Welcome to your Friday Rundown for the week ending Jan. 19. Feedback is always welcome at info@clearpathaction.org.
TURNING THE CORNER TO U.S. CLEAN ENERGY DOMINANCE
The U.S. has upended the global oil and gas market thanks to the domestic shale revolution. We can dominate the clean energy market in the same vein, but to do it we need innovation and a long-term vision.
2018 is the year we can turn the corner. And we have to.
China’s booming investment in nuclear, solar, grid-scale storage and other advanced technologies threatens to leave the U.S. far behind in the global clean energy race.
ClearPath Founder Jay Faison and Executive Director Rich Powell lay out some of the success stories of 2017 but also the must haves for 2018 if the U.S. is to start gaining even modest ground with China:
The U.S. will trail China in nuclear power in a decade “if the current policies don’t change,” International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Jan. 16. More than one-third of all global nuclear development is happening in China, Birol said.
Senate Energy Chairman Lisa Murkowski noted how “quickly and I would say dramatically” Russia and particularly China have gained ground in global nuclear production. She questioned whether that reality will spur the U.S. “to renew its efforts” in nuclear power or “continue to cede and take a backseat.”
Watch a colloquy below between Chairman Murkowski and Birol on how small modular reactors and other next-generation technologies can help the U.S. retain the lead.
Chairman Murkowski, IEA’s Birol Discuss U.S. Nuclear’s Future
SPEAD READ
Revolutionary NET Power uses supercritical carbon to drive turbines GREENWIRE
Lithium metal may unlock next grid-scale storage stage GREENTECH MEDIA
TUESDAYSenate Energy and Natural Resources hearing on examining “the performance of the electric power system” in extreme weather, including this winter’s bomb cyclone. Witnesses include FERC Chairman Kevin McIntyre and DOE Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability Assistant Secretary Bruce Walker. DETAILS
