Greetings NCEC members, 

Our monthly feature for May is VulcanX, a spinoff from The University of British Columbia’s Mérida Labs. Please see the attachment or click HERE for an NCEC interview with Dr. Walter Mérida, who leads Mérida Labs, and is Associate Dean of Research and Industrial Partnerships in the Faculty of Applied Science. VulcanX is developing a hydrogen generation technology based on methane pyrolysis. 

Speaker slots are almost full for the 2025 New Carbon Economy Consortium Annual Meeting from 29th June- 1stJuly hosted by the University of Exeter. Please register to reserve your slot and let us know if you would like a speaking role. Please visit the New Carbon Economy Consortium events page HERE for our 2025 NCEC Annual Meeting details! Registration can be found at the bottom of the previously linked page. Please reach out if you have any questions or need help with registration. Hybrid attendee options available. 

Updates for this month:  

• If you are attending the 2025 NCEC Annual Meeting, we encourage you to stick around and attend The Exeter Climate Forum 2 July- 4 July 2025 hosted by the University of Exeter and the Met Office. More info HERE. NCEC member attendees may register for the subsidized rate as NCEC. Please reach out to krista.obrien@asu.edu for more information.

• Yale-related nonprofit wins $50 million grand prize from the XPRIZE Carbon Removal international competition.  

• Climate Interactive releases powerful new features to explore carbon capture and storage in the En-ROADS Simulator on whether CCS can make a difference or if its an excuse to continue burning coal, oil and gas. 

• Carbon Direct features Carbon180’s Ugbaad Kosar in “Towards equitable carbon action: Community benefits and environmental justice”

•  Sir Keir Starmer unveils £2bn carbon capture deal creating 2,000 jobs HERE. 

• The end-to-end scientific case for climate liability is now closed. The Nature paper “Carbon majors and the scientific case climate liability”

• Lever Room carbon modelling team shows a net positive carbon balance for a Climate Positive Living House that stores more carbon than it emits. 

• Elemental Impact releases Elemental Insights 2024 Annual Report: Investing in Entrepreneurs. Deepening Local Impact.  

• United Airlines Invests in DAC Tech by Heirloom, Securing Right to Buy 500k Tons of CDR. 

• Green or Greenwashed: Is Carbon Capture the key to combat climate crisis? Featuring ASU’s Matt Green and Klaus Lackner. 

• Pachama releases a new tool for Land Suitability which can screen land in seconds based on the potential for reforestation, project implementation and key registry requirements. 

• World Resource Institute releases a Working Paper on Biomass and Land Use in a Decarbonizing US Economy. 

Reminders:

• NCEC 2025 Annual Meeting Save the Date: June 29th- July 1st hosted at the University of Exeter.  Event Website HERE.  

• The NCEC LinkedIn has also launched! Please follow along and invite your colleagues to follow along as well! 

We look forward to continuing the critical work to develop a new carbon economy.  

Please reach out if you’d like to add any updates for next month.