1. Houston leads on clean energy
As the U.S. continues to lead on clean energy innovation, Houston — the energy capital of the world — is working to help companies embrace the changing market. Houston’s strategy involves:
- Developing a carbon storage facility to capture Houston’s industrial emissions,
- Supporting companies’ expansion to hydrogen production, and
- Expanding Houston into a hydrogen and carbon storage hub.
Plug in: Hydrogen has great potential to decarbonize industry, and is on the tipping point of massive market change. By incorporating hydrogen into the clean energy tool box, the U.S. is one step closer to reducing global carbon emissions.
|
2. Advanced reactor planned for UIUC campus
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) has partnered with Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation to deploy an advanced nuclear reactor on the university’s campus.
- The reactor will be based on a micro-reactor design that improves upon existing high-temperature, gas-cooled reactor technology, and
- Will focus on making advanced nuclear more widely deployable, while educating and training an advanced nuclear workforce.
What's clear: Nuclear power is the largest source of clean energy in the U.S., and any effort to reduce global emissions will require nuclear to be part of the equation. Partnerships like this one will help the U.S. achieve emissions reduction goals faster.
|
3. CDR receives near $1 billion in private sector investments
A major investment spearheaded by finance company Stripe will put $925 million toward carbon dioxide removal (CDR) efforts.
- Stripe’s Frontier fund, backed by tech companies including Alphabet, Meta, and Shopify, will support the scaling up of CDR startups and reduce the cost of CO2 offsets.
What’s clear: In recent years, companies with carbon reduction goals have invested more than $3 billion into carbon removal technologies. It is clear that CDR is a key component in meeting emissions-reduction targets.
Plug in: Nearly all scenarios in the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report rely on some degree of CDR to accelerate emissions reductions and offset residual emissions from difficult-to-decarbonize sectors like heavy industry.
In addition to tech sector investments, Congress and oil and gas companies are doing more to support CDR:
- The bipartisan infrastructure bill included $3.5 billion to build direct air capture “hubs.”
- Oxy Low Carbon Venture has a planned direct air capture plant in Texas that could pull 1 million tons of carbon dioxide out of the air annually.
|
4. NIA report lays out a path for domestic HALEU market
The Nuclear Innovation Alliance (NIA) released a new report on Catalyzing a Domestic Commercial Market for High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU). HALEU is necessary for almost every new reactor design.
- NIA describes the challenges and opportunities in developing a domestic HALEU market and identifies potential policy solutions.
What's clear: As the American advanced nuclear market grows, it is crucial that the necessary fuels are sourced and processed here in the U.S., rather than by foreign adversaries like Russia.
|
5. Kairos honored for round-the-clock zero-emissions power
Breaking yesterday morning, nuclear engineering company Kairos Power was named a 2022 Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) Pioneer.
The competition analzed 270 applications from 27 different countries on:
- The potential impact on carbon dioxide emissions;
- The degree of technology innovation and novelty; and
- The likelihood of adoption and potential scalability.
Plug in: The U.S. has made some big moves toward embracing nuclear energy, including in the HALEU production market as mentioned above. Advanced nuclear has a significant role to play as a reliable, carbon-free resource as America works toward its emissions-reduction goals.
|
6. ICYMI
|
|
