CONFIRMED – 2022 FUSION REACTION YIELDED MORE ENERGY THAN PUT IN: New peer-reviewed papers confirm that the nuclear fusion reaction ignited at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in December of 2022 produced more energy (3.15 megajoules) than the amount delivered by lasers to the fusion target (2.05 MJ).
The papers, published in Physical Review Letters and Physical Review E and touted in a press release from the laboratory, give added hope for the prospects for clean, bountiful fusion energy.
“This achievement is the culmination of more than five decades of research and gives proof that controlled laboratory fusion energy based on fundamental physics principles is possible,” the researchers (of whom there are more than 1,000) said in one article.
The papers also note that subsequent experiments in 2023 also achieved greater “target gains” – meaning even more energy was released than put in.
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WORLD’S LARGEST CARBON REMOVAL PLANT SET TO OPEN IN ARKANSAS: A carbon removal facility thought to be the world’s largest is set to start operations this week in Arkansas, E&E News reports.
The startup Graphyte, backed by Bill Gates, will begin operations at the plant collecting sawdust and other byproducts from paper mills that would otherwise be burned or decompose (and thus release carbon into the air), drying it out, and condensing it into shoebox-sized blocks to be buried and stored underground for centuries.
The startup says it aims to remove 15,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere this year and 50,000 tons in 2025. With that, the facility “jumps to the top in terms of, not only the largest plant, but also the largest [carbon removal] company in the world — full stop,” said CEO Barclay Rogers. Read more here.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION EASES UP IN RESPONSE TO FARMER PROTESTS: The European Commission today scrapped a key agricultural target from its 2040 greenhouse gas emissions-reducing road map, a move aimed at appeasing farmers who have staged massive protests.
The changes were reflected in the European Commission’s latest document, which outlines plans to target a 90% emissions reduction by 2040 compared to 1990 levels. It dropped a target to cut emissions specifically from the agricultural sector by 30%. Instead, it says all sectors will need to contribute to reducing their emissions.
Leaders said in a joint statement Tuesday after the meeting that they had “discussed the challenges” to farmers and growers, and will weigh different ways to achieve their ambitious reduction targets without targeting farmers in particular.
“I think it is fair to say that our farmers have shown remarkable resilience . . . but many challenges remain,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday.
“The farmers can count on European support,” she added.
Farmer-led protests have spread through the European Union in recent weeks, with thousands of protesters gathering in tractors to halt roadways, border crossings, and key ports and warehouses in protest of the EU’s plan.
Leaders in Brussels are also seeking to head off any discontent months ahead of the June 2024 European Parliament elections, fearful that the growing demonstrations could usher in a wave of populist candidates.
NORD STREAM UPDATE – SWEDEN REPORTEDLY TO CLOSE INVESTIGATION: The prosecutor heading up Sweden’s investigation into the explosions of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 natural gas pipelines is planning to end the investigation after failing to identify a suspect, according to German media, as reported by Reuters.
Prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist told Reuters today that a decision was coming tomorrow but that he could not say what it was.
Any news from the Swedish prosecutor’s office will puncture months of radio silence from investigators, whose probes have stretched for nearly two years without an apparent leak (pun intended).
The U.S. and European leaders have all described the blasts as an act of “gross sabotage,” but to date no individuals or entities have been named as suspects.
Germany, Sweden, and Denmark have all separately investigated the explosions, which took place in the Swedish and Danish economic zones, and hit the lines linking Russia to Germany.
ENERGY DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES PILOT SITES FOR TIDAL ENERGY COMPETITION: The Department of Energy said today that it had selected two sites for funding for tidal energy pilot projects. The projects will be given a combined $6 million in a competition phase, and the one that looks like the best prospect for commercial operation will be given up to $29 million more in additional phases.
Marine energy “sustainably harnesses the power of the ocean and rivers,” Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a statement.
The projects: One, operated by Orcas Power and Light Cooperative, will deploy a tidal energy turbine in Rosario Strait in the San Juan Islands in Washington State.
The other, run by ORPC, will deploy two tidal energy devices at a location in the Cook Inlet in Alaska.
LNG TAKES CENTER STAGE IN FIRST HEARING SINCE BIDEN’S EXPORT PAUSE: Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee held little back today in a hearing to examine President Joe Biden’s LNG export pause, the first major congressional action since the administration announced its plans to temporarily halt new project approvals late last month.
GOP representatives issued scathing criticism of the pause, which they argued amounts to a politically motivated attempt to assuage liberal Democrats ahead of the presidential election, and one that will deepen rifts with allies in Asia and the EU that are dependent on U.S LNG.
“This is not a pause,” House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers said at the outset of the hearing. “This is a ban.”
Others blasted the way the pause was announced: The Biden administration “did not issue an executive order, or request Congress enact legislation” on the matter, Rep. Jeff Duncan of South Carolina said, but instead “issued this major policy shift through a fact sheet in a press release.”
Duncan also criticized the open-ended nature of the announcement, which he said contains “no end point or timeline,” indicating what he said was an “indefinite pause.”
Witnesses include the head of EQT, the largest U.S. natural gas producer, as well as officials from the Hudson Institute’s Initiative on American Energy Security and the Natural Resources Defense Council. DOE officials were invited but did not accept the invitation, Republicans noted.
The hearing underscored just how big a role LNG is slated to play this year ahead of the 2024 elections. In fact, Senate Democrats announced a hearing of their own to examine the LNG pause later this week.
DOE Deputy Secretary David Turk has agreed to testify at the Senate hearing—but he should be prepared to face a tough grilling from members, including committee chairman, Sen. Joe Manchin, who has vowed to “get the facts” on the abrupt LNG pause, and has argued that DOE must have a “public and clear” reason to justify this type of sweeping action.
Next steps: The hearings come as Rep. August Pfluger of Texas introduced H.R.7176, the “Unlocking our Domestic LNG Potential Act” formerly led by retired Rep. Bill Johnson of Ohio. The legislation calls for removing DOE’s ability to restrict natural gas imports or exports based on the “public interest” test Republicans argue is being weaponized. Instead, the certification and approval process for these facilities would be fully in the hands of FERC.
RUNDOWN
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