1. A plan to “franchise” direct air capture

  

Occidental Petroleum subsidiary 1PointFive and Canadian direct air capture (DAC) solution provider Carbon Engineering Ltd. want to employ a “franchise-like” model to accelerate the deployment of DAC plants.

• The companies plan to distribute standard, operation-ready plant designs to local partners.
• Modular components of the plants would be supplied by Carbon Engineering and assembled on-site by 1PointFive.

1PointFive plans to get 70 DAC plants up and running using this strategy by 2035, with each facility having a removal capacity of up to 1 million metric tons of CO2 per year.

What’s clear: DAC is an important tool in the toolkit to lower CO2 emissions. DAC uses similar technology to CCUS but the main difference is that CO2 extraction is done from the atmosphere instead of at point sources such as power plants or industrial facilities.

Plug in: ClearPath CEO Rich Powell breaks down DAC in under 3 minutes.
 

2. Let’s build the clean energy demonstrations

  

Congress enacted the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) in November 2021, funding a wide range of clean energy demonstration programs.

Now that the funding has been allocated, it is important for DOE to implement IIJA programs consistent with Congressional direction. ClearPath has developed a series of memos with recommendations for these demonstrations, covering topics including:

• Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS);
• Energy storage;
• The CO2 Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (CIFIA) Program;
• DAC hubs; and
• Regional clean hydrogen hubs.

Plug in: Find all of these and more memos in a new blog post by ClearPath Senior Program Director Alex Fitzsimmons.
 

3. Utah developing huge clean hydrogen storage project

 

DOE announced its finalization of a $504.4 million loan guarantee for the Advanced Clean Energy Storage (ACES) project in Delta, Utah.

• This is the first new DOE loan guarantee since 2014.
• The ACES project will be the largest clean hydrogen storage facility in the world.
• It is anticipated to create over 400 jobs in construction and operation.

The project has received support from Utah’s representatives in Congress:

“Hydrogen can, and should, play a large role in powering our society and I am appreciative of Secretary Granholm supporting this important project,” said Rep. John Curtis (R-UT).

“This is not only a win for Millard County and Utah, but it is also an important step toward developing new energy technologies as we utilize an ‘all of the above’ approach to meet our energy demands,” said Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT).

What’s clear: Energy storage technologies can help balance supply and demand in the power grid. Hydrogen storage at ACES can support new power projects in Utah and Los Angeles, as well as hydrogen fueling stations.

• The expansion and innovation of storage has the potential to reduce the need for high-cost power during periods of peak demand, keeping consumer energy prices low.

4. Strengthen U.S. security with energy diversity

 

The Biden Administration recently invoked the Defense Production Act to accelerate domestic manufacturing of solar panels and other technologies for which we are import-reliant.
 
Overreliance on foreign supply chains — China in particular — threatens domestic energy security. According to a report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies,

• ⅔ of the world’s polysilicon production capacity is owned by Chinese firms;
• Over 90% of global wafer manufacturing capacity is located in China; and
• Chinese companies control 72% of global module manufacturing capacity.

While solar has a role to play, the U.S. should avoid overreliance on any one form of energy and should embrace a diverse portfolio of affordable, reliable, and clean energy technologies.

Plug in: Alex Fitzsimmons explains the importance of bolstering domestic supply chains and a diverse energy portfolio in his latest op-ed in The Hill.
 

5. First advanced nuclear microreactor to be built

 

U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) awarded a contract to BWXT to build the first microreactor at the Idaho National Laboratory.

• The award to develop, prototype and demonstrate comes through Project Pele in collaboration with DOE.
• The 1 to 5 MW microreactor will be transportable and provide a resilient power source to the DoD instead of relying on fuel deliveries and supply lines.
• Prototype will be completed and delivered in 2024 for testing at INL.

What’s clear: This announcement is good for the future of advanced nuclear, clean energy, and national security. DoD has historically explored the benefits of microreactors — since 1954, the U.S. Navy has used nuclear reactors to power aircraft carriers and submarines.

Plug in: ClearPath Managing Director for Policy Niko McMurray goes deeper on Project Pele.
 

6. American LNG exports to Europe higher than ever

Europe is importing more American LNG in an effort to decrease reliance on Russian gas amid conflict affecting the global energy market.

• The US exported 74% of its LNG to Europe in the first quarter of 2022 — a huge jump from last year’s average of 34%.
• 2022 LNG exports average 11.5 billion cubic feet per day, an 18% increase from 2021.

Before this year, Asia accounted for almost half of American LNG exports. European Union and United Kingdom exports have soared recently, tripling those from 2021, as they wean themselves off of Russian gas.

What’s clear: Russia’s war in Ukraine among other factors have strained the global energy market, and American LNG can be part of the solution.

Plug in: A study from DOE’s National Energy Technology Lab showed that American LNG can be up to 30% cleaner than Russian natural gas.
 

7. Climate and Freedom

Our friends at C3 Solutions have released a Comprehensive Conservative Climate and Energy Playbook. Read and download their agenda here.
 

8. ICYMI

• Carbon removal startup Running Tide’s breakthrough strategy — capturing and storing atmospheric carbon at the bottom of the ocean using kelp buoys — will require policy support to get off the ground.
• Nuclear company Westinghouse Electric and energy tech company Bloom Energy have announced a partnership on clean hydrogen production in the nuclear market.
• House Republicans have been working to build their climate platform, most recently with the Energy, Conservation, and Climate Task Force releasing part one of their six-part energy and climate plan, and is now challenged with working with Democratic colleagues on climate.

9. Coming down the pipeline

• 6/20-22 – The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) is hosting its EEI 2022 event covering climate and clean energy technologies in Orlando, FL. ClearPath CEO Rich Powell will participate in a panel discussion on driving policy for clean energy innovation. Register here.