Power Surge 6.2

Volume 6, Issue 2
September 30, 2018 – October 6, 2018
Anushka Dasgupta '19 | Amy Amatya '21 | Neha Chauhan '21 | Joseph Kawalec '21

---

Fuel From Thin Air: The Catch To A Startup's Sunny Claims
September 25, 2018 | Forbes | Robert Rapier
This past summer, a Cornell University startup named Dimensional Energy made the bold claim that they could “pioneer artificial photosynthesis to produce green polymers and chemicals.” However, they are not the first groups to make announcements about breakthroughs in “artificial photosynthesis” technology; previous researchers have made findings that date as far back as 2009. Artificial photosynthesis would improve upon the efficiency of the natural process, using electricity instead of solar energy to power the process. But the economic viability of the idea lies in question, in part because the project would require a greater input of energy than would be produced in the fuel. Until someone can balance the technical and economic viability of artificial photosynthesis technology, it is not clear when it will achieve “lasting success.” -JK

Saudi Arabia Shelves Work on SoftBank’s $200 Billion Solar Project
September 30, 2018 | The Wall Street Journal | Rory Jones and Summer Said
Saudi Arabia and SoftBank Group Corp. have put a hold on their collaborative $200 billion plan to build the world’s largest project for solar power generation, announced last March. Saudi energy officials said that key details of the project, such as location and finances, had not yet been worked out. The goal for the project had been a capacity of 200 gigawatts by the year 2030, three times that of the country’s current daily usage. According to officials, this is not indicative of a shift away from renewables. Rather, the kingdom is working to create a broader, more practical renewable energy strategy that will be announced in late October. -NC

---

Iceland is Bringing Geothermal Heating to China
CNN | Ivana Kottasova | September 27, 2018
Iceland and China have reached a $250 million dollar agreement on providing China, the world’s worst carbon emitter, with geothermal energy. Topography in Northern China is promising for geothermal energy, which aligns with the nation's relatively recent attempts at going green. The venture aims to replace the energy that would be generated from 50 million tons of coal with geothermal energy by 2020. Despite recent troughs in its energy policy and an escalating trade war with the U.S., the Chinese government has increasingly shown interest towards undoing years of fossil fuel abuse with lofty investments and ambitious quotas (such as the aim to go 20% renewable by 2030). -AA

Bill Gates has added a geothermal startup to his clean energy fund’s first bets
September 26, 2018 | MIT Technology Review | James Temple
Bill Gates’ $1 million fund Breakthrough Energy Ventures will be investing in a portfolio of companies including Fervo Energy, a Berkeley-based startup applying fracking techniques to geothermal energy. According to Fervo’s founders, both engineers with experience working at natural gas drilling sites, these techniques can increase underground permeability. The startup will employ a network of sensors as well as simulations to visualize underground structures. -AD

---

Saudi Arabia will quietly add extra oil to the market to offset a drop in Iranian production
September 27, 2018 | CNBC
OPEC reports show a decrease in Iranian oil production over the past few weeks, the result of U.S. sanctions against Iranian oil. As this trend is expected to continue over the next couple of months, Saudi Arabia will counteract the resulting shifts in global oil supply by increasing its own oil production. As the top oil producer in OPEC and the largest oil exporter in the world, Saudi Arabia has the greatest capacity of any major oil-producing country to quickly increase its oil production and balance global supply and demand. A collective, official decision by OPEC to increase production would also be sufficient, but Saudi Arabia decided against pushing for this. The country’s government is still examining such factors as a projected increase in United States oil production in order to decide upon its course of action for the next calendar year. -NC

---

New Jersey utility PSE&G proposes $4 billion plan to advance state's clean energy goals
September 27, 2018 | CNBC | Tom DiChristopher
A few months ago, New Jersey governor Phil Murphy signed legislation setting a 50 percent renewable energy target for 2030. It was authorized alongside a controversial subsidy made out to the utility giant PSE&G in support of its struggling nuclear power plants. This week, PSE&G proposed a 6-year plan, apparently in response to Gov. Murphy’s ambitious renewable energy pledge, to improve consumer energy efficiency and lower carbon emissions state-wide. The funding will mainly go towards infrastructure for electric vehicles, energy storage systems, and the installation of smart meters. -AD

The Sun Sets. The Wind Dies. But Energy Data Is Relentless.
September 26, 2018 | The New York Times | Ivan Penn
In this article, Ivan Penn, a New York Times journalist who covers alternative energy, answers questions about alternative energy technologies, how new technology has affected the power grid, and the impact of technology on his own life. Topics of discussion include a proposal to turn the Hoover Dam into a hydro-pumped storage plant, how the power grid must be re-imagined to account for electric cars on the road, and the effect of new forms of technology on his personal life. These run the gamut from Apple products in his house to innovative transportation apps that are sweeping Los Angeles. -JK

Power Surge 6.1

Volume 6, Issue 1
September 23, 2018 – September 29, 2018
Anushka Dasgupta '19 | Amy Amatya '21 | Neha Chauhan '21 | Joseph Kawalec '21

---

According to an internal memo leaked in June, the current administration will ramp up its support of struggling coal and nuclear plants in the near future. One proposal from the memo is to order grid operators to purchase electricity from these plants for the next two years, invoking sections of the Federal Power Act and the Defense Production Act of 1950 which are normally reserved for emergency situations. Further reversals of Obama-era environmental policy were also proposed this summer, including weakened regulations on methane, a greenhouse gas. The new rules, which concern drilling activity on federal land and repairs of methane leaks, could save the oil and gas industry almost $300 million.

Because unprecedented production from non-member countries is helping to meet demand,OPEC will likely not be increasing oil production in 2019. Some interpreted this as a rebuff of President Trump, who has been vocal about his support for increased production from Saudi Arabia. However, U.S. oil sanctions on Iran have been more successful than expected, with major importers such as South Korea, India, and France electing to wean themselves off of Iranian oil rather than threaten trade relations with the U.S. Iran will likely continue exporting to China and Russia. -AD

---

This summer, the implications of energy technology, such as hydropower dams, solar panels, and natural gas pipelines, affected our society in varying ways. In July, a hydropower dam in southeast Laos that was under construction, nicknamed the 410 MW Project, collapsed and endangered the lives of ~6000 people. The Mekong River in Southeast Asia has always been an attractive source for clean energy acquired by hydropower dams, but the environmental effects of these dams, including soil erosion and lowering fish stock population numbers, threaten the region’s potential for economic growth in the future.

In Africa, scientists have been simulating the installation of solar panels and wind turbines in the Sahara Desert, and have discovered that this could increase the amount of rainfall in the region by increasing ground temperature. And in the Gulf of Finland, the first deep water pipes have been laid for the Russian Nord Stream 2 Pipeline. Despite the intense political opposition to the project, there are not many legal avenues left to stop or even slow its rapid pace of construction. -JK

---

The summer saw new developments in the trade war between the U.S. and China as it pertains to sustainability and the energy industry. U.S. energy producers are anticipating China’s proposed 25% increase in tariffs on fuel and the accompanying decrease in imports with trepidation. Previously, both sides were anticipating an economic boon from a budding energy relationship, and especially the US as it competes with Russia and Qatar for market share in China (the largest liquefied natural gas importer in the world). Just last month, two government-owned Chinese gas companies ceased all purchases from the U.S. and instead turned to energy sources in other countries. Such politically charged retaliation could have new and negative implications on the global economy. -AA

---

Decisions by Samsung, Facebook, and other large technology companies to set new renewable energy goals are promising for the environment, but pose challenges to energy producers like General Electric. Samsung is following Apple’s lead by aiming to use 100% renewable energy by 2020; Apple currently uses entirely renewable energy to power all of its facilities, retail stores, offices, and data centers. Facebook has recently committed to the same goal as Samsung, after reaching its 2015 commitment to rely on renewable energy for 50% of its facilities by 2018 -- a goal it reached in 2017.

Power companies like General Electric face rapidly decreasing demand for electricity from fossil fuels; global investment in coal and gas-fired power plants decreased to 38 percent last year from 71% a decade prior. GE is therefore increasing its own investment in power units that produce renewable energy, as well as technology compatible with wind and solar systems. Because the change in demand is driven by the lower costs of renewable energy more than by government policy or environmental concerns, it is expected to be a consistent trend. -NC