Author: Anela Dokso

Coal-fired power plants in Vietnam generate more than 25 million tonnes of ash and slag annually, a volume that for years strained landfills and raised environmental risks. What has shifted the debate is not a reduction in coal use but a sharp increase in reuse.

LAB7, the venture building arm backed by Saudi Aramco, has taken a strategic stake in U.S. startup Homeostasis to explore an alternative production route that converts carbon dioxide into synthetic graphite.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Japan Suiso Energy have signed a contract to build what they describe as the world’s largest liquefied hydrogen carrier, with a cargo capacity of 40,000 cubic meters.

Global low-carbon hydrogen demand is projected to surge from roughly 1 million tonnes per annum today to nearly 200 million tonnes by 2050, according to Wood Mackenzie, intensifying the search for alternative production pathways.

In 2025, Finland’s Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant delivered 7.9 terawatt-hours of electricity, supplying roughly 10 percent of the nation’s total consumption.

Europe’s push toward next-generation energy storage received a strategic boost with the announcement of Argylium, a joint venture between Syensqo and Axens. The new company will focus on scaling up advanced materials for solid-state batteries, a technology widely viewed as critical for the next generation of electric vehicles and grid-scale energy storage.

Green hydrogen economics remain constrained by energy intensity. Conventional solar driven electrolysis requires significant electrical input to split water, with the oxygen evolution reaction accounting for a large share of the thermodynamic and kinetic losses.

The world’s oceans absorb roughly a quarter of annual anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions, according to long established climate assessments, making them a central stabilizing force in the global climate system.

Chevron is not retreating from hydrocarbons even as it expands its low carbon portfolio. Speaking at the WSJ CEO Council, Chevron CEO Mike Wirth outlined a transition strategy that prioritizes technologies aligned with the company’s existing capabilities and, critically, its return on capital expectations.

From subsurface hydrogen disputes and aviation feasibility to the raw material limits of Net Zero, Best of Face to Face 2025 captures the most consequential debates EnergyNews.biz hosted this year.