Recently in the Energy Category
Aug 27 2010
Several stories on the science and politics of global warming caught our attention this week:
A new University of Florida study suggests that global warming 55 million years ago caused now-extinct carnivorous mammals to shrink in size. The study, scheduled to be published in the December edition of the Journal of Mammalian Evolution, explains that different species evolved to sizes much smaller than that of their ancestors during this warming period. Researchers say the Earth experienced increased levels of carbon dioxide and a drier environment during this period - but they do not completely understand exactly what caused the mammals to shrink.
A multi-million dollar center where people will learn about climate change and the threat of sea level rise is slated to be built in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans near a floodwall that crumbled during Hurricane Katrina, destroying the neighborhood. The new climate change center, scheduled to open in 2011, will be funded with federal and private dollars. The physical design is still being worked out but a project spokeswoman said it would “serve as a community center and perhaps include job training services.” The area is still largely empty due to the devastation, but near where the center will stand, a number of energy efficient solar-powered homes are being built.
A powdered sugar like material, called "dry water," could provide a new way to absorb and store carbon dioxide, according to British scientists. In addition to trapping greenhouse gases, the powder has the potential to be used in a variety of other applications. It may, for instance, be a greener, more energy-efficient way of jumpstarting the chemical reactions used to make hundreds of pharmaceuticals and food products. Researchers assert dry water could also be used to store methane and may provide a safer way to store and transport potentially harmful industrial materials.
Aug 23 2010
An iPhone or Blackberry without a battery is just a dead lump of metal and silicon. In much the same way, many experts believe that an electrical grid without energy storage will forever be just a bunch of dumb wires.
That’s why PG&E on Friday filed a request with state regulators for funding to study the feasibility of building a major new “pumped hydro storage” facility in the
The wind can blow strongly for hours, only to die out for days at a time. Solar modules can gush electrons in full sun, then go dormant when clouds pass overhead. Since customers don't want their lights to flicker on and off as the weather changes, today’s utilities—lacking much of any stored energy to call upon—must ramp generators powered by fossil fuels up and down as needed to keep supply in balance with demand.
As utilities add more and more wind and solar to their mix, managing the grid the old way would require a big investment in new backup natural gas-fired power plants.
Using energy storage instead to tame the output of wind and solar power--one of the key goals of the emerging “Smart Grid”—offers “multiple economic and environmental benefits,” according to a recent staff report by the California Public Utilities Commission. By storing “intermittent renewable power, the state may reduce greenhouse gas emissions from carbon-based electricity production, avoid the need to build expensive new transmission lines and power plants to meet peak energy demand, increase system reliability and generate economic activity through the manufacture and operation of these . . . technologies.”
Energy storage has won many converts, including the California Independent System Operator, key technology advisers to the California Air Resources Board, a new report by KEMA for the California Energy Commission, and the U.S. Department of Energy, which has doled out millions of dollars in grants to support storage R&D.
Major technology options include batteries, flywheels, ultracapacitors, compressed air storage and pumped hydro. PG&E is actively investigating battery and compressed air storage and has operated a pumped storage facility in
Pumped hydro, which dates back to 1929 in the
One notable fan of pumped storage is Energy Secretary Steven Chu. In a speech last year, he called it a potentially “perfect system” for complementing the use of more renewable energy. In another speech mentioning its virtues,
PG&E isn’t the only
The facility PG&E hopes to study would range in size from 400 MW to 1,200 MW—at the high end, about the same short-term output as two medium-sized power plants.
Aug 20 2010
Several stories on the science and politics of global warming caught our attention this week:
Despite the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s claims that global warming is undeniable and extreme weather events happening all over the globe - all six Republican candidates vying for Judd Gregg’s vacated U.S. Senate seat in New Hampshire recently stood together to deny humans are contributing to climate change. Leading climate scientists agree that greenhouse gas pollution from burning fossil fuels is building up in the atmosphere at an increasing rate and recent studies show New England is not only warming, but experiencing a rash of extreme weather, like the 100-year flood events that happened in New Hampshire in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
In a time when wildfires continue to burn in Russia and the eastern seaboard of the U.S. has seen sweltering heat, Pakistan is now dealing with the worst flooding seen in the country in more than a century. The United Nations recently resolved to strengthen emergency relief efforts to the water stricken region and noted that the unprecedented floods reflected "the adverse impact of climate change and the growing vulnerability of countries to climate change." Climate scientists continue to point out there is a very real distinction between extreme weather and climate change but have asserted it is very likely that hot extremes, heat waves and heavy precipitation events will continue to become more frequent as a result of man-made global warming.
Clean energy investors in California are raising funds to do battle to defeat Proposition 23. The investors are raising millions of dollars for advertising that will be in contrast to messages put out by oil refiners who want to delay the state’s new law on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. If the proposition passes, it would delay California’s Global Warming Solutions Act, signed into law by Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006, which requires the state to reduce greenhouse gases linked to climate change to their 1990 levels by 2020.
Aug 13 2010
Several stories on the science and politics of global warming caught our attention this week:
The World Meteorological Organization reported that this summer's extreme weather events - including record breaking temperatures in Asia, flooding in Pakistan and fires in Russia - fit 2007 projections of "more frequent and more intense extreme weather events due to global warming." The projections came from a report authored by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. While leading climatologists do not maintain that global warming is the only factor in floods, droughts and fires, they do claim that man-made global warming is already stacking the odds for more extreme events in the near future.
Researchers reported a 100-square-mile chunk of ice separated from a glacier in Greenland. It was the most massive ice island to break away in the Arctic in a half-century of observation. Satellite data from the Arctic Ocean shows the ocean area covered by ice last month was the second-lowest ever recorded for July. Changes in the global ice sheet “are happening fast, and we are definitely losing more ice mass than we had anticipated," a NASA scientist said.
A new study shows more than 40 species of fish off the coast of Australia are migrating elsewhere as sea temperatures change. The study, conducted by the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), asserts the species on the go account for roughly 30 percent of the country’s near shore coastal fish. CSIRO has identified south-eastern Australia as a climate change hotspot, with well documented changes already occurring over the last 70 years.
Aug 06 2010
Several stories on the science and politics of global warming caught our attention this week:
Global Warming could be a major contributor to the demise of the rainforest as we know it. A new study in the journal Conservation Letters claims by the year 2100, nearly half of the plant and animal life in rainforests will not be able to exist as they do today because of deforestation and climate change. The study suggests the Amazon Basin alone could see changes in biodiversity for nearly 80 percent of the region. The report consists of studies done in Central and South America, Asia and Africa.
Just about a week after roughly 300 of the world’s top climate scientists revealed that they have all concluded man-made global warming is “undeniable,” the Arctic discovery of a well-preserved British ship has some oil companies looking past shrinking glaciers and other the negative impacts of global warming to see a lucrative silver lining. Canadian parks officials say they were only able to locate the vessel, which sank 155 years ago, because the ocean is almost completely ice free. Shortly after the ship was found, three huge oil companies announced they are joining forces to more efficiently look for oil and natural gas deposits under the sea close to where the boat was located off Canadian shores.
UN climate talks aimed at curbing the threat of global warming seem to be moving in the wrong direction after a week-long session in Germany. Even as evidence mounts that continued warming could yield deadly impacts, negotiators are reporting that chances for a compromise are giving way to finger pointing. Record global temperatures, forest fires in Russia and deadly floods in Pakistan "are all consistent with the kind of changes we could expect from climate change, and they will get worse if we don't act quickly," said the top U.S. negotiator. "Unfortunately, what we have seen is that some countries are walking back from the progress made in Copenhagen.”
Aug 03 2010
Having caused the largest oil spill in history, BP recently said it would take a $32 billion write-off for cleanup costs--saving $10 billion on its tax bill and incurring the wrath of many members of Congress who are now moving to amend the tax laws.
"The tax code shouldn't protect, and certainly shouldn't reward, companies that do extensive damage to the American economy," said Arizona Rep. Raúl Grijalva.
The issue puts into stark relief a new report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance that global subsidies to the fossil fuel industry—many in the form of tax breaks—dwarf those offered by governments to the renewable energy sector.
Bloomberg estimates that wind, solar, biofuels and other forms of renewable energy received about $45 billion last year in tax credits and price supports, compared to the International Energy Agency’s estimate of $557 billion in subsidies for fossil fuels in 2008.
The comparison is somewhat misleading. Since the world uses vastly more fossil fuels, the subsidy per unit of energy is likely greater for many renewables. On the other hand, it’s hard to see any argument for subsidizing highly profitable, mature technologies like oil and gas extraction. (Supporting R&D on carbon capture and storage—a new technology—is another matter.)
The Group of 20 countries have pledged to phase out fossil subsidies but haven’t made much progress to that end. The IEA says simply ending those subsidies would cut global carbon emissions by 7 percent. It would also help bring deficit-plagued national budgets back into balance, a win-win.
In its comparison of government support to the fossil fuel and renewable industries, Bloomberg left out one critical fact. Subsidies to both energy sectors in effect represent a tax on the most environmentally friendly technology of all: energy efficiency. It’s time more governments put that resource at the top of their energy priorities.
Jul 30 2010
Several stories on the science and politics of global warming caught our attention this week:
Global warming is undeniable, according to the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA). NOAA’s annual “State of the Climate” report takes into account data from a variety of climate indicators. Some of the indicators, such as ocean heat content and temperature over land, are increasing. Others, such as sea ice cover and snow cover, are decreasing. The report also suggests that more than 90 percent of that heat trapped by greenhouses gases over the past 50 years has been absorbed into the oceans.
EPA administrator Lisa Jackson effectively told 10 groups challenging regulations based on the science behind global warming... you’re wrong. “Defenders of the status quo will try to slow our efforts to get America running on clean energy,” said Jackson. “A better solution would be to join the vast majority of the American people who want to see more green jobs, more clean energy innovation and an end to the oil addiction that pollutes our planet and jeopardizes our national security.”
A recent report claims big coal companies will dig into more than just mines to protect their business interests, preparing to spend big to defeat political candidates they consider “anti-coal.” New rules allow companies and labor unions not directly coordinated with politicians to set up political non-profit organizations that do not have campaign spending limits. They also do not have to report their political financial activities. One such group in West Virginia has identified three Democrats as “anti-coal” and is sending letters to companies asking for funding to support advertising that would “let their (the coal industry’s) voices be heard.”
The United Kingdom passed a law making it impossible for new coal-fired power plants to be constructed without the use of technology that captures and stores their carbon emissions. The British government also changed rules to encourage the biomass industry and announced that the first nuclear power station is expected to be built by 2018.
Jul 30 2010
Several items relating to the business and technology of clean energy and the environment caught our attention this week:
A catamaran made of 12,500 used plastic bottles completed a four-month, 8,000 nautical mile San Francisco-to-Sydney voyage across the Pacific Ocean to draw attention to plastic waste in the world's oceans and landfills. The six-man crew of the 60-foot "Plastiki" was led by David De Rothschild, a descendant of the Rothschild banking family and an adventurer and ecologist. He named the craft in honor of the original Kon-Tiki, a raft made from balsa wood, that launched a 4,300-mile Pacific voyage in 1947 by Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, from South America to French Polynesia.
The long-awaited plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt will carry a sticker price of $41,000 before a federal tax credit pushes the cost down to $33,500. The Volt goes into production in September and will initially be sold in California, New York, Michigan, Connecticut, Texas, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. The rival all-electric Nissan Leaf, which will also go on sale this year, starts at $33,000 before a $7,500 tax credit. General Motors says the Volt has an all-electric range of 40 miles before a small gasoline engine starts up to run a generator to power the electric motor for a total range of 340 miles. Nissan says the Leaf will run 100 miles on a battery charge. Both GM and Nissan will also offer leasing the cars.
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), headquartered in oil-rich Abu Dhabi, has signed up 148 countries and the European Union to develop new energy supplies around the globe. Thirty-one nations -- Albania, Samoa and Mexico are the latest signatories -- have ratified the treaty that formed IRENA in 2009 to work for more bioenergy, geothermal, hydropower, and wave, solar and wind power resources. Most of the Middle East oil producers and U.S. have signed but not ratified the IRENA treaty, while Saudi Arabia, Canada, China, Russia and Venezuela have yet to join the group.
Jul 27 2010
"If you care about addressing the climate issue…or about clean air…or putting the country on a path to energy independence…or about reviving investment and job creation…then you have to be revved up about the electric car," said Chris Johns, president of Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) at the outset of today’s Plug-In 2010, an international conference centered on bringing electric vehicles (EVs) to market.
Automakers, electric car component manufacturers, utilities and drivers have converged upon San Jose to discuss all things relevant to electric cars. Industry movers and shakers are sharing information and sizing up the competition before EVs start arriving in American neighborhoods. By the time the conference opens next year, folks owning vehicles like the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf should be quietly pulling into their driveways and garages.
Based on the high adoption rate of hybrid vehicles in the last few years, Johns predicted that the Bay Area alone will see somewhere between 220,000 and 845,000 vehicles "plugging in" over the next decade. That’s both exciting news for an electric utility, and a huge responsibility given that a single EV can suck as much power from the grid as three homes in San Francisco.
"At the end of the day, we’re the entity charged with making sure there’s enough clean, affordable power on the grid," Johns said. ". . . And, in our customers’ eyes, we’re responsible for the quality of their experience when they bring that new vehicle home and plug it in for the first time."
PG&E isn’t new to this challenge. The utility has been working to advance clean transportation for the last 20 years or so. The company currently operates the largest utility fleet of clean vehicles in America. It was the first utility to add a Smith all-electric bucket truck to its fleet, will be the first to add Raser Technologies’ all-electric extended range pickup trucks and is awaiting delivery of nearly a dozen Chevy Volts later this year.
For current EV owners, the utility offers a special pricing plan, which gives customers a steep discount in exchange for charging their cars during off-peak hours. Making sure that new owners charge at night will be critical to avoiding the need to build new power plants to meet their demand, Johns noted.
PG&E just began a pilot project with the Electric Power Research Institute that will allow the utility to better understand the infrastructure necessary to support the future of EVs. The program will allow PG&E to examine how long different vehicles take to charge and their impacts on the electric grid at different times of the day.
"The goal is to prove that this works at scale, that it functions seamlessly for the customer and that it’s secure," Johns said. "The pilot is running this year and next year, and we see it as a critical step that can help commercialize the new technologies needed to serve the mass EV market."
As Johns underscored, "there’s an entire ecosystem that has to develop in order to support electric vehicles." And the electric utility, like the gas station of old, is a critical part of it.
Jul 23 2010
Several stories on the science and politics of global warming caught our attention this week:
United Nations officials believe a changing climate is to blame for massive food shortfall and looming famine in Africa's Sahel region. A UN representative is now requesting aid to help the region deal with multi-year droughts. Area harvests are failing, leading to rapidly rising food costs and diminishing incomes for millions of families. Long time ranchers and farmers are selling everything they have, and the region may not be able to recover for decades. The last major drought to hit the area stretched from 1972 to 1984, killing more than 100,000 people and putting 250,000 on international food aid for several years.
The heat is on in Eastern Europe and the former Russia. Recent reports say few there have air conditioning and millions are suffering due to record breaking heat. Many are drinking alcohol and taking ill-advised swims in the Moscow River. Officials report that nearly 1700 people in Moscow have drowned in June and July alone. Russian crops are taking a beating from the heat wave, with millions of acres of Russian wheat being destroyed. Wildfires are also taking their toll on the country. Forest fires have recently destroyed roughly 944,000 acres.
A group of climate scientists made their way into the news last year after leaked emails led to accusations that they cooked the books in an effort to prove that human activity is causing global warming. Since then, five separate independent investigations have cleared the scientists but the exonerations aren’t generating the same buzz as the scandal the media dubbed “Climategate,” and many fear the damage has already been done by helping opponents block global warming legislation.
