DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

The effort comes as the United States seeks to sustain its liquefied natural gas, or LNG, exports to Europe to displace Russian fuel, while also promoting efforts to fight global warming. A credible market for certified natural gas could help it tackle both goals at once. Crabtree said he hosted a workshop in October with gas industry representatives, including a new industry group called the Differentiated Gas Coordinating Council (DGCC), to discuss standards for certified gas. While gas burns cleaner than other fossil fuels, its main component is the powerful greenhouse gas methane, which can leak into the atmosphere from drilling, processing, shipping and distribution. Palti-Guzman said certified gas could also be key to securing a longterm role for U.S. LNG in Europe where carbon prices last month hit a record 100 euros per tonne.

☆ Dow and X-energy to build U.S. Gulf Coast nuclear demonstration plant
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, March 1 (Reuters) - Dow Inc (DOW.N) and private company X-energy said on Wednesday they have agreed to develop and demonstrate the first grid-scale next-generation nuclear reactor for an industrial site in North America. The X-energy Xe-100 plant featuring four high-temperature, gas-cooled reactors is set to be built at one of Dow's sites on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Backers of next-generation nuclear reactors, including the Biden administration, say the technology is crucial to fight climate change. The X-energy plant will provide a Dow facility with process heat and power to make products. Dow, a chemicals company, makes a wide variety of products including polyethylene used in packaging, paints, and foams.

☆ China's CCP warns Elon Musk against sharing Wuhan lab leak report
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Rohan Goswami | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A Chinese state-run newspaper issued a warning to Tesla CEO Elon Musk after he shared reporting on the Department of Energy's 'low confidence' assessment that the global Covid pandemic originated in a Wuhan laboratory. CNBC's Eunice Yoon reported Tuesday morning on the warning from the social media pages of the Global Times, the English-language subsidiary of the CCP-controlled People's Daily. The Global Times warned Musk that he could be "breaking the pot of China" after the Tesla and Twitter chief executive responded to Tweets that asserted that the Covid pandemic originated in a Wuhan research laboratory. The governing Communist Party has been highly sensitive to the matter, especially as it courts outside investment after months of zero-Covid lockdowns prompted nationwide protests, CNBC's Eunice Yoon reported. CNBC's Eunice Yoon contributed to this report

There are "continued calls for violence directed at U.S. critical infrastructure," the agency warned last February, "as a means to create chaos and advance ideological goals." Law enforcement and utility companies, though, say they're working to resolve the open cases and prevent future attacks. Members of accelerationist groups have been charged with several plots in recent years to attack critical infrastructure. "The critical infrastructure element has become one of the core components of neo-fascist accelerationist movements in the US. "They don't really care who is doing the violence, who's doing the critical infrastructure attacks, Lewis said.

☆ How to cash in on the new wave of electric car tax credits and rebates that could save you thousands on a new ride
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Electric vehicles are expensive, but tax credits might be able to help. The Biden Administration's Inflation Reduction Act, passed last August, introduced some new EV credits and extended existing ones, with some changes. Here's what to know about claiming tax credits and rebates on electric car purchases. George Rose/Getty ImagesState creditsDifferent states have different incentives for EVs, in addition to the federal tax credits. Not every state has an electric car tax credit or rebate program, so it's important to check individual state websites for information.

☆ Lithium company Ioneer scores $700 million conditional loan from Energy Department for Nevada plant
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Pippa Stevens | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Lithium company Ioneer said Friday that it's secured a conditional commitment for a loan of up to $700 million from the Department of Energy as the U.S. seeks to develop new supply chains for materials that are critical to the energy transition. Ioneer is developing the Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Project in Esmeralda County, Nevada. When fully operational, the site will produce enough lithium for 400,000 electric vehicles, the company said, while also producing boron. Ioneer's loan from the Department of Energy hinges on several conditions, including that the company receives all of the necessary permits. If approved, the loan, made under the Department of Energy's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program, will be for Ioneer's on-site lithium processing facility.

The lawmakers are co-sponsors of the National Development Strategy and Coordination Act. That's why we've joined forces to jumpstart a national project to restore American manufacturing leadership. This committee would be charged with developing a National Development Strategy, recommending investments to improve national security, strengthen domestic manufacturing, create good-paying jobs and develop new technologies. Second, our proposal — the National Development Strategy and Coordination Act — would give this committee the authority to direct the Department of Treasury's Federal Financing Bank to achieve its goals. This would bring overdue strategic coordination to our federal loan system and inject much-needed long-term capital into critical industries.

☆ Rolls-Royce uses hydrogen produced with wind and tidal power to test jet engine
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Anmar Frangoul | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The test used a converted regional aircraft engine from Rolls-Royce, with hydrogen produced at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney. LONDON — Plans to reduce the significant environmental effects of aviation took a step forward this week after Rolls-Royce and easyJet said they had carried out the ground test of a jet engine that used hydrogen produced from tidal and wind power. The test, which was carried out at an outdoor site in the U.K., used a converted regional aircraft engine from London-listed Rolls-Royce. "This is a true British success story, with the hydrogen being used to power the jet engine today produced using tidal and wind energy from the Orkney Islands of Scotland," Shapps added. Using hydrogen to power an internal combustion engine is different to hydrogen fuel cell technology, where hydrogen from a tank mixes with oxygen, generating electricity.

☆ U.S. grants $1.1 bln to keep Diablo Canyon nuclear plant open
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Timothy Gardner | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Diablo is the last operating nuclear plant in California. The Biden administration believes nuclear power is critical in curbing climate change and wants to keep plants open ahead of the development of next-generation reactors. Poppe said the plant is also ordering more uranium fuel for the reactor, and dry casks for storing nuclear waste. Some politicians who have been wary of problems associated with nuclear waste have come out in support of the Civil Nuclear Credit program. Holtec International, which in May bought the Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan, said on Friday that DOE rejected its application for funding.

☆ Biden grants PG&E $1.1 billion to keep Diablo Canyon nuclear plant open
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Biden administration on Monday said it's providing Pacific Gas & Electric Co. with a $1.1 billion grant to help the company prevent the closure of Diablo Canyon, California's last nuclear power plant. Diablo Canyon was originally scheduled to be decommissioned in two phases in 2024 and 2025, but state lawmakers in September voted to keep it open for five more years. PG&E applied for funding in the Department of Energy's initial phase of the $6 billion Civil Nuclear Credit program aimed to keep U.S. nuclear power reactors open. Diablo Canyon is California's single largest source of power, providing 8.6% of the state's total electricity and 17% of its zero-carbon electricity. Final terms of the grant are subject to negotiation and finalization, the Energy Department said, but the funding is designed to cover PG&E's anticipated losses from keeping Diablo Canyon open.

Organizations: & $

☆ Here's how to protect your portfolio from an inescapable energy crisis in 2023 caused by 'embarrassingly stupid' government policies, says a $200 million hedge fund manager who called the oil market's
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( James Faris | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The Department of Energy's "embarrassingly stupid" policies will likely cause a severe energy shortage and an energy crisis in 2023, Kupperman told Insider. I mean, US energy production has roughly been flat since the end of Q1 — six months where it's flat. Ironically, energy-friendly policies that lead to an increase in oil production would bring down prices and hurt his portfolio's performance in the process. This doesn't sound like the team of people — between his energy secretary and then Biden — that's going to restore energy production. "We're going to see a new level, so to speak, in terms of commodity prices," Kupperman said.

The United States is among over 100 countries that have pledged to cut their methane emissions 30% by 2030 from 2020 levels. They also say smaller wells often produce only insignificant methane emissions that don't warrant the cost and effort of a monitoring program. The problem, environmentalists say, is that collectively, the smaller wells produce a massive amount of climate-damaging methane. Exempting wells that produce less than 6 barrels per day would effectively exclude more than 80% of those marginal wells from the EPA rule, according to KIOGA. The supplemental ruling could also address the industry's use of flaring, or the deliberate burning of excess natural gas from well sites, which can also lead to methane emissions.

☆ How super-hot rocks miles under the earth's surface could provide limitless clean energy
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

The Clean Air Task Force commissioned a non-profit geothermal organization, the Hot Rock Energy Research Organization, and an international clean energy consultancy, LucidCatalyst, to estimate the levelized cost of commercial-scale superhot rock electricity. Graphic courtesy Clear Air Task ForceRegular versus superhot geothermalWhile energy from superhot rocks is not being used now, geothermal energy is being used in a few places where super-hot temperatures exist close to the surface of the earth. But accessing superhot rock energy involves tapping into hotter, dry rock — which is everywhere, but sometimes far beneath the surface. Graphic courtesy Clear Air Task ForceIceland is a leader in investigating superhot rock geothermal energy with its Iceland Deep Drilling Project. Beyond Iceland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand and the United States are leaders in superhot rock geothermal, according to Friðleifsson.

☆ How super-hot rocks miles under the earth's surface could help combat climate change
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

"It will take public and private investment similar to those being allocated to nuclear, carbon capture, and hydrogen fuels," Hill told CNBC. But accessing superhot rock energy involves tapping into hotter, dry rock — which is everywhere, but sometimes far beneath the surface. Graphic courtesy Clear Air Task ForceIceland is a leader in investigating superhot rock geothermal energy with its Iceland Deep Drilling Project. Beyond Iceland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand and the United States are leaders in superhot rock geothermal, according to Friðleifsson. Oil and gas companies could use their resources to help spur development in the superhot rock industry, the CATF report said.

A contractor works on a crude oil pipeline at the U.S. Department of Energy's Bryan Mound Strategic Petroleum Reserve in Freeport, Texas, in 2016. There are now about 400 million barrels of crude oil left in the SPR. Since its establishment, only three presidents other than Biden have directed the sale of oil from the petroleum reserve, while exchanges have been more common. Barack Obama directed the release of 30 million barrels in 2011 to offset supply disruptions caused by Libya’s civil war; in 2005, George W. Bush released 11 million barrels to help refiners hurt by Hurricane Katrina; and in 1991, George H.W. Bush released 17 million barrels in response to the Gulf War.

Search resuls for: "Department of Energy's"

15 mentions found