Welcome to your Friday Rundown for the week ending March 9. Feedback is always welcome at info@clearpathaction.org. 
 

RICH’S TAKE: WHY WE NEED "MOONSHOT" ENERGY GOALS   

China is way ahead in the race to commercialize and export clean energy technologies. The good and bad news is that the U.S. has been in this position before - when the Soviet Union won the first major breakthrough in the space race with the launch of Sputnik. President John F. Kennedy’s original "moonshot" goal subsequently led to the U.S. landing the first man on the moon.

In his latest video, ClearPath Executive Director Rich Powell explains why "moonshot" clean energy technology goals would similarly allow the U.S. to catch up with China by focusing Department of Energy priorities and resources on the biggest breakthroughs in advanced nuclear, carbon capture, grid-scale storage, solar and other advanced technologies.

Watch Rich - in less than four minutes - sum up his recent appearance before the House Energy and Commerce Committee with the help of ClearPath graphics wizard Mitch Kersey. The optimistic takeaway message: While the U.S. may not be able to compete with China in cranes and concrete, setting moonshot energy technology goals can help ensure U.S. leadership in innovation and deployment.

WATCH RICH’S VIDEO
 

SENATE ENERGY APPROVES ADVANCED NUCLEAR GOALS     

And the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Thursday approved a bill that would do exactly that. The committee forwarded to the full Senate the Advanced Nuclear Energy Technologies Act (S. 1457) from Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), which sets a goal by 2028 for demonstrating at least four new advanced reactor designs.

The committee also approved House Science and Technology Chairman Lamar Smith’s bipartisan Department of Energy Research and Innovation Act (H.R. 589), a bill House lawmakers passed early last year that provides longer term certainty for the Office of Science’s energy innovation hubs and modernizes the national laboratory system and promotes the transfer of federal research to the private sector in order to bring innovative ideas to the commercial marketplace.
 

SENATE SCORES ANOTHER NUCLEAR INNOVATION WIN 

The Senate March 7 unanimously approved the Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act (S. 97), which would strengthen partnerships between the private sector and government researchers and invest in crucial infrastructure.

The bill led by Sens. Michael Crapo (R-Idaho), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and others authorizes the development of a versatile neutron source for advanced reactor testing. Many of the promising new reactor designs currently being developed utilize “fast neutrons,” so the test bed created under NEICA is essential to developing those new fuel designs. A versatile neutron source can also allow accelerated research for all new advanced reactors.

It is important to note that this R&D capability is only available for civilian use in Russia, so a domestic U.S. facility is essential to advancing American technologies.

The bill also directs the Department of Energy to prioritize partnering with private innovators to test and demonstrate advanced nuclear reactor concepts. 

Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas) is sponsoring a bipartisan companion bill (H.R. 431) that is backed by other House Science and Technology Committee leaders. The Weber bill passed the full House more than a year ago as part of H.R. 589.
 

U.S. ENERGY STORAGE HITS NEW MILESTONE

The U.S. energy storage market grew 27 percent in 2017, with 431 megawatt-hours deployed on the year, according to a new analysis from GTM Research and the Energy Storage Association. GTM Research also expects the U.S. market will nearly double this year, with more than 1,000 megawatt-hours of energy storage forecast to be deployed in 2018.

U.S. Energy Storage Tops 1 GWh Milestone - GREENTECH MEDIA 

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THE PATH AHEAD