Energy Update: Week of August 9
Energy Update - August 09, 2021
Friends,
Well, the fact that this August 9th Update is in your inbox is a sign that I survived the 100-Mile Pelotonia Charity Cancer ride. It was definitely hard to be out there for more than 5 hours, but both your energy/support and the energy of the actual live ride was amazing and inspiring. The most inspiring example was a man about 45 miles in who was in front of his house all day holding a sign that simply said "Thank you for saving my wife." That type of support moved you to fight on (especially thru the last 15 miles which featured a series of consecutive/pretty-steep hills). I am so blessed and grateful to have so much support from my colleagues, allies and friends (I raised over $10,000 which goes DIRECTLY to cancer research). If you want to join in and contribute, you still can here: https://pelotonia.org/profile/FM735496
It was an amazing two-plus weeks in Tokyo as well. So many inspiring stories of sportsmanship, international fellowship and some really great action. With a flurry of gold medals in the final days of competition, the U.S. overtook China to finish its third straight Summer Games atop the gold-medal leaderboard, and overall medals as well. Allyson Felix won her 11th Olympic medal in the 4x400 relay, passing Carl Lewis for the most among American track and field athletes. USA Women hoops won its 7th Gold in a row – including five each for Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi. Overall, USA Women ROCKED, winning 66 medals, comprising a record 58.4% of the American total. If they were a country, they would have finished fourth overall.
It is also an amazing two weeks for infrastructure. After a full weekend of effort to work out the details, the Senate last night voted 68-29 to end debate on the bipartisan infrastructure deal, queueing up final passage of the bill for as early as late tonight (but mostly likely tomorrow morning). The only question mark that remains is what the House will do. Now, the Senate is planning to take up a 50-hour debate on the budget resolution and jam those numbers through. Text of that $3.5T budget bill emerged this morning and we expect final action by Thursday/Friday without an upset from Sinema/Manchin.
Other than that, the major climate attention today is on the IPCC’s 6th Scientific Assessment, which alarmingly warn that nations have delayed curbing their greenhouse gas emissions for long enough that warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius over the next two decades is very probable. The panel of scientists say it will likely lead to more life-threatening and widespread heat waves, severe droughts and ecological devastation. But the report said warming could level off at 1.5 degrees and not progress as high as 4 degrees if nations coordinate their efforts to stop carbon dioxide emissions by roughly 2050, involving a prompt move away from fossil fuels and potentially carbon removal as well. Now these are serious reports, but I will add over 25 years, I have often found them to be a little more political…But what is not in any policy space.
Not many events this week, but one great one Thursday at 10:00 a.m. when Energy Voice and Bracewell will host a forum on new energy opportunities in the US. The energy transition will need to harness an array of technologies with offshore wind, carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) and hydrogen all playing a central role.
With the Senate pretty much wrapping up and the House out, the update will take a break until Labor Day Tuesday. The Canadian border opens back up today with a number of restriction but at least that is a positive for those of us that know Detroit is only place you can enter Canada by heading SOUTH. Let’s try to get those vaccine shots if you can. Stay Safe and healthy.
Best,
Frank Maisano
(202) 828-5864
C. (202) 997-5932
FRANKLY SPOKEN
South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) head Wayne Nastri in a blistering letter to California environmental justice groups that attacked the district over moving away from diesel truck emissions. Nastri’s response to many of the activists’ claims to “set the record straight.” I can you the Letter if you want to see it..
"Let’s be clear: the frequent comparison of the fossil fuel and tobacco industries is nonsense. Fossil fuels are a valuable energy source that has done yeomen service for humankind. One gallon (3.7 liters) of gasoline (petrol) contains the equivalent of 400 hours of labor by a healthy adult. Fossil fuels raised living standards in much of the world."
Former NASA Scientist and climate activists James Hansen in a blog post in June 2021
ON THE PODCAST
Platts Cap Crude Talks with Kevin Book on Infrastructure – Today’s Capitol Crude podcast looks at efforts as the Biden administration races to adopt its energy and climate policy priorities before the pressures of the 2022 midterm elections limit what the White House can do. Our Friend Meg Gordon of Platts spoke with Kevin Book, managing director of ClearView Energy Partners, about a few of the policies set to make a big impact on the US economy, energy producers and market dynamics. They talked about the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's effort to assess climate risks to the financial system, and the threat high pump prices pose to President Joe Biden's green agenda.
Stavins Podcasts Look Policy Options for Addressing Climate Change – Harvard Economist Robert Stavins continues his podcast series looking policy options for dealing with climate change. economists have developed models with which both economy-wide carbon-pricing systems and sectoral policies, including a CES and increased gasoline taxes, can be consistently analyzed and compared. Stanford University Professor Lawrence Goulder has analyzed a relatively broad set of such climate policy options available to government, and he discusses his analysis and its implications in the newest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program,” a podcast produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.
FUN OPINIONS
USA Today: We must have a strategy to Address Critical Minerals – In an op-ed in USA Today, former Ambassador Alfred Hoffman and SAFE Critical Minerals Center expert Abigail Wulf offer some solutions to make sure unstable gas prices today aren’t replaced by unstable mineral prices for batteries tomorrow. They write we need to break China’s stranglehold on crucial midstream processing by unleashing US private sector’s economic potential with processing cooperation for rare earth elements. They add the race is not just for who controls raw materials, it is a race for innovation and expertise that flow from advanced manufacturing that relies upon them. The country that controls critical minerals will also have strategic advantage and dominate next industrial revolution.
FROG BLOG
Chamber Touts Bipartisan Infrastructure Climate Provisions – Chamber Global Energy Institute President Marty Durbin writes in a blog post the biggest winner in the Senate’s bipartisan infrastructure deal may be our climate. The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act supports and expands upon last year’s Energy Act with unprecedented funding and programs designed to accelerate a cleaner energy future.
The infrastructure bill tackles this challenge in a number of ways, with both major investments and needed permitting reforms, for a roughly $100 billion total investment in climate, energy, and sustainability programs.
The bipartisan Infrastructure Innovation and Jobs Act is exactly the type of bold, economy-growing action needed to address climate change. Congressional leaders and the White House deserve credit for their attention to climate as part of this package.
Roberts: Challenges of Fossil Fuel Subsidies/Tax Incentives – In National Review column, New Mexico’s Rio Grande Foundation President Paul Gessing says natural is a clean and affordable fuel used by millions of Americans every day to cook, heat water and provide warm homes in winter. But he writes that climate activists’ push for electrification will be costly and won’t achieve the environmental gains its advocates seek. “Considering that reliability and demand issues are already facing the Western United States this summer, electrification will likely mean putting all your energy eggs in one very unstable ‘basket.’ As we witnessed in Texas this past winter, where people had few good options for heating their homes, the reliability of natural gas — or at least diversification of energy sources in an emergency — can be a lifesaver.”
FUN FACTS
Putting a Cork in Climate: Due to the nature of cork harvesting, each natural closure sequesters a shockingly high amount of carbon, all without killing the tree. Cork is stripped from the tree in late spring or early summer, which then, in a cycle, forms new layers of cork for later harvest. According to the Cork Quality Council, this allows for there to be an estimated offset of 113.2g of CO2 per cork, making the net carbon emission -112 grams per unit.
IN THE NEWS
HF Will Acquire Sinclair Assets – HollyFrontier Corp will acquire almost all of Sinclair Oil's assets, adding new refining, pipeline and storage facilities in the U.S. Rocky Mountain region in a Deal worth $2.6 B. A new company, HF Sinclair Corp, will replace HollyFrontier as the public company trading on the New York Stock Exchange. HollyFrontier said that at the closing of the deal, expected in mid-2022. As part of the deal, HollyFrontier will buy Sinclair's branded marketing unit, renewable diesel unit and two Rocky Mountain-based refineries.
Vehicle Standards, EV Target – As you know, the Administration rolled out new GHG standards for vehicles and a target for 40-50% electric vehicle sales share in 2030. Our friends at SAFE commended the White House EV Target Announcement, but made a call for action regarding supply chains to match the goal.
This announcement lays out what we need to do to compete with China for EV and battery leadership, and make sure the jobs of this electric future are based here. This positive step forward must be backed up by continued investments across the entire U.S. EV supply chain, from minerals to markets, to make sure these vehicles are made in the United States. That means developing our critical minerals resources, manufacturing more batteries, accelerating the development of medium- and heavy-duty EVs and building charging infrastructure, among much more.
Robbie Diamond, President and CEO of SAFE
To achieve the White House goal, the United States will have to invest in its own critical mineral supply chain – from mining and processing to recycling and reclamation. We must make sure no stone is unturned to meet these critical mineral needs responsibly and in a way that frees us from our reliance upon China as we compete for EV leadership. We must leverage existing mine waste, invest in recycling, and bring new mineral production online, including examining the potential for resources along the seafloor.
Abigail Wulf, Director of Critical Minerals Strategy at SAFE
ClearPath Report Shows Path to Emissions Progress – The ClearPath Foundation released a new report last week that shows many of America’s biggest energy companies and public utilities have already made significant pledges amounting to emissions reductions resulting in 56% of 2005 levels by 2050 — and we’ve seen solid progress over the last 15 years. The report, Clear Path to a Clean Energy Future is a first-of-a-kind effort that will be published annually to track the latest power sector trends and model future technology and policy impacts. This inaugural edition focuses on the role of electric utility decarbonization targets. The authors engaged Rhodium Group, a leading research firm that analyzes energy policy and climate risk, to model ClearPath-designed scenarios using RHG-NEMS model. The big takeaway is that to keep emissions dropping, we urgently need smarter policies to get new energy innovations to market.
Wind Farm Developer Plans To Bring Manufacturing Back to Baltimore’s Sparrows Point – US Wind, the Baltimore-based subsidiary of Italian renewable energy firm Renexia SpA, rolled out its plan for 90 waterfront acres at Tradepoint Atlantic, a 3,300-acre logistics center in Baltimore County, where it plans to assemble turbine components and start a company called Sparrows Point Steel. The steel factory would make the towers that anchor wind turbines to the ocean floor. It would aim to supply US Wind’s Ocean City projects and, longer term, the wind energy market across the United States. The wind farm's second phase, named "Momentum Wind," would be four times as large as the first phase, with 82 turbines when completed by 2028. Together, the two phases will be the biggest wind energy project ever proposed in Maryland and would supply the state with 1,200 megawatts of renewable energy.
ON THE SCHEDULE THIS WEEK
MOST EVENTS SCHEDULED ARE NOW ONLINE WEBINARS
Forum Looks at Critical Infrastructure – Defense One holds a virtual discussion today at 2:00 p.m. on protecting critical infrastructure and improving the sharing of threat data. DOE’s Cheri Caddy and the FBI’s David Ring are among the speakers.
NREL Hosts Discussion of Storage Study – The National Renewable Energy Lab holds a webinar tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. to look at the fourth report in the Storage Futures Study that examines the drivers of customer adoption of behind-the-meter battery storage. For this phase of the study, NREL expanded capabilities of the Distributed Generation Market Demand model to simulate customer decisions whether to adopt distributed storage paired with PV under different scenarios. Model results show that lower battery costs and higher value of backup power drive distributed storage deployment.
Granholm, Regan to Address Infrastructure, Resilience Forum – Tomorrow at Noon, EarthDay.org holds a virtual discussion on how America will accelerate the fight against climate change by beginning the work to repair and enhance our infrastructure for climate resilience. EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm will speak.
Senate Enviro Revisits EPA Noms After Delay – After last week’s postponement, the Senate Environment Committee holds a hearing on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. on the nominations of Amanda Howe to be assistant EPA administrator for mission support; David Uhlmann to be an assistant EPA administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance; and Carlton Waterhouse to be assistant EPA administrator for the Office of Solid Waste.
CRES Forum Looks at Resiliency, Clean Energy – CRES Forum holds a virtual policy roundtable on Wednesday at Noon addressing the challenges and technology and policy solutions for enhancing grid resiliency, securing long-term reliability, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Energy experts will discuss the state of the United States’ electric grid, the comparative benefits and costs of the competitive and monopoly models for power markets, and explore the challenges facing the public and private sectors. Speakers include former FERC Chairman Pat Wood III, Bryn Baker of the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA) and Excel’s Jonathan Adelman.
Forum to Looks at Oceans – The Atlantic Council holds a discussion on Wednesday at Noon on the future of data, oceans and international affairs. This GeoTech Hour will cover current oceanic data gaps, how and when these data gaps may be filled, and the implications of filling such data gaps. It will further touch upon the intersection between the oceans and international affairs, and how data is transforming this relationship. Panelists will also discuss the need to be prepared for when climate change starts to cause both extreme ocean-related weather events, such as severe hurricanes and typhoons – as well as “splash over events”, where ocean water mixes with land-based sources for potable freshwater.
Oil/Gas Forum Set for Houston – US Energy Stream is holding the in-person 2nd Texas Oil & Gas Forum 2021 on Wednesday and Thursday at the Petroleum Club of Houston, TX. The Forum is a bi-partisan annual market intelligence platform. It brings powerful U.S. Senators and Congressmen from both sides of the aisle together with top energy executives and energy investors. The main topic of this year’s Forum is how Texas and the United States can succeed in the energy transition and in net zero emissions economy.
Bracewell, Energy Voice Look at Offshore Wind, Hydrogen, Carbon Capture in Energy Transition – On Thursday at 10:00 a.m., Energy Voice and Bracewell will host a forum on new energy opportunities in the US. The energy transition will need to harness an array of technologies with offshore wind, carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) and hydrogen all playing a central role. Scheduled for the week prior to OTC and the NAPE Summit, this event will set the agenda for the Houston conference season, where there will be huge attention on the disruptive capacity of these three transition industries. Speakers include my Bracewell Colleagues Christine Wyman, Liz McGinley and Steve Hug, along with Ari Liquide’s Dave Edwards, Equinor’s Anders Hangeland and Matt Vining of Navigator CO2 Ventures, among others.
Forum to Look at Sustainable Buildings – GreenBiz holds a forum on Thursday at 1:00 p.m. that will look at measures can also help make buildings healthier and safer for those that live or work within. In this webcast, experts from Honeywell will cover the latest thinking on the future of buildings, including key trends, challenges and opportunities to make buildings sustainable and healthy, strategies to navigate the journey to sustainable buildings and the evolution of the sustainable building of the future.
Forum Addresses Renewable EVs – The Center for Resource Solutions and Smart Electric Power Alliance hold a forum on Thursday at 2:00 p.m. that discusses strategies to green that power—current regulations that promote EV use of renewable energy, utility green pricing programs, REC purchases and more. Geared towards all participants in the EV ecosystem, this webinar will provide solutions that can catalyze the positive climate impact of EVs, allowing users to meet their climate goals and solution providers to help them get there.
Forum to Focus on Clean Transportation – Third Way holds a discussion on Thursday at 2:00 p.m. looking at how to drive cross-sector innovation for clean transportation. The event discusses how increased cooperation between the public and private sectors can help accelerate innovation in clean transportation, establish US leadership in clean energy, and meet our climate goals. DOE’s Michael Berube will keynote and a panel will include GM’s Mike Maten, Toyota’s Andrew Lund and Jordan Stone of the Association of American Railroads, with our friend Arianna Skibell of E&E News moderating
Forum to Look at Virtual Power Plants – On Thursday at 3:00 p.m., speakers from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), OhmConnect and Green Mountain Power will discuss virtual power plants. During this webinar, speakers will focus on specific examples where DERs are being aggregated to act as resources and/or grid assets in addition to providing customer benefits. We will explore how the installed VPPs are working from both an operational/technical and economic/policy perspective.
Forum to Look at Climate Resilience Issues – On Thursday and Friday, the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) and DOE holds a two-day virtual event on state opportunities to advance energy technology innovation and commercialization. This event will showcase promising technologies being validated in the states, explore the innovation ecosystem that turns promising ideas into commercial technologies, and describe state efforts to strengthen equity and economic opportunity through technology development.
IN THE FUTURE
OTC Set for Houston – The Offshore Technology Conference 2021 will be held at NRG Park in Houston from August 16th to 18th.
Forum to Look at CES – ConservAmerica holds a webinar on Tuesday August 17th at 10:00 a.m. to explore questions around any Clean Energy Standard. Speakers will include FERC Commissioner Neil Chatterjee, Exelon’s David Brown, energy market expert Peter Kelly-Detwiler and GE’s Roger Martella.
Forum to Look at Jos, Clean Energy Efforts in States – On Tuesday August 17th at 1:00 p.m. the Security and Sustainability Forum and Arizona State hold their third webinar in this ASU series that looks at supportive state policies that respond to stakeholder demands for clean energy solutions can win business. The panel convenes energy policy officials from several states to discuss how they use state clean energy goals and requirements to support a pro-clean air, pro-growth economy to attract new businesses and investments in their states. Former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter joins a panel of experts.
Forum to Look at Solar App – NREL and SEIA hold a forum on Tuesday August 17th at 2:00 p.m. looking at SolarAPP+, a collaborative effort to accelerate rooftop solar adoption by making it easier for local governments to quickly and safely approve standardized rooftop PV projects for installation using NREL’s permitting software. This webinar will walk through how you, the installer community, can help promote the adoption of SolarAPP+ with the AHJ’s you work with. Speakers include renewable energy market analyst Jeff Cook and SEIA’s Stephen Pope.
NAPE Also Set for Houston – Set for in person on August 18-20th and virtual on Aug 9th to Sept 3rd, the 2021 NAPE Summit is a hybrid expo and conference with a heavy focus on networking that brings together domestic and international decision-makers to forge, facilitate and close deals. With the addition of renewable energy sources to our oil and gas offerings, NAPE will be the ultimate venue for energy deals.
Forum to Look at Hybrid Power Plants – On Wednesday August 18th at Noon, the Lawrence Berkeley Lab holds a webinar on falling battery prices and the growth of variable renewable generation are driving a surge of interest in “hybrid” power plants that combine, for example, wind or solar generating capacity with co-located batteries. This one-hour webinar will present data and analysis from a Berkeley Lab briefing that tracks and maps existing hybrid or co-located plants across the United States while also synthesizing data mined from power purchase agreements (PPAs) and generation interconnection queues to shed light on near- and long-term development pipelines.
DOE Solar Office Aims for Diverse, Skilled Workforce – On Thursday at 1:00 p.m., DOE’s Solar Energy Technologies Office holds a Solar Workforce Priorities and Vision webinar on workforce development in the solar industry. SETO Deputy Director Garrett Nilsen will discuss the feedback we received from stakeholders in response to our request for information (RFI) on workforce development strategies. In addition, DOE issued a new Inclusive Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Climate Technology RFI to gather stakeholder input on best practices needed to support a more inclusive and just entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem for climate and energy technology research.
WCEE Forum Looks at NARUC Partnership Innovation Center – On Thursday August 19th at 2:00 p.m., the Women’s Council on Energy and the Environment (WCEE) holds a lunch discussion with leaders of the NARUC Center for Partnership and Innovation. Past President Barbara Tyran explores cutting-edge issues and visions for state public utility commissions in their collaboration with the NARUC Center for Partnerships and Innovation with speakers Danielle Sass Byrnett and Lynn Costantini.
Green Jobs Forum Set – Leaders in Energy hold its 8th Annual Green Jobs Forum with Resilient Virginia this year. The Resilient Virginia Conference will take place virtually from August 25-27th. The Leaders in Energy Green Jobs Forum & Career Fair will take place on Thursday, August 26th. Because it is a virtual conference, attendees will be able to attend the entire conference as part of their registration.
Forum to Look at Methane Emissions, Solutions – On Thursday August 26th, the Energy Dialogues holds a forum on methane emissions trajectories and pathways. The discussion will be focused on the changing landscape of methane reduction targets as a part of ESG requirements, Federal methane rule impacts the imperative to curb methane emissions in the US and metrics in place to report accurately and meaningfully on methane solutions.
DOE Hydrogen Shot Summit Set – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Hydrogen Program is hosting its first Hydrogen Shot Summit virtually on August 31st and September 1st. The two-day summit will bring together stakeholders from industry, research, academia, and government to identify pathways to meet DOE’s Hydrogen Shot of $1 per 1 kilogram in 1 decade. The summit will also feature breakout sessions covering multiple hydrogen production pathways and other topics, including electrolysis, thermal conversion with carbon capture and storage, advanced pathways and deployment/financing.
USEA Hosts Advance Energy Tech Forum – The US Energy Assn will holds its 3rd annual Advanced Energy Technology Forum on Thursday September 9th from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. exploring technological innovation in the energy sector. The event focuses on research and development in the corporate and government sectors, including national labs and universities.
Clean Energy Week Set for Sept – The 5th annual National Clean Energy Week begins September 20-24th.
Forum to Focus on Clean Energy – On September 28th, the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia hosts Clean Energy Summit that will focus on the path to decarbonization. This hybrid event will feature multiple panels and keynotes featuring federal, state, local, and industry leaders who will come together to answer questions and open a discussion as to how we chart a path to a clean energy future.