1. No Spending + Infrastructure Bills Before COP
Congressional Democrats and the White House announced a new $1.75 trillion spending bill agreement and punted a vote on the infrastructure bill to next month.
What’s in what’s out of reconciliation? The domestic spending bill includes a number of energy provisions. See more from E&E Daily.
In: Expanded 45Q tax incentive for carbon capture and direct air capture…..the establishment of a nuclear production tax credit focused on preserving existing nuclear facilities across the country….. a new financial incentive for domestic hydrogen production….. Support for advanced industrial tech deployment program.
Out: At least one controversial provision noticeably left out of the spending bill — the Clean Electricity Performance Program (CEPP).
Plug in: American power companies, as well as some Democrats, criticized the CEPP as unworkable and something that may stifle innovation for new advanced energy technologies only to reward existing technology like wind and solar.
The infrastructure bill that passed the Senate this summer includes funding for the demonstrations authorized in the bipartisan Energy Act of 2020 as well as infrastructure investments for carbon capture, direct air capture, and hydrogen. The House passed a short term reauthorization of the surface transportation bill until December 3, delaying action on the Senate’s bipartisan bill until then.
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2. Hydrogen innovation in the U.S. Senate
A bipartisan hydrogen innovation initiative led by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Chris Coons (D-DE) will help accelerate hydrogen deployment and infrastructure.
What’s clear: Hydrogen has huge potential to connect sectors of the economy to maximize resources in the entire clean energy system.
- On Thursday, these two Senators introduced a trio of bills including grant programs for hydrogen use in heavy industry and at maritime ports, and a finance program for infrastructure that transports hydrogen.
- Many countries are including hydrogen in their decarbonization plans, beginning a global race to supply clean hydrogen.
- America has a tremendous opportunity to be a global leader.
Plug in: ClearPath recently published a report, American Clean Hydrogen: A Tremendous Export Opportunity.
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3. COP26 kicking off without Congressional climate action
COP 26 kicks off under the backdrop of emerging energy crises. Places like Europe and China are experiencing supply challenges and emerging price spikes.
What’s clear: While there will be no major legislative wins for American lawmakers to tout, a group of Republicans are attending to highlight their approaches to climate policy — leading with clean energy innovation…
- Members going include the House Climate Select Committee on the Climate Crisis Ranking Member Garret Graves (R-LA)….Chairman of the Conservative Climate Caucus Rep. John Curtis (R-UT).....Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX).....Rep. David McKinley (R-WV)..... Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA).
Plug in: This week, the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis explored challenges and opportunities for international action as leaders head to Glasgow for (COP26).
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4. New Modular, Scalable Carbon Capture Tech
ClearPath got a glimpse at some exciting innovation at the launch of Carbon Clean's new industrial carbon capture technology - CycloneCC.
What’s clear: Advancements in carbon capture policy, such as expanded 45Q tax incentive, have spawned a flurry of new investments and technology developments in carbon capture.
Plug in: CycloneCC is a modular, scalable, and compact carbon capture technology that Carbon Clean says will reduce the size and overall cost of carbon capture by up to 50%.
- Partners on this project include Equinor and CEMEX.
- Project developers say CycloneCC has a footprint that will be ten times smaller than conventional carbon capture, making it easily deployable in less than 8 weeks.
- Technology could reduce capital and operating expenses by up to 50%, driving down the cost of carbon capture to US$30/t on average.
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5. Coming down the pipeline
The Breakthrough Institute is hosting an event on Nov. 4 to discuss a new report, Nuclear Cognition, on advocating for advanced nuclear energy technology.
Senate Energy & Natural Resources will vote on several nominees to roles at DOE, Interior and FERC.
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6. ICYMI
The President of Uganda wrote a column in the Wall Street Journal advocating for reliable baseload clean energy like hydropower, carbon capture, nuclear energy instead of just being forced to adopt variable sources.
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