Heliogen is a startup that wants to “replace fuels with sunlight.” And the Bill Gates-backed solar startup, which has flown under the radar until today, has made a major green-energy breakthrough for heavy industry. Heliogen “has created the world’s first technology that can commercially replace fuels with carbon-free, ultra-high temperature heat from the sun.”

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In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• The European Union will stop funding fossil fuels by the end of 2021.
• Oil giant Aramco gears up for its initial public offering.
• The first-ever hydrogen-powered train is coming to the US.
• Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette had his first US Senate energy secretary hearing yesterday.

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In a groundbreaking triumph for green energy, the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union’s financing department, will cease funding for nearly all fossil-fuel projects by the end of 2021.

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In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• African Development Bank pulls out of an eastern Kenyan coal plant project at Lamu.
• Seoul is putting solar on all public buildings and 1 million homes.
• German steel giant Thyssenkrupp uses hydrogen as a step toward its net-zero-by-2050 pledge.
• An earthquake in France earlier this week prolongs the shutdown of nuclear reactors until December.

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In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• Donald Trump’s firm will pay the Scottish government £225,000 in legal fees after it’s defeated by an offshore wind farm.
• EV time-varying rates incentivize off-peak charging, finds new SEPA study.
• IEA: Growth of SUVs kills eco-benefits from rise of electric cars
• Accelerator GCxN has announced its second cohort of five companies addressing utility grid and EV charging issues.

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In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• Qantas Airways will cut its carbon emissions to net zero by 2050 — good news among bad climate news.
• G20 countries get their report cards from Climate Transparency. Here’s the lowdown on transport.
• Three French nuclear reactors are suspended after a 5.1 magnitude earthquake.
• Sacramento Municipal Utility District wants to provide homeowners with centrally generated solar energy.

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Climate Transparency has released its 2019 Brown to Green Report. The report is “the world’s most comprehensive annual review of G20 countries’ climate action and their transition to a net zero emissions economy.” The bottom line: The G20 is not on track to meet Paris goals. But there are some positive trends in some of the world’s 20 biggest economies. And being that we’re Electrek, we’re going to take a quick look here at the report’s findings when it comes to transport.

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In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• JPMorgan launches the world’s largest commercial installation of bifacial solar modules — and also leads in fossil-fuel lending.
• Energy CEOs voice defiance on efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
• Video: The top 15 largest oil-producing countries from 1966 to 2018.
• E&E News is publishing a multi-part series on “the promise and peril of EV infrastructure.”

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