Power Surge 4.10

Volume 4, Issue 10
November 27, 2017 – December 2, 2017
Jason Mulderrig '18 | Will Atkinson '18 | Anushka Dasgupta '19 | Joe Abbate '18 | Amy Amatya '21

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Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) systems (or “thermal” solar systems) are fields of mirrors that concentrate sunlight on a central tower where energy can be stored in molten salt as heat, as compared to Photovoltaic (PV) systems in which semiconductor panels transduce light energy to store it in batteries as electricity. The primary benefit of CSP over PV is that heat storage is currently longer-lasting than electricity storage. On the other hand, CSP is also currently much more expensive than PV, since only about 70% of the energy to heat molten salts can be recovered as compared to 90% in batteries. Nonetheless, the Trump administration apparently believes CSP will ultimately prove more useful because of the benefit in storage: the DOE announced in September that it would invest $62 million in research into CSP to increase its efficiency. Labs like Sandia and the NERL are right now in the process of applying for grants from this block of money. -JAA

EPA Revises the Social Cost of a Potent Greenhouse Gas
November 20, 2017 | ClimateWire/Scientific American | Niina Heikkinen
The Trump administration has changed the social cost of methane to less than 1/25th of its previous value. Because methane has a stronger warming effect than CO2, under short time scales, its 2020 cost was previously set at $1,400 per metric ton, compared to the new value of $55/metric ton. Now, the EPA only considers how methane will harm the US, even though the gas readily mixes in the atmosphere to impact the world. The change may help the EPA scale back regulations on methane emissions, by lowering the perceived value of reducing those emissions. -WA

Stop subsidizing the Big Wind bullies
November 9, 2017 | The New York Post | Robert Bryce
In an opinion piece for the NYPost, Bryce calls out the Alliance for Clean Energy New York (ACENY) for bullying small communities for inhibiting the installation of ACENY wind turbine projects. Bryce finds such actions of the ACENY to be offensive because the ACENY has amassed billions in federal and state subsidies, and the thwarted wind projects are inhibiting the ACENY from accessing even more subsidies. Finally, Bryce argues that such big wind projects are responsible for killing thousands of birds and bats annually. -JPM

Tesla has built the world’s largest battery for Australia
November 23, 2017 | Sherisse Pham | CNN
Tesla has completed the world’s largest lithium ion battery for wind energy storage in South Australia. With a capacity of 100 megawatts, the battery is the most ambitious of its kind in size and completion time (just 100 days), and will prevent summer blackouts to the entire state. Most importantly, it increases the reach of renewable energy in Australia, the world’s largest coal exporter, and is a testament to the long-term viability of renewables as it can store energy from intermittent sources such as wind and solar to power the grid year-round. -AA

Giving Thanks, but Not for Turkey-Powered Energy
November 22, 2017 | New York Times | Hiroko Tabuchi
If you read our alumni interview with David Green ‘03 from a couple of weeks ago, the name Excel Energy will be familiar to you. The utility company recently incurred the wrath of turkey farmers and loggers in the state of Minnesota after moving to terminate contracts with three biofuel plants. While Excel began buying power from them in a package deal to expand a nuclear waste storage site, it soon complained that power from biofuel plants was ten times as expensive as wind power. The environmental benefits of using biofuel, as well as the jobs it creates, make the decision a difficult one. -AD

Power Surge 4.9

Volume 4, Issue 9
November 19, 2017 – November 25, 2017
Jason Mulderrig '18 | Will Atkinson '18 | Anushka Dasgupta '19 | Joe Abbate '18 | Amy Amatya '21

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China is the most populous country in the world, and also the biggest carbon polluter. When the Paris climate agreement came into effect in 2016, China’s State Council announced its plan to reduce CO2 emissions per unit of GDP by 18% from 2015 level by 2020. Furthermore, since 2013 there have been province-scale cap-and-trade programs in partnership with such Western entities as the EU, Australia, and California. In sum, this covers 1/8th of the world’s total annual CO2 emissions. Nonetheless, China’s total emissions are actually forecast to rise this year, not least because of its One Belt, One Road planinvolving international infrastructure (including coal plant) construction. Those less skeptical claim it to be an “anomaly” on the way to true long term reductions. -JAA

America’s ‘Renaissance’ to Gains for Renewables: Global Energy Trends
November 13, 2017 | New York Times | Stanley Reed
Last Tuesday, the International Energy Agency published its annual World Energy Outlook. The report predicts that the US will accelerate its oil and natural gas production through fracking, becoming a top producer (although efforts to reduce fossil fuel emissions could counter that trend). Gas may help replace coal in developing countries, but its costly methane emissions must be minimized. Renewables will continue becoming cost-competitive with fossil fuels, but the transportation and industry sectors will be more difficult to decarbonize, leading to an estimated 75% of energy demand from fossil fuels in 2040 (versus 81% in 2016), and emissions that exceed the Paris Agreement targets. -WA

How Companies Are Pushing Ahead on Climate-Change Targets
November 16, 2017 | Wall Street Journal | Zeke Turner and Sarah Kent
At the U.N. Climate Change Conference, which wrapped up on Friday, leaders agreed that the actions of corporations will be crucial in meeting the Paris Accord targets for carbon emissions. Currently, 89% of the world’s largest companies have plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions, but a closer glance reveals that only 14% of those companies have made commitments that match the goals of the Paris Accord. Such corporations, which are investing in renewables, reducing energy consumption, and reducing investments in coal, are not necessarily motivated by the Accord at all. Instead, they’re being driven by factors such as investor pressure and cost savings. -AD

'Political watershed' as 19 countries pledge to phase out coal
November 16, 2017 | The Guardian | Damian Carrington
The global movement towards clean energy picked up momentum as 19 countries (including the UK, France, Italy, and Mexico) signed to phase out coal at the UN climate conference in Bonn, Germany. With the price of renewables decreasing and employment moving away from the dirtiest fossil fuel, its use has already been in fast decline since 2012. However, fossil fuel subsidies still exist in places like Germany, and the next step is getting big consumers like China, the US, Russia and Australia (Asia’s biggest supplier) on board. Angela Merkel said climate change will “determine our destiny as mankind”, and coal is our first barrier in meeting a global temperature increase goal of 1.5°C. -AA

Africa might leapfrog straight to cheap renewable electricity and minigrids
November 9, 2017 | The Economist
Note: If the above link fails to work, click here for a .pdf file of the article.
Today, about 620 million Africans live without access to electricity, and many electrical grids that are operational in Africa suffer from frequent blackouts. However, last year, Africa added 4,400 MW of power across the continent - a record setting mark - thanks to the falling price of solar panels and wind turbines and a newfound exploitation of hydropower in several countries. Other innovations that have been driving the rise of installed African electricity include the deployment of mini rooftop solar installations with a “pay-as-you-go” model and village-level mini-grid systems. Africans are implementing these unconventional solutions because, apart from the falling prices of solar and wind power, the costs for installing traditional region-wide grid systems today in many African countries are simply untenable. -JPM