Huge week for clean energy innovation projects!
PS – we’ll be off next week for Thanksgiving, but the Rundown will be back in your inbox December 3!
1. Net zero gas plant officially delivering power
Game-changing carbon capture technology is officially supplying supercritical CO2 power to the grid in Texas.
What’s clear: There are a few game changers in the energy space, and NET Power is now one of them.
This carbon capture technology will be able to produce cleaner, emissions-free power from coal and natural gas affordably and on demand.
Plug in: It was reported that NET Power’s project in La Porte, Texas, “exported enough energy to power more than 1,000 homes during a first-time grid synchronization.”
“This is a Wright-brothers-first-flight kind of breakthrough for energy,” Net Power CEO Ron DeGregorio said.
2. Wyoming getting an advanced reactor
TerraPowerannouncedit will build its Natrium reactor, an advanced nuclear power plant that utilizes thermal energy storage, in Kemmerer, Wyoming at a retiring coal facility.
What’s clear: This is incredible news as the next generation of American clean energy innovation is happening. The new nuclear plant will:
provide both reliable and flexible carbon-free power,
create quality jobs in an area that would have otherwise suffered, and
make America competitive again with China and Russia – who are both hard at work trying to surpass the U.S. in advanced nuclear energy technology.
Plug in: This reactor will be built as part of the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP), which Senators Lamar Alexander, Cory Booker, Jeff Flake, and Lisa Murkowski – with our support – helped come up with back in 2016 with a couple of National Lab directors.
Many of the largest utility companies in the U.S. are making big bets that they will reach net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.
Without a large helping of nuclear power in the mix to produce needed clean energy, these bets are less likely and will certainly be more expensive.
Fun fact: ClearPath’s Chris Tomassi is from Kemmerer, Wyoming!
3. Rich joins the “progrum”
Rich Powell joined the Ruthless Podcast this week to talk about how Republicans are leading with clean energy innovation solutions to the climate challenge.
4. Oklo & Centrus team up on advanced nuclear fuel
Oklo Inc. and Centrus Energy Corp. are partnering to deploy a High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) production facility.
Plug in: HALEU is necessary for the majority of advanced nuclear reactor designs, and the U.S. needs to ensure that it has its own HALEU supply chain.
This partnership will help advance production capabilities to support the commercialization of Oklo’s power plants.
5. CDR is in the air
How do we get rid of the CO₂ already in the atmosphere?
Fortunately, there are multiple carbon dioxide removal (CDR) solutions.
Plug in: Carbon dioxide removal refers to the process of removing CO₂ that has already been emitted into the atmosphere.
Solutions range from engineered solutions such as direct air capture (DAC) and biomass energy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) to natural solutions such as tree planting.
Our new 101 dives into the basics, including how the various types of technologies work.
6. Accelerating the timeline for fusion energy
Clean energy company Helion announced a fundraising round of $500 million in private investments for the construction of its fusion device, Polaris, in Everett, Washington.
Polaris is expected to be the first fusion device capable of demonstrating net electricity production in 2024.
7. ICYMI
The Renewable Energy Buyers Association will now be known as the Clean Energy Buyers Association (CEBA), signaling support for additional clean energy technologies.
Dynamo Energy Hub published a spotlight interviewwith Rich Powell on how to effectively advance clean energy innovation policy.
Senator Crapo explains market-driven climate solutions known as the Energy Sector Innovation Credit (ESIC) in this three-minute video.
An Australian company is preparing to tap a buried reservoir of salty, superheated water to produce renewable energy— and lithium, a crucial ingredient in batteries.
