Evan Caron

The Permian Basin and Texas are an important part of the future of carbon removal and permanent CO₂ storage. With world-class geology, existing energy infrastructure, supportive policy, and now dedicated testbeds like the Trinity Campus, we’re creating the ideal environment for Direct Air Capture innovators to deploy, derisk, and scale their technologies at speed. Having a real-world, permitted site in Texas where DAC companies can quickly install a unit and prove performance is invaluable. For us at Return Carbon, this is highly valuable infrastructure that directly supports not only a potential future scale-up of up to 500,000 tons per annum at the same location, but also our growing pipeline of commercial carbon removal and CO₂ supply projects across the state. We are targeting the second half of 2026 for the site to be infrastructure-ready.

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The DOE funding pullback is clarifying for climate tech investments, not catastrophic. The Department of Energy's decision to return over $13 billion in unobligated clean-energy funds has spooked founders who built capital strategies around grant timelines. Reality check: this is a policy reprioritization toward fewer discretionary grants and longer timelines, not a sector shutdown. What hasn't changed: projects with real economics still get funded. The Loan Programs Office continues approving disbursements for revenue-generating projects—manufacturing scale-up, grid infrastructure, nuclear restarts. DOE's Mine of the Future initiative and critical minerals programs remain active, supporting technologies that secure domestic supply chains. At MFV Partners, we stayed disciplined while others chased 2021-2023 IRA momentum. Those bets are struggling now. We focused on energy deep tech that works without subsidy dependency—solutions that pencil out regardless of administration. Our portfolio reflects this: Conifer builds rare-earth-free powertrains using ferrite magnets, directly addressing supply-chain bottlenecks while improving power density and enabling cleaner HVAC and mobility applications. SUN Mobility operates battery-swapping infrastructure for commercial fleets across India, Africa, and Southeast Asia—accelerating EV adoption in emerging markets while delivering ROI through better asset utilization. We have several other companies in stealth building similar economics-first solutions that drive real climate impact. What founders should do now: Use grants to derisk R&D where available, but build your scale path around customer pilots and project finance. Treat supply-chain resilience as a product feature. Prove the economics: predictable throughput, demonstrated reliability, and numbers that work with conservative assumptions. The fundamentals haven't changed. Electrification and grid modernization are productivity upgrades—lower costs, higher availability, better payback. That's where capital flows, regardless of headlines. We're continuing to invest actively in energy and electrification deep tech. If you're building solutions with strong unit economics that accelerate the energy transition, reach out. https://lnkd.in/gUfdzRXH https://lnkd.in/gNGm9zyM

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Can Bitcoin mining destabilize a grid? Yes, but ... misleading question. Like any large electrical load, has the potential to be used irresponsibly in a way that can place strain on grids. For example, in Kazakhstan in 2021 when Bitcoin mining rapidly grew to be 18% of global hashrate, there were reports of illegal operations causing strain on the grid. However, this is not something unique to Bitcoin mining. However, is that the predominant impact it has? No The overwhelming view in the academic literature is that Bitcoin mining is an important grid stabilizer, particularly as more variable renewable energy comes onto the grid (Lai et al, Ibañez et and Menati et al). These scholarly works are backed up by data from ERCOT, the grid which houses the largest concentration of Bitcoin mining. On the ERCOT (Texas) grid, the evidence shows Bitcoin mining acts predominantly as a grid-stabilizing force. It provides near-daily stabilization through Frequency Regulation and Economic Demand Response services. For large-scale emergency events, the major documented case is the July 2022 heatwave. In contrast, ERCOT has documented one grid-destabilizing incident on April 25, 2024. Therefore, over a multi-year period, large-scale grid stabilization events significantly outnumber destabilization events, with the latter consisting of a single case Former ERCOT interim CEO Brad Jones summarized ERCOT’s findings: “[Bitcoin mining operations] have found a way to come into the market and take some of that excess wind in offpeak periods. Then it can turn down whenever we need the power for other customers… And if a generator trips offline, it can very quickly respond to that frequency disruption and allow us to balance our grid more efficiently.” Today, journalists seem increasingly to be reporting on how Bitcoin mining has a stabilizing impact on Grids also. https://lnkd.in/eVtRTnBM

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Over 40% of solar power output were denied access to the national grid in October. The issue is because in day time solar output reaches peak, while coal powered power which provide base load to grid, can't reduce their power generation quickly. Even wind power were also curtailed - Bloomberg #needforstorage #power #renewable

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During a recent conversation on CapeTalk, Granville Energy CEO Tabi T. Tabi reflected on this structural shift: moving away from centralized, legacy power systems toward decentralized, intelligent energy architecture designed around real demand. For Africa, this shift is immediate. With over 600 million people lacking reliable access, extending traditional grids alone won't close the gap. The opportunity lies in: ✅Modular, decentralized systems that integrate storage. ✅Reduced transmission dependency. ✅Deployment at the exact point of economic activity. Granville Energy’s expansion is grounded in this principle. From hybrid hydro-solar integration on existing reservoirs to decentralized mini-grids, our focus remains consistent: lowering the levelized cost of energy while strengthening community resilience. As Tabi shared during the discussion: “Africa does not need to replicate yesterday’s power systems. We have the capability to architect energy solutions that are scalable, affordable, and rooted in our own realities.” This isn't about importing transition models; it’s about infrastructure that reflects Africa’s environmental realities and capital constraints. The future of power on the continent will be defined by three things: Architecture, Execution, and Inclusion. You can listen to the full conversation here: https://lnkd.in/dHTGKftX   #GranvilleEnergy #AfricaEnergy #EnergyAccess #InfrastructureLeadership #DecentralisedEnergy #PanAfricanGrowth #EnergySecurity

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Guidehouse's Q3 Global #distributedenergyresources report shows 200,000 MWs of diesel and natural gas-fired recip gensets in the U.S. in the ground today at commercial, institutional, and industrial locations (another 30,000 MWs in the residential market). These units have days worth of fuel storage. According to PJM Interconnection, these units have the second highest effective load carrying capacity (ELCC) at 91%, slightly lower than nuclear plants. If fully deployed, and with zero taxpayer subsidies, American consumers' power bills would drop by 25%. What reason is there to not fully deploy these units at a time when they're needed most to address affordability and reliability?

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Battery-backed solar has already won, with or without subsidies and with or without the US government trying to prop up oil and gas. Here's why: CHEAP: According to research from Wood Mackenzie (https://lnkd.in/gKsQQi6h), Solar + Storage (S+S) is already cheaper than combined-cycle gas turbines (CCGT) in Jordan and Morocco. CHEAPER: Batteries make up a significant chunk of S+S capital costs, but those costs are falling rapidly—up to 20% annually. Every year, S+S will undercut CCGT in more and more places around the world. FASTER TO MARKET: S+S systems can be built in about a year. Conventional CCGT plants take four to five years. This matters big-time in a market where we need more electricity NOW. PERFORMANT: According to Ember Energy(https://lnkd.in/g7eBgS5N), S+S systems deliver 97% of required power 24/7/365 in the sunniest locations. (And remember -- see "CHEAPER" above.) SCALABLE: According to the EIA(https://lnkd.in/gyRg8VbZ), last year California generated more energy using S+S than any other source. DRYER: Unlike CCGT plants that generate steam to spin turbines (cue Second Law of Thermodynamics), S+S plants don't need cooling water or evaporative cooling towers. PREDICTABLE OPEX: S+S systems are immune to fluctuations in natural gas prices. CLEANER: Given everything above, this is almost a footnote: S+S systems don't generate greenhouse gases in any significant quantity. From a capitalist perspective: imagine you were asked to fund a 500MW generation plant today—would you place your bets on CCGT or S+S?

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#nuclearenergy #ai As an American, I almost want to cry about this. I first met the Last Energy team at a European trade show last year, and it made sense to me--replicable 20MW units with low technology risk. Cost per MW is $4-5 million. While that is about 1/3 the cost of a standard US nuclear power plant, it is in parity with a French plant, and is still double the price of a Chinese nuclear plant. They are going to end up building these first in the UK, with financing from the Export-Import Bank of the United States, before they get any built in the US. This is a US company. They have US contracts. Why is the US so far behind? Electricity is the food for AI. How will we compete with China in AI if our data centers cost multiples of the Chinese cost to build and run? #energy #electricity #power #grid Office of Nuclear Energy | U.S. Department of Energy Nuclear Energy Institute World Nuclear News Semiconductor Industry Association AI Chips & Data Centers Robert Hargraves Ryan Pickering

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