1. Geothermal HEATS up in the House

Rep. Young Kim (R-CA) introduced the Harnessing Energy at Thermal Sources (HEATS) bill this week to improve federal permitting for geothermal energy. This bill accompanies other proposed geothermal legislation from Congress, including:

• Rep. Michelle Steel (R-CA) submitted legislation allowing for a categorical geothermal exclusion under NEPA.
• Rep. John Curtis (R-UT) introduced a bill to establish a deadline for processing applications related to geothermal leasing.

“The current permitting process has stifled the development of innovative geothermal projects that offer 24/7 baseload clean energy. These efforts would level the playing field for geothermal projects by extending existing categorical exclusions,” said Rich Powell, CEO, ClearPath Action.

What’s clear: “This bill aims to expedite geothermal energy infrastructure development and production by eliminating the burdensome requirement for operators to obtain a federal drilling permit—a long and arduous process,” said Rep. Young Kim.
 

2. NEW REPORT: remove roadblocks for low-carbon cement, concrete & asphalt

ClearPath Policy Advisor Rafae Ghani and Senior Research Advisor Casey Kelly published a report in partnership with the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) and Clean Air Task Force (CATF) analyzing the challenges and solutions to lower carbon dioxide emissions from the cement, concrete and asphalt industries using innovation.

Paving the Way to Innovation: Moving from Prescriptive to Performance Specifications to Unlock Low-Carbon Cement, Concrete, and Asphalt Innovations covers how:

• State DOTs use “prescriptive specifications,” which may hinder low-carbon innovations.
• Adopting “performance specifications” would accelerate the innovation process to reach the market.
• Federal policy can incentivize performance specification adoption through grant programs, workforce development, and R&D funding.

What’s clear: Increasing performance specifications can unleash U.S. innovation to improve infrastructure durability, reduce lifetime costs, improve supply chain resilience and drive down emissions.

Plug in: This week, ClearPath and CATF hosted an educational briefing with top industry leaders on opportunities to decarbonize the cement, concrete, and asphalt sectors.

Thank you to our panelists, pictured here:
 

  L to R: Rick Bohan of Portland Cement Association, Heather Dylla of Construction Partners Inc., Jerae Carlson of Cemex, Liza Darwin of Brimstone Energy, and Jeremy Harrell of ClearPath.

3. First-of-its-kind fusion

Fusion energy developer Type One Energy is building its first prototype at one of the retired coal plants of the largest public power company in the U.S.

Last year, Type One signed an MOU with the TVA and the DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

• The prototype will test how well the design can produce a stable reaction.
• This technology could eventually be used in a working fusion power plant.

What’s clear: Fusion is a nuclear energy technology with the potential to create large amounts of carbon-free electricity from some of the most abundant elements on Earth. The stellarator design is desirable because it can produce stable reactions at a lower cost.
 

4. ClearPath at Aspen Institute’s Future Leaders Climate Summit

ClearPath Policy Advisor Jasmine Yu was selected for the 2024 Future Leaders Climate Fellows cohort.

These leaders will attend the Aspen Insitute’s Future Leaders Climate Summit in Miami to discuss policy, innovative solutions, communications, leadership, and career development.

Congratulations, Jasmine!
 

5. The allure of algae in carbon dioxide removal

DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and Office of Fossil Energy & Carbon Management (FECM) announced their intent to support more R&D projects.

The Mixed Algae Conversion Research Opportunity (MACRO) FOA would:

• Convert algae and wet waste feedstocks into low-carbon fuels, chemicals, and agricultural products,
• Help build supply chains to accelerate the demand of the feedstock, and
• Enhance algae growth with CO2.

What’s clear: More R&D would address gaps in carbon dioxide (CO2) use, conversion technologies, and product development that limit the use of algal feedstocks.
 

6. Attending Western Governors’ Association

Savvy Bowman and Jasmine Yu of ClearPath’s policy team attended the WGA’s Decarbonizing the West initiative in Denver, CO.

This workshop, Chaired by Gov. Mark Gordon (R-WY) and hosted by Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO), examined issues related to carbon removal technologies, including direct air capture (DAC) and geologic carbon storage.

Plug in: Read our blog to learn more about the importance of carbon storage and utilization.
 

7. Paul Dabbar on the growing strength of U.S. energy posture

The United States has become the global energy superpower in the last decade. Energy diplomacy must maximize American and our allies’ energy security, market stability, global supply chains, emerging technologies, and environmental policy.

Advisory Board member Paul Dabbar published a piece with the Hoover Institution covering the state of American Energy over the past decade.
 

8. ICYMI

• DOE announced its investment of up to $100 million for carbon dioxide removal pilots and testing facilities to demonstrate and scale up technologies.
• Resources for the Future shared a report covering America’s opportunity to scale up and improve CO₂ removal. The report highlighted catalyzing policy mechanisms like the bipartisan Carbon Removal and Emissions Storage Technologies (CREST) Act to support carbon removal innovation.
• Georgia Power started the nuclear reaction inside the second Plant Vogtle Unit 4 reactor.
• U.S. steel manufacturers are turning to low-emissions hydrogen to decarbonize.
• Thermal battery innovator Antora Energy announced a $150 million Series B funding round.
• The DOE and Kairos Power signed a novel Technology Investment Agreement to implement an Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program funding award. This unique contract could be a model for future cost-share awards.