Welcome to your Friday Rundown for the week ending Dec. 7. Feedback is always welcome at info@clearpathaction.org. 
 

XCEL BLAZES CLEAN ENERGY PATH FOR UTILITIES

ClearPath Executive Director Rich Powell was honored to join Xcel Energy CEO Ben Fowke at his company’s landmark announcement Tuesday unveiling a plan to reduce carbon emissions 80 percent by 2030 and be totally carbon-free by 2050. It’s the most ambitious plan yet from a major U.S. investor-owned utility. The company – which supplies power to eight Midwestern and Western states – has a solid head start given that 40 percent of its power is already derived from zero-carbon renewables, nuclear and hydropower.

In remarks at the announcement in Denver, Rich highlighted how Xcel is blazing an urgent path for other utilities, while acknowledging the end-goal will require new ideas and innovation that likely impact and involve all energy sources.
 

“When the Xcel team shared with me what Ben planned to announce today, I agreed immediately to come out. I believe this is the single most exciting development in the clean energy space this year. Not only has Xcel taken the bold leadership to go first on the path where we know all U.S. utilities must go – to zero emissions by 2050 – but they’ve done it while acknowledging they’re not entirely sure how to get there.”
 
“They now join a field of deep energy thinkers from Google to Bill Gates to the MIT Energy Initiative who are all deeply concerned about climate change, but know that we don’t yet have all the tools we need to get to zero emissions – especially tools that can be used cheaply and widely around the world. The key then is innovation – both pushing new technologies into the market with federal R&D programs, like the National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden – and major energy buyers like Xcel making these bold commitments.”
 
“Today, Xcel has sent a powerful market signal to innovators around the country, whether they’re working on amazing new batteries or real clean fossil fuels or advanced nuclear technologies. They now know that if they can compete on price and performance, they have a pathway to market here. I believe the world will look back on this bold step as one of the most important in the pathway to a zero-carbon economy.”
 

Rich and Jon Anderson, director of The Western Way, explain in a new Colorado Springs Gazette op-ed how energy storage and battery, carbon capture, advanced nuclear and other next-generation technologies may all be needed to help Xcel and other utilities reach their zero-emission goals.
 

WHY WE NEED TO GO BEYOND LITHIUM ION

Most current energy storage technologies come in the form of batteries – and there is no more ubiquitous battery in the world than lithium ion.

But while lithium batteries certainly has their uses, it’s unlikely they can fulfill the promise of clean energy sources – from renewables to nuclear.

One reason is a serious concern over its supply chain. Lithium ion battery tech relies on a rare element named cobalt, increasingly referred to as the blood diamond of batteries due to lax child labor and safety laws in copper and nickel mining dominated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In the meantime, China is attempting to capture the global lithium ion battery opportunity in the same way it’s not come to dominate solar manufacturing.

In their latest whiteboard video, ClearPath Executive Director Rich Powell and Production Director Mitch Kersey detail what’s needed in an ambitious “StorageShot” effort to ensure U.S. and global investment in the future of every clean energy source is secure.
 

HOW DO WE GET BEYOND LITHIUM ION?

This need to go beyond lithium is backed up in a comprehensive set of recommendations and findings by Information Technology & Innovation Foundation Senior Fellow David Hart.

David’s recommendations encompass goal-setting, R&D, international collaboration, technology demonstration, private-sector support and power-sector planning.

Among those:

Expand Department of Energy investments and set up an innovation hub to pursue long-duration grid storage options other than batteries

Lead a new challenge on long-duration grid storage within the existing global Mission Innovation effort

Foster public-private partnerships between national labs and technology development companies and explore whether loan guarantees would assist commercialization

Consider regulatory and market reforms to optimize the value of existing pumped-hydropower storage resources.
 

NEWS NUGGETS

DOE’s ARPA-E program announced $12 million for 5 advanced nuclear projects as part of its first-ever OPEN+ program. The projects will focus on ways to enable advanced nuclear energy by overcoming challenges in high-performance materials science.
 

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