Legislative
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Carbon Capture
Net-Zero Without Carbon Sequestration Is ‘Virtually Impossible’; Yet Site Acquisition and Permitting Hurdles Hinder Implementation
In a Flagship Report, the International Energy Agency said reaching net-zero carbon dioxide emissions is “virtually impossible” without carbon capture, utilization, and storage. Significant progress has
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Commentary
Microgrids Can Save America’s Carbon-Zero Commitments and Electrified Future
On Friday, November 5, Congress passed a landmark infrastructure bill that apportions $65 billion to rebuilding our aging electric grid. Although we should applaud this long overdue measure, we need to be realistic about its impact. $65 billion is not nearly enough to modernize the U.S. electric grid, nor is it enough to protect against weather-related outages and cyberattacks. We continue […]
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News
ERCOT Confident Generators Deficient During Uri Freeze Debacle Ready for Winter
The vast majority of 324 electric generation units and transmission facilities in Texas have fully met or “go beyond” new state winter weatherization requirements, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) said in a final readiness report filed with the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) on Jan. 18. Onsite inspections at 302 generation units […]
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Hydrogen
DOE’s First $1B Loan Guarantee in Years Seeks to Bolster Turquoise Hydrogen Process
The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) first conditional loan guarantee offered to a non-nuclear project since 2016 will finance the expansion of a pioneering commercial-scale “turquoise hydrogen” and carbon black production facility in Nebraska. The agency’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) on Dec. 23 offered a commitment to guarantee a loan of up to $1.04 billion under […]
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Nuclear
DOE Begins Fleshing Out Availability of Advanced Nuclear Reactor Fuel
The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a request for information (RFI) on a planned temporary federal program to ensure enough high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) will be available to jumpstart deployment of a new fleet of advanced nuclear reactors. Comments received over the next month in response to the DOE’s Dec. 14–issued RFI will inform […]
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Nuclear
DOE Revives Consent-Based Siting Process for Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel Disposal
Potentially jumpstarting long-paralyzed efforts to address the federal management of spent nuclear fuel (SNF), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Nov. 30 issued a request for information (RFI) that could determine where the agency will temporarily consolidate and store spent fuel from nuclear reactors across the nation. Under the RFI, the DOE is seeking […]
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Commentary
COP, New Energy Laws, and the Power of Competition
There’s a lot going on in the energy world right now. The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) is happening in Glasgow, Scotland. Congress recently passed major new energy legislation in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. And as consumers soon will find out if they don’t already know: much higher energy costs and heating bills are […]