• 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.

  • BATTERIESPreviously Unknown Pathway to Batteries with High Energy, Low cost and Long Life

    By Joseph Harmon

    The road from breakthrough in the lab to practical technology can be a long and bumpy one. The lithium-sulfur battery is an example. It has notable advantages over current lithium-ion batteries powering vehicles. But it has yet to dent the market despite intense development over many years. That situation could change in the future, as scientists discover surprising pathway to better lithium-sulfur batteries by visualizing reactions at the atomic scale.

  • SUPPLY-CHAIN SECURITYShipping Oil Through Troubled Waters

    By David Uren

    Attacks on shipping in the Red Sea have had almost no impact on the oil price, despite the volume of oil shipped through the waterway surging 80% over the last two years because of the war in the Ukraine. Markets are more worried about a soft global economy and rising US and Brazilian oil production than by the prospect of interrupted oil flows, having already seen the global oil market adjust to the massive disruption caused by Russia’s invasion of its neighbor.

  • BATTERIESA Huge Battery Has Replaced Hawaii’s Last Coal Plant

    By Julian Spector

    Plus Power’s Kapolei battery is officially online. The pioneering project is a leading example of how to shift crucial grid functions from fossil-fueled plants to clean energy.

  • MAN-MADE EARTHQUAKESTexas Regulators Limit Oil and Gas Disposal Wells in Bid to Reduce Earthquakes in West Texas

    By Carlos Nogueras Ramos

    Injecting saltwater back into the ground “is likely contributing to recent seismic activity,” the Railroad Commission of Texas has said.

  • MAN-MADE EARTHQUAKESTexas Regulators Limit Oil and Gas Disposal Wells in Bid to Reduce Earthquakes in West Texas

    By Carlos Nogueras Ramos

    Injecting saltwater back into the ground “is likely contributing to recent seismic activity,” the Railroad Commission of Texas has said.