Welcome to your weekly Rundown, for the week ending November 13.
Please let us know of anything we missed at [email protected].
Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.
And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @ClearPathAction.
|
|
FY21 Senate Appropriations to Boost Clean Energy Innovation
On Tuesday, the Senate Appropriations Committee released their Fiscal Year 2021 draft Committee reports, which include a number of important clean energy priorities in the U.S. Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Interior, and the Defense Department. Below are a few quick highlights from the Committee’s recommendations, but you can read their full reports here.
- $1.5 billion for the Office of Nuclear Energy at DOE including $280 million for the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program to demonstrate multiple advanced reactor designs.
- $750 million for the Office of Fossil Energy at DOE for research and development that utilizes either coal or natural gas based generation of electricity including:
- $8 million for research and optimization of carbon capture technologies for use at industrial facilities
- $10,000,000 for carbon capture research for natural gas power systems
- $15,000,000 for a new solicitation for Front-End Engineering and Design [FEED] studies of commercial-scale carbon capture projects that generate carbon dioxide suitable for geologic storage
- $20,000,000 for the research and development of negative emissions technologies, including $10,000,000 for direct air capture.
- $70 million for the Department of Defense to demonstrate a microreactor.
- $30 million for the Grid Storage Launchpad, a research and development facility at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) which was dedicated in August to help accelerate the commercialization of energy storage technologies.
These reports will serve as a starting point for negotiations on the Fiscal Year 2021, which House and Senate leadership hope to complete before the end of the year. There are many more exciting programs the Senate Appropriations Committee is recommending to receive additional or increased investments.
Read more
|
Video: TerraPower & X-energy to Demonstrate Advanced Reactor Technology
A moonshot goal of bringing advanced nuclear technology to market just became reality with the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, or ARDP. Congratulations to the two companies who were selected for the ARDP: TerraPower and X-energy!
These two companies, along with their teams, will partner with DOE and the National Labs to demonstrate their advanced reactor concepts in the next seven years.
Watch the video here
|
 BWXT Accomplishes Restart of TRISO Nuclear Fuel Manufacturing
BWX Technologies, Inc., one of the largest and most diverse nuclear fuel producers in the world, on Tuesday announced its BWXT Nuclear Operations Group, Inc. subsidiary has completed its TRIstructural-ISOtropic (TRISO) nuclear fuel line restart project and is actively producing fuel at its Lynchburg, VA facility. Read more
|
E&C Republicans Issue Statement on Reduced GHG Emissions Under Trump Administration
Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Leader Greg Walden (R-OR), Energy Subcommittee Republican Leader Fred Upton (R-MI), and Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee Republican Leader John Shimkus (R-IL) issued a statement after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released 2019 greenhouse gas (GHG) data showing continued reduced GHG emissions under the Trump administration.
Read the statement here
|
NuScale Power Announces Additional 25 Percent Power Uprate
Earlier this week, NuScale Power announced that its NuScale Power Module™ (NPM) can generate an additional 25 percent more power per module, lowering the overnight capital cost of the facility from an expected $3,600 to approximately $2,850 per kilowatt. Additionally, NuScale is announcing options for smaller power plant solutions in four-module (about 308 MWe) and six-module (about 462 MWe) sizes. The power increase will be reviewed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission as part of NuScale’s Standard Design Approval (SDA) application, which NuScale is scheduled to submit in 2022. NuScale will be able to deliver its first module to a client in 2027.
Read more
|
Foreign Policy Virtual Dialogue: Clean Energy Innovation
Foreign Policy magazine and ClearPath will be hosting a discussion next Wednesday, November 18, with private and public sector thought leaders about driving innovation and exports in the US clean energy market to bolster domestic economic growth and reduce global carbon emissions.
Tune in on November 18 to hear from leading voices from government, industry, and finance about how we can most effectively tailor support for US clean energy innovation and exports, including strategies to reduce the cost of these technologies for developing markets worldwide.
Speakers include experts from government, international financing and technology development:
- Brendan Bechtel, Chairman and CEO, Bechtel;
- Allison Carlson, Managing Director, Foreign Policy Analytics;
- Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND);
- Piotr Naimski, Poland’s Minister of Energy and Secretary of State for Strategic Energy Infrastructure;
- Rich Powell, Executive Director, ClearPath; and
- Kimberly Reed, President and Chairman, Export-Import Bank of the United States.
Register today to secure your spot
|
Terrestrial and Argonne National Laboratory Begin Testing of Fuel Salt for IMSR Generation IV Nuclear Plant
Terrestrial Energy USA and Argonne National Laboratory have commenced detailed testing of the Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR®) Generation IV advanced nuclear power plant fuel salt. This fuel salt testing program is part of a broader ongoing testing program for fuel, components, and systems used in the IMSR power plant. The results of these tests will support licensing applications as the first commercial deployment of the IMSR power plants advance. Read more
|
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
InsideClimate News: For a Climate-Concerned President and a Hostile Senate, One Technology May Provide Common Ground
InsideClimate News reported this week on how carbon capture and storage could be an area for bipartisan consensus in 2021. “We're only seeing the beginnings for carbon capture. The right government incentives could unleash investment and research from big industries,” said Rich Powell, ClearPath Executive Director, pointing to bills in Congress that would extend the carbon capture tax credit.
Read more
Energy Department Releases its Hydrogen Program Plan
This week, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released a Hydrogen Program Plan to provide a strategic framework for hydrogen research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) efforts.
Read more
John Wagner named Idaho National Laboratory director
Battelle Energy Alliance’s (BEA) Board of Managers announced last week that John Wagner will be the next director of Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Wagner has been at INL since 2016 and has been Associate Laboratory Director for Nuclear Science and Technology since 2017. He will begin his new role on December 11, 2020.
Read more
|
THE PATH AHEAD
November 17-18: Join the Global CCS Institute and United States Energy Association for a webinar on, “Developing CCUS Projects in Louisiana and the Gulf Coast.” More details and registration information here
November 18: ClearPath and Foreign Policy are hosting a virtual dialogue at 11:00am EST, “Clean Energy Innovation: A Path to Strengthen US Competitiveness & Drive Global Development.” Register here
|
|
| CLEAN ENERGY. THE CONSERVATIVE WAY. |
|
|
|
|
