Senate Energy Package Coming

Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee Chairman Lisa Murkowski indicated she will be rolling out a package of clean energy bills that have already cleared the Committee, setting the stage for floor action. Several media reports indicate she will roll out an energy bill next week.

House Hearings on Key Clean Energy Bills

As Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, House Energy & Commerce Committee Ranking Greg Member Walden, the Select Committee on Climate Change Ranking Member Garret Graves and others continue working on the Republican package to address climate change, several key innovation bills are getting Congressional hearings.

The Better Energy Storage Technology (BEST) Act, is set for markup in the House Science, Space & Technology Committee next week. The BEST Act will reorient the federal grid scale storage research, development, and demonstration program around ambitious technology goals necessary to facilitate important breakthroughs for grid of the future. A similar version of this bill has passed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee already.

House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on the Environment and Climate Change held a hearing to discuss carbon capture, utilization & sequestration; in particular the bipartisan USE IT Act. USE IT would authorize money for direct air capture research and help to speed permitting for carbon dioxide pipelines and related infrastructure. USE IT was nearly enacted last year as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, but E&C Chairman Frank Pallone pulled out, citing that he needed to have a legislative hearing on USE It first.

Both of these bills are part of the Energy and Commerce 12 in 20 package of clean energy innovation bills.

SPARKZ Inc. - Cobalt Free Energy Storage Coming
from Oak Ridge National Lab

A startup company working on a new energy storage technology has licensed five new battery technologies in collaboration with the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

SPARKZ Inc’s technology is focused on eliminating cobalt from batteries, The research team has developed the technology with the goal of increasing efficiency in batteries for electric vehicles. The team is currently looking to scale their technology and will select a location for a prototyping facility in the coming months. SPARKZ Inc., highlights the experts and capabilities at Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL) as key to their success. ORNL continues to help forge a path forward with non-cobalt technologies. Cobalt has significant supply-chain challenges and going beyond batteries for energy storage will help provide solutions. Read more

Watch this video from ClearPath on getting beyond lithium-ion.

HOT DOE Funding Announcements for Geothermal

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced several funding opportunities for advanced geothermal technologies, including $25 million to promote the advancement of Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) technologies and techniques. This R&D funding is expected to complement DOE’s Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) initiative. This FOA should help catalyze the development of geothermal technologies as highlighted by the GeoVision study, which outlines a path to unlock the full potential of geothermal power. Read more

DOE has also announced $18.8 million toward the research and development of innovative subsurface geothermal technologies, as well as $3.25 million for the American-Made Geothermal Manufacturing Prize.

Experts: Carbon capture needed to reach net zero

The Global CCS Institute and the Atlantic Council hosted an event this week with members of Congress and experts highlighting how critical carbon capture is to achieving net-zero emissions goals that a growing list of major companies have set. Read more from E&E News and Forbes.

DOE Kicks Off Program for Advanced Nuclear Reactor Demonstrations

This week, the Department. of Energy (DOE) announced that they are beginning a program to select two advanced reactor companies for cost shares to build their designs within five to seven years. While DOE will also award two to five smaller cost shares to assess longer term needs, the primary goal of the program is actual construction to support commercialization. This demonstration program received funding in the FY20 Congressional spending package and would be authorized by the Nuclear Energy Leadership Act (NELA). Read more from DOE

IN THE HEARING ROOM THIS WEEK

On Thursday, February 6, House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change Hearing, "Clearing the Air: Legislation to Promote Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage".

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

USA Today Article on State of the Union Features Rich Powell

In an article critical of the White House for not directly mentioning climate change in the State of the Union, ClearPath executive Director Rich Powell stated that, “...this administration has a clear record on clean energy innovation, from market signals like carbon capture incentives, to historic levels of RD&D investment for breakthrough technologies.” Read their article here

ClearPath Presents on Water Security for Clean Energy Ministerial Nuclear Innovation Clean Energy Future (NICE) Initiative Webinar

ClearPath Policy Analyst Faith Smith opened the webinar on how the U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Security Grand Challenge can be fundamental to water availability and its interconnectedness with energy. When considering the energy-water nexus, nuclear power plants have the potential to transform their revenue streams. Watch the webinar here

Advanced Test Reactor Deal with Idaho To Deal with Spent Fuel

Republican Gov. Brad Little and Attorney General Lawrence Wasden of Idaho announced a deal for the Energy Department’s Advanced Test Reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory to allow spent fuel from the reactor to be stored in a cooling canal at the site past 2023. Read more

USA Today Bipartisan Oped Highlights Clean Energy Innovation

Reps. Kurt Schrader and David B. McKinley (R-W.V.) co authored an oped highlighting the need for bipartisan solutions to climate change. The members write, “we can work together to adopt policies that will make clean energy technologies for all fuels affordable — solar, wind, hydro and other renewables, as well as nuclear, carbon capture for fossil fuels, energy efficiency, storage, and other technologies that will make the grid more secure, resilient, and affordable.” Read their column here