By Brentan Alexander, PhD; Chief Science Officer & Chief Commercial Officer In June, the US Supreme Court ruled on a protracted legal and political fight that has pitted two pillars of the Republican base against each other since 2018. The case, HollyFrontier Cheyenne Refining, LLC v. Renewable Fuels Association, involved…

By Matt Lucas, PhD; Managing Director, Business Development At New Energy Risk (NER), we cheered the recent announcement that clean energy leader and icon Jigar Shah would be leading the DOE’s Loan Programs Office (LPO). We share his goal of seeing the office streamlined to maximize its effectiveness. …

By Brentan Alexander, PhD; Chief Science Officer & Chief Commercial Officer A protracted legal and political fight that has pitted two pillars of the Republican base against each other reached its apex last week as the Supreme Court heard arguments in HollyFrontier Cheyenne Refining, LLC v. Renewable Fuels Association. At…

By Brentan Alexander, PhD; Chief Science Officer & Chief Commercial Officer Earth Day 2021 saw the release of major climate announcements from players seemingly on opposite sides of the greenhouse gas debate. President Biden took the stage at the Leaders Summit on Climate to pledge a net-zero US economy by…

Blackouts in Texas and California Teach a Hard Lesson: Climate Change Is Costly By Brentan Alexander, PhD; Chief Science Officer & Chief Commercial Officer A record-setting polar vortex, which brought intense cold to a majority of Americans, has led to massive blackouts in Texas; significant amounts of energy generating capacity have been knocked offline. The Texas grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of…

By Matt Lucas, PhD; Managing Director, Business Development I’m excited about carbon capture technology; it’s critical for decarbonizing hard-to-electrify industrial infrastructure and other facilities whose emissions are challenging to mitigate. …

We are inspired by people who are passionate about insurance and technology that solves pressing global challenges. In this interview series, our chief actuary, Sherry Huang, talks with friends of New Energy Risk whose work makes a difference, and whose journeys will inspire you, too. A Conversation with Kara Owens, Global Executive Underwriting Officer — Cyber & ESG, Markel By Sherry Huang, Chief Actuary This…

$100 Million from Elon Musk Won’t Enable Carbon Capture By Brentan Alexander, PhD; Chief Science Officer & Chief Commercial Officer Last Thursday, Elon Musk announced (in well under 140 characters) his intention to donate $100 million to the “best” carbon capture technology, chosen through a competition whose details and judging criteria are yet to be announced. Musk promised further…

One Small Step for Torrefaction, One Giant Leap for the Bioeconomy Commissioning of the US’s first commercial torrefaction facility is a milestone in its own right, and a potential game-changer for the bioeconomy’s inroads against fossil fuels By Matt Lucas, PhD, Managing Director, Business Development Moonshine: It might not sound synonymous with the bioeconomy, but at a massive scale, the fermentation…