Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.) has released his annual Festivus Report, highlighting over $1 trillion in wasteful federal government spending. This year’s report includes a $12 million pickleball court in Las Vegas, $10 billion in maintenance and rent for mostly empty federal buildings, and hundreds of thousands of dollars for censoring nonliberal media (including Reason). Unsurprisingly, the federal...
New York to charge fossil fuel companies over climate damage under new law
New York is poised to charge large fossil fuel companies a massive $75 billion over the next 25 years in an effort to curb the effects of climate change under a new law. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) signed the controversial climate law Thursday, several months after the state legislature passed the bill in the spring. The law looks to establish...
Plan to deploy 40-50 small modular nuclear reactors: Tata Consulting Engineers CEO Amit Sharma
New Delhi: India aims to deploy 40-50 small modular nuclear reactors, mostly to replace captive thermal power plants, as it aims to achieve the goal of net-zero emissions by 2070. A top industry official said that the 220-MWe Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) was being redesigned using 3D design platforms with an aim to achieve...
US Department of Energy Selects 11 Projects to Advance Domestic Manufacturing of Next-Generation Batteries
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced an investment of $25 million across 11 projects to advance materials, processes, machines, and equipment for domestic manufacturing of next–generation batteries. These projects will advance platform technologies upon which battery manufacturing capabilities can be built, enabling flexible, scalable, and highly controllable battery manufacturing processes. Batteries are...
Natural gas demand from US LNG export plants heads for first decline in 8 years
Demand for U.S. natural gas to produce liquefied natural gas (LNG) for export this year is headed for its first decline since the country started exporting the super-chilled fuel from the lower 48 states eight years ago. The U.S. is the world’s largest exporter of the superchilled gas and a key provider of gas to Europe in...
The Biden LNG Export Gambit Fails
The November election changed America’s direction in many ways, but none more than energy policy. For an example, consider the Biden Administration’s political two-step designed to give a President Kamala Harris the ability to block liquefied natural gas export projects. Recall that in January President Biden, prodded by White House climate adviser John Podesta, announced the Administration was...
CPUC approves $723 million in ratepayer costs to extend life of Diablo Canyon nuclear plant
The California Public Utilities Commission has approved $722.6 million in ratepayer costs to cover the continued operation of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant — the state’s only functioning nuclear energy source. The plant was scheduled to begin shutting down in November, but its lifespan was extended in a last-minute legislative deal struck by Gov. Gavin...
AI’s energy hunger fuels geothermal startups but natgas rivalry clouds future
Geothermal energy startups are on the upswing with Big Tech companies looking to feed their power-intensive AI data centers, but long-term investments remain uncertain as oil majors double down on natural gas. Meta and Alphabet’s Google are among the tech companies partnering with startups proposing to produce geothermal electricity, to power their data centers. Large data-center operators...
Qcells says technology breakthrough could reduce space needed for solar panels
Hanwha Corp’s Qcells said on Wednesday it had made a breakthrough in an emerging solar technology that has the potential to reduce the amount of space required by panels that generate power from the sun’s rays. Space is among the most pressing issues for the rapidly growing solar power industry, which has encountered growing opposition...
Chris Wright Poised to Restore U.S. Energy Dominance at DOE
In 2017, I met the CEO of a major German manufacturing company. The CEO was envious of the U.S. and its position as an energy powerhouse. Our development of oil and gas had made energy so abundant and affordable that he was exploring opportunities to open new manufacturing facilities in the U.S. On the Senate...