With fears of climate change coinciding with the growing need for more electrical energy, Texas has been at the forefront of energy innovation. From small, modular nuclear reactors to carbon capture technology to Exxon Mobil’s use of green hydrogen as an industrial energy source, innovators in Texas are tackling climate change while at the same time expanding electrical generating technology. It’s an approach that other states and the Biden administration could learn from.

The latest innovation involves something called supercritical carbon dioxide, or sCO2. Supercritical carbon dioxide is created by using high temperature and pressure to create something that is a gas but behaves like a liquid. The Southwest Research Institute, in collaboration with the Department of Energy, GTI Energy, and GE Vernova, has developed a pilot plant in San Antonio, Texas, that uses a turbine the size of an office desk, using sCO2, to generate 10 MW of electricity, enough to power 10,000 homes. The project is dubbed Supercritical Transformational Electric Power , or STEP.

The technology could use concentrated solar mirrors to turn CO2 into the sCO2 needed to turn the turbine. The approach would have the disadvantage that solar-based power generation technology has, in that it works only when the sun is out. But it’s likely other power sources, say nuclear, could be used to create sCO2.

The two main advantages of the STEP technology involve a 10% increase in energy efficiency and a smaller footprint. Conventional turbines are the size of a bus and use water, a scarce resource during times of drought in certain parts of the world. CO2 can be extracted with direct air carbon capture, using the same power source that transforms it into sCO2.

CO2 can also be obtained by burning methane, natural gas, or coal in a power plant. Conventional power plants emit CO2 into the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas. The gas can be captured from the power plant, which could also be used to transform it into sCO2. The technology would be similar to the Allam cycle technique used by NET Power in a pilot plant in La Porte, Texas, which is now being marketed to customers in the United States and Europe.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, notes that the Texas grid uses a wide variety of energy sources to generate electricity. They range from renewables such as wind and solar (with battery backups) to nuclear to fossil fuels such as natural gas and coal. ERCOT has had problems keeping the lights on during extreme weather, such as the brutally hot summer of 2023. It was obliged to impose blackouts during the extreme winter of late 2021. Hence, Texas, a rapidly growing state due to its business-friendly political culture and growing economy, needs more power to accommodate its increasing population.

Texas has pursued an approach toward energy production that is based more on practical considerations than ideology. The state has invested heavily in renewables. But projects such as the STEP project also suggest that Texas is keen to continue exploiting its abundant fossil fuel resources with a due consideration for reducing the emission of greenhouse gasses that may contribute to climate change.

The Texas approach contrasts starkly with that of, say, California, which is content with relying on rolling blackouts rather than building capacity and strengthening its grid. The federal government, too, is intent on taking things away from people, such as gas stoves, gas water heaters, and gasoline-powered lawnmowers and leaf blowers.

California and the Biden administration are reacting to energy shortages and climate change fears by imposing privation. Texas, on the other hand, is reacting with innovation to maintain sufficient power for people and businesses to continue to prosper while reducing greenhouse gasses.

Politically, the Texas approach is the one that is more sustainable. Eventually, even the long-suffering people of California, those who have not given up and moved to more hospitable states such as Texas and Florida, will revolt and vote out their ruling class and vote in people who treat them as constituents and not as serfs. Then, Texas companies will be ready to provide the once but no longer Golden State with the energy technology, such as STEP, it needs to prosper once again.

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Mark Whittington, who writes frequently about space policy, has published a political study of space exploration titled " Why is It So Hard to Go Back to the Moon? " as well as " The Moon, Mars and Beyond ," and, most recently, " Why is America Going Back to the Moon? " He blogs at Curmudgeons Corner. He is published in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Hill, USA Today, the LA Times, and the Washington Post, among other venues.