BIPARTISAN BICAMERAL ENERGY STORAGE MOONSHOT BILL LAUNCHES

Before members left town for the Memorial Day work period, a coalition of innovation-focused leaders, spearheaded by Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Congressman Bill Foster (D-IL), introduced the Better Energy Storage Technologies Act, legislation that reauthorizes and reorients federal grid-scale storage research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) efforts around ambitious goals.  Specifically, it aims to accelerate technological breakthroughs for intraday, interday, and seasonal storage solutions.

Energy storage is a unique technology that can add value to the entire grid - in generation, transmission, and distribution. It can supply energy when demand is larger than supply, in times of grid disruptions, and when renewable resources are not available for use. Additionally, storage technologies can help manage grid congestion, defer transmission upgrades, provide grid stabilization, and even provide power in times of outages. Storage technologies are an essential component of a modernized energy grid, but current technologies are not capable of meeting all of our future needs. 

The BEST Act garnered a diverse range of supporters including ClearPath Action, Energy Storage Association, Union for Concerned Scientists, Bipartisan Policy Center Action, Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Energy Institute, Natural Resources Defense Council, Audubon Action Fund, Edison Electric Institute (EEI), National Hydropower Association, Solar Energy Industries Association, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, and Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.

FY20 HOUSE ENERGY AND WATER MARKUP

This week House appropriators took the first step in the FY20 appropriations cycle and approved a Department of Energy spending bill that builds upon efforts in FY18 and FY19 to provide targeted investments in programs that will spur U.S. innovation in clean and reliable energy.  The bill includes important funding and program direction in areas like carbon capture, advanced nuclear, and grid-scale storage.  Although this action is the first step in the legislative process, it is clear that there remains substantial support clean energy innovation at the Department of Energy.

RICH’S TAKE
“House appropriators are building on the bipartisan progress made in the last two years by once again sending an undeniable message that lawmakers are serious about keeping the U.S. in the top tier of countries pursuing clean and reliable energy breakthroughs,” ClearPath Action Executive Director Rich Powell said. “Their FY20 strategy proves that while steady and sufficient funding is essential, providing important direction and reforms to the DOE to make sure that dollars are well spent is equally vital to spurring energy innovation.” 
 

Rep. Bucshon’s Hydropower Law Will Soon be Electrifying Dams Across the Country

LOTS OF CARBON CAPTURE NEWS THIS WEEK

A subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum and Canadian carbon capture company Carbon Engineering announced a partnership to engineer the world’s largest direct air capture facility that will capture up to 500,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year, roughly the equivalent of 20 million trees. The plant will run primarily on natural gas and be located in the Permian Basin and used in Occidental’s enhanced oil recovery operations.

The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, a collection of many of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, has announced it will finance a Department of Energy-supported project to install carbon capture technology at an Indiana fertilizer plant. It plans to capture 1.5 million tons of carbon dioxide each year, which would make it one of the largest capture projects in the United States.
 
The Carbon Capture Coalition, of which ClearPath is a member, issued an inaugural set of national policy recommendations at the start of this week’s second annual CO2NNECT national carbon capture conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The recommendations include ensuring effective implementation of the Section 45Q tax incentive that Congress extended and expanded last year; supporting complementary infrastructure for carbon capture projects;  and prioritizing federal research, development, and demonstration of next-generation technologies.
 
A bipartisan group of senators led by Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) asked the Treasury Department and IRS to speed up guidance needed for project developers regarding that 45Q update signed into law as part of the February 2018 budget deal. “Implementation of this legislation is critical for establishing a domestic market for carbon to reduce emissions, create and preserve jobs, and drive further commercial deployment of carbon capture projects,” the senators wrote. They are also seeking interim guidance from Treasury in the meantime.
 

REPORT HIGHLIGHTS CRITICAL LINK BETWEEN NUCLEAR AND NATIONAL SECURITY

A new report from the Atlantic Council Task Force on U.S. Nuclear Energy Leadership recommends a number of actions to help the U.S. regain a leadership role in the global civilian nuclear power sector and international nuclear safety and nonproliferation. “We share the overarching conclusion of the Task Force that a deliberate, whole-of-government effort needs to be undertaken to reassert US leadership in nuclear energy innovation and development while maintaining adequate safety measures,” said honorary co-chairs Sens. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). 

Among the recommendations from the task force, which includes ClearPath Founder Jay Faison, are:

• Supporting the existing fleet of nuclear reactors
• Creating a positive environment for advanced reactors, including items like the Nuclear Energy Leadership Act and regulatory reform
• Finding ways to encourage exports of US reactors, such as inclusion in the new Development Finance Corporation.

Also, the Nuclear Innovation Alliance released a separate nuclear innovation report, recommending that the Departments of Energy and Defense take a cue from how NASA and the Air Force were instrumental in facilitating SpaceX and the broader revitalization of rocket launch services.
 

NEWS NUGGETS

NuScale Power and Enfission (a joint venture of Lightbridge Corporation and Framatome) announced a memorandum of understanding to explore using next-generation nuclear fuel technology in NuScale’s small modular reactors.

DOE’s Undersecretary of Science Paul Dabbar, in an interview with Columbia Energy Exchange podcast host Bill Loveless, walked through the history of the national labs (starting with Albert Einstein and FDR) and highlighted perovskite solar, post-lithium ion battery systems, fusion, carbon capture for materials and other research happening today.
 

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THE PATH AHEAD

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