Welcome to your Friday Rundown for the week ending Oct. 19. Feedback is always welcome at info@clearpathaction.org.

NATIONAL ACADEMIES PUSHES CARBON UTILIZATION R&D

More federal government and private sector R&D investment is needed to convert carbon emissions into concrete and other products, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine argued in a new report funded by the Department of Energy and Shell. The group of national lab, academia and corporate experts said roughly 10 percent of current global emissions could potentially be used - and in some cases generate positive economic returns - as long as there are sufficient technological advances and economic and policy drivers in place in the coming decades. There will be an online public briefing on the report Monday.

The bipartisan USE IT Act, approved by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, would support CO2 pipelines and other infrastructure that could send the captured carbon to oil fields, which in turn can lead to significant increases in enhanced oil recovery and other economic benefits. S. 2602 also directs EPA to use existing authority to support research for carbon capture and utilization, among other things.

COOPERATING ON A CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE

ClearPath’s policy agenda has earned big wins this Congress thanks to strong leadership by lawmakers in both parties: 45Q carbon capture and 45J advanced nuclear tax incentives, Energy Department energy storage and advanced nuclear moonshot goals, eagle-eyed energy investments, stronger public-private partnerships to test and demonstrate next-generation advanced nuclear reactor concepts, significant hydro reform, just to name a few.

These aren’t just good for clean power but also creating real jobs and other economic stimulus.

And in a new op-ed, MacArthur Foundation President Julia Stasch and Exelon CEO Chris Crane wisely spelled out the reality that the energy industry and environmental activists must band together to effectively decarbonize our economy, through advanced nuclear, carbon capture and other clean energy technologies.

“We believe it is time for all parties — especially the energy industry and environmental advocates — to come together around these sobering facts and act accordingly,” they wrote. That includes acknowledging that the “climate challenge is so steep and urgent that we will need to be prepared to deploy all available tools to reduce carbon in the atmosphere, not just renewable energy.”

BILL GATES EXPANDS CLEAN ENERGY EFFORT TO EUROPE

Meanwhile, Bill Gates is expanding his clean energy effort to Europe. He signed an agreement between the European Union and his Breakthrough Energy Ventures - a consortium of private investors that is putting more than $1 billion into helping commercialize promising clean energy technologies.

The result will be a €100 million ($116 million) commitment collectively by the EU and BEV for a joint investment vehicle called Breakthrough Energy Europe, which will, among other things, look at expanding zero-carbon backup for wind and solar “for windless days, long periods of cloudy weather, and nighttime,” he wrote in his Gates Notes blog.

RITA BARANWAL TO TESTIFY BEFORE SENATE ENERGY

Rita Baranwal will testify Nov. 15 before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee regarding her nomination to head the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy.

Her extensive and senior nuclear policy experience includes as director of the Gateway for Acceleration Innovation in Nuclear effort housed at Idaho National Laboratory since August 2016. She was previously director of technology development and core engineering/nuclear fuel at Westinghouse Electric and a manager at Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory.

THE PATH AHEAD

TUESDAY The Global America Business Institute and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP event: “Perspectives on the Role of Nuclear in Global Clean Energy." Features Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Nuclear Energy Policy and Cooperation Sarah G.J. Lennon, senior Canadian and Japanese nuclear officials and ClearPath Managing Director-Policy Jeremy Harrell. RSVP