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Subject:
Hubba Hubba
Sent:
From:
Good morning and happy Friday,
More than a decade after it was originally proposed by Clean Line Energy, the $7 billion Grain Belt Express transmission line – now owned by Invenergy – received the final regulatory approval needed to proceed. This is timely, because in its 2023 The Dirty Truth report, the Sierra Club slams 77 utility companies “most invested in fossil fuels,” saying these laggards plan to replace “just 30 percent of their existing fossil fuel generation with clean energy by 2030.”
And although “dark money” – that is, funds from undisclosed donors – is sometimes used to oppose renewable projects, it can also be used to advance the energy transition. The liberal advocacy group Climate Power announced that it will spend $80 million on advertising “to lift President Biden’s standing on environmental issues and inform voters about the impact of legislation he signed last year.”
Read on for more.
Hubba Hubba
Last week, the Biden-Harris Administration announced $7 billion in grants to seven hydrogen projects spanning 16 states, with the goal of creating a national system of hydrogen hubs and lowering the cost of “green” hydrogen produced using renewable energy. Here are some things to keep your eye on:
- While the funding is welcome, the industry awaits “much-anticipated – and significantly delayed – guidance on the hydrogen tax credit” provided in the IRA that will provide as much as $3 per kg hydrogen produced, “with low- and no-carbon production receiving the biggest incentives.”
- Many climate and environmental advocates are strongly opposed to subsidizing hydrogen production unless hourly matching is used to verify that it was produced with renewables – lest incentives for hydrogen be used to “justify investment in new fossil-gas power plants.”
- Bad idea, say the investor-owned utilities, conventional hydrogen producers, and fossil fuel companies who oppose hourly matching on the grounds that it will “be onerous and discourage investment.”
⚡️ The Takeaway
Don’t believe the hype. Stop daydreaming! says Michael Liebreich of BloombergNEF. There is an urgent need to “inject some reality into discussions about hydrogen.” While hydrogen is the right choice for some applications, everyone needs to understand that renewable energy itself – not green hydrogen – offers the best solution for reducing emissions. “Worse than wasting money, we will also be wasting time – and that is the one thing we don’t have. Let’s be smart.”
Striking a Balance
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed Public Act 102-1123 into law at the end of January. The legislation seeks to strike a balance among the interests of local residents, renewable energy developers, and the state’s goal of converting to 100% clean energy by 2050. How’s that working out? Here’s a closer look:
- PA 102-1123 establishes new state standards for siting wind and solar projects and preempts local ordinances that are more restrictive than the new state standards. Renewable energy developer Apex Clean Energy is one of the first beneficiaries.
- In April, the Piatt County Board voted against Apex’s 300-MW Goose Creek project, which was not covered by PA 102-1123. That same month, Piatt County voters rejected wind farms in general by a vote of 1,498 to 623 in a non-binding referendum.
- However, last week the board voted 4-2 in favor of a special use permit for Apex’s Prosperity Wind Farm. Several board members noted that while they still opposed the project, they felt they had no choice but to approve it because to do otherwise would result in an unwinnable lawsuit.
⚡️ The Takeaway
Equal rights in the Land of Lincoln. Supporters of PA 102-1123 emphasize that the legislation, which still requires “public hearings, building and road use permits,” and involves the public and local government officials, doesn't take counties out of the process. What it guards against is situations in which county boards aren’t “representing their constituents and (are) taking away individual property rights.”
Going to ABAT
A new commercial-scale lithium-ion battery recycling facility is up and running in McCarran, Nevada, and promises to have the capacity to process “over 20,000 metric tonnes of battery feedstock materials annually.”
American Battery Technology Company (ABTC, or ABAT on NASDAQ) describes itself as “an integrated critical battery materials company” that has commercialized its technologies for both primary battery minerals manufacturing and secondary minerals lithium-ion battery recycling.
The company has been constructing a similar facility in Fernley, NV, but earlier this year announced it was buying the “move-in ready” facility in McCarran to expand its operations in response to “significantly increased demand.”
ABTC says its unique integrated battery recycling system utilizes a “strategic de-manufacturing and targeted chemical extraction train” that enables it to recover battery materials at a low cost while producing high yields and having a low environmental footprint.
The facility will ramp up its operations in phases. The first phase will process “battery feedstock materials into recycled products including copper, aluminum, steel, a lithium intermediate, and” – intriguingly – “a black mass intermediate material” (pictured).
As this week’s Dispatch was staged for publishing, House Republicans had yet to elect a leader. Perhaps some “black mass intermediate material” could stand in so the government can get back to functioning again? Just an idea.
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