As energy costs and carbon pricing threaten Europe’s manufacturing sector, policymakers grapple with balancing climate ambitions and industrial competitiveness in the upcoming reform of the EU Emissions Trading System. European policymakers are being reminded that industrial decarbonisation cannot be built on energy systems that leave manufacturers paying far more for power than rivals abroad. For energy-intensive firms, the combination of high electricity prices and climate-related compliance costs is increasingly being treated not as a transition issue, but as a competitiveness risk that could shape investment, jobs and output across the bloc. At the centre of the debate is the EU…

As household energy costs rise, UK policymakers are prioritising electrification as a practical solution to lower bills, boost growth, and enhance energy security, moving beyond decarbonisation alone. Britain’s energy debate is shifting away from abstract targets and towards a far more practical question: how to cut bills while strengthening growth and security. That was the central message from Bill Esterson, chair of the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, who argued that cheaper electricity, rather than decarbonisation alone, should be the organising principle of policy. His intervention comes as households face another rise in the energy price cap, a reminder…

Thyssenkrupp partners with Hitachi-owned GlobalLogic to fast-track the deployment of autonomous robotics and digital solutions, aiming to improve safety, productivity, and sustainability in heavy industries through scalable Physical AI technology. thyssenkrupp has entered a strategic alliance with GlobalLogic, the Hitachi-owned digital engineering company, in a move the partners say will speed the use of Physical AI and autonomous robotics across heavy industry. The agreement is designed to bring together thyssenkrupp’s industrial know-how and Hitachi’s wider digital ecosystem, with a focus on improving productivity, strengthening safety and supporting decarbonisation efforts through AI-enabled industrial systems. The companies say the work will move…

The Science Based Targets initiative’s revised Corporate Net-Zero Standard recognises operational limitations faced by companies, offering a more pragmatic framework that could accelerate participation in climate action without sacrificing credibility. The Science Based Targets initiative’s revised Corporate Net-Zero Standard marks a more practical phase in corporate climate strategy, reflecting a growing recognition that companies cannot control every part of the emissions profile tied to their operations, supply chains and customers. According to the initiative, Version 2.0 of the standard builds on earlier rules with updated methods, pathways and a digital format designed to help firms understand what applies to their…

Scientists in Japan have pioneered an innovative approach to interpret AI models used for materials discovery, offering clearer insights into structure-property relationships and streamlining the design of energy and industrial materials. Researchers in Japan have developed a way to peer inside artificial intelligence models used for materials discovery, offering a clearer picture of how structure translates into function and potentially giving scientists a more practical route to designing materials for energy and industrial applications. The approach, reported by the Institute of Science Tokyo and due to appear in Advanced Intelligent Discovery, combines a graph neural network with hierarchical clustering to…

Researchers at MIT and CarbonCure Technologies uncover the chemical mechanism by which CO2 injection improves early strength in cement, offering a promising pathway for decarbonising concrete production and boosting efficiency. Researchers at MIT and CarbonCure Technologies say they have identified the chemical pathway behind a long-observed effect in low-carbon cement production: injecting carbon dioxide into fresh cement paste can improve early strength as the material cures. The work, published in the Journal of the American Ceramic Society, suggests the benefit does not come simply from the formation of calcium carbonate particles, as had often been assumed. Instead, the MIT team…

A recent international poll indicates that the majority of corporate leaders now view electrification not just as a means to decarbonise, but as essential for competitiveness, energy security, and economic resilience by 2035. A new global survey suggests that electrification is moving from ambition to mainstream business strategy, with the vast majority of corporate leaders expecting their operations to be largely powered by electricity by 2035. The poll, conducted by consultancy Public First for E3G, the We Mean Business Coalition and the Global Renewables Alliance, questioned 1,994 executives and senior managers at companies with annual revenues of more than $1…

Google and American Airlines have announced the largest publicly disclosed SAF certificate deal between a single airline and corporate customer, marking a significant shift in how business demand is shaping low-carbon aviation fuel markets through long-term off-take agreements and policy incentives. Google and American Airlines have struck what both companies describe as the largest publicly announced sustainable aviation fuel certificate deal between an airline and a single corporate customer, in a move that highlights how business demand is beginning to shape the market for lower-carbon aviation fuel. The three-year agreement will unlock 35 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel, with…

The World Economic Forum has introduced a multi-layered currency risk-sharing facility aimed at reducing exchange rate exposure and unlocking vital climate investments in developing economies, with Egypt seen as a potential pilot for the innovative approach. Emerging markets are being asked to deliver the bulk of the world’s clean-energy build-out while financing it in the hardest possible currency. That is the imbalance at the heart of the World Economic Forum’s latest argument on net zero: green assets earn local revenues, yet much of the capital behind them is still raised in dollars or euros, leaving governments exposed when exchange rates…

Circularity Fuels has unveiled a pilot project converting raw dairy biogas directly into ASTM-compliant jet fuel, promising a low-cost, scalable solution to reduce aviation emissions and costs. A California startup says it has demonstrated a potentially lower-cost route to sustainable aviation fuel by converting raw dairy biogas directly into jet fuel, a development that could matter for an industry under pressure to cut emissions without dramatically increasing fuel costs. According to Circularity Fuels, the six-month pilot at a dairy farm near Madera produced ASTM-compliant aviation fuel from methane-rich gas drawn straight from a manure digester. The company says the project…