Welcome to your weekly Rundown, for the week ending September 25.
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A Carbon Capture Credit with Huge Returns
A recently conducted study on the benefits of the 45Q carbon sequestration tax credit shows how long-term certainty could yield more clean power and manufacturing, more than 100,000 new jobs and gigatons of emission reductions. Carbon capture projects are often billion dollar investments that require long-term certainty to pencil out and attract investment. New modeling from the Rhodium Group, a leading research firm that's partnered with BlackRock to analyze climate risk among other things, puts in perspective exactly how big of a difference carbon capture and an extended 45Q credit can make, with the credit set to expire in December 2023. And it’s big. Watch our latest whiteboard video, “A Carbon
Capture Credit with Huge Returns" here.
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More Innovation, Unfortunately More Regulation
Yesterday, the House voted 220-185, largely on party lines, to pass an energy package, the Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act.
The measure combines a number of energy-related bills – many of which are bipartisan and are focused on accelerating innovation of key clean energy technologies like carbon capture, advanced nuclear, geothermal, and energy storage - with additional burdensome regulations that would stymie their deployment, among other things.
Rich's Take
“Republicans support reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. and around the globe by scaling up clean energy innovation with less regulation. This bill gets the innovation part right, setting up a suite of moonshots for key clean innovation technologies we’ll need to decarbonize affordably and reliably. Unfortunately, it also adds new regulatory hurdles that makes the clean energy technology deployment much more difficult to build. We hope policymakers will work towards a bipartisan solution based on the principle of more innovation and less regulation for clean technologies before the end of the Congress.”
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Building More Clean Energy Projects through the BUILDER Act
On Tuesday, the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis Ranking Member Garret Graves (R-LA) introduced a new House Republican regulatory reform bill, H.R. 8333, the Building U.S. Infrastructure through Limited Delays & Efficient Reviews (BUILDER) Act. The BUILDER Act will modernize the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to improve project reviews and accelerate the scale-up of new clean energy technologies and critical infrastructure projects.
Ranking Member Graves, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and House Natural Resources Committee Republicans released a summary of the provisions.
Read our press release here.
Rich's Take
“We need more innovation and less regulation to set up a suite of moonshots for key clean innovation technologies we’ll need to decarbonize affordably and reliably. Policymakers should work towards a bipartisan climate solution based on the principle of more innovation and less regulation for clean technologies. First, we must innovate. Unnecessary regulatory hurdles needlessly slow down projects. Then, we must deploy technology to prove it at scale and bring down costs, and export the proven technology to new clean energy markets.”
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Versatile Test Reactor Project Gets the Green Light to Move Forward
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) approved Critical Decision 1 for the Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) project. Critical Decision 1, known as “Approve Alternative Selection and Cost Range,” is the second step in the formal process DOE uses to review and manage research infrastructure projects. The VTR project will move to the engineering design phase when funds are appropriated. Read more
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NRC Votes to Approve Advanced Reactor GEIS
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) this week advanced the development of a generic environmental review for advanced reactors, an approach designed to speed deployment of technologies on which the industry has pinned its hopes for a revival. The initially proposed framework for the generic environmental impact statement (GEIS) did not consider nuclear technologies like light-water small modular reactors or larger non-light-water advanced reactors. Making this change will help enable the development and deployment of such advanced reactor systems. New reactors also will play a big role in reducing emissions and by increasing the predictability of the licensing process we can get them to market more smoothly. Read more
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Celebrating National Clean Energy Week 2020
ClearPath was proud to sponsor and participate in National Clean Energy Week, “an annual awareness week to recognize the value of clean energy to America, including well-paying jobs across the country, economic growth, energy independence, consumer choice, lower energy prices, and a cleaner environment.”
When discussing the political prioritization of innovation in clean energy, ClearPath Policy Managing Director Jeremy Harrell said, “There’s been a cataclysmic shift … [and] we’re seeing Republicans getting more proactive and being supportive of a broader suite of technology." Learn more about National Clean Energy Week here.
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
IEA: Energy Technology Perspectives 2020
Special Report on Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage
ClearPath Executive Director Rich Powell was featured as an expert for his comments in the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Energy Technologies Perspectives 2020 Special Report on Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage. The report underscores the vital role CCUS must play in meeting both the world’s energy and emission reductions needs. View the report
C3: House Republicans are Putting Action Over Alarmism
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) penned an op-ed in “C3,” a new online news magazine, on House Republicans’ solutions to fighting climate change and reducing global emissions. Leader McCarthy wrote, “House Republicans have a vision for a cleaner, safer, and healthier environment illustrated within three policy verticals that will reignite a technology and jobs revival throughout the country: capturing and utilizing carbon, developing and exporting clean energy and encouraging conservation.” Read the op-ed
Greentech Media: Can Gas-Fired Power Plants Coexist With a Net-Zero Target? Yes, Southern Company Insists
Southern Company said it intends to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 while still keeping natural gas as a central part of its business, both to generate electricity and to sell to its customers. Read more
 “Natrium” is Latin for Sodium, and Big for Advanced Nuclear
TerraPower and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) recently announced the launch of a new reactor and energy system architecture called Natrium. Learn more about the project at the new website NatriumPower.com.
This week, ClearPath hosted a webinar with experts from TerraPower, Duke Energy and Centrus, who talked about the design and explained how they will commercialize nuclear stations within the next 10 years. If you would like to watch the webinar again, or if you weren't able to attend the live session, you can view a recording here.
 Carbon Capture Technology Is Not Just for Coal and Gas
In the United States, CO2 emissions fall into one of five main sectors: electricity, transportation, industry, buildings and agriculture. If you combine the emissions coming from just the electricity and industry sectors — we’re talking about half of all CO2 emissions in the U.S. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could kill two birds with one stone — or in this case two major sectors’ emissions, with one technology. For the first time in more than a decade, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded significant funding to kickstart commercial industrial carbon capture projects. Read more from ClearPath Policy Analyst Savita Bowman in our latest blog, “Carbon Capture Technology Is Not Just for Coal and Gas."
Rich Powell and the Conservative Case for Nuclear
ClearPath Executive Director Rich Powell joined Jordan Cox of the Clean Energy Leaders Podcast to discuss the importance of nuclear energy. Listen to the podcast, “Rich Powell and the Conservative Case for Nuclear,” on Spotify here.
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THE PATH AHEAD
September 30: Join the Fast Reactor Working Group for a webinar at 3:00pm ET on, “Fueling the Future with Fast Neutrons.” Register here
October 1: The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy will hold a hearing at 10:00am EDT on, “Generating Equity: Improving Clean Energy Access and Affordability.” Watch the hearing here
October 1: The House Select Committee on the Crisis will hold a hearing at 1:00pm EDT on, “Creating a Climate Resilient America: Strengthening the U.S. Financial System and Expanding Economic Opportunity.” ClearPath Executive Director Rich Powell will be the Republican witness. Watch the hearing here
October 6: The Department of Energy (DOE), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and the Fusion Industry Association (FIA) will host a Virtual Public Forum on a regulatory framework for Fusion. More details and registration information here
October 28: The Cleantech Group is hosting a webinar at 11:00am EDT on, “Nuclear Innovation and Deep Decarbonization: Can Innovation Transform the Global Energy System?” More details and registration information here
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| CLEAN ENERGY. THE CONSERVATIVE WAY. |
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