Hi John,

When we talk about reaching net-zero carbon emissions, we’re talking about the transformation of our entire energy system to one that is zero-carbon or carbon-neutral. It’s a daunting task, and it will require incredibly strategic collaboration at the local, state, national, and global level. But more importantly, to successfully transition to net-zero, we must invest in a diversity of clean energy sources to ensure we can generate and store reliable, flexible power in a decarbonized grid. This week we’ll take a look at a few of those sources.​​​​

1. WHAT CEPP DOES FOR GAS AND COAL 

 Last week, Lindsey Walter, Deputy Director of the Climate and Energy Program, spoke with Scott Waldman at E&E News about how the Clean Electricity Performance Program (CEPP) could impact existing natural gas and coal. As Lindsey explains, CEPP is one of the only policies that would actually result in the deployment of carbon capture on coal, which is particularly important for the economies of states like West Virginia. That’s because it is technology neutral policy, making funding for carbon capture projects available in conjunction with an expansion of the 45Q tax credit (which is specifically for carbon sequestration).

Far from being a death sentence to our existing energy economy, a properly designed CEPP would enable the US to cut carbon pollution and keep power plants operating that employ a lot of people and are vital to rural communities. 

2. ENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCT DECLARATIONS

Attention is finally turning to the need to decarbonize heavy industries like cement and steel. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry just launched a global coalition of businesses committed to reducing the carbon footprint of heavy industry. 

In order for businesses to buy and build cleaner, we have to know what IS cleaner. Private businesses have tapped into a powerful tool - environmental product declarations (EPDs) - that provide a clear report of life-cycle environmental impacts of construction materials. 
Third Way conducted interviews with buildings sector leaders to get their takes on EPD usage. We found that companies, engineers, consultants, architects, and material manufacturers all want EPDs, which would inform emissions reductions in the building industry. As demand for carbon transparency grows around the world, EPD usage remains isolated to leading businesses and areas where local governments have provided legislative and financial support. The federal government must catch up. That’s why we’re working on investment in a national EPD program to quantify the embodied carbon emissions of our buildings sector. This will keep the US competitive and set us on track for a cleaner economy. 

3. EUROPE, UK TAKE A TURN TOWARD NUCLEAR

Last week, we wrote about the ongoing energy crisis that has sent gas prices skyrocketing and the global energy market in flux. Faced with the dual challenge of meeting rising energy demand while setting ambitious net-zero targets, a growing number of European leaders are becoming vocal about the role nuclear power needs to play–to shore up their energy independence and expand their firm, clean power capacity.

In France, President Emmanuel Macron pledged to invest $1.1 billion in nuclear power by 2030 in an effort to expand France’s carbon-free power production and bolster France’s hydrogen and clean energy capacity. France also led a bloc of 10 EU countries urging the EU to count nuclear as a key low-carbon energy source. 

Amidst a wind energy drought in the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to expand the UK’s use of nuclear energy in order to reach 100% clean electricity in the UK by 2035, and he’s committed to building 16 new small modular reactors or advanced modular reactors by 2035.

These commitments reflect a real shift in thinking around nuclear power. Expect to see this continue at the November global climate summit (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, where a growing number of countries and international organizations are hosting officially sanctioned events on the important role nuclear can play to eliminate carbon pollution. We’ll be at COP26 and have a lot more detail on this in the upcoming newsletters.

4. WHAT WE’RE READING

• Bloomberg’s recent interview with our friend Jigar Shah, Director of the Loan Programs Office at DOE, provides nice insight into how Jigar is transforming the LPO and utilizing LPO’s $44 billion loan capacity to catalyze investment in the next generation of clean energy technologies.
• Streetsblog USA covered Third Way’s recent report with Transportation for America on how federal transportation policy has forced rural Americans to spend an increasing number of hours behind the wheel to accomplish basic daily tasks. Policymakers can maximize infrastructure investments to improve the quality of life for rural Americans by investing heavily in rural area transit, connecting remote communities by investing in broadband access, and recalibrating federal agency policies and grant programs to better support rural towns.
• The Global CCS Institute released their Global Status Report for 2021 this past week, documenting 26 commercial CCS facilities in operation worldwide that captured about 40 million tons of CO₂. Moreover, total CO₂ capture capacity increased from 85 million tons to 110 million tons in 2020. But progress is still too slow: of the 135 commercial carbon CCS facilities in the pipeline, only 27 are in operation today, with the remainder either under construction, in a stage of development, or offline. Carlos Anchondo breaks down the full takeaways from the report for E&E News.