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PERSPECTIVE ON NUCLEAR FUSION: Nuclear fusion is the subject of intense interest this week with demonstration, for the first time, that fusion “ignition” is attainable in a controlled environment. Rechargeable Battery Chainsaw

News media, the Biden administration, and scientists are pumping it up for what the outcome means for fusion power (monumental) and skeptics are pumping the brakes (still decades away).

Chris Kelsall, CEO of fusion power company Tokamak Energy, would seem to stand somewhere in between. He’s all in on fusion but doesn’t want people to think the industry has arrived after the first breakthrough of Q>1 (a ratio representing energy output exceeding input), or to treat breakthrough lab experiments themselves as the “endgame.”

We talked to Kelsall on Thursday, before the news broke over the weekend of the success at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where scientists used laser energy to achieve a net energy gain factor of around 1.5.

Kelsall sought to distinguish between the measure of success achieved in a Q value slightly larger than 1 and the net energy gain factors that would have to be achieved to commercialize fusion, which he said would be in the “teens” or greater.

“This is not about a laboratory experiment doing a net energy gain of 1.1. That’s not the endgame,” Kelsall told Jeremy. “The endgame is a globally deployable, industrially scalable, low-cost, safe, secure solution that is available to a broad cross section of humanity, not just a few G7 nations that can afford an expensive, VIP form of energy creation.”

What Tokamak is doing: Tokamak Energy, based near Oxford, England, is going about testing and commercializing fusion in a different way than the LLNL.

The company, which gets its name from the tokamak, a magnetic device used to confine plasma used in fusion reactions, utilizes magnetic confinement to replicate fusion reactions, rather than the inertial confinement method used by the LLNL.

The device heats up hydrogen plasma to around 100 million degrees, creating a “plasma soup” and triggering fusion reactions.

Tokamak Energy’s device differs from other projects using magnetic confinement, such as the SPARC joint venture between MIT and Commonwealth Fusion Systems, by using a narrower design.

It differs in another key way from SPARC: Tokamak is aiming for a net energy gain factor of 25 for optimal commercial fusion operations. The SPARC project is eyeing Q>10.

Narrower, more confined design means greater efficiency and less material, which means lower cost to build, operate, and cool, which Kelsall says give Tokamak an advantage.

“We can fit our ‘nth-of-a-kind’ devices … the equipment and materials, the offices, supporting infrastructure in a couple of football fields, can place it strategically near to population centers safely and securely, without huge storage costs of renewables, without huge grid infrastructure,” Kelsall said.

The company’s ST-E1 commercial pilot plant, targeted for demonstration in the early 2030s, will have a capacity of 200 megawatts, while its its commercial plants planned for the mid-2030s will be 500 megawatts.

For comparison, the two new fission reactors at Plant Vogtle in Georgia each have a capacity of 1,250 megawatts.

Versus fission: Tokamak Energy is not only competing against other fusion developers. Advanced fission reactors have more momentum and decades of commercial life already in the power sector.

Fission reactions, however, unlike fusion, also generate highly radioactive waste. That makes fusion more palatable compared to next-generation fission reactors, Kelsall said, who insisted valuations of burgeoning advanced reactor technologies undersell the total lifecycle costs associated with waste management.

“I think what's really important is to have a fully informed conversation,” he said. “If it's a number with an asterisk next to it which says ‘excludes all treatment, transport, storage, protection of waste for 200,000 years,' then it ain't the full story.”

Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner Energy and Environment Writers Jeremy Beaman (@jeremywbeaman) and Breanne Deppisch (@breanne_dep). Email jbeaman@washingtonexaminer.com or bdeppisch@washingtonexaminer.com for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list.

EU LEADERS STRIKE DEAL ON WORLD’S FIRST CARBON TARIFF:  European Union leaders struck a political deal this morning on imposing a carbon dioxide emissions tariff on imports of polluting goods, such as iron, cement, steel, and aluminum—a first-of-its-kind effort aimed at shielding industries within the bloc from cheaper competition overseas.

The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, or CBAM, will begin to take effect in October 2023, leaders said in a statement. Starting then, companies who import high-polluting goods into the EU will be required to purchase certificates to cover their CO2 emissions.

The goal of the tariff is to prevent industries in the bloc from being undercut by cheaper goods produced in countries with looser environmental rules. But it has also sparked criticism from China and India, and comes amid growing trade tensions with the U.S. over its Inflation Reduction Act, the measure with $369 billion in climate provisions that subsidizes “Made in America” green technologies and EV components.

“Of course CBAM will have [an] impact on our trade partners, because it’s designed to,” Pascal Canfin, the head of the EU Parliament’s environment committee, told reporters at a briefing. “It’s important that the EU leads on the connection between climate and trade policies.”

Some key details of CABM, including how quickly the phase-in takes effect, will be ironed out later this week, when leaders meet either Friday or Saturday for related negotiations on a reform of the EU carbon market.

Leaders say the goal is to ensure a balanced treatment of high-polluting imports with domestic industries in the EU, who are already required to buy permits from the bloc’s carbon market when they pollute.

ELECTRIC VEHICLES NOW MAKE UP 20% OF NORWAY’S AUTO FLEET: Norway has passed another milestone in its push for EV adoption, with every fifth car in the country now an emission-free vehicle.

According to the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association, the country has doubled its share of EVs on the road over the past three years, including a 48% increase in EV sales in 2021 alone.

It estimates it will take under two years for EVs to make up 30% of the country’s total fleet.

The rapid uptake is due to multiple incentives for drivers, including reduced taxes on new EV purchases, aimed at helping Norway reach its target that 100% of new cars sold in 2025 be zero-emissions vehicles.

PG&E CUTS THOUSANDS OF WORKERS AHEAD OF WINTER WILDFIRE MAINTENANCE: PG&E, California’s largest utility, has laid off thousands of contractors and employees in recent weeks, including vegetation management inspectors, tree trimmers, and electrical linesman whose work is critical to wildfire mitigation.

The layoffs, due to overspending, could put it at risk of falling even further behind on its power line maintenance, an area where PG&E has already fallen far behind. The utility has played a major role in sparking some of California's largest wildfires, including the 2021 Dixie Fire and the 2018 Camp Fire.

In early 2021, the California Public Utilities Commission placed PG&E under a period of “enhanced oversight and enforcement” amid concerns that the utility was not clearing lines away from power lines fast enough, risking more wildfires.

UKRAINIAN ALLIES PLEDGE THAN $1 BILLION IN IMMEDIATE WINTER AID: A group of 70 countries and institutions pledged more than $1 billion in immediate winter aid for Ukraine this week, as Russia escalates its attack on the its energy grid and other areas of civilian infrastructure.

The funds will help support Ukraine’s health, food, water and transportation sectors as Russia’s war rages on and as weather in Ukraine plunges below freezing. At least $415 million has been devoted exclusively to protecting Ukraine’s power grids from a barrage of Russian air strikes, with another $500 million still left to be allocated.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna praised the participation of non-Western countries, including Qatar and Cambodia, that she said showed a widening network of support for Ukraine.

During the meeting, leaders also established an online mechanism allowing Ukraine to submit its urgent needs and donor countries can respond promptly.

USDA ANNOUNCES $325 MILLION MORE IN CLIMATE FUNDING FOR SMALL FARMERS: The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced another $325 million investment aimed at helping smaller scale farmers reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, part of the administration’s broader push to cut 10% of emissions generated by farming each year.

The new round of funding, announced by USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, brings the administration’s total investment in climate-friendly farming to more than $3 billion.

Vilsack said the money will fund 71 projects under USDA’s Climate-Smart Commodities Program. The latest round of funding primarily focuses on groups that are traditionally underrepresented in the lower-emissions farming sector, he said, such as black farmers associations, Native American tribes, women, and veterans.

Some projects will help monitor and verify benefits of rotating crops, installing solar panels near farm fields, and reducing fertilizer use. Others will provide technical assistance to help employees adopt new practices and skills.

ENERGY FIRM CHOOSES WEST VIRGINIA FOR $3B CCS PROJECT: A Maryland-based energy company has selected Doddridge County in northern West Virginia as the site of a $3 billion new natural gas-fired power plant that will be equipped with carbon capture technology.

Competitive Power Ventures announced the siting of the 1,800 megawatt power station yesterday, which will be built in a state where coal combustion is responsible for nearly all electricity generation.

Carbon capture and storage technologies got a big boost in the Inflation Reduction Act, over the objections of some environmentalists who argue the technology effectively blesses the use of fossil fuels. CPV said explicitly that its project would be aided by the 45Q tax credit, which the new law revamped with larger credit values and a direct pay option.

CCS proponents believe the new 45Q credit is hardy enough to make the technology economically viable and to avoid reliving the past, which has seen a large share of federally subsidized CCS projects fail.

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2 p.m. 253 Russell. The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation subcommittee on Oceans, Fisheries, Climate Change, and Manufacturing will hold a hearing on ways to promote investments in small American manufacturers.

Highest Rated Cordless Chainsaw 10 a.m. 406 Dirksen. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a hearing on plastic use impacts and solutions for reducing waste.