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Beta Technologies, an electric aviation company that has an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in flight testing, announced sales of a less futuristic battery-powered model on Tuesday.

Driving the news: The company is pursuing certification of an electric conventional takeoff and landing aircraft, or eCTOL, which uses airport runways, while simultaneously working on eVTOL technology. 

Why it matters: The move is shaking up the highly competitive electric aviation space. Beta is offering carriers an extensively tested near-term cargo or small passenger solution they can put into existing uses while improving their sustainability. 

The big picture: Beta founder and CEO Kyle Clark tells Axios the company is responding to customer demand by pursuing the eCTOL route.

It is also well on its way to federal certification of the aircraft, called the CX300. 

Its airframe, battery pack and avionics are identical to the eVTOL aircraft, known as the ALIA-250, but it lacks the tilt rotors.

By removing the rotors and flying conventionally, Clark said, “You get longer range and more payload, a less expensive aircraft and a clear certification path.”

The FAA has had test pilots go through Beta’s training course and fly the plane, providing feedback and potentially speeding the plane’s journey to certification, Clark said. Air Force test pilots have flown it as well.

Zoom in: So far, the eCTOL plane has flown a total of 22,000 miles and completed a 386-mile flight during two years of human-crewed testing, according to the company. It was initially built to level flight performance of the ALIA, Clark said.

The CX300 has several committed customers, including the biotech firm United Therapeutics, whose founder is one of Beta's financial backers.

Air New Zealand has committed to ordering three eCTOL aircraft, with an option for 20 more.

In addition, Bristow, a helicopter transport company, has placed a deposit-backed order for 50 eCTOL aircraft, plus its firm order for five eVTOL planes, Beta revealed.

The intrigue: Beta’s customers can use the company's fast-charging network rolling out at airports across the U.S. to support the electric transition. 

The chargers can power either of the aircraft models, as well as electric vehicles.

Instead of spending $500 to $700 for fuel to power a turbine aircraft, airlines could spend about $20 to recharge the CX300 and fly to the next stop, Clark said.

Between the lines: The certification process for both planes is happening in parallel. 

Beta aims to roll out the CX300 to commercial customers in 2025, and it already has its military certification.

It is getting ready to open a factory where it will manufacture both planes at its South Burlington, Vermont, headquarters. 

The bottom line: Clark said that with the CX300, Beta is bringing a sustainable aviation solution to market sooner at a time of “insatiable” interest. 

Meet Beta Technologies' new electric plane

The Burlington, Vermont-based company is well on its way to certification.

Photo of an electric aircraft made by BETA Technologies.

The CX300 eCTOL model aircraft. Image: BETA Technologies

Climate change

Alternative energy

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

Technology

Ominous forecasts about the impact of climate change serve as the backdrop for the world — led by U.S. lawmakers and companies — to debate big action on the problem, which could upend energy systems and our way of life.

Energy & Environment

Microsoft has a new business partnership with solar heavyweight Qcells as the tech giant boosts renewables procurement and Qcells expands U.S. manufacturing.

Driving the news: Qcells, which makes panels and other equipment, will work with Microsoft to develop utility-scale solar projects in the U.S.

They'll also provide equipment, engineering and construction services to projects Microsoft is backing with other developers via power purchase agreements, which are contracts that help finance new generation.

Why it matters: It's a lot of business. It envisions Qcells — an arm of Korean industrial giant Hanwha — initially providing 2.5 gigawatts worth of panels and related services, with room to grow.

That's "equivalent to powering over 400,000 homes," they said.

The big picture: It's the "first time a company that procures energy is working directly with a solar supplier to adopt clean energy on such an important scale," the announcement states.

Brian Janous, Microsoft's GM of energy and renewables, tells Axios the company's cumulative renewables procurement to date is around 13.5 GW.

The initial Qcells agreement is equivalent to around half the renewable gigawatts Microsoft procured from all sources worldwide last year, he said.

The intrigue: The deal is part of a tactical evolution.

"We started to think it really makes sense for us to go further upstream, and work more closely and collaboratively with suppliers of solar panels... because it helps give us some control and certainty and it does the same thing for our suppliers as well," Janous said.

Catch up fast: Two weeks ago, Qcells announced a $2.5 billion investment in Georgia, along with further plans to domestically source silicone materials.

After growth announced this year and in 2022, it will have over 8GW of production capacity in Georgia in 2024, up from 1.7GW in 2018.

Microsoft, already a top corporate renewables buyer, has a goal of matching 100% of its aggregate energy usage with renewables by 2025 and becoming carbon-negative by 2030.

What they're saying: Qcells VP Jihyun Kim called the deal part of helping the U.S. become "energy independent."

As they develop an integrated U.S. supply chain, "we definitely want to have partners, strategic and long term, for us to be able to continue growing our presence here," he said.

Microsoft and Qcells team up in major U.S. solar push

The tech and solar heavyweights are looking to deploy projects with a U.S. supply chain.

Illustration of solar panels in the shape of the Microsoft logo.

Solar power

Energy Policy

Energy Policy Alerts

Relying on Asia for imports could pose a risk to U.S. solar growth, a top Department of Energy official told Axios in an interview.

Why it matters: The department is shedding light on where it believes there is risk in the solar supply chain (China) — and where there isn't — ahead of aggressive oversight from House Republicans.

What they’re saying: “There are certainly supply chain risks that come from having manufacturing concentrated in China and Southeast Asia,” DOE Solar Energy Technologies Office director Becca Jones-Albertus told Axios.

“We certainly want a more diverse geographic footprint and we would really like to have more of that here at home.” 

The big picture: Chinese parts are getting riskier for U.S. solar firms.

The Commerce Department recently found that some of the largest solar module suppliers — all operating in China — are illegally dodging U.S. anti-dumping tariffs by routing shipments through other Asian countries. 

GOP lawmakers also urged Customs and Border Protection last month not to allow solar-related imports from companies in China over human rights concerns. 

Yes, but: Jones-Albertus said solar has one big advantage over other low-carbon products: There's no shortage of the minerals it needs.

Raw materials for making solar technology — like quartz — are found in abundance domestically, and around the world, so solar may not face the kinds of resource shortage problems befuddling batteries. 

She said the problems arrive in “those intermediate supply chain steps” where quartz is made into polysilicon for panels — another space China dominates today. 

"Supply of that raw material of quartz is not going to limit our ability to deploy solar technology," Jones-Albertus said, "but as that technology gets refined and you come into these intermediate supply chain steps, that’s where we don’t currently have U.S. manufacturing capacity." 

The big picture: Jones-Albertus pitched the Inflation Reduction Act — which was packed with solar manufacturing incentives — as a solution to weaning off Asia. 

The Solar Energy Industries Association predicts the U.S. will have significant ingot, wafer and cell manufacturing in three-to-five years, partially because of IRA incentives. 

Large solar part plants have been announced across the country since the IRA passed. And Jones-Albertus expects more to come. 

“I think this is a really exciting time because the Inflation Reduction Act actually provides the incentives needed to grow that whole supply chain here,” she said. 

Exclusive: DOE official warns of solar supply chain risks

The department is noting where it believes there is — and isn’t — risk in the solar supply chain.

Photo illustration of Becca Jones-Albertus with solar panels and abstract shapes.

Photo illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios. Photo: courtesy of DOE

Whats Next

Axios What's Next

After decades of attempts to power cars with energy from the sun, the solar automotive age might finally be upon us.

Why it matters: With climate change accelerating and high gas prices squeezing consumers' budgets, the notion of filling up with free, clean solar energy is certainly enticing.

The catch: The amount of solar energy that can actually be captured by solar panels on a car's roof is limited, which is why the tech has yet to take off.

What's new: Germany’s Sono Motors, which went public on the Nasdaq last year, may have cracked the code with a $25,000 electric SUV called the Sion that's covered pretty much bumper to bumper in solar cells.

Instead of a solar glass roof, the Sion's 456 cells are integrated seamlessly into its plastic hood, fenders, sides, roof and rear panels.

Together, they provide enough energy to extend the car's 190-mile battery range by an average of 70 miles a week — or up to 150 miles per week in perfect conditions.

For people with short commutes in sunny locales, that could mean never plugging in again.

Driving the news: I checked out the Sion on a recent blustery, overcast day in Detroit during a stop on the car's first U.S. tour.

The conditions were a good reminder of the car's practical limitations. Sono says the sun can account for about 5,400 miles of range per year — about one-third most drivers' yearly average — but that all depends on the season, the weather and even how shady your parking spot is.

Details: From a distance, the Sion appears to have one of those trendy black matte paint jobs. Up close, however, you can see the rows of solar cells embedded in the car's body panels. 

How it works: Sono spent five years trying to perfect its patented injection molding process, which integrates monocrystalline silicon cells into the Sion's scratch-resistant, dent-proof polymer panels.

Depending on the time of day and the angle of the sun, different parts of the car capture the sun's energy and feed it to the Sion's 54-kWh lithium-ion phosphate battery.

Solar aside, the Sion's battery can charge in about 30 minutes when plugged into a DC fast charger, or in a few hours at an ordinary Level 2 charger. 

Even without solar power, the $25,000 Sion is an affordable EV (although it won't qualify for U.S. tax incentives because it's built in Europe).

Sono kept costs low by outsourcing production to Valmet Automotive, a well-known Finnish contract manufacturer — and it only comes in one style, with no optional features.

"You can have any color you want, as long as it's black," quipped chief operating officer Thomas Hausch, paraphrasing Henry Ford's famous comment about the Model T. 

And the company will sell its cars directly to consumers instead of through dealerships.

What they're saying: "They've found, in between the cracks, an opportunity that other automakers were not going after," said Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives. 

Be smart: A small handful of other companies, including the California-based Aptera and Dutch startup Lightyear, are also trying to crack the solar-powered EV nut.

What to watch: More than 20,000 Europeans have put down a $2,000 refundable deposit, Sono says, and it has another 22,000 orders from fleet customers, including a subscription car service called FINN. 

The company says it is "actively evaluating American partnership opportunities" to bring the car stateside.

Meanwhile, it's already generating revenue from selling solar retrofit kits for heavy trucks and buses.

Coming soon: A $25,000 solar-powered electric SUV

Sono Motors found a way to build solar cells into a car's body panels.

Image of the Sono Sion, a solar-powered SUV from German startup Sono Motors

The Sono Sion has solar panels embedded in its polymer body panels. Photo courtesy of Sono Motors

Electric vehicles

Pro Rata

Axios Pro Rata

Climate Deals

Oil giant Shell has progressed to the second round of bidding for Danish biogas producer Nature Energy, which is being sold by a private equity consortium for around $2 billion, per Reuters.

Why it matters: Fossil fuel companies plan to buy their way into the energy transition, as renewable natural gas is generally compatible with existing infrastructure. 

Earlier this week, BP agreed to acquire Houston-based biogas producer Archaea Energy for $4.1 billion, in a massive win for the SPAC that bought Archaea just last year for $1.15 billion.

Cap table: Nature Energy owners include Pioneer Point Partners, Davidson Kempner and Sampension.

The bottom line: Biogas can provide meaningful carbon reduction, particularly when it's made from waste such as landfills and food scraps, instead of crops specifically grown for fuel. However, methane leaks remain an issue."

Shell bids for Nature Energy, as biogas deals heat up

Fossil fuel companies want to buy their way into the energy transition.

Illustration of a hand painting a gas tank green.

Climate tech

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

The Interior Department on Tuesday announced the country's first lease auction for offshore wind development in the Pacific Ocean.

Why it matters: The move is a first step toward unlocking as much as 25 GW of new wind capacity for the Western U.S.

It's also the first lease sale in the U.S. for commercial-scale floating offshore wind.

Details: The Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in December will hold a lease auction for five wind areas off the coast of California.

The lease areas cover two regions on the Outer Continental Shelf, amounting to nearly 583 square miles.

Developments there are expected to generate at least 4.5 GW of electricity, according to American Clean Power. The group says that’s roughly enough to power 1.5 million homes.

The waters off the Pacific coast are deeper than the Atlantic. Developers there have to build wind turbines that float, instead of erecting them on platforms planted in the sea floor.

Be smart: The move was expected. The Interior Department issued a proposed sale notice in May for offshore wind energy development off California.

Of note: The U.S. military had for years opposed offshore wind development in the Pacific, stating that wind turbines would interfere with training exercises.

Zoom out: The global pipeline for floating offshore wind energy doubled in 2021 to 60 GW.

Europe has been a leader in developing such projects.

Three floating offshore wind projects came online in 2021, totaling about 57 MW, per the U.S. Energy Department. They include the largest floating offshore wind project: the 50 MW Kincardine Offshore Wind Farm off Scotland.

What's next: The Biden administration is aiming to develop 30 GW of offshore wind, and 15 GW of floating offshore wind.

U.S. announces first auction for Pacific offshore wind energy

Illustration for a for sale sign in the middle of a body of water

Wind power

Qatar's energy minister sees his country supplying liquefied natural gas to Europe for decades, despite the EU's plans to pivot quickly to renewables in the wake of the Ukraine-related energy crisis.

Why it matters: This view confirms the anxiety among climate activists and some world leaders about locking in too much gas infrastructure.

Driving the news: European countries dependent on Russian gas to heat homes and power factories have been scrambling for alternative supplies and the infrastructure to receive them, and many are turning to tiny Qatar, a global gas powerhouse.

In a wide-ranging interview with Axios, Qatari Energy Minister Saad bin Sherida Al-Kaabi said Europe made a mistake in pushing to switch to renewable energy too quickly while remaining dependent on Russian gas supplies for baseload power.

Qatar and the U.S. rank as the world's top LNG suppliers, and Qatar will significantly increase its capacity when new facilities open in 2026.

Al-Kaabi met with energy secretary Jennifer Granholm and top Biden energy official Amos Hochstein on Thursday in Washington.

What they're saying: "Whether it's in the US and EU, in the Americas and Europe and Asia, gas is absolutely going to be needed for a very long time," Al-Kaabi said.

"So if they have other ideas in Europe and so on, well, if they materialize into something that's a reality, and that they can transform to something else, you know, good for them. But until then we'll be serving their markets."

What we're watching: Al-Kaabi said the global community is heading into the next round of UN climate talks in Egypt after a year of emissions backsliding. This is largely due to geopolitical developments including the uneven covid recovery and the war in Ukraine.

"Realistically, what are we gonna say in COP27?" Al-Kaabi said.

"Coal today is at its highest ever utilization in the history of humanity," he said, noting coal's high CO2 emissions compared to natural gas.

"I think we're in a very delicate situation that we have to be very careful" about pushing fossil fuels to the maximum without considering the climate consequences, he said.

"Global warming is a reality that we can't hide away from." He cited QatarEnergy, which he leads, for moving aggressively into solar, carbon capture and storage and blue ammonia projects.

The intrigue: He gave his own take on whether industrialized countries should set up a fund to compensate developing countries for the climate disasters they are already experiencing as a result of the developed world's emissions.

Qatar's official position on "loss and damage," as it is known in UN climate parlance, will be decided at the political level in his government, Al-Kaabi said.

Yes, but: The creation of a loss and damage fund will be a major point of contention at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh.

"I would not support putting a fund together or whatever they're trying to do to compensate [countries] because I think there are much bigger polluters than us that would not actually participate in doing it," he said.

Our thought bubble: This response illustrates the difficulty negotiators will have in coming away from COP27 with a tangible funding mechanism, given a perceived first-mover disadvantage.

Qatar's energy minister foreshadows COP27 fight

The issue of "loss and damage" will play an outsized role at COP27.

Photo illustration of Energy Minister for Qatar Saad Sherida al-Kaabi and an image of natural gas flames

Photo illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios. Photo: Karim Jaafar/AFP via Getty Images

Fossil fuels

Oil companies

The long-awaited Biden administration national security strategy puts climate change at the center of policymaking toward China, the Arctic, and many other parts of the globe.

Why it matters: The strategy released Wednesday by the White House integrates global warming into national security policy to an unprecedented extent, making clear the administration views the issue as “the existential challenge of our time.”

Driving the news: The shrinking window to meet the Paris Agreement targets is one of several dynamics at play that will either point toward a more stable world or help usher in “[a]n age of conflict and discord,” per the White House.

Zoom in: Previous climate change and security assessments from the military, the intelligence community and think tanks have pointed to climate change as a threat multiplier.

For example, climate change can worsen extreme weather and climate events, from hurricanes to droughts, leading to politically destabilizing mass migrations that can entangle the U.S. military in humanitarian relief missions.

The new strategy designates climate change as being among the greatest of the world’s shared challenges, which lies “[a]t the very core of national and international security,” along with food insecurity, terrorism and inflation. 

It states the U.S. is open to cooperating on shared challenges with rivals, pointing to climate talks with China. 

Yes, but: It also takes a swipe at China’s climate policies, stating the Chinese government “[a]lso continues to endanger the world with inadequate action on climate change domestically, particularly regarding massive coal power use and build up.”

Between the lines: The document nods to the fraught nature of the energy transition and the need to reduce the country’s dependence on hostile regimes “that seek to weaponize energy for coercion,” citing Russia as an example. 

Our thought bubble: The last time climate change played such a prominent role in a national security strategy was in the Obama administration’s 2015 strategy. It described the climate challenge in less dire terms: “Climate change is an urgent and growing threat.”

It also touted a climate agreement with China that helped pave the way for the Paris Agreement. 

Now, climate change impacts are far more severe, and the window to cut emissions sufficiently to meet the Paris targets is rapidly closing. At the same time, the U.S. is locked in far more heated competition with China.

Biden's national security strategy focuses on climate change

The White House's strategy integrates global warming into national security policy to an unprecedented extent.

Photo illustration of President Biden with abstract shapes and image of smokestacks.

Photo illustration: Allie Carl/Axios. Photo:Drew Angerer, Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

China is becoming the most formidable rival America has faced, and the risk of confrontation with Russia, North Korea or Iran still looms. Authoritarians are rising, the chaotic Afghanistan exit revealed the limits of U.S. power, and the pandemic, climate change and other critical challenges continue to pose grave threats.

World

A mix of politics, policy divides and a ticking clock thwarted legislation to speed permitting for energy projects ranging from fossil fuel pipelines to power transmission to renewables.

Catch up fast: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Tuesday threw in the towel for the moment.

Democratic leaders stripped his proposal from the bill to continue government funding past Sept. 30 after it became clear the measure lacked votes.

Why it matters: Renewables industry groups called the proposal needed to realize the goals of the climate bill, which invests in a huge buildout of wind, solar and other low-carbon energy.

But climate activists opposed making it easier to build oil-and-gas infrastructure — and specifically the bill's approval of the Mountain Valley Pipeline gas project. A number of progressive Democrats sided with them.

GOP lawmakers also want faster permitting, but some argued was too meager. And Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was in no mood to give Manchin a political win.

The bottom line: Add it together and there just wasn't a viable political coalition.

What we don't know: Whether efforts to revive the plan, which the White House publicly supports, have a political pulse. 

Manchin — in a statement arguing lawmakers are putting politics before energy security  — vowed to keep pushing, as did Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

The White House — in a statement that blamed Republicans but stayed silent on Democratic opposition — also said it would keep seeking a way to move the measure.

Making sense of the Senate permitting collapse

Sen. Joe Manchin threw in the towel — at least for the moment.

Illustration of legislation being pierced with fountain pens. 

Congress

U.S. solar equipment manufacturing is about to grow, but there are miles to go before reaching the White House goal of becoming a global heavyweight.

Driving the news: First Solar said Tuesday it is planning to invest up to $1 billion in a new panel factory in the southeast.

The company is also spending nearly $200 million to expand production in Ohio.

Why it matters: It's among several early signs the new climate law will sway investment.

It created new tax breaks for clean energy manufacturing projects, and extended incentives for generation projects.

CEO Mark Widmar wrote the law has "delivered precisely the durable solar industrial policy that we’ve long advocated for."

SPI Energy last week cited the law in announcing new solar wafer manufacturing plans.

The big picture: Analysts expect billions of dollars in incentives will spur  other new announcements and help bring tentative plans to fruition.

"We expect that solar companies will prioritize bringing new ingot, wafer and module factories to the U.S.," Pol Lezcano, BloombergNEF's lead North American solar analyst, said via email.

"There is definitely going to be a boom in domestic manufacturing," Sylvia Leyva Martinez, a senior Wood Mackenzie analyst, tells Axios.

She said the combination of the manufacturing tax credits and extended credits for building new generation projects will work in concert.

The Solar Energy Industries Association, in a report, said the law could help lift U.S. manufacturing to 50 gigawatts of capacity by 2030 (but also cautions on several pitfalls).

Yes, but: The U.S. remains far behind China and other regions in the supply chain for panels and other equipment. 

U.S. solar factories prepare for liftoff

Tax incentives in the new climate law are slated to boost domestic manufacturing.

Alternative energy

The big picture

Coming soon: A $25,000 solar-powered electric SUV

U.S. announces first auction for Pacific offshore wind energy

Biden's national security strategy focuses on climate change

White House climate adviser: "We can no longer wait" to cut emissions

The EU's big energy moves show a new order is quickly emerging

Exclusive: Green hydrogen company raises $11 million in Series A

All Alternative energy stories

Meet Beta Technologies' new electric plane

Microsoft and Qcells team up in major U.S. solar push

Exclusive: DOE official warns of solar supply chain risks

Coming soon: A $25,000 solar-powered electric SUV

Shell bids for Nature Energy, as biogas deals heat up

U.S. announces first auction for Pacific offshore wind energy

Qatar's energy minister foreshadows COP27 fight

Biden's national security strategy focuses on climate change

Making sense of the Senate permitting collapse