1. Let’s get more clean energy projects permitTED

 
ClearPath’s CEO Rich Powell delivered a TED Talk on modernizing the energy permitting process. Powell shares optimism on the otherwise gloomy permitting outlook. He offers a plan to:

• expedite project development, and
• improve the judicial review process.

Plug in: Watch the full TED Talk from Powell here.
 

2. Wyoming greenlights first CO2 wells

The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality issued three Class VI permits last month – its first since the EPA granted the state top regulatory authority over the wells in 2020.

• Over 10 months, Wyoming reviewed the company’s three permit applications.
• Carbon storage developer Frontier Carbon Solutions plans to begin construction on the three carbon dioxide storage wells in the summer of 2024.
• CO2 removed from the atmosphere will be stored in the wells by the proposed Wyoming Regional DAC Hub in Sweetwater County.
• North Dakota and Louisiana also have Class VI Primacy.

What’s clear: Granting states primacy on Class VI wells expedites the process for sequestering CO2. North Dakota was able to permit a project in nine months. Other than North Dakota and now Wyoming, the only other Class VI well is in Illinois which took the EPA roughly six years.

Plug in: Click here to read our take on removing roadblocks for CO2 pipelines and wells.
 

3. New video:

 
Atlanta-based Emrgy is expanding the United States’ hydropower portfolio with an exciting new twist on low-cost, modular hydropower.

• Emrgy turbines could be placed into existing open channel water flows – like a canal or irrigation ditch – to harvest energy as the water flows naturally downhill.
• This modular nature eliminates the need to construct or modify existing water infrastructure.

What’s clear: Hydropower generates nearly 30 percent of all U.S. renewable energy. Modern hydropower or hydroelectric power has been utilized for over 100 years and remains a clean, reliable electricity asset.

Plug in: Check out our latest whiteboard video to learn about Emrgy and innovative new hydropower technologies, curated by Mitch Kersey, Landon Stevens and Rich Powell.
 

4. Incoming: next-generation nuclear facility

Energy Northwest is partnering with Bellevue-based Puget Sound Energy to accelerate research on the feasibility of developing and deploying a next-generation nuclear energy facility in the northwest.

• Energy Northwest is also partnering with reactor developer X-energy
• Looks to follow the construction of X-energy’s first reactor at a Dow Chemical facility in Texas.

Plug in: Learn more about the importance of American nuclear fuel leadership in this blog by Jack Ridilla.
 

5. ICYMI

• The EIA reports more than 30 GW of battery storage capacity plans to come online in 2024, which would nearly double battery storage capacity on the grid.
• The DOE released a request for a proposal to kickstart the domestic production of the specialized fuel needed for many next-generation reactors like X-energy’s.
• API’s 2024 State of American Energy event featured Oklahoma Gov. Stitt and U.S. Sens. Cassidy (R-LA) and Hickenlooper (D-CO) on permitting, Class VI primacy, and ensuring affordable, reliable, and cleaner energy. Watch the event recording here.
• In 2023, the U.S. saw a growing economy paired with the largest decline in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions since before the pandemic, according to a new Rhodium analysis.
• The DOE’s Loan Program Office announced a conditional commitment to LongPath Technologies, Inc. for real-time methane emission monitoring.