ENERGY TRANSITION VIDEO WEEK 3, FEB 2024: FORD WARNS CHEAP CHINESE EVS THREATEN U.S. OEMS

Shell will immediately close all of its hydrogen refilling stations in California. Now, only seven hydrogen fueling stations – all in northern California – remain open. The 3,143 California drivers who registered hydrogen cars in 2023 now own very nice-looking paperweights, at least until somebody else steps in. 

Koloma, a startup focused on drilling for hydrogen from natural underground deposits, raises $245.7 million, bringing its total funding to over $300 mn. In related news, the discovery of the largest deposit of naturally occurring H2 to date – in a chromium mine in Albania – was announced last week. 

Leading solar panel manufacturer and project developer QCells partners with solar recycling company SolarCYCLE to recycle QCells decommissioned panels. SOLARCYCLE says its tech can recover over 95% of the value in a solar panel module, and it just announced an investment of $344 mn into a new solar glass facility in Georgia, capable of 5 to 6 GW of solar glass annually.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management designates two final Wind Energy Areas off Oregon’s coast, totaling approximately 195,012 acres. 

Volt Lithium Corp successfully produces 99.5 per cent battery-grade lithium carbonate from oilfield brine at a demonstration plant in Calgary in the Athabasca Oil Sands.

The Chief Operating Officer of Ford’s EV unit warns that China’s EV automakers plan to target North American markets with low-cost EVs, saying “we’d better get fit now and better get going on EVs or we don’t have a future as a company.’” 

Microsoft contracts with Swiss company Neustark to have 27,600 tons of carbon dioxide directly removed from the atmosphere and stored in waste concrete over the next six years.