Welcome to your weekly Rundown, for the week ending December 18. This is our final Rundown of the year, and we wish you and yours a safe and happy Holiday season.
Congress Reaches Agreement on Clean Energy Legislation
This week, it has been reported that congressional leaders have agreed on a clean energy package that reconciles the Senate’s American Energy Innovation Act (S. 2657) and the House’s Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act (H.R. 4447). As reported, the final legislation will lead to smarter, more targeted investments by the Department of Energy focused on outcomes, and the resulting technological innovation will provide options for both American and global energy systems to go clean and address the global emissions reduction challenges. Stay tuned.
Related to the developing legislation, Resources for the Future released a new analysis of advanced energy technologies included in the proposed legislation finding that cost reductions could lead to billions of dollars per year in benefits in the United States, with most of those benefits seen in lower consumer electricity bills. Read more
DOE Announces Next Round of Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program Awards
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) awarded $30 million in Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20) funding for Risk Reduction for Future Demonstration projects, the second pathway under its Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP). The awards kickstart seven-year, public-private partnerships with Kairos Power, Westinghouse Electric Company, BWXT Advanced Technologies, Holtec Government Services, and Southern Company Services to develop reactors that can be licensed and deployed over the next 10 to 14 years. Read more
Rich’s Take
“The key to unlocking the exciting potential of advanced nuclear technology is through demonstrations – and in order for the U.S. to regain nuclear energy competitiveness globally, we need an affordable product. By supporting a variety of companies building test and demonstration reactors, the U.S. will be well on its way to reclaiming our role as the world’s most trusted nuclear energy leader.”
Northern Lights Project Gets Green Light
The Norwegian government this week approved the final investment decision for the Northern Lights carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) project, a full-scale CCS project which includes capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial capture sources in the Oslo-fjord region. Phase one of the project is expected to be completed in 2024 with a storage capacity of up to 1.5 million tons per year of CO2. Read more
GE Calls For ‘Urgent’ Climate Action
This week, GE released a whitepaper, “Accelerated Growth of Renewables and Gas Power Can Rapidly Change the Trajectory on Climate Change,” that argues “decarbonization can best be achieved through deploying renewable and gas power in tandem in the short-term.” The whitepaper outlines technical pathways for gas power to achieve a lower carbon footprint through the use of low- and zero-carbon fuels — including hydrogen — as well as carbon capture utilization and sequestration (CCUS) technologies. Read
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Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) penned an op-ed in Magic Valley advocating for nuclear energy innovation. He wrote, “The advancement of clean, reliable nuclear energy is paramount to maintaining the United States’ eminence in nuclear power, research and innovation” – pointing to the recently introduced American Nuclear Infrastructure Act (ANIA) of 2020 (S. 4897), which would enable U.S. international leadership, preserve America’s nuclear fuel supply chain, reduce carbon emissions, and strengthen our economic, energy, and national security. Read the op-ed
Storing CO2 and Lowering Emissions Act (SCALE Act) Introduced
On Wednesday, Reps. David McKinley (R-WV), Marc Veasey (D-TX), Pete Stauber (R-MN), and Cheri Bustos (D-IL) introduced the Storing CO2 and Lowering Emissions (“SCALE”) Act, which would support the development of necessary infrastructure to deploy carbon capture projects at scale. Read more
Xcel Energy, INL to Use Nuclear Energy for Clean Hydrogen Production
Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy will work with Idaho National Laboratory to demonstrate a system that uses a nuclear plant’s steam and electricity to split water. The resulting hydrogen initially will be used at the power plant but could eventually be sold to other industries.
The new project is the first to pair a commercial electricity generator with high-temperature steam electrolysis (HTSE) technology and builds on a project launched in 2019 to demonstrate how hydrogen production facilities could be installed at operating nuclear power plants. Read more
Fox News: Rep. Fleischmann’s Big Idea: How the US can stay ahead of China on nuclear energy
Last week, Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN) gave an interview to Fox News on nuclear energy and our path forward as a nation. “America is experiencing a nuclear renaissance. If we succeed in this endeavor, we will see a strong and robust nuclear energy industry,” Fleischmann said. Read the interview
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Kairos Power Selects East Tennessee Technology Park Site for Fluoride Salt-Cooled High-Temperature Test Reactor
Last Friday, Kairos Power announced at the 2020 East Tennessee Economic Council (ETEC) Annual Meeting and Awards Celebration its plans to deploy its test reactor, which was also selected as part of the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Read more
CF Industries Announces Commitment to Clean Energy Economy
CF Industries Holdings, Inc., a leading global manufacturer of hydrogen and nitrogen products, recently announced significant steps to support a global hydrogen and clean fuel economy through the production of green and low-carbon ammonia. Read more
AAF: A Trade Policy to Combat Climate Change
In an analysis released this week, American Action Forum (AAF) examined the opportunities and challenges of U.S. exports of clean energy. AAF identifies the agencies key to exporting clean energy and the barriers the U.S. has imposed upon itself in this space, including restrictive export controls across multiple agencies. Read more
ICYMI Our Latest Video: Clean Energy Marshall Plan
For our history buff subscribers, you’re familiar with The Marshall Plan — the U.S. program that provided aid to our allies following World War II. As a result of helping reconstruct cities, industries and infrastructure after the War, the U.S. also reaped tremendous economic benefits from new trade opportunities. Recalling that incredible success, we propose a “Clean Energy Marshall Plan” – one that can make our energy sector cleaner AND more reliable here in the U.S. and around the globe, while making the American economy even stronger.
Watch our latest video proposing a four-step strategy to achieve this, by innovating, permitting, building and exporting. Watch here
THE PATH AHEAD
January 7: The National Reactor Innovation Center is hosting the “Advanced Reactor Demonstration” webinar as part of the NRIC’s “What Inspires Us” webinar series from 2:30pm – 4:00pm ET. This session will feature executives from TerraPower and X-energy as they discuss their advanced reactor designs, Natrium and Xe-100. More details and registration information here
