Former ExxonMobil Engineer Joins ClearPath Policy Team
ClearPath announced Jena Lococo has joined the team as a Policy Analyst. She will work across ClearPath’s clean energy technology portfolio, with a focus on carbon capture, utilization, and storage, petrochemicals, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations, and regulatory reforms that can accelerate technology deployment.
Monumental Clean Energy Innovation Package Becomes Law
The Energy Act of 2020 that passed in December is a monumental clean energy authorization package including a number of clean energy innovation bills that together will reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. and globally. In addition to the new reforms to the federal clean energy innovation programs, the final package builds on previous successes in funding for clean energy programs at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and other agencies across the federal government.
Rich’s Take
“This is the biggest bipartisan energy policy win of the 116th Congress, and the most significant energy legislation we’ve seen in over a decade and now the work needs to shift to implementation. The resulting technological innovation will provide options for both American and global energy systems to go clean and address the global emissions reduction challenges. It will lead to smarter, more targeted investments by the Department of Energy focused on real-world outcomes.”
Treasury Issues Final 45Q Rule
The main federal tax credit for carbon capture (otherwise dubbed “45Q”) projects received two major boosts over the last two weeks. Congress extended the credit for two years as part of the December stimulus package. Project developers now have until the end of 2025 instead of 2023 to commence construction. Separately, the IRS also released its final rules on how taxpayers could claim the credit. The administrative move was long-awaited since the credit was revamped in 2018. The rules adopt several ClearPath recommendations, including around carbon utilization and geologic storage requirements, and were widely applauded by carbon capture and sequestration supporters. Read more
DOE Releases Energy Storage Grand Challenge Roadmap
On December 21, DOE published the Energy Storage Grand Challenge (ESGC) Roadmap, the Department’s first comprehensive energy storage strategy. The Roadmap is focused on three overarching goals to position the U.S. for global leadership in energy storage RD&D and manufacturing: “Innovate Here, Make Here, and Deploy Everywhere.” Read more
House Energy & Commerce Committee Announces Staff
This week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans announced their senior staff hires. Read their list here
DOE’s ARDP Awards $20 million for Advanced Reactor Concepts
Last month, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $20 million in awards for the third of three programs under the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP). The goal of the ARC-20 program is to assist the progression of advanced reactor designs in their earliest phases. DOE selected three U.S.-based teams to receive ARC-20 funding:
Inherently Safe Advanced SMR for American Nuclear Leadership – Advanced Reactor Concepts, LLC (Herndon, VA)
Fast Modular Reactor Conceptual Design – General Atomics (San Diego, CA)
Horizontal Compact High Temperature Gas Reactor – Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (Cambridge, MA)
DOE Invests Nearly $7.6M to Develop Energy Storage Projects
Energy storage technologies are vital to balance supply and demand in the power grid and improve quality and delivery, all while playing a pivotal role in protecting American households and industries from power interruptions. In December, the U.S. Department of Energy announced investments of $7.6 million for dozens of projects to develop hydrogen, compressed air and other energy storage technologies. Read the list of projects here
McKinley, Schrader Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Spur Innovation, Reduce Emissions
At the end of the 116th Congress, U.S. Reps. David B. McKinley, P.E. (R-WV) and Kurt Schrader (D-OR) introduced the Clean Energy Future through Innovation Act of 2020 to accelerate the development and commercialization of clean energy technologies. It’s likely that they will reintroduce this or similar legislation this Congress. Read more
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Bloomberg: Climate, Energy ‘Singles,’ Not Home Runs, Seen in New Landscape
Bloomberg reported bipartisan climate and energy legislation “still has the best shot at passage given a narrowly divided Congress.” ClearPath Executive Director Rich Powell said, “Whatever you think about getting to a clean electric grid, the existing siting and permitting structure won’t allow us to get there. Republicans are lined up and ready to go on an agenda like that, so the question is going to be, how far and how fast Democrats are willing to go?” Read more
Alaska Public Media: Pandemic relief bill is the biggest thing Congress has done to battle climate change in years
Alaska Public Media reported the COVID relief bill “is the biggest thing Congress has done to battle climate change in years.” ClearPath Executive Director Rich Powell added, “It’s certainly the largest clean energy and climate bill in a decade. The piece that we’re most excited about is the huge moonshot program to develop new innovative clean energy technologies.” Read more
Persuasion: “Nuclear” Shouldn’t Frighten You
Advanced nuclear reactors promise an almost unlimited availability of clean heat and power, inherently safe, dispersible, and reliable 24/7, regardless of the weather. To reduce global carbon emissions, we need nuclear power.Read more
ClearPath Submits Chapter for Canadian Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Action Plan
ClearPath sees nuclear energy as an important technology to decarbonize both the electricity sector, and other energy sectors. As allies and neighbors, the U.S. and Canada have a unique opportunity to work together to develop and deploy small modular and advanced reactors in our respective countries and internationally. ClearPath supports the Canadian SMR Action Plan Statement of Principles, and will continue its efforts to ensure that U.S. policies can enable technologies internationally, which will require collaboration between the U.S. and its allies. A successful Action Plan will develop the framework for Canadian companies to be viable both domestically and internationally. By ensuring the Action Plan fosters collaboration between allied countries, such as the United States, success is more likely as countries can share both financial and technical resources to enable the deployment of low carbon nuclear energy. Read more
Kinzinger Introduced The Preserving Existing Nuclear Energy Generation Act
In December, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) introduced legislation that would establish an emissions avoidance program for certain nuclear reactors and authorize funding for ‘nuclear closure communities.’ The Preserving Existing Nuclear Energy Generation Act is the House companion to a bipartisan effort by the Senate, the American Nuclear Infrastructure Act (S. 4897). It’s likely that he will reintroduce this or similar legislation this Congress. Read more
Forbes: U.K. And U.S. Race For Leadership On Fusion Power?
In a new report, the U.S. fusion research community recommended the U.S. government “move aggressively” to deploy commercial fusion power as a key technology used to reduce global carbon dioxide emissions. The UK recently made a statement about its intention “to be the first country in the world to commercialise fusion energy technology, and has set out a Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution.”Read more
THE PATH AHEAD
January 13: The Stellar Energy Foundation is hosting a virtual event, “Energy, Environment, Innovation: Fusion’s Promise for our Climate” from 11:30am – 1:00pm ET. More details and registration information here
