Power Surge 6.6

Volume 6, Issue 6
November 11, 2018 – November 17, 2018
Anushka Dasgupta '19 | Neha Chauhan '21 | Joseph Kawalec '21 | Amy Amatya '21 | Melanie Porras ‘21 | Patrick Huang ‘21

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Tesla Faces a Challenger in the Home Solar Business
October 28, 2018 | NYTimes | Ivan Penn
In recent years, Tesla’s grip on the residential solar system market has diminished, while its competitors have gained significant traction. Sunrun, based in San Francisco, has been one of the main benefactors, having made 9.0 percent of the nation’s residential solar installations this year, compared with Tesla’s 9.3 percent. These trends can be partially attributed to differences in business strategy: following SolarCity’s merger with Tesla, changes were made to accommodate the new vertically integrated business model with electric vehicles, solar panels, and energy storage. On the other hand, Sunrun’s focus on financing and installing solar panels, rather than manufacturing the products themselves, has led to its recent expansion. Both economic incentives in states such as California and greater overall demand for renewable energy will nevertheless see both companies continue to grow. -PH

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Algal Biofuels Dead? ‘Not So Fast’, Says Algal Biofuels Researcher
November 2, 2018 | Forbes | Robert Rapier
Despite the well-publicized failures of numerous start-ups in the algal biofuel industry, the existing biofuel industry is actually thriving and being supported by both public and private funds. Startups that were built around the cultivation, harvesting, and processing of algal biofuels fell short of making credible claims about how much research and development (R&D) they would achieve in the field of biofuels, but succeeded in harvesting algae for other products. Dr. John Benemann, CEO of MicroBio Engineering Inc., has been working with algal strains and cultivation methods for years and is himself a skeptic of the current biofuel field, but would not call it “dead.” According to Dr. Benemann and the author of the article, the eventual success of the algal biofuel industry (turning algal biofuel into a commercial reality) is contingent on how many long-term R&D investments they receive in the next few years. So although the algal biofuel industry may not be “dead,” plenty of research still remains to be done before companies will have the right to claim to produce it on a wider scale. -JK

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Towering Gravity-Based 'Batteries' Are Coming to India
November 7, 2018 | Popular Mechanics | David Grossman
Energy Vault, a small Swiss energy storage company, recently announced agreements with the Indian utility giant Tata Power Company and the Mexican building materials company Cemex to purchase its “gravity towers.” These structures work on a similar principle to hydroelectric power but use cement blocks in the place of water. A single system can reportedly deliver between 10 and 35MWh with 95 percent efficiency. -AD

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Toshiba's failure shows business can't deliver a nuclear future
November 8, 2018 | The Guardian | Phillip Inman
Toshiba has recently abandoned plans to build new nuclear power plants in the U.K. This decision comes after the company overran projected costs for building new nuclear power plants in the United States last year. These power plants were the first were built in the U.S. in 30 years; development of new nuclear power plants was halted by many governments after the meltdown of a nuclear plant at Fukushima, Japan, in 2011. Now, the U.K. government is encouraging the nuclear power industry. Despite this, Toshiba faced shortages in time and resources in its undertaking of building a nuclear power plant. According to the author of this article, Toshiba’s unfamiliarity with the political system of the U.K. was another barrier to its success in carrying out these plans. -NC

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Midterm Results: Climate and Energy Score Brilliant Wins And Stunning Losses In The States
November 7, 2018 | Forbes | Jeff McMahon
Because the Trump administration heavily favors the coal, oil and gas, and nuclear industries in its approach to federal energy policy, any significant renewables-friendly or climate-forward energy legislation implemented during the next two years will likely take place at the state level. However, the results of the midterm elections show that public support for such legislation differs widely from state to state. An initiative to keep certain areas off-limits to fracking companies was defeated in Colorado, and Arizona’s Proposition 127, which would have required its utilities to be 50 percent renewable by 2050, was also struck down. A similar proposition passed in Nevada, and governors who have proposed increased renewables and energy efficiency standards were elected in states including Michigan, lllinois, and New Mexico. -AD

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Iran Sanctions and Oil Prices: Who’ll Feel the Pain?
November 5, 2018 | New York Times | Clifford Krauss
Last Monday, President Trump renewed sanctions against Iranian oil in an attempt to pressure their political power in the Middle East, reminiscent of Obama’s efforts to curb Iranian nuclear which resulted in oil prices skyrocketing. So far, oil prices have not seen a similar increase, and have in fact been decreasingin the US - meanwhile, Iran’s neighboring states like Azerbaijan and Georgia feel the brunt of the sanctions. While Washington aims to bring Iranian exports to zero (resulting in a 2% decrease in global oil supplies), this lost oil is instead being replaced by sources in the US, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. Analysts have projected that world oil supplies are high enough that Iran can’t leverage sea passage blockades against the sanctions, but others are skeptical that the world can scrounge up enough oil in a day that global prices won’t take a hit. - AA

Power Surge 6.5

Volume 6, Issue 5
November 4, 2018 – November 10, 2018
Anushka Dasgupta '19 | Neha Chauhan '21 | Joseph Kawalec '21 | Amy Amatya '21 | Melanie Porras ‘21 | Patrick Huang ‘21

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The Saudi 'oil weapon' and the energy market: What investors need to know
Tim Mullaney | CNBC | October 22, 2018
The alleged murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist at the Washington Post who wrote critically about the current Saudi Crown Prince, has led to increased uncertainty about how oil prices will behave in the next few months. The oil market has already been dealing with anticipated U.S. sanctions on Iran and Iranian oil, which officially took effect yesterday. This has led crude oil prices to increase, but has had little effect on major oil stocks and exchange-traded funds, which are unresponsive to short-term price changes. A response, on the part of the White House, to the killing of Mr. Khashoggi could lead to severe retaliation from the Saudi government in the form of an oil embargo. This would be detrimental to the U.S. but is unlikely, as Saudi Arabia remains dependent on long-term oil demand. -AD

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Utilities Cut Power to Prevent Wildfires. But Who Wins When the Lights Go Out?
Ivan Penn | New York Times | October 15, 2018
The recent surge in California wildfires is partly the work of drought and climate change, but utilities could also be to blame. Power companies have been on the defensive this year as more and more connections are made between unnatural wildfire occurrence and utility lines and poles, leading to distrust of corporate decisions in the face of life-or-death situations. At least one utility company has gone bankrupt since the accusations began in 2017, leading companies like PG&E to cause blackouts deliberately in an effort to prevent wildfires. While some value the reduced fire risk, others oppose the demonstration of PG&E’s monopoly on power in the area through the decision to cut thousands of citizens from the grid without their input. Others think companies instigate blackouts in retaliation against the press and unfavorable legislation. What is the cost, really, to keeping the public in the dark? -AA

A Midwest Energy Transition Will Help Drive Future U.S. Emissions Reductions
Benjamin Storrow | Scientific American | October 26, 2018
The recent dismantling of Obama-era climate change initiatives has included repealing the Clean Power Plan, which would have required carbon emissions reductions on a state-by-state basis. This, combined with the difficulty experienced by many Northeastern states in matching climate-oriented policy with action, means that the Midwest could be the key player when it comes to reducing U.S. emissions. The good economics, alone, of natural gas and renewables are driving companies like Michigan-based DTE Energy Co. to phase out their gargantuan coal-powered plants. Admittedly, installing renewable energy sources, such as wind turbine arrays, poses a hurdle in rural Midwestern areas where they are considered an eyesore and a disturbance. While environmental advocates criticize what they view as a delayed transition - even in the most ambitious plans, some large coal plants will still be online in 2050 - they are optimistic about the ability of the Midwest to move to a more sustainable generation mix and set an example for the rest of the U.S. -AD

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UK scientists turn coffee industry waste into electricity
Adam Vaughan | The Guardian | October 14, 2018
A team of researchers recently developed fuel cells, devices that convert chemical energy into electricity, that generate electricity from the coffee-making process. The washing of coffee beans or seeds and the production of instant coffee consume large amounts of water that must be cleaned of contaminants before reuse. These scientists from the University of Surrey harnessed microbes that are also found in wastewater treatment plants to produce energy through the breaking down of coffee waste. Although the amount of energy from one unit is relatively small, coffee farms may financially benefit from the extra energy that many fuel cells confer. -PH

How a Technology From Iceland Is Fighting Climate Change
Robert Rapier | Forbes | October 16, 2018
Carbon Recycling International (CRI), an innovative energy producer based in Iceland, is fighting against climate change by using cheap electricity from geothermal plants to convert carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to methanol. The initial settlement of Iceland, as with most new environments, involved the over-exploitation of natural resources such as trees. As a result, modern-day Iceland has virtually no trees and therefore lacks a very important means of removing excess carbon from the atmosphere. CRI obtains the carbon dioxide from geothermal steam that would otherwise vent into the atmosphere and uses it to make methanol, all through the use of cheap power. This cheap power comes from the efficient use of electricity and circumstances that allow for the relative input and output of energy to be economically viable. Technology like this could be adapted to any location in the world with access to carbon dioxide and could be a game-changer as carbon dioxide emissions keep rising. -JK

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These Funds Aim to Power Their Returns With Clean Energy
Tim Gray | The New York Times | October 12, 2018
Increasing demand for renewable energy, such as solar and wind power, is evidenced by the growing number of stock mutual funds and exchange-traded funds concentrating on the clean energy industry. Managed by companies ranging from Invesco to Fidelity, their holdings can include waste management and agricultural stocks in addition to the expected energy efficiency and renewable energy funds. As more people invest in renewable companies, their stock values will increase, making it easier for these companies to raise money. This creates what Jeff Waller, principal in the global climate finance group at Rocky Mountain Institute, calls a “virtuous cycle, potentially pulling in even more money.” An investment in clean energy can provide a win-win situation: win for the investor through a profit and a win for the environment. -MP

EU teams up with Bill Gates to launch $115.2 million clean energy investment fund
Anmar Frangoul | CNBC | October 18, 2018
Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) was established in 2016 as a $1-billion investor-led fund that finances companies working against climate change. In September, the fund invested in a portfolio of companies including Fervo Energy, a geothermal energy-focused startup. In the past week, BEV and the European Commission signed a memorandum of understanding as part of their joint establishment of Breakthrough Energy Europe (BEE). BEE is an investment fund focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting energy efficiency. It will use 100 million euros of pooled public and private investment to bring new clean energy technology to the European market. -NC

Clean energy is cheap, surging – and headed for a fall
Adam Morton | The Guardian | October 29, 2018
Increasingly, Australian mining and manufacturing projects are relying on a combination of solar and wind energy generation, energy storage, and co-generation for energy. Projects either under construction or soon to be begun in the nation constitute a $15.6 billion investment in clean energy installation, and at the current rate of renewable energy capacity growth Australia should easily reach its target of 50% renewables energy generation by 2030. This unprecedented renewable energy growth is unlikely to continue; the target, which provided investors confidence in long-term contracts between renewable energy generators and utilities, peaks in 2020. After that, investment will only spike on specific occasions, such as when a coal plant is scheduled to close. -AD