Energy 101

What if we could harness the reaction at the core of the sun to generate power? For decades, scientists have been trying to do just that: create a fusion generator that could supply the world with unlimited clean electricity from hydrogen molecules found in seawater.

Much like the term “energy efficiency”, carbon capture is an umbrella term for many technologies. This overview describes the main technology types.

How nuclear fuel is created and deployed is complex and often misunderstood; this article provides a high-level, broad explanation of how low enriched uranium nuclear fuel is currently made and a short introduction to innovative fuel alternatives.

Geothermal energy is a highly promising and reliable zero-emission technology. Besides critical investments in R&D, the biggest hindrance to geothermal development are permitting and other regulatory barriers that are more stringent than for oil and gas.

U.S. and global climate and clean power goals won’t be achievable without existing and next-generation nuclear generation. The scale of global environmental challenges demands that we continue developing and improving on a range of low-carbon options.

Recent reports from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) have indicated a 14 percent decline in U.S. energy-related carbon emissions from 2005 to 2017. The main driver behind this emissions reduction is that more electricity has been generated from natural gas than from other fossil fuels.

Energy storage can help the grid in so many ways – it allows us to save electricity for a more appropriate time or can be used in multiple applications to assist in balancing and maintaining the grid.

American leadership is essential to bend the curve of carbon pollution downward toward zero. A U.S.-powered international initiative to accelerate progress on a technology essential to that push — long-duration energy storage — would demonstrate that leadership.

Mission Innovation (MI) is an initiative by 22 countries and the European Commission to increase collaboration on clean energy research and development (R&D). The initiative was launched in 2015 by the United States, France, India and a coalition of business leaders.

Natural gas is an energy Swiss Army knife used for electricity generation, transportation fuels, and home heating. The fuel can also be used to make a variety of chemicals, such as fertilizers and hydrogen. Current estimates show the United States has enough natural gas to last us through the end of the 21st century.

Nuclear energy development peaked in the 1970s and 1980s, and most of our current reactors began in those two decades. Increased regulation and opposition from environmental groups and their allies have contributed to the slowdown in nuclear energy growth. Nuclear development in the U.S. has virtually flat-lined for the past three decades and continues to face huge challenges.

Hydropower harnesses the force of flowing water to create electricity. It is one of the oldest and most affordable ways to make electricity. In fact, one of the world’s first commercial power projects made hydroelectricity from Niagara Falls in 1896. In a testament to their durability, many hydropower projects built during that era are still churning out electrons today.

Technology innovation is America’s specialty. It’s what maintains our international leadership and competitive edge and what will ensure our nation’s future success. Half of all economic growth in the U.S. since WWII can be linked to technological innovation.

Carbon capture, utilization and storage (“CCS” or “CCUS”) refers to a suite of technologies that selectively capture carbon dioxide from industrial sources or the atmosphere, where the captured molecules are geologically stored or “recycled” to make products.

The suspension — at least for now — of the first two U.S. conventional nuclear reactors under construction in more than three decades, underscores what was already painfully obvious: the future of nuclear and of clean energy broadly will rest on the backs of people who decide to lead today.

The Department of Energy can return to its innovation heyday, where policymakers, researchers and developers were all on the same page on what was needed to turn a blueprint into a billion-dollar industrial breakthrough. But it’ll take sustained federal dollars and vision to get there.

The gas that lights your stove and heats your water is also changing the world. It’s natural gas, and thanks to fracking, it’s cheap and plentiful in America. Fracking kicked off a new energy renaissance in America. The innovation is one of the factors that has helped bring our economy out of recession and has helped create hundreds of thousands of American jobs across the country.

Common sense reforms would boost American energy security, grow the tax base, and help commercialize low-carbon fossil fuel technologies. Instead of just saying no, environmentalists, private firms and government must roll up their sleeves and work together to drive growth and ensure a cleaner, more secure energy future.