for a ban on fossil fuel ads to combat climate change. Carbon removal and the cost-cutting of clean energy technologies are also being discussed, as well as the impact of a crypto boom on the power grid in oil-producing regions.
Europe’s steelmakers are at risk of missing climate targets despite receiving billions in subsidies, and New York’s governor has halted congestion pricing in a surprising move. Fracking wastewater has been found to contain a significant amount of the clean-energy mineral lithium, highlighting the potential for recycling waste products for renewable energy production.
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