Tim De Chant, Author at TechCrunch

Nuclear startups face new competition as energy giant Enel enters the ring

Tim De Chant — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 20:03:26 +0000

The new endeavor could put additional pressure on small modular reactor (SMR) startups that have struggled to build power plants.

Trump’s pro-fracking energy secretary pick has also invested in geothermal and nuclear startups

Tim De Chant — Mon, 18 Nov 2024 20:40:16 +0000

Chris Wright has been a big booster of oil and gas, but he's also no stranger to climate tech.

Microsoft bets a carbon removal bake-off will help offset its skyrocketing AI emissions

Tim De Chant — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 17:23:57 +0000

Microsoft is buying 10,000 tons of carbon credits from Deep Sky, a direct air capture developer.

Ecolectro stuffs hydrogen production into shipping containers to cut costs

Tim De Chant — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 17:00:00 +0000

The startup figures the best way to rein in costs is to bring production closer to where it’s being used.

Nearly half of AI data centers may not have enough power by 2027

Tim De Chant — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 15:31:22 +0000

AI’s insatiable thirst for electricity is expected to surge in the coming years.

Lyten buys battery manufacturing assets from beleaguered Northvolt

Tim De Chant — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 16:17:26 +0000

Silicon Valley unicorn Lyten will gain equipment and space to start making its lithium-sulfur batteries.

NitroVolt is helping farmers make their own fertilizer using renewable power

Tim De Chant — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 14:15:14 +0000

The majority of the world’s ammonia is produced using the 115-year-old Haber-Bosch process, which is heavily reliant on natural gas. NitroVolt could change that.

SpaceX alums find traction on Earth with their Mars-inspired CO2-to-fuel tech

Tim De Chant — Mon, 11 Nov 2024 17:30:26 +0000

Though General Galactic is focused on producing methane, the company isn’t necessarily looking to displace the fuel from heating and energy.

Large funds are too invested in the energy transition to turn back now

Tim De Chant — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 16:11:20 +0000

The recent U.S. election might appear bad for climate tech, but the energy transition has enough financial momentum that experts aren’t expecting investment trends to change anytime soon.

Why founders shouldn’t chase massive TAMs

Tim De Chant — Thu, 07 Nov 2024 14:44:00 +0000

Not every investor will be impressed by a founder’s massive prospective TAM, short for total addressable market.

How Trump’s election could affect the startup-friendly Inflation Reduction Act

Tim De Chant — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 15:59:18 +0000

While Trump's administration is unlikely to be supportive of certain climate tech startups, it will have a harder time ending the broadly popular law.

Google is opening an AI hub in oil-rich Saudi Arabia

Tim De Chant — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 19:55:03 +0000

The new AI hub will support research into Arab language AI models and “Saudi-specific AI applications.”

Oil giant BP is killing 18 hydrogen projects, chilling the nascent industry

Tim De Chant — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 17:45:34 +0000

The hydrogen industry, which has relied on oil and gas companies both financially and through lobbying efforts, is preparing for a grim outcome.

How a box on a roof helped Transaera land $8.2 million in funding

Tim De Chant — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 16:00:40 +0000

The company has been toiling for seven years, developing a novel air conditioning technology and searching for a beachhead market.

Regulators deliver successive blows to Amazon and Meta’s nuclear power ambitions

Tim De Chant — Mon, 04 Nov 2024 19:00:21 +0000

A series of recent rulings from regulators dashed the Big Tech companies' hopes of finding a quick fix for their electricity needs.

When to sell your company? Look for these signals

Tim De Chant — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 20:14:00 +0000

Startups are 16-times more likely to get acquired than to IPO. Here's how to decide when o cash out.

How to build a company that can save the world and generate a profit

Tim De Chant — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 12:53:00 +0000

For startups that hope to save the world, or at least make it a better place, balancing impact with profit can be tricky.

Apple will buy renewable power for its Mac mini users

Tim De Chant — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Apple went to unusual lengths to ensure it accounted for and neutralized all the pollution that the new Mac Mini might produce.

Why Crosscut Ventures is ‘following the founders’ into climate, space, and beyond

Tim De Chant — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 14:00:00 +0000

The focus of the new $100 million fund, Crosscut’s sixth, will include energy and power, space and underwater exploration, advanced manufacturing, advanced materials, and security and defense.

SpiralWave’s pulsing plasma towers transform carbon dioxide into liquid fuel

Tim De Chant — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 18:24:10 +0000

If there’s anything that came from one of the worlds that was promised to us in “Back to the Future” or “The Jetsons” or innumerable other sci-fi franchises, it’s what SpiralWave co-founder and CEO Abed Bukhari showed me on a video call. Purple-tinged waves of white plasma rhythmically rose and vanished within a metal-screened column, […]