U.S. Grid-Scale Battery Storage Capacity at 52GW: Market Arbitrage Remains Biggest Application: Plus, Some Global BESS Market Forecasts

     Grid-scale batteries are helping to meet power demand in the U.S. They have helped Texas optimize its solar and wind output and prevent summer outages in peak demand periods. They are doing the same in California, helping to balance the “duck curve.” A report in Interesting Engineering notes that grid-scale batteries have grown by 70% in each of the past three years. Batteries are mostly used for arbitrage and are mostly paired with solar generation. Arbitrage is the practice of buying power when prices are low and selling it when prices are high. They can buy when solar generation peaks and prevent some of that power from being lost through curtailment. They can sell in the evening when solar drops off. This helps with the economics of deploying batteries, which remain very expensive.

“By the end of 2025, the national grid held 43.6 gigawatts (GW) of operational battery capacity. Energy operators expanded national capacity to nearly 52 GW by adding an extra 8.3 GW during the first half of 2026.”

     California and Texas have by far the most grid battery deployments, each state having more deployments than the rest of the other 48 states combined.

“The Bellefield Solar and Energy Storage Farm went online in December 2025, pairing 500 megawatts (MW) of solar capacity with 500 MW of power storage for California’s main grid. Now, developers plan to double both its solar and storage capacities by November 2026. If completed on schedule, Bellefield will become the single largest power storage facility in the United States.”

     Florida and Nevada also have projects pairing solar and grid batteries. They note that according to the EIA, grid operators plan to add another 54 GW of battery capacity over the next two and a half years, including 14 GW slated for the second half of 2026, 26 GW in 2027, and 14 GW in 2028. That means U.S. battery storage capacity will double again by 2030. Batteries also provide fast-frequency response, voltage control, and black-start capabilities. Possible hurdles to meeting these timelines include supply chain issues, permitting delays, and interconnection queues.

     The EIA data shows that U.S. grid-scale battery deployments have increased by more than ten times since 2022! 

   

     Mordor Intelligence provides some forecasts of global battery deployments. Globally, about 77% of battery deployments are grid-tied, and 56% are grid-scale deployments. The rest are mainly off-grid applications. The Asia-Pacific region is expected to make up about 50% of global deployments, dominated by China.

 

References:

 

US battery storage hits 52 GW as capacity reaches a record-high level in 2026. Mrigakshi Dixit. Interesting Engineering. August 17, 2026. US battery storage hits 52 GW as capacity reaches a record-high level in 2026

BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM (BESS) MARKET SIZE & SHARE ANALYSIS - GROWTH TRENDS AND FORECAST (2026 - 2031). Mordor Intelligence. Battery Energy Storage System Market Size Report 2031

Battery storage capacity averaged 70% growth over the last three years. EIA. August 7, 2026. Battery storage capacity averaged 70% growth over the last three years - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

 

 

South China Seafloor Sediment Records China’s Dam Building Drive in the 1950s That Keeps Sediment from Reaching the Sea

      A new study published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science analyzes and interprets sediment cores extracted from the northern South China Sea in 2016. Caleb Pittman of Tech Times provides a nice, detailed summary of the study. The data reveals that the most prominent signal is not monsoons as one would expect but dam and reservoir construction. China launched a dam and reservoir building boom after 1950 that “has overridden the monsoon's 200-year hold on the record, producing a proxy decoupling that calls the reliability of single-proxy paleoclimate studies from this region into question.” That decoupling produced a dual signal: a decline in sediment coming in from rivers sediment and the coarsening of grain sizes. These happened simultaneously due to dams and reservoirs holding back sediment.

     The researchers looked at kaolinite concentrations. Kaolinite is a clay mineral that forms in warm, humid conditions. In this region, it has been associated with stronger East Asian Summer Monsoons (EASMs). The sediment record from 1850 to around 1920 reflects strong monsoons and abundant kaolinite. Before that, there was less kaolinite and along with other indicators, it shows weaker monsoons. During the 1850-1920 period, the kaolinite/(illite + chlorite) ratio and the titanium-to-calcium (Ti/Ca) ratio both rose with intensifying EASMs. Higher Ti/Ca ratios are associated with higher amounts of terrigenous (continent-derived) sediment. Smectite, another clay mineral is associated with stronger winter monsoons and is sourced from Luzon Island in the Philippines, carried northward by the Kuroshio Current. The smectite is derived from weathering of volcanic rocks in alkaline conditions. Coral records and tree-rings support that conclusion.

     After 1950 the EASM weakened and this is well-documented. This should result in finer sediment reaching the continental shelf at lower rates. However, instead of the expected finer sediment, the record shows coarser sediment. They refer to this as proxy decoupling from the climate signals. The decoupling was likely caused by China’s extensive dam building projects across its major river systems beginning at that time.

“Hydrological and meteorological station data confirm that sediment discharge from these rivers fell dramatically between the 1950s and the 2010s, primarily because reservoirs trap the fine-grained particles that would otherwise reach the coast.”

     This is a well-known effect of dam construction. In this area sediment supply to the shelf dropped by about 70%. I was initially a bit baffled by the increase in coarse-grained sediment but the explanation is given below:

“When a dam intercepts fine-grained sediment in its reservoir, the downstream channel begins eroding its own bed — preferentially removing fine particles (silt and clay) that are easier to resuspend and transport. The material that eventually reaches the coastal shelf is therefore relatively enriched in coarser fractions. This is the mechanism that reconciles the paradox: less total terrigenous material reaching the shelf (falling Ti/Ca) but coarser grain sizes in what does arrive. It is not a contradiction. It is the signature of sediment starvation combined with selective fine-particle depletion.”

     The change was confirmed as a wider regional effect with another core of sedimentation collected in the Taiwan Strait, derived from a different set of rivers, including the Yangtze and from rivers in Taiwan. The decrease in kaolinite alone could have been attributed to stronger or less variable EASMs. The coarsening grain sizes, however, point to dam construction.

     The sediment-starved continental shelf has serious implications. These include increased coastal erosion, which is another common effect of dam construction, and much more:

“The northern South China Sea is among the most biologically productive marginal seas in the world, and its benthic communities, fisheries, and shallow-water reef systems depend on a balanced sediment budget. When rivers deliver less fine-grained material to the shelf, the chemistry, texture, and fertility of seafloor sediments change — affecting the organisms that live in and on them. The broader literature on dam-driven sediment starvation documents many deltas shifting to net erosion as sediment supply fell.”  

     The clay mineral fractions and grain-size proxies also reveal sediment source region differences due to climatic differences, mainly higher kaolinite fractions in warm and humid South China regions, in contrast to sediments derived from cooler northern rivers such as the Yangtze.  

“The clay mineral assemblages in the two cores encode the geographic fingerprints of their respective source regions. In Core D0, kaolinite dominates the terrigenous fraction — consistent with a Pearl River source, where warm, humid South China weathering produces kaolinite at average proportions of around 47 percent in river sediments. In Core Y22, illite and chlorite are more abundant — consistent with Yangtze River basin and Taiwan mountain river sources, where colder, more physically erosive conditions and tectonic uplift produce physically weathered clay minerals rather than chemically weathered kaolinite.”

 

 

References:

 

South China Sea seafloor records dams, not monsoons: Study decodes 250-year signal. Caleb Pittmann. Tech Times. August 26, 2026. South China Sea seafloor records dams, not monsoons: Study decodes 250-year signal

Climate and anthropogenic controls on sediment dynamics in the Northern South China Sea and Taiwan Strait over the last 250 years. Qiong Wu, Shaohua Zhao, Chao Cao, and Hong Peng. Frontiers in Marine Science, Marine Biogeochemistry. Volume 13. August 25, 2026. Frontiers | Climate and anthropogenic controls on sediment dynamics in the Northern South China Sea and Taiwan Strait over the last 250 years

EOG is Building a Frac Sand Mine in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, to Mine the Lower Pennsylvanian Pottsville Group Sharon Sandstone for its Utica-Point Pleasant Wells

     EOG Resources has long had a successful strategy of mining its own sandstone for frac sand. Now, it is constructing a frac sand mine/quarry in Tuscarawas County. Ohio, presumably in the Sharon Sandstone, aka Sharon Conglomerate of the Pennsylvanian Pottsville Group. This is very close to where the company is drilling wells in the Ordovician Utica-Point Pleasant Formation. Such a synergy allows the company to save significant transport costs as well as reduce emissions from transport. The Sharon Sandstone is a very clean sand with a very high quartz content. In the subsurface, it may be a groundwater aquifer, but it is usually associated with salty water, hence the driller’s name, Salt Sand. It produces small amounts of natural gas in a few isolated places. J. Osborne, in a 1955 Geological Society of America paper, described it:

“The formation is dominantly a pure (96+% SiO2), medium-grained, quartz sandstone (orthoquartzite) with a few pebble layers or scattered pebbles.”

     The Sharon Conglomerate is the lowest formation in the Pennsylvanian in the region and sits unconformably on the Mississippian-age section below it. The unconformity marks the Pennsylvanian-Mississippian boundary. The conglomeratic bands typically occur at the base of the unit right above the unconformity, and the quartzose sandstone with good frac sand qualities is likely right above it. The prospective area for frac sand likely follows the geologic map, and if one combines that with the areas of drilling, the most prospective area is a NE-SW band from Canton to east of Zanesville. Below is a geologic map of Ohio. I drew in the Utica play outline in light green and the prospective area for frac sand in red. The black circle is the approximate spot of EOG’s sand mine. The yellow highlight is the approximate position of the oil window, although it is likely extended a bit too far to the west. One can see that EOG hit a nice, sweet spot in the heart of its play, as far as location is concerned.

     According to the Kentucky Geological Survey, the Sharon Sandstone has been mined as a Tier II frac sand in Southern Ohio.   

“…the Sharon Sandstone in southern Ohio, contains rounded grains and is very weathered, easily mined and marketed as a Tier II frac sand.”

     In Southeastern Ohio, the Sharon Conglomerate/Sandstone equivalent is thought to have a different sediment source area. It outcrops in Jackson County, Ohio, where the unconformity can be observed. As can be seen below, in a roadcut in Jackson County, the unconformity is at the big color change, with the Sharon Formation sitting on top. The picture was taken by the awesome geologist and photographer James St. John.

     I am not sure if the Sharon Formation in northeastern Ohio makes a Tier I or Tier II frac sand, but it must be of high quality for EOG to pursue it. The likely different sediment sources of the northeastern and southern equivalent sands suggest that their qualities may vary. Indeed, as the section below from the Ohio Geological Survey confirms, it can exceed 99% quartz in some places.

     EOG’s Chief Operating Officer Jeff Leitzell noted in a recent conference call that the frac sand mine is on target to be online by the end of the year. Below is a still from a YouTube video by a drone operator of the construction site made a couple of months ago. The link for the video is in the references.

 

 

 

References:

 

SOURCE OF SHARON CONGLOMERATE OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO Available to Purchase. J. OSBORN FULLER. GSA Bulletin (1955) 66 (2): 159–176. SOURCE OF SHARON CONGLOMERATE OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO | GSA Bulletin | GeoScienceWorld

Fracture (Frac) Sands in Kentucky. Kentucky Geological Survey. Fracture (Frac) Sands in Kentucky, Kentucky Geological Survey, University of Kentucky

Fracture Sand in Ohio. Mark E. Wolfe. Geofacts No. 27. Ohio Division of Geological Survey. September 2013. GeoFacts No. 27—Fracture Sand in Ohio

EOG COO Lays Out Why the Ohio Utica Beats the PA Side. Marcellus Drilling News. September 10, 2026. EOG COO Lays Out Why the Ohio Utica Beats the PA Side - Marcellus Drilling News

Sand Processing Construction Site Strasburg, Ohio 7-7-2026. Bing Videos

Grid-Forming Inverters’ Responses to Faults to Be Evaluated: Australian Study of Different Models Aims to Determine If They Can Replace Spinning Inertia

     Wind, solar, and batteries are known as inverter-based resources (IBRs) because they rely on power inverters to change DC current into AC current. Fossil fuels and nuclear energy make heat, which runs steam turbines and other machines that spin. The spin holds power even as it is slowed down. This helps keep power grids stable. When a fault is discovered, it can be isolated without resulting in a loss of power. Researchers in Australia are embarking on a multi-year study of how each brand and model of inverter, also known as a battery inverter or grid-forming inverter, responds to faults or disruptions in the power supply. Interesting Engineering’s Munis Raza writes:

“Every battery inverter that stabilizes a power grid responds to electrical faults with its own distinct signature, and researchers now want to catalog those signatures like fingerprints. The goal is determining whether these devices can finally replace the spinning machines that have anchored electricity grids for over a century.”

“The Australian Renewable Energy Agency is funding a $13 million project at the University of New South Wales, contributing $6.52 million toward the research. The 3.5-year study will trace how individual brands of grid-forming inverters respond to fault currents. It will then test how those responses interact with the protection systems built into the wider grid.”

     In traditional power grids, a sudden surge of electrical current triggers protection systems that isolate the anomaly. In contrast, grid-forming inverters automatically minimize that current spike to protect their own equipment.

“That built-in restraint makes faults much harder for legacy protection systems to detect using the old surge-based method.”

“Adding to the complexity, every manufacturer has built its own bespoke software to manage that response, meaning each inverter's fault behavior looks slightly different from the next. Twidell said the project aims to provide objective evidence about how grid-forming inverters and protection systems actually interact. That differs from simply proving what the inverters are capable of in ideal conditions.”

     The project will have two phases. Phase one will observe and record how each inverter model responds to a fault. Phase two will observe and record how different models react in combination to a fault and to determine whether existing protective relays can still detect problems when there is a mix of responses occurring with multiple inverters. The study is expected to help determine if adjustments would be needed what adjustments would be needed for different models and different combinations of models when a fault occurs.

     Traditional power grids rely on synchronous condensers to regulate voltage and power. These are DC-powered spinning motors. According to Wikipedia, a synchronous condenser is:

“…a DC-excited synchronous motor, whose shaft is not connected to anything but spins freely.[1] Its purpose is not to convert electric power to mechanical power or vice versa, but to adjust conditions on the three phase electric power transmission grid. Its field is controlled by a voltage regulator to either generate or absorb reactive power as needed to adjust the grid's voltage, or to improve power factor. The condenser’s installation and operation are identical to large electric motors and generators. (Some generators are actually designed to be able to operate as synchronous condensers with the prime mover disconnected.”

     Australia’s push to develop utility-scale solar and grid-tied rooftop solar has resulted in a need for more energy storage. One such facility is the Waratah Super Battery, which first came online in August 2025. It is a large facility that can power up to 1 million homes for an hour. Akaysha Energy operates the battery facility. At a capacity of 850 MW, it is considered to be the world’s most powerful battery facility.

     Raza explains the goal of replacing spinning machinery like synchronous condensers with grid-forming inverters:

“Tesla published a white paper last year arguing that its grid-forming battery inverters offer a realistic alternative to spinning machinery. Those inverters, first deployed in Australia at the Hornsdale battery, deliver what Tesla calls protection-grade fault current. Part of the market operator's task now involves defining exactly what that term means in practice, covering current magnitude, duration, and waveform characteristics.”

“Transmission operators like Transgrid are already swapping out synchronous condensers for grid-forming batteries as the older technology becomes more expensive and harder to source. Fault current increasingly looks like the last major hurdle standing between today's grid and a fully digital system that no longer depends on spinning machines at all.”

 

   

References:

 

Researchers ‘fingerprint’ battery inverters to see if they can replace turbines. Munis Raza. Interesting Engineering. August 18, 2026. Researchers ‘fingerprint’ battery inverters to see if they can replace turbines

Synchronous condenser. Wikipedia. Synchronous condenser - Wikipedia

World’s most powerful battery powers up, aims to serve 1 million homes for an hour. Sujita Sinha. Interesting Engineering. August 5, 2025. 850 MW target: World’s most powerful battery goes live at 350 MW

 

Power Grid Transformers Are Still Facing Supply Constraints and Slowing Grid Expansion: Heron Power Will Soon Offer Modular Software-Controlled Transformers for Data Centers

   

     Two big constraints bottlenecking power projects are gas turbine wait times and power transformer wait times. Transformer wait times of four years are common. According to PV Magazine:

“Data from Wood Mackenzie indicates that demand for generator step up transformers increased by 274% between 2019 and 2025. During that same period, demand for substation transformers rose by 116%. The growth is fueled by a massive influx of new load from artificial intelligence data centers as well as the ongoing transition toward electrified transport and industrial manufacturing.”

     Prices for these components have climbed 80% over the past five years. Two strategies have emerged: 1) ordering transformers ahead of project finalization, and 2) using refurbished equipment until new transformers become available.

     The limited availability of grain-oriented electrical steel and copper is a major factor in the transformer supply crunch. Domestic construction of grain-oriented steel is lacking, so much of it needs to be imported.

“In response to the domestic supply gap, manufacturers are ramping up investment in U.S. production facilities. Hitachi Energy recently announced over $1 billion in investment, including a new plant in South Boston scheduled to come online in 2028. Siemens has also increased its manufacturing commitment in North Carolina to $421 million for a transformer factory in Charlotte.”

“Despite these investments, the supply and demand imbalance is expected to persist for years. Large scale data center developers are increasingly looking toward on site power generation to bypass the long queues for grid connections, while utility scale renewable projects face the risk of becoming stranded assets if they cannot secure transformers in time for project completion.”

    Heron Power announced in August that it plans to build a $100 million factory in California to make advanced transformers for the U.S. power grid. The company plans to produce Heron Link, a 5-megawatt medium-voltage power conversion system for large-scale energy and data-center projects. Heron offers an integrated solid-state transformer for data centers.

     Heron’s CEO Drew Baglino is a former Tesla executive. The company has begun building its first factory in California. It plans to begin production in the second half of 2027 and eventually ramp up to 40 gigawatts of capacity, or about 10,000 of its “Heron Link” systems. It will produce a new kind of transformer. According to Latitude Media:

“Heron Power promises to combine multiple pieces of power conversion equipment into a single modular, software-controlled unit for both data centers and solar and battery storage projects looking to get interconnected.”

     Heron is still developing its manufacturing process and testing components. It is doing its first commercial pilot in California where labor costs are higher, but also where more engineers can manage the manufacturing process. They are also doing field testing at data centers and solar sites.  

“Then there’s the actual design differences between solid-state transformers {SSTs} and traditional oil-filled technology. Heron Link promises that its SST has higher energy efficiency, which could translate into greater revenue for renewable energy project owners, or lower electricity costs at a data center.”

“Heron also uses high-frequency silicon-carbide semiconductors to convert power electronically — the costs of which have dropped dramatically thanks to the ramp up of the EV industry, Baglino said. That enables SSTs to be controlled remotely for voltage regulation and load smoothing. By contrast, legacy high-voltage transformers rely on oil to cool copper coils and require in-person maintenance.”

“Ultimately, Heron Power estimates that its system will be 5% to 6% more valuable than alternatives “over the lifespan of a project.”

     In any case, the cost at least looks comparable to the older technology, with added advantages. However, like a lot of renewable energy projects, it is likely to have higher upfront costs.

 

References:

 

Heron Power plans $100 million factory for advanced electric grid equipment. Tim McLaughlin. Reuters, August 13, 2026. Heron Power plans $100 million factory for advanced electric grid equipment

U.S. transformer market faces severe supply constraints: Severe shortages of power transformers are stalling grid expansion as developers face skyrocketing prices and four year wait times for critical equipment. Ryan Kennedy. PV Magazine. May 12, 2026. U.S. transformer market faces severe supply constraints - pv magazine Global

How Heron Power plans to scale first transformer factory to 40 GW: CEO Drew Baglino on the company’s plans to ramp production in the coming years — and combat the U.S. power equipment shortage. Catherine Boudreau. Latitude Media. August 24, 2026. How Heron Power plans to scale first transformer factory to 40 GW | Latitude Media

Heron Power. Website. Heron Power | Built for the grid ahead

 

 

 

Ammonium Nitrate Salt-Based Cooling Systems: The NESCOD System - The Salt Cools as It Dissolves, Can Be Regenerated by Sunlight, and Requires No Electricity

     The International Energy Agency: “Cooling will drive peak electricity demand, especially in hot countries.”

     Robust cooling demand is a pretty sure bet.

     Ammonium nitrate has thermodynamic properties and heat transfer capabilities that make it efficient and cost-effective for cooling systems. An article in Eureka by Patsnap gives some historical context:

“The historical development of ammonium nitrate in cooling applications traces back to early industrial processes where its endothermic dissolution properties were first recognized. This compound demonstrates remarkable heat absorption capacity when dissolved in water, creating a cooling effect that has been systematically studied and refined over decades. The technology has evolved from simple laboratory applications to sophisticated industrial implementations, particularly in sectors requiring precise temperature control and rapid cooling capabilities.”

     The current focus in ammonium nitrate cooling is on increasing efficiency through automated ammonium nitrate concentration management to optimize heat transfer rates. Chemical processing, metallurgy, and specialized manufacturing operations are target industrial applications for the tech. Ammonium nitrate handling and storage risks must also be mitigated. This involves implementing advanced monitoring systems, fail-safe mechanisms, and standardized operational procedures. These cooling systems can also be combined with conventional cooling systems into hybrid systems.

     Demand for industrial cooling continues to grow, including in the data center and semiconductor industries, and in places like Asia where manufacturing is growing.

“Ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) cooling systems currently occupy a niche position within the industrial cooling landscape, primarily utilized in specialized applications where conventional refrigerants face regulatory or performance limitations. The technology leverages NH4NO3's endothermic dissolution properties, where the salt absorbs significant thermal energy when dissolved in water, creating a cooling effect that can reach temperatures as low as -20°C depending on concentration ratios.”

     The article lists some of the key challenges of these systems below:

“Major technical challenges impede widespread adoption of NH4NO3 cooling systems. Corrosion represents the most significant obstacle, as ammonium nitrate solutions exhibit aggressive corrosive behavior toward standard metallic components, necessitating expensive corrosion-resistant materials such as specialized stainless steel alloys or polymer-based heat exchangers. This material requirement substantially increases initial capital costs compared to conventional cooling systems.”

“System efficiency presents another critical challenge. While NH4NO3 solutions provide effective cooling, the energy requirements for solution regeneration and continuous circulation often exceed those of traditional vapor-compression systems. The crystallization tendency of concentrated NH4NO3 solutions at lower temperatures creates operational complications, requiring sophisticated control systems to maintain optimal concentration levels and prevent system blockages.”

     There are also safety and environmental challenges. Ammonium nitrate salts are dangerous, potentially explosive, and have a high oxidizing potential, which makes storage and handling risky. Environmental concerns include nitrogen compound releases and potential groundwater contamination.

     These systems currently have a low penetration rate and are mainly used for backup and in specialized chemical processing industries.

“The technology faces significant competition from established alternatives including ammonia-based systems, CO2 cooling, and advanced vapor-compression technologies that offer better economic profiles and regulatory acceptance.”

     Ammonium nitrate cooling systems are endothermic, which means they are based on chemical reactions that absorb heat, resulting in cooling. They absorb heat when dissolved in water, cooling the water.  

     According to BGR:

“Scientists from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology have discovered a method that does precisely that, using ammonium nitrate to empower efficient cooling. They're calling it Nescod (No Electricity and Sustainable Cooling on Demand).”

     This research was conducted and reported in a paper in the journal Energy & Environmental Science in 2022.

     In the NESCOD system, after the salt dissolves and absorbs heat, connected solar panels can be used to evaporate the water and reprecipitate the salt for reuse. No external electricity is needed. The evaporated water can be collected via solar distillation and recycled back into the cooling system.

“The researchers state, "NESCOD represents a fully renewable energy-driven, green cooling technology without electricity consumption, which is urgently desired in our fight against global warming." It's especially suitable for low-income and off-grid communities, and "has the potential to make a meaningful contribution to achieving universal SDGs by 2030."

     According to an article in Daily Galaxy, the experiments overcame the problem of salt crusts forming on the solar regenerator:

“The regenerator used different areas for absorbing sunlight and forming crystals. Its bottom acted as the light-absorbing surface, while the outer section provided space for evaporation and crystallization.”

“Salt buildup soon became a problem. In early tests, ammonium nitrate formed a dense crust on the regenerator. That layer restricted the movement of fresh solution toward the surface, which slowed evaporation.”

“The researchers changed the setup to reduce the buildup. They added sodium 4-vinylbenzenesulfonate, or SVBS, to alter the way the crystals formed. They also incorporated a PTFE film into part of the device after salt began moving toward areas where it could interfere with incoming sunlight.”

“With the revised design, the researchers recorded an evaporation rate of about 2.2 kilograms of water per square metre per hour. The corresponding rate of salt recovery reached about 4.6 kilograms per square metre per hour under one-sun illumination.”

“That regeneration rate was used to calculate cooling power of up to 191 W/m². The calculation was based on an ambient temperature of 35°C and a final solution temperature of 25°C.”

“The team also collected water during regeneration. Water vapour leaving the salt solution was condensed, and measurements of ion concentration and total organic carbon were below 1 part per million.”

     To summarize, the NESCOD system involves two separate processes: cooling and solar regeneration. They can be in different locations. Solar regeneration can happen on a roof of a building while cooling happens inside the building.

 

 

References:

 

Say goodbye to traditional cooling: This salt-based system is turning heads without using electricity. Arezki Amiri. Daily Galaxy. August 13, 2026. Say goodbye to traditional cooling: This salt-based system is turning heads without using electricity

Conversion and storage of solar energy for cooling. Wenbin Wang, Yusuf Shi, Chenlin Zhang, Renyuan Li, Mengchun Wu, Sifei Zhuo, Sara Aleid, and Peng Wang. Energy & Environmental Science. (2022) 15 (1): 136–145. Conversion and storage of solar energy for cooling† | Energy & Environmental Science | The Royal Society of Chemistry

Not A Fan, Not AC: This Cheap Cooling System Works Without Using Electricity. Briley Kenney. BGR.  April 29, 2026. Not A Fan, Not AC: This Cheap Cooling System Works Without Using Electricity

Ammonium Nitrate in Industrial Cooling Systems: Use Cases. Eureka by Patsnap. March 5, 2026. Ammonium Nitrate in Industrial Cooling Systems: Use Cases

 

 

Capitalism Works When Value is Created Rather Than Extracted, and Management Practices That Benefit Stakeholders Can Help, Fortune Article Argues

      The article in Fortune first notes that Americans’ views about capitalism are not great, with a recent poll showing that only 54% of Americans have a favorable view of capitalism, the lowest amount since tracking began 15 years ago. The authors, Ravi Dhar and Jon Iwata, suggest this is because more Americans see capitalism as extracting value rather than creating it. They call this a zero-sum view of corporations. Of course, the growing wealth of the already super-wealthy is likely one reason for this. I think that the level of unfairness perceived in growing income inequality tends to make us cynical, and capitalism is an easy target. However, they also note that:

“…the more than 200 CEOs we have interviewed over six years through Yale’s Program on Stakeholder Innovation and Management reject this zero-sum view. Their reasons, however, may not be what most people assume. They see creating value for customers, employees, partners and communities not as an alternative to shareholder value, but as essential to creating it over the long term.”

     This suggests that CEOs are indeed working to improve the tarnished reputation of capitalism by stressing stakeholder concerns, instead of focusing only on shareholder returns. The CEOs did admit that making a full stakeholder form of capitalism work is challenging, and they sometimes struggle to find the best ways to do it. The article explores three examples of stakeholder capitalism that have worked.

 

Example 1 Walmart: Design the enterprise around the interdependencies that create value.

     The first example is Walmart, one of the biggest companies in the U.S. The article notes that when Doug McMillon became Walmart’s CEO in 2014, store sales were in decline amid competition from Amazon and other online retailers, employee turnover was high, and its reputation as an employer was not great. Its share price had also been stagnating. In response, they worked on improving their own online retailing capabilities, employee satisfaction, and supplier optimization to keep prices low. Technology improved forecasting, inventory, and store operations. The new approach required big investments and sacrificing near-term profits, but it paid off.   

“In February 2026, Walmart became the first traditional retailer to exceed $1 trillion in market value. Comparable-store sales, which had been falling, recovered and then compounded. In 2024, Walmart appeared for the first time on Fortune’s list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For.”

“McMillon later described the management approach: “Over time, designing a business that  benefits all stakeholders is the best way to provide returns to shareholders.”

 

Example 2 Starbucks: Test management decisions against the value they create—and for whom.

     Brian Niccol became Starbucks’ CEO in September 2024. The company had previously removed amenities like condiments and other amenities, expanded its menu, and began charging extra for non-dairy milk. This, they say, led to degrading the customer experience and burdened the baristas. As in the Walmart case, the initial and near-term results were a loss of revenue.

“When Brian Niccol became CEO in September 2024, he saw these choices as symptoms of a company that had drifted from what made it distinctive, so he reversed course. Starbucks restored condiment bars, ceramic mugs and comfortable seating, and eliminated the non-dairy surcharge, even as customization had grown into a business generating more than $1 billion annually. The surcharge change alone reduced North American operating margin by about 60 basis points in its first quarter—a meaningful near-term financial cost.”

     Niccol made other changes, including simplifying the menu and store operations, and adding more staff. These changes reduced stress on employees and improved customer experiences.

“The early results are encouraging. Starbucks has reported four consecutive quarters of comparable-sales growth, with global comparable sales up 7.9% in its latest quarter. Since  Niccol took charge, its shares have risen more than 22%.”  

 

Example 3 Rio Tinto: Manage intangible sources of value with the same rigor as tangible ones.

     The third example involves global mining giant Rio Tinto and its work toward the moniker “social license to operate.” In 2020, the backlash from destroying 46,000-year-old rock shelters in indigenous lands in Australia resulted in several senior executives leaving the company, including the CEO. New CEO Jakob Stausholm immediately focused on restoring trust with the public and relevant stakeholders.

“Rio invested in community engagement, cultural-heritage expertise and the governance that supports both. Over the five years through 2025, Rio generated a 66% total shareholder return. Sustaining that kind of value creation requires managing not only the assets on its balance sheet, but the intangible capabilities that allow those assets to be developed.”

     The authors argue that a similar public trust issue has developed with backlash against AI data centers. Creating value, they suggest, is more than just producing a useful product.

“Customer trust and workplace culture are different kinds of intangibles, but they too can affect a company’s ability to create value.”

 

Stakeholder Capitalism Tweaked for Fairness Works

     They conclude the article as follows:

“Whether the public experiences capitalism as value creation or value extraction depends in no small measure on how companies are led. Declining confidence in capitalism is, therefore, a challenge to the practice of management. The know-how exists, but it remains uncommon. The task now is to make it a core management capability. That may be the most convincing answer business leaders can offer a public losing faith in capitalism.”

     Whether one calls it compassionate capitalism, stakeholder capitalism, or conscious capitalism, the evidence suggests that it works, not only for all stakeholders, but for the companies’ bottom lines as well.

   

 

  

References:

 

Americans are losing faith in capitalism. The problem isn’t capitalism. Ravi Dhar and Jon Iwata. Fortune. September 9, 2026. Americans are losing faith in capitalism. The problem isn’t capitalism

 

 

 

HON Rule for Hazardous Chemical Plant Air Pollutants Continues to Be Delayed by Trump Administration: BTEX, Ethylene Oxide, Chloroprene, and Vinyl Chloride Among Chemicals Targeted

     In April 2024, Biden EPA Chief Michael Regan signed the Hazardous Organic National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants rule, known as the HON rule, to strengthen regulation of pollutants from chemical plants. The regulation called for better fenceline air monitoring, more openness and public availability of data, and lower thresholds for pollutants, some of which are known or likely carcinogens. By one account, the region around petrochemical plants along the Gulf Coast in Louisiana, an area known as “Cancer Alley,” has nearly 50 times the national average cancer rate due to air pollution. That area is also home to a majority of African-Americans, which makes it an environmental justice issue, and one that has been considered so for a long time.

     Beth Gardiner, a journalist who specializes in air pollution and has written a book and many articles on the subject, wrote an article for Grist explaining how the Trump EPA has delayed compliance requirements for the rule and has otherwise weakened it. Dangerous air pollutants emitted from chemical plants include chloroprene, ethylene oxide, BTEX, and vinyl chloride. In 2025, Trump granted two-year exemptions from the HON rule to more than 50 petrochemical facilities. In July 2026, he issued 20 more temporary exemptions, and the EPA said it would propose a rewrite of the regulation this fall. The rewrite will likely reduce protections.

     The HON rule:

“…requires petrochemical plants to upgrade their pollution control equipment to reduce emissions of two hazardous chemicals: ethylene oxide and chloroprene. It also mandates air monitors at plants’ fencelines to measure concentrations of those chemicals and four more — benzene, ethylene dichloride, vinyl chloride, and 1,3-butadiene — and requires operators to carry out necessary repairs if emissions exceed limits.”

“Tracey Woodruff, a Stanford University epidemiology and population health professor who formerly worked on toxic assessments at the EPA, said the pollutants covered by the HON rule are “the classic bad guys of toxic chemicals,” compounds that raise risks for breast cancer, liver cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, and reproductive problems. “We’ve known about their toxicity for decades,” she said, and “they should have been more highly regulated a long time ago.”

     The rule also closes loopholes for allowing these emissions during times of startup and shutdown, such as before and after maintenance or big storms. These types of venting can emit high amounts of pollutants. The rule covered 220 large petrochemical plants, 60% of which are in Texas and Louisiana. She notes that the Trump administration used unusual means to justify its delay in implementing the rule.

“In granting the postponements, Trump invoked a Clean Air Act provision that environmental lawyers say has never been used: allowing temporary exemptions to emissions rules if they are “in the country’s national security interests” and if the technology required to comply with a regulation is unavailable.”

          They basically argued that the rule puts too high a burden on the chemical industry and hurts competition with foreign producers of the same products.

“The HON Rule imposes substantial burdens on chemical manufacturers already operating under stringent regulations,” Trump’s exemption proclamations said. “Maintaining a robust domestic chemical industry is vital to safeguarding the supply chains that underpin our economy and to reducing the Nation’s dependence on foreign control over materials critical to national resilience.”

     Apparently, they provided no evidence other than such statements to justify the delays, which technically is required by law. The American Chemistry Council did provide some detail:

“The American Chemistry Council, a trade group representing petrochemical producers, said the exemptions “offer a pathway for relief for some sources from some of the unrealistic timelines” in the HON rule. It called the regulation “overly stringent” and said it “exceeds the EPA’s statutory authority, disregards relevant scientific evidence, and imposes some requirements without technological availability.”

“The EPA said in an emailed statement that all its proposals on air toxics aimed to “protect American industry and supply chains, while still minimizing Americans’ unnecessary exposure to hazardous air pollutants.”

     That statement certainly suggests that the current EPA is prioritizing American industry over exposure to hazards. Woodruff noted:

“The policy changes “will lead to people getting sicker and dying,” she said. “This is exactly opposite of what this administration claimed they wanted to do in terms of ‘Make America Healthy Again.’”

     The EPA is trying to undo other Biden air pollution rule moves as well, pretty much all of them. Some of these relate to chemical plants.

“The EPA has also proposed undoing changes the Biden administration made to strengthen a safety rule called the Risk Management Program, which empowered workers dealing with hazardous substances to stop operations they believe to be dangerous, and required chemical facilities to prepare for natural disasters, undergo independent audits after accidents, and share information with the public.”

     Accidents are a major issue as well, and that rule has requirements meant to prevent them and analyze them in detail after they occur. Shiv Srivastava, policy director at Fenceline Watch, a Houston environmental justice group, noted:

“Nationally, there were 131 accidents resulting in reportable chemical releases last year. For those living near the Houston area’s nearly 700 chemical plants, “there are constant explosions, there are constant fires, there are constant black, dark plumes that linger over our communities,” Srivastava said.

     The EPA noted:

“Due to the varied, complex nature of chemical facilities, the facility operator is in the best position to assess risks and identify steps to mitigate these risks,” it said.

     This is likely true, but regulators need access and to be educated on the plant’s variable activities. The public, those likely to be affected negatively by the emissions, also need to be better informed about emissions during accidents as well as day-to-day emissions. That is one HON requirement that the Trump EPA rolled back.

 “Last year, the administration also removed an online data tool the Biden administration had created to give communities located near petrochemical plants information about their operations, including their accident history, emergency response plans, and the chemicals they handle. Srivastava said the tool’s loss cuts off neighbors’ access to even the most basic information about nearby plants — their names and locations, for example — making it hard for communities to even begin preparing for accidents.”

References:

 

A hard-won rule to cut chemical plant pollution is being unraveled. Beth Gardiner. Grist. September 6, 2026. A hard-won rule to cut chemical plant pollution is being unraveled

Biden-Harris Administration Finalizes Stronger Clean Air Standards for Chemical Plants, Lowering Cancer Risk and Advancing Environmental Justice. U.S. EPA. April 9, 2024. Biden-Harris Administration Finalizes Stronger Clean Air Standards for Chemical Plants, Lowering Cancer Risk and Advancing Environmental Justice | US EPA