Your Weekly Energy News Roundup Stay up to date with the latest energy news! US ENERGY UPDATE | April 25, 2024 View this email in your browser Sam Altman Invests in Energy Startup Focused on AI Data Centers Instead of solar panels arrayed across a field, Exowatt has developed modules roughly the size of shipping containers that contain solar lenses. The lenses convert energy from the sun into heat. That heat can then be used to warm up cheap, basic materials much like electricity heats up a toaster, allowing the modules to store energy for up to 24 hours a day.  Read More  New EPA Emissions Rules Squeeze Coal Plants Coal plants have struggled financially against natural gas and renewables, and the rules essentially schedule their phaseout, said Daniel Cohan, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice University. Most were built before 1990 and would be at least 50 years old by 2040. Their owners would face enormous costs for ongoing maintenance, in addition to the expense of installing a carbon-capture system Read More  Louisiana Can Have it All When it Comes to Energy Production Perhaps the biggest opportunity is carbon capture, the key bridge technology to decarbonize industry. Good examples are St. Charles Clean Fuels, a $5 billion project, in partnership with IMTT, that uses carbon capture to remove 99% of its CO2 and Climeworks, a Swiss company investing $3 billion in a direct air capture facility in southwest Louisiana. Read More Solar Manufacturers Launch Offensive Against Imports The filing puts the Biden administration at the center of a contentious election-year dispute over whether to impose additional tariffs to protect domestic manufacturing or instead allow U.S. companies to benefit from underpriced foreign solar panel and cell imports. Read More US EPA Expected to Drop Hydrogen from Power Plant Rule, Sources Say The move reflects skepticism within the U.S. government that the technology – in which hydrogen fuel is extracted from water using zero-emissions energy sources like wind and solar - will develop quickly enough to become a significant tool to decarbonize the electricity industry. Read More Subscribe to the US Energy Update The US Energy Update was created to keep the public informed about the wide range of energy news which comes from the diverse and fast-paced energy industry. Our mission is to provide a compendium of interesting and insightful news relevant to energy industry professionals and observers.   Subscribe Today Copyright © 2024 US Energy Update, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.