For a deeper dive on clean energy technology and policy issues, check out our series of reports below. ClearPath and organizations we collaborate with conduct analysis and submit regulatory comments on a variety of topics.
Our nation’s food and agricultural system is vast, complex, and interconnected. The security of this system is of foremost strategic importance. Shocks from extreme weather, unexpected pests and diseases, geopolitical instability, and labor and supply chain disruptions continue to demonstrate the system’s fragility.
Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is an emerging set of technologies, practices and approaches to remove carbon dioxide directly out of the atmosphere and store it. Marine CDR (mCDR), a subset of CDR solutions, can potentially complement the ocean’s natural carbon cycle and carbon storage capacity.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE, the Department) is at the core of the United States’ global leadership in energy production, advancing innovative energy technologies, protecting national security interests and supporting fundamental research and science. This report offers holistic policy recommendations and proposes a new organizational structure to best promote energy innovation.
ClearPath appreciates the opportunity to respond to the Department of Treasury's Request for Comments on the Proposed Rulemaking on Section 45V Credit for Production of Clean Hydrogen; Section 48(a)(15) Election To Treat Clean Hydrogen Production Facilities as Energy Property.
The concrete sector currently accounts for roughly eight percent of global emissions. Global annual demand for concrete is expected to grow from 14 billion to 20 billion cubic meters by 2050, due to population increases and urbanization. By sticking with the status quo, this demand growth could increase annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from 2.75 billion tons to 3.8 billion tons worldwide, an increase roughly equivalent to the total U.S. industrial emissions in 2021.
Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) solutions refer to technologies, practices and approaches that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and sequester it. This report presents the case for a competitive federal procurement program to catalyze wide-scale commercialization of CDR solutions.
This second edition of “Clear Path to a Clean Energy Future” updates the inaugural edition, tracking the power sector, clean technology, and policy trends in America. In our previous report, we identified that utility commitments contribute to significant additional reductions in emissions beyond what was projected in our reference case. Still, underinvestments in new technologies and retirement of the existing nuclear fleet could result in a rebound in emissions out to 2050.
Carbon Capture,Carbon Dioxide Removal,Direct Air Capture,Energy Storage,Geothermal,Innovation,Nuclear
The purpose of this memo is to provide recommendations for the implementation provisions related to “energy communities” for certain clean energy tax credits. This memo includes original data collection and mapping to demonstrate reasonable statute interpretations.
Hundreds of gigawatts of energy projects spend years in the interconnection process, where projects undergo evaluation by transmission providers, regional grid operators or utilities, to determine their impact on the broader transmission system. The interconnection queue, the list of projects under evaluation for grid connection, has become so dysfunctional that some transmission providers are freezing their process to work through the project backlog and pausing the acceptance of new applicants.
Reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 will require a massive infrastructure build-out over the next 28 years, involving deploying enough clean electricity generation to meet all our needs while building the infrastructure necessary to electrify industry and transport along the way. Several constraints could limit the future ability to decarbonize, ranging from local opposition to regulatory delays, supply chain issues, and workforce capacity.
This white paper provides recommendations for implementing the Carbon Dioxide Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (CIFIA) program within the Department of Energy (DOE). The buildout of infrastructure is needed to transport CO2 from where it is captured to where it can be utilized or securely sequestered underground.
This memo provides recommendations for implementing energy storage demonstration programs within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The IIJA energy storage demonstration programs will advance DOE’s goals under the ESGC and Storage Shot. For energy storage, now is the time to innovate here, make here, and deploy everywhere.
CEQ’s action to provide guidance on CCUS projects is timely, since the bipartisan IIJA contains significant investments into CCUS technology. As CEQ issues and implements guidance, the Agency should not undermine the robust infrastructure programs contained in the IIJA. ClearPath encourages the staff to continue considering new ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the CCUS permitting process.
This response provides recommendations to the Department of Energy for the Advanced Nuclear Fuel Availity Program which supports private industry in the creation of a domestic HALEU supply chain.
This memo provides recommendations for implementation of a clean industrial demonstration program within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The industrial investments in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) provide the opportunity to demonstrate a portfolio of technologies to reduce industrial emissions.
The Energy Act of 2020 authorized new public-private partnerships to demonstrate a series of new technologies that are required for affordable deep decarbonization. IIJA in turn directly appropriated those funds for many of these demonstration programs to begin in earnest.
Carbon Capture,Direct Air Capture,Geothermal,Hydrogen,Nuclear
This memo provides recommendations for the successful deployment of carbon removal solutions and implementation of direct air capture (DAC) hubs by the Department of Energy (DOE), as authorized and appropriated under Section 40308 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA; P.L. 117-58).
The purpose of this memo is to provide recommendations for the successful deployment of regional clean hydrogen hubs by the Department of Energy (DOE), as authorized under Section 40314 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).
The passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) funded a $2.5 billion carbon capture demonstration program within the Department of Energy. It is imperative that this demonstration program be implemented efficiently to lower the cost of CCUS technology, successfully prove out the technology at commercial scale, and ensure prudent stewardship of taxpayers’ dollars.
There is a legitimate need to improve regulatory certainty in the NEPA process. The purpose of the 2020 NEPA revision was to enhance the efficiency of the permitting process and remove unnecessary and burdensome delays that have hampered infrastructure and other important projects. Removing unnecessary barriers to clean energy is essential to meeting U.S. national security objectives, reliable electricity needs, and global emissions reduction objectives.
As the world moves toward a clean energy future, every clean technology tool in the toolbox will be needed. One new area of innovation that has gained popularity in recent years is hydrogen. As many countries begin to include hydrogen in their decarbonization efforts, a global race to supply clean hydrogen has begun.
The bipartisan infrastructure bill recently passed by the Senate contains significant investments in research, development, and demonstration of clean energy and climate technology. These include $27 billion for grid infrastructure and $21.5 billion for a new office of clean energy demonstrations, which will lead to demonstrations of advanced clean energy technologies.
America has greatly reduced emissions in the power sector over the last 15 years, yet as this report shows, the easy part is over and power sector emission reductions could flatline under current conditions.
Due to the incentives offered by the section 45Q tax credit and the recent two-year extension of the time to qualify for the credit, a large influx of sequestration projects is anticipated in the development pipeline, and a growing number of states will be seeking to obtain primacy for the Class VI program.
The United States can only build new clean energy projects and reduce carbon emissions as fast as we can responsibly and efficiently permit the projects to do so. Modernizing the federal permitting process, such as through the optimal use of Categorical Exclusions (CATEXs) for actions that are known to have negligible environmental impact, is one of the most significant actions regulators can take to support the transition to cleaner energy sources.
