Carbon capture and storage get a DOE roadmap

CARBON CAPTURE: The U.S. Energy Department drafts a strategy for developing “dozens” of carbon capture and storage facilities by 2050 and building infrastructure, oversight, and a workforce to serve them. (E&E News, subscription; news release)

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ALSO: Exxon Mobil announces it’s secured leases for 271,000 acres in waters off Texas for an offshore carbon capture project. (Reuters)

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NUCLEAR: A newly updated U.S. Energy Department report makes a case for immediately launching a buildout of large-scale nuclear reactors in hopes of tripling the country’s current 100 GW of nuclear power capacity. (Canary Media)

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COAL: Five of the biggest U.S. coal plants have set dates for closure or a shift to another fuel, and a sixth is reportedly planning to switch to natural gas as well. (Inside Climate News)

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GRID:

• Hurricane Helene flooding could push Appalachia utilities to rethink the region’s power grid, described by one official as a “really far-flung set of distribution lines going up into the hills and serving different communities.” (Grist)
• Tech companies including Microsoft and Amazon are pushing back on an Ohio utility’s policies requiring financial assurances for heavy energy use, offering an alternative set of rules. (Reuters)

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UTILITIES: Oregon residents file a first-of-its-kind class-action lawsuit accusing the state’s largest natural gas utility of misleading customers about its carbon reduction plan and using that program’s funds to promote fossil fuels. (OPB)

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POLITICS:

• Advocates warn a second Trump administration would shrink or eliminate national monuments in the West, reopening fragile lands to oil and gas drilling, mining and other development. (Los Angeles Times)
• In 2017, FirstEnergy gave millions to dark money groups aligned with then-President Donald Trump, and CEO Chuck Jones spent lavishly at Trump-owned properties, as the company lobbied for a federal bailout that FERC ultimately rejected, according to a new report. (Ohio Capital Journal)
• A Latino advocacy group’s survey suggests the Harris campaign should make a case for clean energy’s economic benefits when trying to reach Latino voters, especially young men. (The Hill)

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SOLAR:

• Western Shoshone tribal members in Nevada push back on the Biden administration’s federal land solar plan, saying it puts a sacred massacre site proposed for national monument status in the path of energy development. (Las Vegas Review Journal)
• Walmart announces plans to build 45 MW of solar projects on stores in Maryland and Illinois as environmental advocates push for the retail giant to accelerate its use of rooftop solar. (news release)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Delaware will use $14.3 million in federal funding to install chargers along I-95 as part of a multistate effort to reduce the emissions of the trucking industry. (WHYY)

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