Fuel Smuggling is More Profitable for Cartels Than Drugs or Human Trafficking: Value of $12 to $21 Billion A Year, According to Texas Officials

      I have written about this horrendous criminal enterprise a couple of times in the past. Apparently, it is still proliferating in different forms, and I think enforcement efforts should be stepped up. It is disheartening and enraging to know this is happening on a large scale in the U.S. To hell with the cartels!

     The news story, reported in the Houston Chronicle by Rachel Nostrant, notes that fuel smuggling has likely overtaken drug smuggling as the Mexican cartels’ most profitable endeavor, according to Texas Dept. of Public Safety officials as they addressed a state Senate committee.

"Fuel trafficking is a threat that is operating in plain sight," Col. Freeman Martin, the department's director, told the state Senate Select Committee on Homeland and Border Security. "They're loading fuel trucks …. or any container you can think of, and hauling it south."

“Fuel smuggling or trafficking, the illegal transfer or alteration of fuel across borders to avoid taxes and reap illicit profits, is a growing concern for Texas officials and the state's oil and gas industry.”

"This is just as complex, just as dangerous, just as high-revenue for the cartels as the drug trafficking and human trafficking has historically been," said Sen. Phil King, a Republican from Weatherford, a city outside of Fort Worth.”

     According to a Microsoft Copilot search, the annual revenue of a Permian Basin well is about $5 million before taxes. If we take the median of the $12-21 billion estimate of cartel fuel smuggling profit, or $16.5 billion, we can estimate that the annual profit is equivalent to the annual revenue of 3300 Permian wells! That sounds like quite a lot, but it checks out with a simple division of 5 million into 16.5 billion. In 2023, there were 5822 Permian wells drilled. Could one consider the cartels far more profitable than any single driller in the basin? It would seem so. Thus, there is quite a lot of criminal activity going on that needs to be addressed. We should all be outraged. Perhaps local, state, and federal governments should do more to address this issue since it does not seem to have improved much over the last few years. Some of the oil and oil products are simply stolen. It is also blended to make it more profitable and likely cheats the buyers and could damage equipment. Thus, we see lower-quality fuel sold at much higher prices, basically a scam. Theft of oil products and oilfield equipment is also a huge related issue where the cartels are heavily involved.

     Below, the article explains what has been happening. Basically, the task force addressed oil theft last year with new measures and now wants to address oil trafficking, which includes blending and transferring.

“The state created a multi-agency task force to tackle oilfield theft last year and Department of Public Safety officials told state lawmakers it is time for fuel trafficking to receive similar scrutiny.”

“Cartels sometimes drive empty trucks into the U.S. and fill them up with legally purchased and tax-free fuel from licensed terminals, said Martin. The trucks are then driven off their approved routes to unregulated fuel sites. Cheaper products are blended into the fuel, customs documents are forged or altered, and the fuel is brought into Mexico, which has an underdeveloped refining industry,  he said.”

“Those fuel products, including diesel, are often sold at two-to-three times their cost in the United States.”

“Making it illegal for trucks carrying hazardous materials to deviate from pre-planned routes, or to carry more than 80,000 pounds, could potentially disrupt cartel fuel smuggling operations, state and industry officials have said.”

“The department is focused on identifying high-level cartel operations and exploring how to establish inspections for suspected illicit fuel operations, said Maj. Tim Murphy, head of public safety for Texas DPS.”

"This is organized crime," said Murphy. "We had the same thing we dealt with in the oilfield when they steal oil – It isn't the guy stealing the oil that we want to get to, it's the guy that's puppeting that person."

  

  

References:

 

Smuggled Texas fuel is bankrolling cartels, state officials say. Rachel Nostrant. The Houston Chronicle. August 20, 2026. Smuggled Texas fuel is bankrolling cartels, state officials say

Robert Bryce: Coal-Fired Electricity Sparks Manufacturing Boom in Vietnam: Mini Documentary Summary & Review

     This is basically a quick review of Bryce’s short mini-documentary on the coal-fired electricity boom in Vietnam and how it is powering a strong manufacturing sector, including increasing trade with the U.S.

     Bryce made the mini doc in Saigon, or as it is now known, Ho Chi Minh City. He notes the massive economic growth in recent years of the communist country. He notes that Vietnam has the biggest trade surplus with the U.S. of any country. Vietnam exports more goods to the U.S. than any other country. He notes that more than $100 billion in direct investment has gone into Vietnam since 2020.

     He gives three reasons why Vietnam is becoming a manufacturing powerhouse: 1) Vietnam has a huge working-age population. This means labor is relatively cheap; 2) the country has enough land to expand manufacturing; and 3) multinational corporations are diversifying out of China due to supply chain reliability issues.

     The chart below shows that electricity and GDP growth have grown in tandem.

     The chart below shows that coal use has grown as well. The country has the fastest-growing coal use on the planet. Now, it gets more than half of its electricity from coal.

     Bryce interviews commodities trader and energy writer David Chernikau, who notes that Vietnam has been growing economically at a rate of 8% per year. Chernikau says that Vietnam is developing a Middle Class. The country has about 100 million people and an installed electricity capacity of 100 GW. Peak power is about 60 GW. He compares it to Germany: 80 million people, 80 GW of peak power. He notes that coal is not only powering Vietnam, but also the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia. His work suggests that basically the entire growth of these countries over the past 20 years has been from coal-fired electricity.

     The graph below compares coal use in the U.S. with coal use in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

     The graph below shows the trade surpluses some of these countries have with the U.S., with Vietnam in the lead. He also notes that U.S coal exports to these Asian countries have grown sixfold since 2010. Thus, he says that the U.S. is not really using less coal. It is instead exporting more to Asia to be burned there. 

     Bryce notes that Vietnam is currently building 6 GW of new coal-fired capacity with another 3 GW in development. He pauses here to tout his Iron Law of Electricity, which says that people, businesses, and countries will do whatever they have to do to get the electricity they need. He says that coal is proliferating because it is reliably affordable and can be easily mined, transported, and plants can be built.

     There are some things missing in the video, such as mining conditions in these countries, which do mine their own domestic coal as well as importing it, air quality, which is worsened by burning coal, water quality, which is worsened by coal, carbon emissions, coal ash management, and the fact that Vietnam is still officially a communist country, although ‘market-oriented socialism’ is probably a better descriptor. There are five recognized communist countries: China, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, and Cuba. Nicaragua is likely on a similar path. According to Factually:

“Analysts emphasize that economic liberalization in these countries has not translated into political pluralism; party control remains central even as capitalist practices expand.”      

     Thus, the U.S. is trading heavily with a communist country that is not China, one that, like China, has one-party rule, no opposition parties, and one that approves and repeats a lot of Russian propaganda as well as communist propaganda, ie. 'LIES.' 

  

  

References:

 

Vietnam Plugs In: Fifty years after the fall of Saigon, Vietnam has become a manufacturing powerhouse, driven by an electricity boom that’s fueled by coal. Robert Bryce. Substack. August 18, 2026. Vietnam Plugs In - Robert Bryce

Which countries still call themselves communist today and how do their political systems differ? Factually. Researched on March 14, 2026. Which countries still call themselves communist today ...

 

Biochar from Waste Rice Husks and Double Hydroxide Layers Can Filter Toxic Dyes from Water

     Plant matter burned under very low oxygen conditions, or pyrolysis, is known as biochar, charcoal-like matter that has several important uses, including sequestering carbon and releasing it slowly to plants, improving soil fertility. It is also used as a water filtration material, along with its relative, activated carbon, which is burned with oxygen, 

     Research published in the journal Sustainable Chemistry and Pharmacy found that biochar made from waste rice hulls, an abundant form of agricultural waste, can effectively filter toxic dyes in wastewater when double hydroxide layers are added. Toxic synthetic dyes, some of which are carcinogenic, are used in textile manufacturing, leather processing, paper production, and aquaculture. These dyes can cause problems when they get into wastewater, including reducing light penetration, disturbing aquatic ecosystems, and polluting drinking water sources. Thus, materials that can adsorb dyes from wastewater offer hope of preventing such problems.

     According to Anthropocene Magazine, researchers from Florida International University first made the biochar from rice husks. After this, they augmented the process by:

“…combining it with special materials called layered double hydroxides, which are clay-like minerals composed of layers of magnesium and aluminum hydroxide sheets with charged ions and water molecules trapped in the spaces between the layers.”

“In laboratory tests, the material captured brilliant green and malachite green dyes, two commonly used industrial dyes. The material was also reusable. The researchers found that it could be reused at least five times without losing its efficacy. They now plan to test the material on other dyes, heavy metals and various contaminants found in real-world water samples.”

     The paper’s introduction notes two industrial dyes targeted in the research, Brilliant Green and Malachite Green, explaining their toxicity below:

“Brilliant Green and Malachite Green are two widely utilized synthetic dyes in sectors like textiles and aquaculture; however, their application presents significant environmental and health concerns. Brilliant Green is often utilized for dyeing silk, wool, and leather, and it also serves as a staining agent in microbiology. Nonetheless, extended contact with this dye may lead to skin irritation, allergic responses, and respiratory issues. Furthermore, it presents a significant environmental risk because of its resistance to biodegradation, enabling it to remain in aquatic ecosystems and lead to prolonged contamination (Mittal et al., 2008). Malachite Green raises even greater toxicological issues. This substance is associated with significant health risks, such as skin and respiratory irritation, possible organ damage, and is regarded as a potential carcinogen (Srivastava et al., 2004). In aquaculture, although it is advantageous for managing parasites, its application may result in reproductive issues, mutations, and lasting environmental contamination in aquatic organisms (Hashimoto et al., 2011). The findings underscore the critical necessity for improved handling protocols, effective disposal strategies, and the innovation of sustainable alternatives to reduce their negative effects on health and the environment.”

     The paper’s conclusion notes:

“The Mg–Al LDH@RH composite proved to be an effective adsorbent for the removal of toxic dyes such as Brilliant Green (BG) and Malachite Green (MG) from wastewater. Characterization analyses confirmed that Mg–Al LDH@RH possesses a crystalline rhombohedral structure with a high specific surface area of 118.78 m2 g−1, while the presence of hydroxyl, silicate, and aromatic functional groups enabled dye uptake through electrostatic attraction, ion exchange, and π–π stacking interactions.”

     The use of crop residues for biochar-based water filtration adds to the potential uses of crop waste. Just a few days ago I wrote about them as a potential feedstock for the production of bioplastics, or more properly, bio-based polymers. I also noted in another post just days ago that biochar production is by far the most used durable carbon removal method for carbon offsetting used by tech companies. If more can be sourced from India and Pakistan, where burning of crop residues is a very significant seasonal environmental problem, that could help mitigate it.

      

 

References:

 

Researchers recycle rice husks into a wonder material that removes toxic dyes from water. Anthropocene Team. Anthropocene Magazine. August 10, 2026. Researchers recycle rice husks into a wonder material that removes toxic dyes from water

Waste-to-resource approach: Sustainable synthesis and life cycle assessment of rice husk char-supported Mg–Al layered double hydroxide for dye biosorption. Noel Abhick Lawrence, Shaziya Siddiqui, Runit Isaac, Islam Ibrahim, George V. Belessiotis, Mohammad Saood Manzar, Nuhu Dalhat Mu'azu, and Nazrul Haq. Sustainable Chemistry and Pharmacy. Volume 52, August 2026. Waste-to-resource approach: Sustainable synthesis and life cycle assessment of rice husk char-supported Mg–Al layered double hydroxide for dye biosorption - ScienceDirect

 

Perceived Naturalness, Whether Real or Framed, Leads to Human Acceptance of Sustainable and Climate Tech, According to Social Psychologists

      The naturalistic bias, where humans favor something natural over something made by humans, is well known and well documented, and according to new social psychology research, is still a strong force that often determines whether new climate technologies are accepted or not by the public. The researchers found that it does not matter whether that naturalness is real or if it is framed in such a way that makes it seem natural. Thus, it is ‘perceived naturalness’ that leads to greater acceptance.

     The study was led by Sarah Gonzalez-Coffin at the University of Colorado Boulder. The naturalistic bias was found to hold regardless of political ideology, although I did notice from the supplementary materials that most survey participants identified as liberal and urban or suburban.

"We found that naturalness predicts support over and above a lot of other things you might think matter, like risk and benefit perceptions or how much people understand the technology," said first author Sarah Gonzalez-Coffin, who earned her doctorate in social psychology from CU Boulder in May.    

     As noted above, the study found that shifts in framing toward framing a technology as natural can lead to more public acceptance. Senior author and psychology professor Leaf Van Boven noted:

 "Our study shows that often it is not the technology itself, but the way we communicate about it that shapes public response."

     The study found that lab-grown meat was regarded as unnatural and not easy to support. It was also found that technologies with minimal human intervention were more supportable.

"We ask ourselves all the time: Is this natural? And we have a deep aversion to things that are artificial," said Van Boven, noting that this has been shown to hold true across genders and among urban and rural populations. "It's part of being human."

     According to Phys.org:

“In a second study, the authors manipulated their descriptions to frame technologies in a natural light. For instance, direct-air carbon capture was described as a technology "that mimics natural processes to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, similar to the way that plants pull carbon from the atmosphere through their leaves."

“This simple wording change led to higher levels of support across the board.”

     Van Boven did note the “dark side” of the naturalistic fallacy, as it is also known. The simple facts are that many human-created, or synthetic, technologies are incredibly beneficial and some nature-based technologies are harmful, and the preference for naturalness is not rooted in rationality and science. Thus, I would say the findings here, again of mostly liberal, urban, and suburban participants, are bad news. People are clinging to biases that give no real basis for preference. As a case in point, I would say that if synthetic fertilizers were banned so that only natural, organic fertilizers were permitted, it would likely lead to mass human death through loss of yields, with much more land farmed to try and make up the difference, and difficulty in maintaining soil fertility. 

     In another sense, the study is saying that so-called greenwashing works, in this case by framing something as natural to garner support. While human tampering can make things harmful, it can also make them beneficial, and I would bet that the beneficial far outweighs the harmful. Is this bias human nature, or is it itself a product of human psychological tampering through prevailing opinions about technology and the fearmongering of catastrophism and technophobia? Since liberals more often espouse catastrophism and technophobia, it is probably good that the study has more liberals.

 

References:

 

Perceived naturalness emerges as key driver of public support for climate technology. Lisa Marshall. Phys.org. August 11, 2026. Perceived naturalness emerges as key driver of public support for climate technology

Naturalness catalyzes public support for carbon dioxide removal and low-carbon energy technologies. Sarah Gonzalez-Coffin, Shahzeen Z. Attari, Holly Buck, Amanda R. Carrico, Yoel Inbar, Ezra Markowitz, Kaitlin T. Raimi, Jonathon P. Schuldt, Trisha Shrum & Leaf Van Boven. Communications Earth & Environment (2026). July 20, 2026. Naturalness catalyzes public support for carbon dioxide removal and low-carbon energy technologies | Communications Earth & Environment

Belgian Student Jackhammers for Gold Accidentally: Hoard of Gold Bars and Coins Worth $10 Million Found

   I thought this was a fun story, and it has similarities to drilling for profit, although in this case it was purely accidental. A Belgian student working part-time in construction was jackhammering and literally drilled into a box of gold bars. After the site was carefully excavated, the hoard included 40 gold bars and about 4000 gold coins, with a total worth of about $10 million.

     Andy Corbley featured the story on Good News Network, his awesome collection and collation of good news stories. He notes that over half of the gold thought to be in the Earth has already been found, and even small finds like this can add to the total on the market since gold has many industrial uses in addition to its extensive use for fine jewelry. Since it adds to the refined metals market, I am classifying this story under mineral exploration and production.  

     It is not yet known why the hoard of gold bars made in the 1960s ended up underground roughly 60 years ago.

“The East Flanders Public Prosecutor’s Office told CNN authorities had recovered the gold and taken it to a secure and secret place where it would be held pending an investigation into provenance and ownership.”

“They also said that several people have already contacted them with proof of ownership documentation.”

“Most of the bars date to the 1960s, while the coins feature a variety of dates and bear a variety of origins.”

     The hoard was found under the foundations of an old brewery.

“While using a jackhammer on the property in the city of Dendermonde, about 19 miles outside of Brussels, construction workers noticed coins beginning to appear in the hole they were making.”

“Kobe Phillips, a student working a part-time, said that he thought at first they were 1 euro coins, and asked a colleague to help him dig them out. Then they saw that they weren’t—and that there was a gold bar stuck to the end of their jackhammer.”

     The picture below shows where the jackhammer hit the gold bar on the third one from the left in the top row.

 

   

    

References:

 

Construction Worker Discovers Gold Hoard After Literally Striking a Gold Bar with His Jackhammer. Andy Corbley. Good News Network. August 18, 2026. Construction Worker Discovers Gold Hoard After Literally Striking a Gold Bar with His Jackhammer

 

 

The Hype and Realities of Bioplastics, or Bio-based Polymers: Bio-Based vs. Biodegradable vs. Compostable, and Other Facts About the Bioplastics Industry

    Bioplastics company CEO Vishal Vivek writes in Entrepreneur about five misleading claims by bioplastics companies. Though he still believes in the value and usefulness of bioplastics, he thinks much of the industry is overhyped.

Claim 1: “Our packaging is compostable”

     Just because a cup or packaging material is listed as compostable does not mean it will be composted, even if you try to do it at home. Most home composters won’t reach the required temperatures (55 to 58°C) to break down the polylactic acid (PLA), the most common type of compostable bioplastic in today’s market. In order to decompose PLA, an industrial composting facility with controlled heat, humidity, and microbial activity is required. 30 states have three or fewer plastic composting facilities. Ten states have none. I know of one near me that I sometimes hike past on a known trail. Most PLA ends up in landfills after it is discarded in regular trash, where it may take 100 years to decompose.

 

Claim 2: “Our product is a bioplastic.”

     Bioplastic may mean one of three things: bio-based, biodegradable, or compostable.

“Bio-PE and bio-PET are made from sugarcane instead of petroleum. But they are chemically identical to conventional polyethylene and PET. They do not biodegrade. They persist for centuries. They fragment into the same microplastics. The only thing “bio” about them is where the carbon came from.”

     He notes that even using the word “bioplastic” has been discouraged by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) since 2012. They recommend using the term bio-based polymer instead. However, that recommendation has generally not been heeded, even by the industry.

 

Claim 3: “Our material is plant-based, so it is safe.”

     This is false and has been proven to be so, as he explains below. This is mainly due to the fact that both fossil plastics and bio-based plastics use similar additives, and there are several thousand different additives used in the industry.:

“Zimmermann et al., in a 2020 study published in Environment International, tested 43 bio-based and biodegradable food-contact products against 30 conventional plastic samples.”

“Two out of three bioplastic products triggered toxic responses in at least one lab assay. The toxicity profiles were statistically indistinguishable from those of petroleum plastics. Some PLA and starch-based products contained more than 20,000 distinct chemical features.”

“The problem is not the plant, but the additives added to the plant-based polymers to create usable plastic products.”

“These additives — the plasticizers, colorants, stabilizers and processing chemicals — give bioplastics their functional properties, and are quite often the same chemicals used in conventional plastics. Nobody regulated them differently just because the base resin came from a crop, for instance, corn.”

     He notes that the toxicity of bioplastics depends on what additives are being used. Many are known to be toxic, and even more have had no toxicity testing done on them.

 

Claim 4: “The biggest plastic users are massively increasing their bioplastic use.”

     While the use of bioplastics is growing, so is the use of plastic made from fossil fuels. According to European Bioplastics’ 2025 market data, the share of bioplastics use in the plastic industry as a whole has remained steady at 0.5%,1.67 million tonnes against roughly 431 million tonnes. He says that if a company announces that they will increase its use of bioplastics, one should ask by how much in weight rather than in percentage since increasing a tiny amount by, say, 200% is still a tiny amount.

 

Claim 5: “Our product meets all applicable standards.”

     He notes that many rules and standards are out-of-date and need to be updated. He says the EU has been at the forefront and now treats bioplastics the same as fossil plastics. Its single-use plastic ban applies to all plastics regardless of feedstocks. The real issue is what happens after it is used. Personally, I do not like single-use plastic bag bans, having endured one for a while. I ended up collecting a lot of paper bags I did not need. Thus, I may disagree with his statement below, although I do agree that all plastics should be treated the same since they all have toxic components and a lot of compostable plastics are not being composted.

“I believe the bioplastics industry needs mandatory regulation. Not because I want more rules. But because voluntary self-policing has let too many actors hide behind good branding while the infrastructure, the chemistry and the accountability remain absent.”

    

Three Guidelines for Bioplastics Producers

     Finally, the author gives three guidelines for bioplastics producers, particularly in India and other Southeast Asian countries.

1)        Make bioplastic from waste – he recommends using crop residues, of which there are quite a lot in places like India, where an estimated 500 million tonnes are produced each year. In the fall, these are often burned, producing smoke and smog that is so bad it closes down schools.

2)        If you sell compostable, invest in composting – he says if you sell compostable plastics, then investing in composting infrastructure makes sense and helps to secure an end-place for the product to go, preferably near the point of production and the point of use.

3)        Be an advocate for “no plastic, less plastic, better plastic” – he says that reducing plastic use should matter more than replacement of fossil plastic with bioplastic. Less plastic, especially less single-use plastic, is better than different plastic. I guess I can brag that I reuse my so-called single-use plastic bags many times over, for shopping in places where you need to bring your own bag, for things I need to carry, and for cleaning my cats’ litter pans. When they are used for the latter or if they get holes in them, I discard them.

 

     He closes with the following:

“…belief without accountability is just marketing. And marketing without infrastructure, without chemical transparency and without binding standards is just greenwashing. The first step for every entrepreneur in this industry is to accept the flaws in our models and our language so we can start correcting them one step at a time.”

 

  

 

References:

 

I sell a sustainable product I believe in, but my industry is misleading consumers. Here’s the truth. Vishal Vivek. Entrepreneur. August 12, 2026. I sell a sustainable product I believe in, but my industry is misleading consumers. Here’s the truth.

Petrobras Discovers Oil in Brazil’s Environmentally Sensitive Equatorial Margin: Lula Supports Development

    Brazilian state-owned oil company Petrobras announced that it has discovered oil in its Morpho well, in the Foz do Amazonas Basin, which is in the environmentally sensitive equatorial margin offshore area. The announcement was made via press conference and included the company's president, Magda Chambriard, Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and other government officials. Lula hailed the discovery.

     Lula appears to have become more pragmatic in recent years. I read that he said that socialism is not where the world is at now, suggesting that he is focusing more on traditional democracy. He is also thought to be doing the same with carbon emissions, promoting Brazil’s huge oil potential while deferring some energy transition efforts.

     The find is in Block FZA-M-59, about 175 kilometers (about 109 miles) off the coast of Amapá, in a water depth of 2,886 meters (about 9468 feet).

     According to Globo.com:

“To continue exploring more regions, Petrobras filed an application for an environmental license with the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) to drill three new wells in the Equatorial Margin. The state-owned company also plans other drilling in the region.”

     Lula compared the excitement of the discovery to Brazil’s 2007 discovery of the huge Pre-Salt play.

"I told Magda that when she told me that she had found oil, I felt the same sensation and the same emotion that I felt the day that Sérgio Gabrielli, in 2007, and my dear friend [Guilherme] Estrella entered my office to announce that Petrobras had discovered the pre-salt," said Lula.

     It should be pointed out that the discovery is early and needs more validation and estimation of reserves through further exploratory drilling. The first well is actually still drilling, and as of a couple of days ago, there were still 1000 meters left to drill.

     Petrobras has also been busy protecting its environmental reputation. Just 75 days after receiving the environmental licenses to drill in the equatorial margin region, Petrobras spilled non-aqueous drilling fluid into the ocean as a result of leaks from two auxiliary lines. The leaks were contained quickly and created what was termed a medium risk to the local ecosystem. The company also explained and demonstrated to Lula the use of the blow-out preventer (BOP), which is tested regularly and can contain any “blowout” of the well.

     Lula’s decision to allow drilling in the Brazilian Equatorial Margin was heavily criticized by environmentalists, who are mainly worried about oil spills. This area is very biodiverse, they argue, with the presence of nearby reefs where an oil spill could potentially reach. Lula announced that the drilling would take place just before Brazil hosted the COP30 climate conference. He noted then:

"Many people didn't want me to announce that Petrobras had won the licence because they said that the Europeans would be annoyed," he said.

"I took the decision to announce that people wanted to do exploratory drilling there before COP because the interests of our country and our company were at stake."

     He says he is still committed to the phase-out of fossil fuels but pragmatically noted that more oil production would actually help fund that effort in the short term. He also touted Brazil’s continued commitment to biofuels and renewable energy.

  

References:

 

Petrobras confirms oil discovery at Foz do Amazonas, off the coast of Amapá. Isabela Ortiz. Globo.com. August 17, 2026. Petrobras confirms oil discovery in Foz do Amazonas | G1

Brazil's President Lula hails oil discovery near Amazon River. Vanessa Buschschlüter.BBC. August 18, 2026. Brazil's President Lula hails oil discovery near Amazon River

Hertha Metals Becomes First U.S. Company to Achieve 99.95% Pure Iron for Neodymium Magnets: Magnet-Grade Iron Can Now Be Produced Domestically

    Texas-based Hertha Metals has produced high-purity iron at 99.95 percent (3N5) using fully domestic US inputs. That is a first for the U.S. High-purity iron makes up 70% by weight of neodymium magnets used in EVs, wind turbines, and defense systems. This comes just in time as the U.S. is set to ban Chinese-origin magnets from use in the U.S. defense industry, beginning at the start of 2027. The U.S. imports 90% of its high-purity iron, most of it from China.  

     According to Interesting Engineering:

“High-purity iron is one of the least visible materials behind the magnets that power everything from electric vehicles to defense systems, and today almost none of it is made in America,” said Laureen Meroueh, CEO and founder of Hertha Metals. “We’ve now demonstrated that we can produce magnet-grade iron domestically, creating a new pathway to build a domestic supply chain.”

     The process does not use coal or coke to make the high-purity iron in multiple steps. Hertha Metals’ process involves a single pyrometallurgical step.

“Typical ultra-pure iron production requires multi-step electrolytic refining, but Hertha achieves 99.95 percent (3N5) purity in a single continuous pyrometallurgical step with minimal post-processing.”

“The pyrometallurgical process removes oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and metallic impurities in a single continuous step at a lower cost.”

     The company proved its process in a one-ton-per-day demonstration pilot project. It is groundbreaking for a new commercial-scale facility later this year.

     As noted below, the process runs on natural gas, which makes it much cleaner than coal-based iron processing. It can also run on hydrogen, further reducing emissions.

“The upcoming Chalyx facility will be able to scale initial commercial capacity to approximately 9,000–10,000 metric tons per year, with long-term goals targeting 500,000 tons annually.”

“As per the company, it’s flexible-fuel furnace can process low-purity ores (<60%), iron ore fines, and millscale waste, unlocking vast domestic reserves while slashing raw material costs.”

“Operating on abundant natural gas, the system is 30 percent more energy-efficient than standard steelmaking and cuts emissions by at least 50 percent. It can also transition to clean hydrogen with zero hardware modifications, enabling up to a 98 percent reduction in total emissions.”

     The company also plans to expand its basic steelmaking process that can potentially produce steel of many grades from a wider variety of inputs, utilizing natural gas or hydrogen rather than coal, and can do it cheaper and with fewer emissions. It can produce high-performance low-carbon steel alloys as well as high-purity iron.

  

 

References:

 

Hertha Metals reaches 99.95% iron purity for US-based rare-earth magnet production. Mrigakshi Dixit. Interesting Engineering. August 18, 2026. Hertha Metals reaches 99.95% iron purity for US-based rare-earth magnet production

Forging the Future of Steel. Hertha Metals. Hertha Metals | Forging the Future of Steel

Hertha Metals Unveils Breakthrough Process to Accelerate American-Made Steel and High-Purity Iron Production. Hertha Metals. July 22, 2025. Hertha Metals Unveils Breakthrough Process to Accelerate American-Made Steel and High-Purity Iron Production - Hertha Metals

Undersea Geothermal: Endurance Energy is Tapping Hydrothermal Fluids Around Underwater Volcanoes

    Seattle startup Endurance Energy is ready to send a 100-kW geothermal energy generator, called Adelie, to an undersea volcano off the Oregon Coast. The deployment is planned for next month. The goal is to tap hydrothermal fluids with temperatures as high as 750 degrees Fahrenheit (399 degrees Celsius). This will be the company’s fifth undersea deployment, but the first inside the Axial Seamount caldera. The company is currently expanding into a 25,000-square-foot concrete facility which has ample space for research and component manufacturing. The company’s CEO, Andrew Redd, a former SpaceX engineer, noted:

“Everyone is incredibly multidisciplinary. The challenge is incredibly multidisciplinary. That’s what makes it so fun and exciting,” said Redd, watching his team at work. He pointed to the company’s thermal fluids analyst, for example, who at that moment was assembling electronics enclosures.

     The company’s team includes several former SpaceX employees, along with former employees of fusion startup Helion Energy, and former Blue Origin employees.

     As summarized below, the system will tap into hydrothermal fluids but avoid areas with active hydrothermal vents. It will also take advantage of the colder seawater for heat exchange in order to cool the refrigerant back into a liquid form. They will also observe the system’s performance and utilize subsea-durable switchboxes to control parameters remotely.

     There are some disadvantages to undersea geothermal projects, including the need for power cables to carry the power ashore, where costs increase with distance. There are also the usual issues with tapping hydrothermal systems, including high pressure and corrosive conditions, mineral scaling inside devices, and the risk of costly repairs to seafloor machinery.

     According to Geekwire:

“Endurance has done four prototype deployments, reaching a depth of about 2 miles and temperatures up to 726 degrees Fahrenheit. The company has previously visited the Pacific Northwest’s Juan de Fuca Ridge, the Mariana Trough, the East Pacific Rise off Mexico, and the Kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean.”

     Thus far, the company has managed to raise $63 million in investments. The company’s next project, scheduled for next year, is a megawatt-scale commercial pilot, offshore the island of Tonga. The company’s website points out the potential for subsea geothermal systems for powering island countries that often rely on expensive, polluting, and carbon-emitting oil, diesel, and LNG imports for power. Reading about the company made me wonder how they are drilling the wells and how deep they are. I did not find drilling depths, but since they are near active vent areas, they are probably not very deep. I found the following quote captioning a video on the company’s LinkedIn page. I was not able to copy the video, but the link for the company’s LinkedIn page is below. The video shows a ship, the Ocean Guardian, used for deployments.

“Meet Ocean Guardian, our ride to the Juan de Fuca Ridge. At 260 feet with dynamic positioning and 60 berths, the vessel will host and deploy our drill, ROV, and generator to the seafloor while serving as home for three weeks at sea. Mission prep is underway.”

(27) Endurance Energy: Posts | LinkedIn

     Apparently, for a deployment earlier this year off the west coast of Tonga, the team successfully deployed a wellhead prototype directly on a hydrothermal vent which naturally vents hot water into the sea.

“Off the west coast of Tonga, in the Lau Basin, hydrothermal fluid exits the seafloor via hydrothermal vents at over 300ºC/572ºF. Our first wellhead prototype has mated to one of these vents and is actively pumping hydrothermal fluid. All of the power needed to pump, sense, and communicate is generated onboard via solid state thermo-electric generators. In the future these systems will be used to cap drilled wells, sensing temperature and flow rate while amplifying and stabilizing the hydrothermal fluid being sent to our full-scale multi-MW generators.”

     Of the three pics below that went with this LinkedIn post, the first one seems to be the drilling assembly, the second the deployment of the wellhead unit, and the third might be an active hydrothermal vent.

     Interestingly, the company has also tested its equipment on-site with scuba divers in shallower waters, which also match the buoyancy and handling requirements of the deeper water that most deployments will be in. The company sponsors advanced scuba certification for all employees.

 

References:

 

Go inside Endurance Energy, the Seattle startup tapping underwater volcanoes for geothermal power. Lisa Stiffler. Geekwire. August 17, 2026. Go inside Endurance Energy, the Seattle startup tapping underwater volcanoes for geothermal power

Subsea geothermal for energy abundance. Endurance Energy. Endurance Energy