President Donald Trump ordered a halt to new leases and permits for wind projects on his first day back at the White House.
The order stops short of freezing construction of offshore projects along the East Coast, as sought by wind opponents and feared by the industry’s supporters. But it does direct the Interior secretary to review existing wind permits.
The moves amounted to an extraordinary attack on America’s largest renewable energy industry, both on land and at sea.
Nuclear power is clean, reliable, and affordable. Increasing our use of this power source is key to building an American future powered by abundant, reliable, and cleaner energy. The federal government is launching a significant effort to transition its buildings to nuclear power, inking a billion-dollar deal with Constellation Energy.
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) awarded Constellation Energy more than $1 billion in combined government contracts to provide nuclear power to 80 federal facilities representing more than 13 federal agencies. The contracts will be valid for the next 10 years. This deal marks the biggest energy purchase in GSA history.
“For many decades, Constellation’s nuclear fleet has provided carbon-free, reliable, American-made energy to millions of families and institutions,” explained Joe Dominguez, Constellation President and CEO. “Frustratingly, however, nuclear energy was excluded from many corporate and government sustainable energy procurements. Not anymore. This agreement is another powerful example of how things have changed.”
>>>READ: Meta Wants AI To Go Nuclear
Constellation Energy is the largest nuclear power provider in the country, owning more than 20 nuclear reactors. The energy company’s contracts with the GSA will provide more than 1 million annual megawatt hours to the government. To put that figure in context, that much energy could power one average American home for over 3,250 years. The federal government is the largest energy consumer in the United States, so 1 million annual megawatt hours will only cover a fraction of the power it uses this year.
Through the contracts, Constellation will provide electricity to agencies, including the Social Security Administration, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Transportation, the U.S. Mint, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the National Park Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and more.
While many want to shrink the federal government’s size and footprint, the government is the single largest energy consumer in the United States. These buildings consume electricity on the taxpayers’ dime. Expanding federally procured nuclear power benefits taxpayers due to its affordability and reliability. It’s also good for the planet, making it an excellent energy source for many reasons.
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“This historic procurement locks in a cost-competitive, reliable supply of nuclear energy over a 10-year period, accelerating progress toward a carbon-free energy future while protecting taxpayers against future price hikes,” stated GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan. “We’re demonstrating how the federal government can join major corporate clean energy buyers in spurring new nuclear energy capacity and ensuring a reliable, affordable supply of clean energy for everyone.”
The contracts between the GSA and Constellation will begin in April. While the market is the best driver of nuclear innovation and expansion, having the nation’s largest power consumer transition to this cleaner energy source will also help encourage nuclear growth while likely saving taxpayers some money.
This article was originally published on CAPX.
The Prime Minister’s drive for AI, announced this week, is commendable. AI can, if appropriately used, lead to a significant improvement in productivity. It is often said that while people may not lose their jobs to AI, they will lose their job to someone who knows how to use it.
However, your AI search requires substantially more energy than a normal internet search. Indeed, energy and water for the data centres that are needed to power AI are at a premium. Already, high energy costs have stopped Ireland from building more data centres. But UK energy costs are far higher than other G7 countries. Our planning restrictions also make it difficult to build anything in the UK, and this applies as much to data centres as anything else that tends to get more political attention such as housing. The Labour manifesto did highlight the need to build data centres and make it easier to get these through the planning process, which is a positive step, but the Government’s energy policy has not succeeded in the fundamental task of lowering energy costs.
How do we lower energy costs in the UK?
The Growth Commission, which I chair, has made a number of suggestions here. First, we need to massively increase power generation. Instead, the Government has made it more, not less difficult to generate energy through its North Sea oil and gas policy, which is making major players in this sector consider leaving the UK. We need to explore all options here.
The high cost of energy is perhaps the biggest challenge UK business faces in being globally competitive. In a world where Donald Trump’s energy policies are likely to lead to even more of a differential in costs between the UK and US, it is almost impossible to see how UK companies generally can be competitive.
The UK also has a poor track record on approving the construction of new nuclear power stations. Wylfa languishes in Anglesey. Sizewell C has taken far longer than would have been anticipated on any reasonable timescale. The Small Modular Reactor (SMR) competition is scheduled to produce a winner in July, but why we are not simply allowing the market to accelerate the approval of SMRs, as other countries are doing? While the push to renewable energy is a wise one, we need to be realistic about the reliability and base load provided by wind and solar and other energy sources. Great British Nuclear, launched by the previous government, and Great British Energy launched by the present one, both involve significant government distortions which are likely to crowd out, rather than crowd in the private sector activity needed in this energy emergency.
So much for generation. But the problem does not end there. The Competition and Markets Authority looked at a series of anti-competitive market distortions in the energy markets back in 2015. It made a number of recommendations including dealing with grid connections, and we have referred to those in our Growth Commission budgets. The UK Government needs to implement these suggested reforms.
There is a series of energy cost increases which emanate from the Climate Change Act, and beyond that, conspire to increase the carbon floor price well above other G7 markets. This needs to be urgently addressed.
The Growth Commission has also evaluated the cost to the UK of the EU’s Carbon Border Tax Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), and this alone (without considering the underlying energy cost increases from the Climate Change Act and the Emissions Trading Scheme itself) costs individual Brits at least £700 (from a GDP per capita perspective). By applying a tariff on products produced with cheaper energy from abroad, the CBAM allows the high cost of energy in the UK to be perpetuated. It is a policy we can no longer afford.
The US as a major energy exporter
Under President Trump, the US will continue to be a net energy exporter and its exports are likely to grow. This will help the UK, provided we are in a position to do deals with US suppliers. Our own energy and environmental policies will be key elements of this.
In this context, we have advocated an entirely different approach to climate change, drawing on the key ideas of the Climate and Freedom Accord (CFA). The CFA proposes an international free market agreement on climate and sustainable development, rooted in the insight that best way to accelerate the innovation needed to solve the challenges of both climate and poverty is more freedom for innovators. The key to which is fewer barriers, burdens and costs for free enterprise. Free trade, open, competitive markets, low income taxes and private property rights all drive down the costs of new investment, which speeds up the cycle of innovating better, more efficient and cleaner products. The CFA proposes that nations agree to such a framework. Subsidies and punitive carbon pricing would be phased out in favor of new kinds of internationally reciprocal, technologically neutral supply-side tax cuts that accelerate cross-border capital flows for manufacturing and other capital investments. The Growth Commission costed this approach and found that it increased UK GDP per capita by £1,000. Given these numbers, the Government should at least investigate this – it is likely to find more receptivity to these types of ideas than the European CBAM approach.
In addition, it is evident from Trump’s initial forays into discussions with Canada and Greenland that the US will be seeking to do deals with countries that have energy production capacity. The UK stands in a better position here than others in the EU, but only if it is willing to use its natural resources, and align to US approaches on energy generation.
The Path Forward
Given the likely emphasis on energy generation initiatives around the world, there is cause for optimism. But this will depend on the UK’s ability to actually harness its assets and contribute to the overall energy demand the world faces due to AI and other technology demands. The risk for the UK is that others will advance and the UK will fall behind, harming all its citizens.
Phrases like “There’s an app for that!” and “Google it” have become everyday expressions reminding us that technology is influencing common tasks in our daily lives. The story is no different when it comes to Michigan agriculture. Recent advancements in technology have made their way to the field. Whether you like it or not, modern agriculture is now inundated with flashy screens and monitors mounted on all sorts of farm equipment. These tools play a crucial role in improving farm efficiency by providing real-time data that’s collected and cataloged from our machinery. The term precision agriculture is used to encompass the numerous sensors, computers and electronics found in agriculture today. We use the data from these tools to more effectively manage the variations across fields and cropping systems.
Challenges persist in modern agriculture even with the promise that technology is the solution. Farmers are grappling with rising input costs for seeds, fertilizers, land and rent, while increasing market volatility adds uncertainty to the prices they get for their commodities. “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it” is a quote often attributed to W. Edwards Deming, a twentieth century economist. Farmers long managed their operations successfully without direct measurement of every systematic component. However, to achieve greater production efficiency, the measurement and monitoring of these systems enhances our ability to understand and implement practices that encourage greater environmental and economical sustainability.
The AI boom is predicted to disrupt developed economies, but to make that possible companies will have to build new data centers and power plants to operate them. That’s something climate tech investors have taken note of: Companies that provide that kind of infrastructure secured some of the biggest deals of 2024, according to a recent review of the year’s climate tech investing trends.
The review, published this month by Sightline Climate, a leading provider of intelligence on climate tech investing, reveals that total spending continued to be hit by high interest rates and other factors, causing 2024 to see the third successive year of declining investment. But sectors impacted by data center growth bucked the trend: Energy attracted $9.4 billion, a 12 percent increase, and buildings $2.7 billion, up 10 percent.
Indonesia plans to start offering carbon credit certificates to international buyers next week, the country’s carbon exchange said, to raise funds to help efforts to achieve its carbon neutrality target.
Indonesia is an archipelago with the world’s third-largest rainforest area, but is also one of the world’s top 10 green house gas emitters.
The first offer of carbon credit certificates for international buyers will be launched on Monday, Jan. 20, the exchange said.
Chris Wright, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice as secretary of Energy, told senators Wednesday he supports expanding and strengthening the U.S. transmission system, signaling his willingness to add one of President Joe Biden’s top energy goals to the Trump agenda.
At his confirmation hearing, Wright — a self-styled science geek turned energy entrepreneur — steered carefully through Democrats’ pointed questions to stand fully behind Trump’s fossil-fuel-friendly “abundance” agenda while staking out his own, more nuanced positions on climate change. No serious challenges to his Senate confirmation appeared in the hearing.
“I am committed to growing our electricity grid and our energy production and removing those barriers that are standing in the way,” said Wright, chief executive of Liberty Energy, a Denver-based oil field services company.
According to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, the transportation sector is responsible for 28% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, and trucking alone accounts for a quarter of those emissions. While the freight industry has opposed the Biden administration’s costly, unworkable regulations to reduce emissions from heavy-duty trucks, innovators are finding ways to clean up the nation’s existing fleet cost-effectively.
One such solution, developed by California-based Range Energy, involves equipping commercial trucks with an electric-powered trailer system (ePTS). The hybrid approach is compatible with traditional dry vans or reefer trailers (the big storage box attached to the semi-truck) while circumventing the significant cost investment, infrastructure requirements, and operational limitations associated with adopting a fully electric fleet.
Range RA-01, the company’s 53-foot powered trailer, improves energy efficiency by up to 70% and cuts fuel costs by as much as 40%. The electric propulsion system includes an e-axle, a 200 kWh battery pack, and a smart kingpin.
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Range says its trailers are easy to connect to any tow vehicle and compatible with all tractors and drivetrains. The company has not yet finalized pricing for its trailers, but Range Energy CEO Ali Javidan estimates they will range from $150,000 to $180,000, depending on the fleet and application. While that is a significant investment and one that should be made without the force of regulatory pressure, the energy savings could eventually make a good deal for the fuel-conscious industry.
“We’ve reached a turning point in freight transportation. Fleets are looking at ways to reduce emissions without negatively impacting operations. At Range, it is our goal to help our commercial partners – and all freight carriers – during this critical transition, and to do so expediently,” Javidan said in a press release. “The RA Series is our answer. With a unique, practical solution that can quickly be deployed at scale, Range is providing commercial fleets the ability to immediately reduce emissions and costs, while avoiding any disruption to their operations.”
In July 2023, RA-01 became the first trailer electrification platform eligible for California’s Clear Off-Road Equipment (CORE) Voucher Incentive Project. According to Javidan, customers purchasing Range’s refrigerated trailers may qualify for a rebate of up to $120,000 through CORE, while the non-refrigerated version offers a rebate of up to $80,000.
>>>READ: Imposing Clean Fleet Requirements Now Would be a Dirty Trick
In February, Range announced $23.5 million in new funding to speed up its customer pilot programs and move closer to full-scale production of its electric trailers. The investment round was led by Trousdale Ventures, with additional contributions from UP. Partners, R7, and Yamaha Motor Ventures.
The hardware firm says its total funding is now $31.5 million.
A significant factor currently standing in the way of full-fleet electrification and rapid decarbonization in the transportation sector is the significant cost hurdle of transitioning to electric vehicles (EVs). A report released last year by the Clean Freight Coalition found that building the charging infrastructure needed to electrify the nation’s trucking fleet could cost upwards of $1 trillion. While another report suggests those numbers may be inflated, the high upfront cost of electric semis (which cost $150,000 to $250,000 more than their diesel counterparts) remains a significant impediment to the transportation and logistics industry’s decarbonization efforts.
By providing the heavy-duty truck market with a scalable and cost-effective solution for fleet decarbonization, Range Energy empowers transportation companies to achieve emissions targets without crippling their bottom line so they can continue to deliver the products that Americans need every day.
As President-elect Trump assembles his cabinet and senior staff, there are familiar names that Americans have come to know over the years. Names like Elon Musk, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Florida Senator Marco Rubio, and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum. And then there is Chris Wright, perhaps the least recognizable name on the President’s team and the nominee for the Secretary of Energy.
Chris is no show pony. Sitting in the Senate cafeteria with him recently, it struck me that in a city where people are paid copious amounts of money to know who the powerbrokers are, not a single person recognized the new nominee. And he’s okay with that.
For many years, Chris, an avid outdoorsman, has served on the board of the Property and Environment Research Center, our nonprofit conservation organization based out of Bozeman, Montana. We are dedicated to improving the condition of our public and private lands through incentives and market-based ideas. Part of that entails ensuring conservation works for both people and the environment. That’s Chris in a nutshell – he sees the condition of humanity and the environment are intertwined.
Google will buy carbon credits from an Indian initiative that turns large amounts of agricultural waste into biochar – a form of charcoal that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and returns it to the soil, it said on Thursday.
The deal – signed by Google and Indian supplier Varaha – is one of the biggest ever involving biochar, and is the tech giant’s first foray into India’s carbon dioxide removal (CDR) sector.
Google is one of a number of big tech companies looking to offset emissions through CDR, which refers to a range of interventions designed to remove CO2 already in the atmosphere and oceans.
While some developers are looking at expensive new technologies that extract CO2 directly from the air, solutions like biochar could prove a cheaper near-term option.
“Biochar is a promising approach to carbon removal because it has the ability to scale worldwide, using existing technology, with positive side effects for soil health,” said Randy Spock, Google’s carbon removal lead.
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