"The key is to remove all the market, cost, and fiscal barriers in the way of beneficial innovators. When streamlined policy makes new investments cheap and easy, newer, cleaner technologies replace older, dirtier technologies at an ever faster pace, accelerating innovation and the energy transition."
"Fervo pumps cold water down an injection well, then over hot rock underground to another well, the production well. The path between is created by fracking, or fracturing the rock. The water heats up to nearly 400 degrees Fahrenheit (200 degrees Celsius) before returning to the surface. Once there, it transfers its heat to another liquid with a low boiling point, creating steam. The pressure of steam expanding spins a turbine to produce electricity like in a coal or natural gas-fired plant. The geothermal water, now cooled, is put back down the injection well to start the cycle again, in a closed-loop system."
"American energy innovation has delivered significant benefits here at home and around the world. With CCS, we can ensure the next generation of global energy is also American-led."
"CF’s executives decided to capitalize on that potential clean-energy demand and lean a bit less on fertilizer. One advantage for CF is that it can convert its ammonia to a low-carbon variety relatively cheaply, since the company already captures much of the CO2 generated. It just has to sequester that carbon dioxide instead of venting it to the atmosphere, as it does now."
"KOKO hints at why there is excitement about carbon markets. The African Carbon Markets Initiative (ACMI), a UN-backed consortium, reckons that Africa uses just 2% of its annual carbon-credit potential; it aims for Africa to sell $100bn worth of credits a year by 2050. Even a fraction of that would be a boon for a continent where annual foreign direct investment has never surpassed $80bn. William Ruto, Kenya’s president, calls carbon credits an “unparalleled economic gold mine” and his country’s “next significant export”. Yet, as is often the case with Africa and its natural resources, things could go wrong."
"Symbium is part of a wave of software companies looking to speed up notoriously sluggish permitting timelines for renewable energy projects. These startups say approval processes can be tightened up dramatically with the help of automation software."
Leaders at COP28 should focus on making the lives innovators easier if they are serious about hitting any targets in the future.
When countries pursue policies rooted in economic freedom, people will be better equipped to solve those problems. It’s time for global leaders to recognize that.
"'We were looking for a private-sector approach that wasn’t dependent on policy, it wasn’t dependent on traditional taxes, regulation or philanthropy to price in these assets and give investors the opportunity to invest directly in nature, whether that’s for climate or biodiversity,' said IEG Chair Douglas Eger."
"The industry is racing to develop SMRs — new types of advanced nuclear reactors that have a power capacity of 300MW or less, which is about a third of standard facilities. Governments and private investors — including Rolls-Royce, GE and Hitachi — have spent billions of dollars to commercialise the technology over the past decade."
