Power Surge 5.4
Volume 5, Issue 4
March 4, 2018 – March 10, 2018
Anushka Dasgupta '19 | Amy Amatya '21 | Neha Chauhan '21
Lower Oil Prices Force Saudis to Widen Their Circle of Friends
Clifford Kraus | February 25, 2018 | The New York Times
Saudi Arabia, which once wielded significant power through OPEC, is adjusting to the influx of American oil and natural gas and the low oil prices of late. Its revamped economic strategy involves the proposed public offering of the national oil company, Aramco, as well as positioning itself as a leader in oil refining with the help of foreign investment. Saudi Arabia and Russia remain at odds in their relations with Syria and Iran, but they could soon be working together to buoy up oil prices. The kingdom is also investing in refineries with Chinese business partners. Saudi representatives say that the IPO of Aramco, which produces more crude than any other company, will be the largest in history. -AD
P.S. In the article, look out for a quote from David Goldwyn *86, a prominent energy consultant who was interviewed in a recent issue of the Power Surge
GE Unveils World’s Most Powerful Wind Turbine
Jeremy Hodges | March 1, 2018 | Bloomberg
GE plans on spending $400 million to construct Haliade-X, an offshore wind turbine 100m taller than the Washington Monument with blades the length of a soccer field. Designed to power 5000 homes and produce 67 KW/hr, the turbine will likely be erected in Germany, one of the world’s leaders in offshore wind energy. The proposal is just another step in our pursuit of widespread renewables implementation, a goal that is beginning to take shape as installation and storage costs decrease. -AA
This 18-Mile Stretch of Georgia Highway is a Living Laboratory for Clean Energy
Jeremy Deaton | March 1, 2018 | Popular Science
Late CEO Ray Anderson’s vision for clean energy has inspired “a zero carbon, zero deaths, zero waste, zero impact highway.” This 18-mile road is paved with solar panels and has a charging station for solar powered vehicles and roll-over pressure monitor that helps keep fuel efficiency high. Also in the works for future implementation are electromagnetic field charging lanes, noise-cancelling solar barriers alongside the road, and solar-powered studs that light up at night to mark lanes. The Ray was created to show an alternative to the contemporary “take-make-waste industrial system.” -NC
Relying on renewables alone would significantly raise the cost of overhauling the energy system
James Temple | February 26, 2018 | MIT Technology Review
An article published last month in Energy & Environmental Science concludes that transforming the grid to one completely by renewable energy would be prohibitively expensive. Because renewables are intermittent by nature, relying only on renewables would require the construction of double the capacity of renewables as needed at any one time, large-scale battery systems, and an overhaul of the national transmission system. It suggests that an 80% renewables target is more reasonable, with the rest filled in by other low-carbon technologies. -AD
Can Green Energy Beat Lebanon's 'Generator Mafias'
Alex Dziadosz | February 26, 2018 | Bloomberg News
The poor condition of Lebanon’s modern-day electric grid can be traced back to the Lebanese Civil War (1975-90), when many of its thermal power plants were destroyed. During that time, consumers began to rely on privately owned diesel generators for electricity. Today, Lebanese generator owners boast political connections and can shape energy policy to suit their own interests, making energy reform near impossible. A local utility company in the town of Zahle, however, has provided reliable electricity for the last three years by leasing its own generators and implementing net metering. It’s a model for other microgrids in sunny Lebanon to follow, although negotiations can get violent. -AD