EBI News for April 30, 2026 – Kurita invests in Cyclopure to accelerate PFAS business

Ara Partners invests up to $500 million in Sedron

Ara Partners announced an investment of up to $500 million in Sedron Technologies LLC (Sedro-Woolley, Wash.), a specialist in advanced upcycling systems that transform waste streams into reusable water and fertilizer.  Sedron’s patented Varcor technology combines dewatering, thin film drying, and side-stream nitrogen removal without polymers or flocculants. According to Ara, Varcor uses up to 10 times less energy than conventional alternatives. Sedron has two businesses:  Municipal Biosolids Upcycling to process wastewater biosolids into purified water and a concentrated fuel used to produce carbon-negative electricity and destroy PFAS and other contaminants; and Agriculture Upcycling to process dairy manure into purified water and fertilizer. Sedron recently announced a strategic partnership with Synagro for a regional biosolids upcycling facility in Indiantown, Fla., with commissioning scheduled for 2028. 

Pelican Energy adds to nuclear containment portfolio

Pelican Energy Partners announced the acquisition of Environmental Alternatives Inc. (EAI, Swanzey, N.H.), a provider of environmental and radiological services such as site assessment and remediation, hazardous waste management, nuclear decontamination, and decommissioning support. EAI’s technologies include Rad-Release, a patented chemical extraction and radiological decontamination technology developed by the U.S. Department of Energy and licensed exclusively to EAI. Pelican plans to incorporate EAI into its nuclear containment portfolio platform. According to Fortune Business Insights, the global nuclear decommissioning market was valued at $9.05 billion in 2025, with the United States representing 32% market share, and is expected to grow to $12.94 billion by 2034.

Kurita invests in Cyclopure to accelerate PFAS business

Kurita Water Industries Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan) has invested in and expanded its partnership with Cyclopure Inc. (Evanston, Ill.), a company that develops PFAS adsorbents. Kurita has also obtained exclusive sales rights to Cyclopure’s DEXSORB for industrial and certain municipal water applications in the United States. The adsorbent is based on plant-derived beta-cyclodextrin and offers targeted PFAS removal. The partnership aims to expand PFAS operations in the United States, in addition to constructing an industrial-scale DEXSORB regeneration plant and distributing regenerated media. Kurita America will incorporate Cyclopure’s technology into the treatment systems it provides to water utilities, establishing a foundation for PFAS remediation in the United States before expanding that business internationally.

Data centers to capture up to 40% of U.S. electrical equipment market by 2030

The U.S. data center electrical equipment market is projected to surge from $20 billion to $65 billion by 2030, with data centers capturing up to 40% of the total U.S. electrical equipment market under accelerated scenarios—a dramatic rise from just under 2% in 2020, according to a recent Wood Mackenzie analysis. The surge is exacerbating equipment bottlenecks, with lead times for critical components already at 18-36 months, driving prices higher and potentially delaying projects, according to the report. Of Wood Mackenzie’s U.S. data center pipeline, approximately 600 GW of projects are still searching for power capacity compared with just 183 GW that have signed construction or electricity supply agreements with utilities. “Data centers are fundamentally different from any load the electrical equipment industry has supported before,” said Ben Boucher, a senior analyst for Wood Mackenzie. “This is a structural shift that will define the next decade of the electrical equipment market.”

Jacobs introduces Flood IQ

Jacobs (Dallas) has introduced Flood IQ to help cities, utilities and government agencies anticipate and recover from floods. Flood IQ brings together Jacobs’ flood engineering expertise with advanced AI to transform fragmented water and drainage system data into actionable intelligence, combining rainfall radar, river and coastal conditions, stormwater and wastewater network data, and critical infrastructure data. The platform forecasts where and when flooding may occur, identifies system stress points, and supports coordinated actions during severe weather events to protect communities.

Amlon Group expands hazardous waste treatment capabilities

Heartwood Partners announced that The Amlon Group (Plano, Texas) has acquired Excel TSD of Tennessee LLC (Memphis, Tenn.), representing Amlon’s seventh transaction under Heartwood’s ownership. Founded in 2003, Excel TSD is a RCRA Part B permitted hazardous and non-hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facility. “The Excel acquisition is a transformative addition to the Amlon platform,” said Mark Wayne, CEO and president of The Amlon Group. “Excel’s industrial onsite services, waste-blending capabilities, and hazardous waste disposal permit and expertise open additional new waste streams for us, complementing our existing processing and treatment infrastructure.” The acquisition also strengthens Amlon’s presence in the Mid-South region and provides access to a diversified customer base, in addition to providing the opportunity to cross-sell Amlon’s full suite of environmental services to Excel’s customers.

ERM supports Fervo Energy’s geothermal project

ERM (London, UK) announced that it acted as an environmental and social due diligence adviser to Fervo Energy (Houston) in securing $421 million in non-recourse project financing for an enhanced geothermal systems development in Utah. ERM’s review supported lenders’ understanding of the project’s long-term sustainability, regulatory compliance, land and water considerations, community engagement, and health and safety systems. Cape Station will begin delivering power to the grid in 2026 and is expected to reach approximately 100 MW of operating capacity by early 2027, with plans to scale to 500 MW. The development is fully contracted through power purchase agreements with Southern California Edison, Shell Energy and others.

Solar PV shines as single largest contributor to growth in global energy supply 

According to the latest edition of the IEA’s Global Energy Review, overall global energy demand growth slowed to 1.3% in 2025, slightly below the previous decade’s average of 1.4% and significantly lower than in 2024. The main reasons cited for this slowdown were lower global economic growth, less extreme temperatures in some regions, and rapid uptake of more efficient technologies. At the same time, global electricity demand increased by around 3%, driven by multiple sectors and fast-growing demand from electric vehicles and data centers. Solar PV was the single largest contributor to growth in global energy supply in 2025, accounting for more than 25% of the increase – the first time on record that a renewable source has led global primary energy supply growth. Natural gas took the next largest share at 17%. Overall, renewable sources and nuclear met nearly 60% of all growth in energy demand.

SLR acquires Planetrics and ClimSystems 

SLR Consulting (London, England) announced the launch of enhanced Digital Services following the acquisition of Planetrics (London, UK) and ClimSystems (Hamilton, New Zealand), two advanced climate-modelling and analytics platforms. Planetrics was acquired from McKinsey & Company and delivers climate scenario modeling through its PlanetView platform. PlanetView converts complex physical and transition risks and opportunities into financial metrics, including changes in earnings, asset value shifts and portfolio-level impacts. Building on a strategic partnership established in 2022, ClimSystems brings 20 years of physical climate intelligence to SLR, delivering detailed, science-driven modeling that quantifies how climate-related hazards could impact asset values, infrastructure resilience, and supply chain exposure. 

EA selected to study sources of PFAS/PFOS 

EA Engineering, Science, and Technology (EA, Hunt Valley, Md.) has been contracted to investigate sources of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances/perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFAS/PFOS) that have entered the Oakwood Sewer District in Detroit, Mich. Valued at approximately $3 million, the environmental services work is being performed for the Great Lakes Water Authority. PFAS in wastewater systems originate from multiple sources, including industrial discharge, consumer products, landfill leachate, and historical firefighting foam use. “Systematic source identification and strategic prioritization based on the relative contributions of PFAS mass loading within the sewer shed before entering the wastewater treatment plant represents one of the most important and necessary pre-treatment evaluation steps,” said Mahsa Modiri, EA’s PFAS technical director. 

Veolia works with Amazon on reclaimed-water cooling system

Veolia (Paris, France) is working with Amazon to reduce water use and advance water reuse in Amazon’s data center operations in Mississippi. The first facility is expected to be operational in 2027, which would make it the first Amazon data center in Mississippi to use reclaimed water for cooling. Veolia will deploy autonomous, innovative containerized treatment systems to turn effluent from nearby wastewater treatment plants and other sources into cooling water for industrial processes. The facility is expected to reuse more than 83 million gallons of potable water per year— or about the same volume of water the data center would otherwise draw from local groundwater and potable water supplies. 

Rain Enhancement guarantees 10% precipitation boost

Rain Enhancement Technologies Holdco Inc. (Naples, Fla.), a provider of ionization rainfall generation technology, announced that it will guarantee a minimum 10% precipitation enhancement for all clients deploying its Weather Enhancement Technology Array platform. According to the company, establishing a concrete, measurable performance floor marks an industry first in weather modification. “We have been setting client expectations at 10 to 20% enhancement, and we decided it was time to stand behind that with a formal guarantee,” said Randy Seidl, CEO of Rain Enhancement Technologies. 

Burns & McDonnell expands presence in Idaho 

Burns & McDonnell (Kansas City, Mo.) has announced plans to open an office in Meridian, Idaho, in the Boise metropolitan area. “From designing and building the infrastructure communities depend on to creating jobs in the Boise metropolitan area, we are excited to grow in Idaho,” said Jason Mayyak, vice president and general manager for Burns & McDonnell in the Mountain Region. To support its continued growth in the region, the firm is hiring professionals in engineering, construction, consulting and environmental services.