Zero-Carbon FUELS

The NICE Future initiative published a digest which showcases examples of leading nuclear produced hydrogen initiatives which can be used to power hard-to-electrify sectors such as transport and heavy industry. Eric Ingersoll and Kirsty Gogan, Founders of Terra Praxis, were honoured to contribute both a Foreword and a chapter: "While it sounds daunting to achieve the scale of production needed, the scalability and power density of advanced heat sources are a major benefit. By moving to a manufacturing model with modular designs, it is possible to deliver hundreds of units in multiple markets around the world each year to produce abundant clean hydrogen-based synthetic fuels. To achieve global market penetration at the speed and scale required by the climate emergency, these drop-in substitute fuels must be delivered at prices that can outcompete fossil fuels within 10 years, and at a scale that can displace the 100 million barrels of oil that are currently consumed around the world each day." 

We know that climate change is an energy problem. Now we have 28 years to replace fossil fuels and double our overall energy supply. As you reflect on our first  2021 Annual Review, we hope you will be as energized as we are by our success in mobilizing a broad coalition of public and private sector leaders and building momentum for innovative climate solutions (for coal plant conversion, flexible co-generation, clean hydrogen, and synthetic fuels production). Our programs could accelerate the reduction of global carbon emissions by repurposing trillions of dollars of existing infrastructure to supply clean, affordable, and reliable energy to billions of people.

As part of the Nuclear Innovation: Clean Energy Future (NICE Future) initiative, Eric Ingersoll - Co-Founder of Terra Praxis, moderated a webinar on clean synthetic fuels. The webinar included experts across several industries and organizations about the prospects for nuclear-derived zero-carbon fuels. Participants learnt about innovative ways nuclear power can be utilized to efficiently produce hydrogen for use in synthetic fuels, which in turn can decarbonize transportation and industrial sectors. Eric was joined by Jason Marcinkoski, Program Manager, Office of Nuclear Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, on behalf of the CEM NICE Future initiative and Jose Bermudez, Energy Analyst, International Energy Agency, on behalf of the CEM Hydrogen Initiative who gave introductory remarks. Speakers included: Elina Teplinsky, Partner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP; Carlos Leipner, Director, Global Nuclear Energy Strategy, Clean Air Task Force (CATF); Thibault Cantat, Research Scientist, French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA); Troels Schonfeldt, Co-founder and CEO, Seaborg Technologies; Chad Richards, Director, Nuclear Innovation Institute (NII)

The first ever Powered On Live shone a spotlight on the ever-changing electrical industry. On day 1, Kirsty Gogan participated on the fireside chat: Is there a need for nuclear power?. The UK currently leads the way in offshore wind capacity, but with the recent Energy Security Strategy, it seems that nuclear will be a key source of electricity for the country going forward. But with much opposition from environmental groups and even the Scottish Government, is committing to more nuclear power really the right strategy? Kirsty will share the event with Professor Gregg Butler, Head of Strategic Assessment at the Dalton Institute at the University of Manchester and Jonty Haynes, Senior Analyst, Regen. At the fireside Kirsty expressed: "We should consider what the risk to failing to decarbonize is..."

Eric Ingersoll, Co-Founder of Terra Praxis and James Lawless, Fianna Fáil TD, representing Kildare North shared an expert discussion about the need for decarbonization of Irish energy sectors other than electricity (industry, heat) and nuclear technologies which could be suitable for deep decarbonization of Irish energy. The online session was moderated by Sarah Cullen, Co-Founder of 18for0.

As the war in Ukraine continues to impact energy supplies, what's the future for nuclear power in Britain? Kirsty Gogan of Terra Praxis participated in the discussion of some of the most crucial questions we are facing today, such as—Where does this situation leave the international and UK's climate strategy and the race to Net Zero? And what are the risks facing nuclear power generation? She said, "We have to look at any of these risks in context and right now the reality is that we see 7 million premature deaths per year around the world from air pollution. So focusing on this and cleaning up all of our fossil fuel based energy infrastructure is really an incredible opportunity not only to address the climate challenges that we face but also the public health challenges that we face."

This event showed how communities can be uplifted by advanced heat source technologies and breakthrough innovations. Learn the ways countries and organizations are working to bring the social, economic, and environmental benefits of nuclear energy to communities around the world as they make clean energy transitions. Moderator: Jon Carmack, Senior Technical Advisor, Office of Nuclear Energy, U.S. Department of Energy. Speakers: • Kirsty Gogan, Founder and Managing Director, Terra Praxis. • Christine King, Director, Gateway for Advanced Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN). • Chuck Tack, Vice President, Nuclear Operations, PacifiCorp. • Guy Lonechild, Chief Executive Officer, First Nations Power Authority, Canada. • Paweł Gładysz, Faculty of Energy and Fuels, AGH University of Science and Technology, Poland. • Princess Mthombeni, Founder, Africa4Nuclear.

Watch this presentation by Kirsty Gogan and Eric Ingersoll of Terra Praxis to the Effective Altruism community about why they founded Terra Praxis—to come up with Climate 2.0 strategies that address the actual risks to the energy transition—cost, speed, scale, space, and political support—these are the obstacles that are standing in the way of achieving the progress on decarbonization the world needs and expects. These risks include public opposition and legal constraints to the future development of renewable energy. For instance, two-thirds of the counties in the U.S. state of Iowa have added restrictions or prohibitions to future wind development; this is true for many states across the US. Based on analysis Terra Praxis and its partner LucidCatalyst performed with McKinsey, it is clear that there is very little potential for onshore wind development left in Germany. However, climate modelers do not take this into consideration and continue to model large additions to wind resources, allowing policy makers to believe we are on the right track when in fact the reality is very different. Along similar lines, Terra Praxis is leading a project to repower the world's 2TW of coal plants, which make up the single largest source of global carbon emissions.

Eric Ingersoll and Kirsty Gogan of Terra Praxis and LucidCatalyst attended the annual CleanTech Forum. Kirsty was featured on panel—The Terawatt Transition; Thinking Scale, Think Differently—about near-term climate-scale strategies that can compete on price and performance with fossil fuels that can address the largest and most difficult carbon emissions challenges—coal and liquid fuels. Customers, investors, and political leaders are aligning around strategies to accelerate the affordable repowering of 2 terawatts of coal, and delivery of 100 million barrels per day of carbon-neutral liquid fuels. These large-scale solutions would repurpose trillions of dollars of existing infrastructure and continue supplying reliable energy, without emissions, and can advance groundbreaking progress toward Net Zero by 2050. Co-hosted by Terrestrial Energy. Eric was on the panel—Carbon to Fuels: Pathways and Innovations—Electrification is set to revolutionize the emissions profile of the transportation sector. However, liquid fuels are likely to remain an important energy carrier, at least for long range flights and shipping. The potential challenges and opportunities for fuels derived from captured carbon were discussed. We invite you to watch the video of the Terra Praxis panels.

The flurry of new policies and announcements raises the question: Are we at the dawn of a nuclear renaissance? We’ve heard these claims before. But the mounting scale of the climate and energy conundrum is fueling more money and favorable policies into atomic power. Kirsty Gogan, co-founder of Terra Praxis is quoted: “There have been years of indecisiveness, but the climate is changing around nuclear"... “We need Impossible burgers for energy, a drop-in substitute. We’re not bending the curve on emissions because in the power sector we still need reliability, making the idea that we’re going to phase out coal unforgivably unrealistic right now.”

This webinar explored the advantages of floating low-carbon power plants — unique energy solutions ideal for remote regions, autonomous power grids, and offshore processing plants. Resistant to tsunamis and other natural disasters, floating plants supply cheap and clean energy where it is needed. With Kirsty Gogan of Terra Praxis, Elena Pashina of Rusatom Overseas, Mikal Boe of Core Power, Peder Norborg of Seaborg Technologies and Richard Jones of EDF Energy.

In a side event at COP26 in Glasgow, a group of prominent energy and environmental NGOs, industry, and trade organizations discussed the role of advanced nuclear energy in a decarbonized world. The organizations included ClearPath, Third Way, Terra Praxis, Clean Air Task Force, Nuclear Innovation Alliance, U.S. Nuclear Industry Council, Ultra-Safe Nuclear Corporation, and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP. Kirsty Gogan represented Terra Praxis. Watch the video.

Terra Praxis hosted this high-level event in parallel with the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26)—Energy Day at Climate Action Solution Centre (CASC): De-Risking the Terawatt Transition. During the full-day event, key stakeholders revealed new near-term climate-scale strategies to compete on price and performance with fossil fuels that will break through the world’s largest and most difficult carbon emissions challenges: coal, and liquid fuels. Customers, investors and political leaders announced strategies to accelerate the affordable repowering of 2TW of coal and delivery of 100 million barrels/day of carbon-neutral liquid fuels. These large-scale solutions will repurpose trillions of dollars of existing infrastructure to continue supplying reliable energy, without emissions, and can advance groundbreaking progress toward Net Zero by 2050. The sessions were videotaped and can be viewed at the link below.

Mohamed Nasheed, former prime minister of the Maldives who now leads a group of countries called the Climate Vulnerable Forum, singled out the G20’s failure to be more ambitious about phasing out coal. “This is a welcome start,” Mr. Nasheed said in an emailed statement, “But it won’t stop the climate from heating more than 1.5 degrees and devastating large parts of the world, including the Maldives. G20 countries need to look at decommissioning coal plants at home and repowering their coal fleet infrastructure with clean energy.” (Note former Prime Minister Nasheed participated in Terra Praxis' full-day event on De-risking the Terawatt Transition at COP26.)

Reuters cites a new study by Aurora Energy Research, Decarbonizing Hydrogen in a Net Zero Economy. Hydrogen is increasingly seen as an essential fuel to power a future, carbon-free economy. Nuclear power operators can mitigate high costs by fitting plants to produce hydrogen, and studies have found that the cheapest option for the growing hydrogen economy is to include nuclear in the energy mix. The study was commissioned by Urenco and has been supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency, EDF, and LucidCatalyst.