The Biden administration recently set new tariffs on photovoltaic solar panels imported from Southeast Asia. Always a thorny issue, trade policy is expected to be especially controversial in 2025. Therefore, it’s worth understanding when tariffs might be appropriate and when they might carry more cost than benefit. The solar panel import issue is challenging because it isn’t...
Demand for electricity is rising so quickly in the United States that even Exxon Mobil, the country’s largest oil and gas company, is planning to get into the power business. Exxon is designing a massive natural-gas fueled plant meant to directly supply electricity to data centers. The company says the plant will be fitted with...
Colorado River water conservation and drought-resistant agriculture are at the forefront of a groundbreaking study that could reshape farming across the Western United States. Led by Colorado State University researchers, the study examines three innovative alternatives to alfalfa: Kernza, sainfoin, and silflower. These crops have the potential to dramatically reduce water usage while supporting sustainable...
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced an investment of $17 million across 14 projects that will accelerate critical materials innovation while promoting safe, sustainable, economic, and efficient solutions to meet current and future supply chain needs. The projects, which span 11 states, are strengthening and streamlining manufacturing for high-impact components and technologies such...
If you’re looking for hard problems, building a nuclear fusion power plant is a pretty good place to start. Fusion — the process that powers the sun — has proven to be a difficult thing to recreate here on Earth despite decades of research. “There’s something very attractive to me about the magnitude of the...
On Election Day, the American people gave the Republican Party a mandate to chart a new path forward on complex issues facing our country, not the least of which is energy. The good news, though, is we don’t have to wait until January to make progress. Passing legislation on permitting reform before the end of...
The US Department of Energy said on 10 December it is offering initial contracts to six companies to produce low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel for conventional nuclear plants to generate electricity. The companies that won contracts are: Centrus’s American Centrifuge Operating; General Matter; Global Laser Enrichment; Urenco’s Louisiana Energy Services; Laser Isotope Separation Technologies; and Orano...
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday on a case that could reshape a key environmental law and determine the future of an oil railway project in the west. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires federal agencies to conduct a review of environmental impacts before making any decisions and then issue a “detailed statement” of the review. SCOTUS...
Concerned about a loss of regional transmission organization independence, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Friday rejected proposals that would have given PJM Interconnection transmission owners more control over the grid operator’s transmission planning process. “We are concerned that these provisions violate the Commission’s independence requirement by providing a single stakeholder group, specifically, the PJM [transmission owners,]...
The court’s ruling reverses an effort by the Trump administration to overhaul regulation of biotechnology products with the goal of streamlining the review process to accelerate innovation in agriculture. The changes meant that genetically modified crops would be subject to regulation if they’re deemed to be “noxious weeds,” which is determined based on traits from...
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