• ENERGY SECURITYSubterranean Storage of Hydrogen

    By Mollie Rappe

    Hydrogen is an important clean fuel: It can be made by splitting water using solar or wind power, it can be used to generate electricity and to power heavy industry, and it could be used to energize fuel-cell-based vehicles. Sandia scientists are using computer simulations and laboratory experiments to see if depleted oil and natural gas reservoirs can be used for storing this carbon-free fuel.

  • ENERGY SECURITYHow Texas Is Playing a Major Role in the Race to Develop Clean Energy Technologies

    By Alejandra Martinez

    The federal government is pouring billions of dollars into developing clean power sources. In this conversation hosted by The Texas Tribune in Houston, panelists discussed how Texas companies are playing a major role in emerging technologies like hydrogen and geothermal.

  • POWER GRIDIn the Central U.S., an Electric Grid Bottleneck Persists

    By Robert Zullo

    Forty-five million people live in the area managed by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, the organization that runs a massive portion of the North American electric grid running from Manitoba, Canada, to the Gulf of Mexico. Where the northern part of the system meets the southern end — a narrow corridor that traverses a corner of southeast Missouri and northeastern Arkansas — there’s a bottleneck that can hurt electric customers and create major inefficiencies on both sides of the divide.

  • NUCLEAR POWERGeorgia’s Vogtle Plant Could Herald the Beginning — or End — of a New Nuclear Era

    By Gautama Mehta

    Few issues are as divisive among American environmentalists as nuclear energy. Concerns about nuclear waste storage and safety, particularly in the wake of the 1979 Three Mile Island reactor meltdown in Pennsylvania, helped spur the retirement of nuclear power plants across the country. Nuclear energy’s proponents, however, counter that nuclear power has historically been among the safest forms of power generation, and that the consistent carbon-free energy it generates makes it an essential tool in the fight against global warming. The $35 billion Vogtle nuclear project is an investment in the future or a cautionary tale, depending whom you ask.

  • ENERGY SECURITYStrengthening the Grid’s ‘Backbone’ with Hydropower

    By Michael Matz

    Argonne-led studies investigate how hydropower could help add more clean energy to the grid, how it generates value as grids add more renewable energy, and how liner technology can improve hydropower efficiency.

  • ENERGY SECURITYLNG Exports Have Had No Impact on Domestic Energy Costs: Analysis

    U.S. liquified natural gas (LNG) exports have not had any sustained and significant direct impact on U.S. natural gas prices and have, in fact, spurred production and productivity gains, which contribute to downward pressure on domestic prices.

  • CRITICAL MINERALSDoes Australia Have the Will to Develop the Next Critical Mineral at Scale?

    By Ian Satchwell

    The forces of demand driven by the global energy transition and supply limited by geopolitics are coalescing to make yet another mineral globally ‘critical’—uranium. Australia’s rich economic geology has endowed it with the world’s biggest uranium resources. Yet Australians have a long-term aversion to uranium mining.

  • WATER SECURITYIn $100 Million Colorado River Deal, Water and Power Collide

    By Alex Hager

    The Colorado River District plans to buy the water rights that flow through Colorado’s Shoshone hydropower plant. The acquisition is seen as pivotal for a wide swath of the state, and has been co-signed by farmers, environmental groups, and local governments.

  • CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTUREThe Balticconnector Incident: Hybrid Attacks and Critical Infrastructure Protection

    By Swasti Rao

    There is the recognition that Europe needs to invest more resources to proactively prevent attacks such on those related to the Nord Streams in 2022 and Balticconnector in 2023. The European Union and individual EU countries are investing in new military measures as well as enacting new regulations aimed at protecting critical infrastructure.

  • ENERGY SECURITYStudy Projects Geothermal Heat Pumps’ Impact on Electrical Grid, Carbon Emissions

    New study gives the first detailed look at how geothermal energy can relieve the electric power system and reduce carbon emissions if widely implemented across the United States within the next few decades.

  • DEBATE: LNG EXPORT PAUSEThe Unlikely Coalition Behind Biden’s Liquefied Natural Gas Pivot

    By Naveena Sadasivam, Zoya Teirstein, and Jake Bittle

    Climate activists led the charge against LNG exports, but they’re not the only ones celebrating Biden’s pause. A broader, less-climate-concerned coalition, representing thousands of manufacturers, chemical companies, and consumer advocates, has also been quietly pushing for the pause — and stands to benefit if Biden curbs LNG exports.

  • DEBATE: LNG EXPORT PAUSECongress Should Demote the DOE and Unleash LNG Exports

    By Scott Lincicome

    Late January’s Department of Energy (DOE) move to temporarily pause pending requests to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) outside the United States has elicited not only a firestorm of criticism, but also proposals in Congress to reverse the DOE action. At stake is a burgeoning industry with domestic and international significance, both economically and geopolitically.

  • NUCLEAR POWERCommercial Advanced Nuclear Fuel Arrives in Idaho Lab for Testing

    For the first time in two decades, Idaho National Laboratory, the nation’s nuclear energy laboratory, has received a shipment of used next-generation light water reactor fuel from a commercial nuclear power plant to support research and testing.

  • BATTERIESCobalt-Free Batteries Could Power Cars of the Future

    By Anne Trafton

    Many electric vehicles are powered by batteries that contain cobalt — a metal that carries high financial, environmental, and social costs. MIT chemists developed a battery cathode based on organic materials, which could reduce the EV industry’s reliance on scarce metals.

  • NUCLEAR ENERGYArgonne National Laboratory to Work Closely with Companies on Nuclear Innovation Projects

    By Kristen Mally Dean

    The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) awarded seven new vouchers to companies and national laboratories working to develop and commercialize clean nuclear energy projects. Nuclear energy is considered central to efforts to minimize carbon emissions and still reliably meet rising demand for electricity. Argonne received four vouchers to work closely with companies on nuclear innovation projects.