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A WARNING: Current technology can only get the world two-thirds of the way to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050, the International Energy Agency warns in a new report calling for a “sharp acceleration” in policy to encourage clean energy innovation.
But right now, governments facing financial constraints from the coronavirus outbreak are going in the opposite direction with plans to cut their R&D budgets for key clean energy technologies, the IEA said.
“Now is not the time to weaken support for energy innovation,” tweeted IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. “If anything, it is time to strengthen it.”
IEA says the world can cut a significant chunk of emissions with current technology, such as wind, solar, and electric vehicles, but it will need help from technologies still in the demonstration and prototype stage. The IEA applies a percentage of how much emissions reductions various technologies can achieve based on their “readiness.”
The scorecard: Technologies IEA deems as “mature”, such as hydropower, geothermal, nuclear, electric trains, and electric cooking, can supply 25% of emissions reductions. Those in the “early adoption” stage, such as solar, wind, carbon capture for coal, battery storage, and EVs, can contribute 41% of emissions cuts.
The remaining 34% would need to be covered by technologies in the demonstration and prototype stages, such as carbon capture for natural gas, ultra high voltage transmission, electric ships and aircraft, and cleaner cement and steel. These early-stage technologies require investments of around $350 billion a year over the next two decades, IEA said.
“Much of these emissions come from sectors where the technology options for reducing them are limited – such as shipping, trucks, aviation and heavy industries like steel, cement and chemicals,” the IEA said. “Decarbonizing these sectors will largely demand the development of new technologies not yet in use.”
The report features a handy progress report of more than 400 clean energy technologies, and evaluates their importance for reaching net-zero emissions.
IEA produced the report ahead of a meeting it is hosting next week with government officials from across the world, including Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, to discuss how to incorporate clean energy innovation into economic recovery plans.
Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner Energy and Environment Writers Josh Siegel (@SiegelScribe) and Abby Smith (@AbbySmithDC). Email [email protected] or [email protected] for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list.
NOTE TO READERS: Daily on Energy will not be published tomorrow, July 3, as we celebrate the long weekend recognizing Independence Day. We’ll be back in your inbox Monday.
NUCLEAR BOOSTERS MUST ALLAY SAFETY CONCERNS, GOP BACKER SAYS: The U.S. must lead progress on innovation in nuclear energy, but for the technology to be widely deployed, policymakers must better explain the potential safety benefits of smaller reactors of the future, Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tennessee, told Josh in a recent interview.
“If we don’t fully embrace the nuclear renaissance, we are going to lose that entire emerging market to countries that are going to go in with a completely different political bent and foreign policy bent than we are,” said Fleischmann, whose district is home to the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, known for its research of nuclear energy.
Fleischmann, however, said the policymakers must address lingering safety concerns among the public, which he called “the most important question” facing the future of the technology.
“We have to be educating the American public about nuclear power in 2020 vs. nuclear power 30 or 40 years ago,” Fleischmann said. “There are lingering concerns if it’s safe. There is no question there are major gaps on the information side.”
Policy views: Fleischmann touted a recent proposal from the Development Finance Corporation to enable federal government funding of nuclear projects in developing countries overseas, which he views as a key way to help U.S. companies find export markets for the small reactors they are developing.
“Internationally our adversaries are looking to bring nuclear power in countries into Africa and other parts of the world,” said Fleischmann, referencing Russia and China. “Unless we move quickly, this will be a moot point. We will lose our not only advantage, but the opportunity to occupy a market space.”
But Fleischmann said he opposes policies such as clean electricity standards or carbon pricing to help stimulate demand by making nuclear cost competitive with natural gas.
“I would prefer not to have mandated standards by the government,” he said.
BROUILLETTE PREDICTS FUTURE ROLE FOR COAL OUTSIDE POWER SECTOR: Energy secretary Dan Brouillette, in an interview with Washington Examiner opinion writer Salena Zito during a tour of a coal mine in Pennsylvania, predicted coal may phase out as an electricity source, but said he sees a bright future for the developing of products from coal.
Visiting Consol Energy Pennsylvania mining complex, Brouillette marveled at the company’s use of technology and science to develop coal into products such as residential decking and home construction products. “I was a bit surprised to see those types of technologies being developed right there,” he said. “That’s a bright future for coal in the building materials space.”
But he acknowledged coal still faces economic hurdles in the electricity sector, despite his administration’s attempts to lift the industry.
“Previous administrations wanted to move it out of the stack for electricity generation. That may still happen. It may be that the economics drive coal off to the side, but that doesn’t mean coal dies. It doesn’t mean that coal goes away. And that’s what we see here in this facility.”
‘All of the above’: Brouillette also said the oil industry is coming back “very, very strong” from the depths of the price crash. Refining capacity is back to 90% of what it was pre-pandemic, he said.
And he touted the administration’s “all of the above” approach, including pursuing efficiency advancements in solar photovoltaic technology.
“We’re very supportive of renewable technologies,” Brouillette said. “And, again, just to speak to solar, just as we’re doing with nuclear, just as we saw here with coal, we’re looking at the next generation, the next advancements.”
ENBRIDGE COURT BATTLE PREVIEW OF PIPELINE SQUABBLES: A Michigan circuit court allowed pipeline operator Enbridge Energy on Wednesday to restart operations on the western portion of its Line 5 pipeline.
The decision amends a ruling from a district judge who forced Enbridge to shut down the entire pipeline, at the request of Michigan’s Democratic attorney general who sought a temporary restraining order after the eastern leg of the pipeline suffered damage.
The eastern portion of the pipeline will remain shut until the Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration completes its investigation of what caused the damage.
Presidential pipeline politics overlap: Enbridge’s oil and gas pipeline, which runs across the Great Lakes, became an issue in the Democratic primary when candidate Jay Inslee, who ran a climate-centered campaign, said he opposed the construction of a planned replacement tunnel to improve the pipeline, part of his opposition to new fossil fuel infrastructure.
Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline, which is 67 years old, spans 645 miles, carries 23 million gallons of crude oil and natural gas liquids per day.
While Enbridge says the pipeline is safe, it wants to move Line 5 into a new $500 million tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac to reduce the risk of leaks.
The American Petroleum Institute, the U.S. oil and gas lobby which has been tracking the court case, hailed the latest ruling but called on the new tunnel to be built.
“The next important step is to get the Line 5 tunnel built so that this pipeline can continue to safely operate for years to come, support good-paying local jobs and deliver affordable, reliable energy for Michigan families,” said Paul Afonso, API’s chief legal officer and senior vice president.
IT’S CLIMATE WEEK FOR DEMOCRATS: The House passed a $1.5 trillion “green” infrastructure package on a partisan basis Wednesday by a 233-188 vote, as Democrats continued this week to signal their commitment to combating climate change through multiple avenues.
House Democrats’ bill, the Moving Forward Act, includes massive investments in electric cars, zero-emissions buses, and electricity grid modernization to support more renewable energy. The legislation would also extend tax credits for wind, solar, and carbon capture technologies and create incentives for energy storage, among other clean energy tax provisions.
Senate Republicans said they won’t bring the bill to a vote, and the White House has threatened to veto it, harkening it to the Green New Deal.
SUPPORTING THE SENATE REPUBLICAN FARM TEAM: The conservative clean energy group Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions is launching new ads Thursday thanking Republican senators Lindsey Graham and Mike Braun for introducing legislation to reduce emissions in farming.
Spending $250,000 over 10 days, CRES’ ads will run on television and radio and across online platforms in South Carolina and Indiana, the home states of Graham and Braun respectively.
Their bipartisan Growing Climate Solutions Act, introduced last month, would enable farmers and forest landowners to earn carbon credits for practices that reduce emissions, such as capturing carbon in soil, planting trees, restoring wetlands, or using fertilizer more efficiently.
“Senators Braun and Graham are to be commended for putting forth practical, free-market solutions that support a clean, healthy environment while creating new economic opportunities for hard-working American farmers,” said Heather Reams, executive director of CRES.
The Rundown
Wall Street Journal Saudis threaten new oil price war with OPEC brethren
Argus Media US drops rule to defer oil royalty payments
Reuters Energy Transfer digs in on North Dakota pipeline expansion despite oil slump, sources say
Reuters Traders thought Apple had ‘the holy grail’ of oil data, but the quest continues
Bloomberg CEOs drop climate change talk to focus on surviving COVID-19
Calendar
WEDNESDAY | JULY 8
11 a.m. The House Energy and Commerce Committee holds a remote hearing on “the growing health, environmental and accessibility needs of tribal communities across the country.”
