Energy & Environment

Pittsburgh – September 20, 2026 -- Energy Corps has named four new grantees to expand access to affordable, modern energy across East and West Africa and Tribal Nations in the United States, targeting sectors from electric cooking to AI-driven energy governance.

DanChurchAid initiative moves 1,000 refugee households to electric cooking in Kenya

DanChurchAid, partnering with Mwangaza Light and Renewvia Energy, will help more than 1,000 households -- roughly 7,500 people -- in the Kakuma and Kalobeyei settlements transition from firewood and charcoal to induction cookers. The project uses pay-as-you-go financing and a discounted daytime electricity tariff to make the switch affordable.

Abilene, Texas – September 20, 2026 -- Natura Resources LLC has taken delivery of FLiBE salt from the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, transferred via Idaho National Laboratory, securing a critical input for its Molten Salt Demonstration Reactor, the MSR-1, under construction at Abilene Christian University.

The shipment arrived Friday, Sept. 18, closing a supply-chain gap for one of the most specialized materials required in molten salt reactor operation.

DOE selects Natura through competitive 2025 solicitation

Natura won the salt allocation through a competitive DOE process facilitated by Idaho National Laboratory and issued in August 2025. The material contains 99.99% enriched lithium-7, a purity level that minimizes tritium generation during reactor operation.

Bishkek – September 20, 2026 -- Central Asia's first waste-to-energy incineration plant has begun cutting Bishkek's household waste stream by 1,000 tons a day, supplying 146 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually to the Kyrgyz grid and reducing carbon emissions by up to 100,000 tons a year.

Plant ends five decades of landfill overflow around Kyrgyzstan's capital

For decades Bishkek relied on a single municipal landfill that was expanded six times as the population grew, leaving residents to contend with accumulating garbage, odors and dust. The China-Kyrgyzstan waste treatment and power generation project, which began commercial operations at the end of 2025, was developed to address the deficit. The facility currently processes 1,000 tons of household waste daily against an overall planned capacity of 3,000 tons.

New York – September 20, 2026 -- Daikin U.S. Corporation will send executives to seven sessions during Climate Week NYC 2026, positioning its HVAC and refrigerant technology as a response to rising electricity demand and grid strain.

Daikin executives headline flagship grid-reliability panel on September 21

David Calabrese, Executive Vice President of Daikin U.S. Corporation, will join the Hub Live Flagship Session "Strait Talk, Reality Check: How Do We Keep the Lights on in an Uncertain World?" at The Glasshouse on September 21 at 1:00 p.m. Calabrese said buildings need smarter energy management and efficient HVAC technology to manage demand as electrification accelerates, rather than relying solely on new energy production.

Qingdao – September 19, 2026 -- Qingdao SOCO New Material Co., Ltd. has launched ODORSORB-101, a plant-based liquid formulated to chemically capture nitrogen- and sulfur-based odor compounds at industrial and municipal sites rather than mask them.

Product targets ammonia, sulfide and amine compounds at the source

ODORSORB-101 is engineered to capture and lock odor-causing molecules including ammonia, methylamine, trimethylamine, hydrogen sulfide, mercaptans and sulfides, reducing their volatility and limiting re-release into surrounding air. These compounds are commonly generated at wastewater plants, sludge and leachate ponds, manure storage and organic waste sites.

New York – September 19, 2026 -- Madison Energy Infrastructure has launched a Community Infrastructure initiative to mobilize up to $2 billion in capital, targeting an additional 1 gigawatt of distributed energy capacity by 2028 as AI-driven power demand strains the U.S. grid.

Madison plans to double its energy footprint within two years

The company's operating portfolio is expected to surpass 1 GW later this fall, and the new initiative aims to add another gigawatt by 2028, effectively doubling Madison's infrastructure footprint. The buildout will draw on Madison's utility relationships, national project pipeline, and its network of regional developers through AccelDev.

Dallas – September 19, 2026 -- Argent Trust Company, as Trustee of the Permian Basin Royalty Trust (NYSE: PBT), declared a cash distribution of $0.019593 per unit, payable October 15, 2026, to unitholders of record September 30, 2026. The payout excludes any proceeds from the Waddell Ranch properties after production costs exceeded gross proceeds in August, extending a continuing excess cost position on those assets.

August Distribution Rises on Lower Trust Expenses

This month's per-unit distribution increased from the prior month primarily due to a decrease in Trust expenses. That gain was partially offset by lower oil and natural gas volumes and weaker oil pricing at the Texas Royalty Properties, even as natural gas pricing improved.

Dallas – September 19, 2026 -- Cross Timbers Royalty Trust (NYSE: CRT) declared a cash distribution of $0.064277 per unit, payable October 15, 2026, to unitholders of record as of September 30, 2026.

Texas working interest costs climb by $277,000

Argent Trust Company, acting as Trustee, said XTO Energy reported that excess costs on properties underlying the Texas Working Interest net profits interests rose by $277,000. The increase did not reduce net proceeds from the Trust's remaining conveyances. Cumulative excess costs on the Texas Working Interest net profits interests now total $6,332,000, including $1,762,000 in accrued interest.

Hamilton – September 19, 2026 -- Paratus Energy Services Ltd. confirmed that Petrobras has accepted a bid submitted by its Seagems joint venture for a third-party vessel under the state oil company's ongoing pipe-laying support vessel (PLSV) tender process for contracts starting in 2028.

Petrobras Publishes Partial Tender Results Favoring Seagems Bid

Petrobras has issued partial results from the tender, confirming acceptance of the bid covering the third-party vessel. The award remains subject to a formal Petrobras contract decision and the execution of definitive agreements between the parties.

Boston – September 19, 2026 -- Seventy-eight percent of U.S. utility innovation leaders are now deploying or operationalizing artificial intelligence to manage interconnection demand, as AI data centers strain power grids nationwide, according to National Grid Partners' third annual Utility Innovation Survey.

Grid reliability overtakes net-zero as the industry's top concern

The survey found 74% of respondents say AI-driven data center load growth is already impacting grid reliability. When ranking organizational priorities, 73% of utility leaders placed reliability in their top three, up sharply from 43% in 2025. Net-zero goals, by contrast, fell from 54% to just 16% over the same period.