Energy

Google Backs New Nuclear Plants to Power AI
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Google Backs New Nuclear Plants to Power AI

ByAdmin

EcoTech Note:  Here’s the clearest statement of the important of having “learning curve” improvements in price/performance reduce the cost of this new design:
“The [power purchase agreement by Google] answers questions that have bedeviled smaller-reactor designs: What customer would pay the higher price for a first-of-a-kind project? And who would order enough to get an assembly line started? The concept, which remains to be proven, is that building the same thing over and over in a factory would drive down costs.

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Airloom Wind Energy: Across the Valley of Death
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Airloom Wind Energy: Across the Valley of Death

ByAdmin

EcoTech Note:  Here is a new wind energy system that has raised early money (two rounds: $4m in 2020 and $13m recently) and created “proof of concept” pilot plant.  The $13m will create a full-size 1.0 megawatt demonstration.

Below are two important charts showing how much lower the upfront capital and installation costs are compared to conventional wind turbines.  Below that are links to a positive press story and a skeptical YouTube evaluation. 

It also looks like DOD funding will help get this promising CleanTech across the Valley of Death with 2.5 megawatt reactors built in 2026.

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DOE’s Energy Earthshots supporting R&D of 8 key objectives

DOE’s Energy Earthshots supporting R&D of 8 key objectives

ByAdmin

EcoTech Note:  In 2021, the Biden Administration announced the Energy Earthshots™ Initiative, which sets technical and cost goals in key next-generation clean energy to be achieved by 2030 or 2035. The effort was based on DOE’s highly successful SunShot, which set out in 2011 to slash the cost of solar energy 75% within a decade (and did so three years early).

See the ambitious stretch goals for these 8 Energy Earthshots (where *means 2030 goal): cheap hydrogen* ($1/kg); carbon dioxide removal* at less than $100/ton; long-duration energy storage* for 90% less than 2020; floating offshore wind costs down by 70%; enhanced geothermal energy below $45/mwh; decarbonized industrial heat with 85% lower GHGs; clean fuels and [chemical] products with 85% lower GHGs; and reduced home energy costs* by 20% and having retrofit upfront costs decline by 50%.

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Geothermal exploring accelerated by new House bill
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Geothermal exploring accelerated by new House bill

ByAdmin

News flash:  H.R. 6474,  a bill  to amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to expedite geothermal exploration and development in previously studied or developed areas, passed the House yesterday by voice vote.  It now goes to the Senate for action.

NV-03 Representative Susie Lee originally co-sponsored the bill with R. Michelle Steel from California.  See https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/6474/all-actions for legislative details.  Basically, this bill extends the same “categorical exclusions” to environmental impact requirements that are available for oil and gas exploration to geothermal exploration.  It’s no secret that Nevada sits on top of some significant geothermal resources. It now goes to the Senate for action.

Deployments of Clean Power up 91% in Q2

Deployments of Clean Power up 91% in Q2

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U.S. developers added 11 gigawatts (GW) of new utility-scale clean power capacity in the second quarter, according to the American Clean Power Association’s (ACP) Clean Power Quarterly Market Report.

This record-breaking amount marks a 91 percent increase over the second quarter of 2023.

For the year, there has been 19 GW of installations, which is more than double the five-year average for installations in the first half of the year. With the second half of the year historically much stronger than the first half for clean power additions, the likelihood is high for a record-breaking year in 2024.

Clean Electricity Breaks New Records

Clean Electricity Breaks New Records

ByAdmin

The global transition to clean electricity has reached important new milestones and is set to continue at the current pace. According to a pair of new reports by research provider BloombergNEF (BNEF), for the first time ever, zero-carbon sources made up over 40% of the electricity the world generated in 2023. Hydro power accounted for 14.7%, while wind and solar contributed almost as much at 13.9% – a new record high. Nuclear’s share was 9.4%.

These findings emerge from two reports published today by BNEF: Power Transition Trends 2024, and the 2H 2024 Renewable Energy Investment Tracker, which indicate that momentum towards clean power has also accelerated, with wind and solar representing nearly 91% of net new power capacity additions in 2023 – up from 83% the year before – while fossil fuels including coal and gas represented just 6% of net new build – the lowest level ever.

Wall Street Wants In on America’s Battery Storage Boom

Wall Street Wants In on America’s Battery Storage Boom

ByAdmin

Storage capacity in the U.S. has grown enough in recent years to be able to power many millions of homes, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. California and Texas dominate the industry, but projects are in the works in Nevada, Arizona and elsewhere to help meet growing power demand from artificial-intelligence data centers and manufacturing plants.

Private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management recently agreed to a $315.5 million debt investment in Eos Energy Enterprises, a startup producing zinc batteries that could store energy for longer periods. A developer called rPlus Energies just raised over $1 billion for a big solar and storage project in Utah. 

Categorical exclusions now can expedite geothermal energy permitting
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Categorical exclusions now can expedite geothermal energy permitting

ByAdmin

To improve permitting of geothermal energy exploration on public lands, the Bureau of Land Management today adopted two existing categorical exclusions from the United States Forest Service and the Department of the Navy. The categorical exclusions will enable the agency to expedite the review and approval of geothermal exploration proposals.

Terraform Industries converts electricity and air into synthetic natural gas

Terraform Industries converts electricity and air into synthetic natural gas

ByAdmin

Note: Here is a VC-backed company which is using solar power to pull CO2 and H20 out of the air and combine it into CH4 … better known as methane or natural gas!   Importantly, this tech looks like it might get cheap enough to scale up.  The video tour by the CEO explains the chemistry and economics.

Today, Terraform is announcing that it has commissioned a demonstrator plant and produced synthetic natural gas for the first time.
Roughly the size of two shipping containers, the Terraformer consists of three …

RFF Releases Annual Global Energy Outlook Report

RFF Releases Annual Global Energy Outlook Report

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The Global Energy Outlook, an annual analysis from Resources for the Future (RFF), charts a wide range of pathways for the world’s energy outlook. What are the key findings? 

The report comes to several conclusions based on 16 scenarios. 1) Consumption of coal, oil, and natural gas is expected to peak before 2030 but remain at or near a plateau through 2050 in many scenarios. Achieving international climate targets will require a peak followed by a rapid decline. 2) Carbon dioxide removal technologies are …

Cortez Masto co-sponsors bipartisan geothermal development bill
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Cortez Masto co-sponsors bipartisan geothermal development bill

ByAdmin

Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto and other members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee introduced the Geothermal Energy Optimization (GEO) Act to accelerate the adoption of geothermal energy nationwide. Nevada is the second-largest producer of geothermal energy in the nation.

The GEO Act would put geothermal projects on an equal footing with oil and gas projects on public land and direct the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to develop a streamlined process for geothermal permits. The bill also …