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TerraPower Just Broke Ground on Its Next-Gen Nuclear Project

On Bill Gates’ advanced nuclear reactor, solar geoengineering, and FEMA

TerraPower Just Broke Ground on Its Next-Gen Nuclear Project
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: Heavy rains in China are boosting the country’s hydropower output • Late-season frost advisories are in place for parts of Michigan • It will be 80 degrees Fahrenheit and cloudy today near the Port of Baltimore, which has officially reopened after 11 weeks of closure.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Bill Gates’ TerraPower breaks ground on next-gen nuclear project

TerraPower, the energy company founded by Bill Gates, broke ground yesterday on a next-generation nuclear power plant in Wyoming that will use an advanced nuclear reactor. As Heatmap’s Emily Pontecorvo and Matthew Zeitlin explained, these reactors are smaller and promise to be cheaper to build than America’s existing light-water nuclear reactor fleet. The design “would be a landmark for the American nuclear industry” because it calls for cooling with liquid sodium instead of the standard water-cooling of American nuclear plants. “This technique promises eventual lower construction costs because it requires less pressure than water (meaning less need for expensive safety systems) and can also store heat, turning the reactor into both a generator and an energy storage system.” TerraPower is still waiting for its construction permit to be approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and The Associated Press reported the work that began yesterday is just to get the site ready for speedy construction if the permit goes through.

2. Construction begins on Brooklyn’s big offshore wind hub

Another big energy project also broke ground yesterday: The South Brooklyn Marine Terminal will support Equinor’s 54-turbine Empire Wind 1 project and be the largest offshore wind port in the U.S. once completed. The terminal spans 73 acres in Sunset Park. Along with supporting the assembly and storage of wind turbine components, it will also house a substation connecting energy from Empire Wind 1 to the grid. Empire Wind will deliver 810 megawatts of renewable energy to New York, enough to power nearly 500,000 homes. The terminal’s construction is expected to be finished by the end of 2026. Below you can see what the port looks like now, and a rendering of the finished project:

Equinor

Equinor

3. Environmental Defense Fund will invest in solar geoengineering research

The nonprofit group Environmental Defense Fund will start funding research into solar geoengineering, The New York Timesreported. Up until very recently, solar geoengineering was “one of climate science’s biggest taboos,” as Heatmap’s Robinson Meyer put it. That’s because it involves trying to cool the planet by reflecting the sun’s heat back into space. Some scientists and environmentalists worry geoengineering could have unintended consequences for the climate, and would give greenhouse gas emitters an excuse to keep on polluting. But as temperatures soar and global emissions remain stubbornly high, scientists have started to embrace the idea, and the EDF says because the topic isn’t going away, it wants to fund solid research that can help inform policymakers should geoengineering get the greenlight in the future. The EDF is looking to issue its first grants this fall.

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  • 4. FEMA’s disaster relief fund is already running low

    Hurricane season has only just started, and already the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief fund is running low, CNN reported. So far the nation has been hit with 11 extreme weather disasters this year, costing $25.1 billion and leaving FEMA’s fund facing the prospect of a $1.3 billion shortfall in August unless Congress frees up additional funding. The costs are only expected to mount: Meteorologists expect the 2024 hurricane season to be extremely busy, and intense heat waves in western states could make for a busy wildfire season.

    NOAA

    5. California lawsuit takes aim at big oil companies’ profits

    California is gunning for big oil companies’ profits. Since September of last year, the state has been pursuing a lawsuit against five major oil companies (and the American Petroleum Institute), accusing them of greenwashing, and deceiving the public about the risks of climate change and how their fossil fuel products contribute to it. Yesterday California Attorney General Rob Bonta amended the suit to incorporate a new state law that allows him to seek a company’s “unjust profits” made through violating consumer protection and advertising laws. The suit wants the profits to be directed into a victims’ restitution fund. According to the Financial Times, the updated filing includes new evidence that the companies made “false and misleading statements” in widespread U.S. advertising campaigns.

    THE KICKER

    Researchers have just discovered that ocean algae play a key role in cooling the planet by producing large amounts of a compound that helps with the formation of clouds.

    Yellow

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    Hotspots

    Fox News Goes After a Solar Farm

    And more of this week’s top renewable energy fights across the country.

    Map of U.S. renewable energy.
    Heatmap Illustration

    1. Otsego County, Michigan – The Mitten State is proving just how hard it can be to build a solar project in wooded areas. Especially once Fox News gets involved.

    • Last week, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources said it wanted to lease more than 400 acres of undeveloped state-owned forestland for part of a much larger RWE Clean Energy solar project near the northern Michigan town of Gaylord.
    • Officials said they were approached by the company about the land. But the news sparked an immediate outcry, as state elected Republicans – and some Democrats – demanded to know why a forest would be cleared for ‘green’ energy. Some called for government firings.
    • Then came the national news coverage. On Friday, Fox News hosted a full four-minute segment focused on this one solar farm featuring iconoclastic activist Michael Shellenberger.
    • A few days later, RWE told the media it would not develop the project on state lands.
    • “[D]uring the development process, we conducted outreach to all landowners adjacent to the project location, including the Michigan Department of Natural Resources,” the company said in a statement to the Petoskey News-Review, adding it instead decided to move forward with leasing property from two private landowners.

    2. Atlantic County, New Jersey – Opponents of offshore wind in Atlantic City are trying to undo an ordinance allowing construction of transmission cables that would connect the Atlantic Shores offshore wind project to the grid.

    Keep reading...Show less
    Policy Watch

    How to Solve a Problem Like a Wind Ban

    And more of this week’s top policy news around renewables.

    Trump.
    Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

    1. Trump’s Big Promise – Our nation’s incoming president is now saying he’ll ban all wind projects on Day 1, an expansion of his previous promise to stop only offshore wind.

    • “They litter our country like paper, like dropping garbage in a field,” Trump said at a press conference Tuesday. “We’re going to try and have a policy where no windmills are built.”
    • Is this possible? It would be quite tricky, as the president only has control over the usage of federal lands and waters. While offshore wind falls entirely under the president’s purview, many onshore wind projects themselves fall entirely on state lands.
    • This is where the whole “wind kills birds” argument becomes important. Nearly all wind projects have at least some federal nexus because of wildlife protection laws, such as the Endangered Species Act and Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
    • Then there are the cables connecting these projects to the grid and interstate transmission projects that may require approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
    • I’m personally doubtful he will actually stop all wind in the U.S., though I do think offshore wind in its entirety is at risk (which I’ve written about). Trump has a habit of conflating things, and in classic fashion, he only spoke at the press conference about offshore wind projects. I think he was only referring to offshore wind, though I’m willing to eat my words.

    2. The Big Nuclear Lawsuit – Texas and Utah are suing to kill the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s authority to license small modular reactors.

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    Q&A

    Are Anti-Renewables Activists Going Unchallenged?

    A conversation with J. Timmons Roberts, executive director of Brown University’s Climate Social Science Network


    J. Timmons Roberts
    Heatmap Illustration

    This week’s interview is with Brown University professor J. Timmons Roberts. Those of you familiar with the fight over offshore wind may not know Roberts by name, but you’re definitely familiar with his work: He and his students have spearheaded some of the most impactful research conducted on anti-offshore wind opposition networks. This work is a must-read for anyone who wants to best understand how the anti-renewables movement functions and why it may be difficult to stop it from winning out.

    So with Trump 2.0 on the verge of banning offshore wind outright, I decided to ask Roberts what he thinks developers should be paying attention to at this moment. The following interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

    Keep reading...Show less