GEOLOGY WITH JEFF SIMPSON
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Powell’s looming power problem

4/12/2022

 
Over the last two decades, climate change-induced drought and increasing water demand have depleted Lake Powell substantially: It is now less than one-fourth full. As water levels drop, so, too, does the potential energy of the falling water. That, in turn, lowers the turbines’ generating capacity and power output. In the 1990s, the dam produced as much as 7,000 gigawatt hours per year, enough to power nearly 600,000 homes. Last year, it was down to just 3,000 gigawatt hours. - HCN
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Why geothermal energy is being viewed as a viable alternative to fossil fuels

3/26/2022

 
President Biden and the European Union on Friday announced new plans to enable Europe to become less dependent on Russian oil and gas. But for now, the Russian invasion has opened up much larger questions over our dependence on fossil fuels and the need to develop cleaner renewable energy. Science correspondent Miles O'Brien reports on how and why geothermal energy is attracting new interest. - PBS
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Renewables make up nearly all of Texas’ new generating capacity.

3/6/2022

 
Texas' love affair with renewable energy is undeniable. But even after another banner year for clean energy in the state, a market redesign, fueled by political rhetoric from state leaders, could thwart future deployment, experts say. Wind and solar accounted for nearly all new generating capacity added to the Texas grid in 2021, according to newly released market data. S&P Global Market Intelligence notes that power plant operators added 8,139 MW of new generating capacity to the ERCOT market last year -- 42% came from wind and 40% from solar. Natural gas-fired additions made up 13% of the new capacity. Nationally, wind and solar made up a slightly smaller share of new generating capacity -- 41% and 36%, respectively -- of the 27,959 MW of capacity added. - Renewable Energy World
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Hawaii relies on Russian oil — but clean energy could change that

2/28/2022

 
Russia invaded Ukraine, global oil prices spiked, and one U.S. state in particular will feel the crunch. Hawaii imports all of its oil, much of it from Russia itself. As the U.S. Energy Information Administration succinctly notes, ​“Isolated by the Pacific Ocean, Hawaii is the most petroleum-dependent U.S. state.” And while gasoline prices are rising everywhere, Hawaii is unique among the states in how much it depends on oil for electricity. The geopolitical strife in Eastern Europe catches Hawaii at an awkward moment of transition from fossil-fueled electricity to clean energy. - Canary Media
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Largest US offshore wind lease auction attracts $1.5B in bids and counting

2/24/2022

 
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's (BOEM) largest leasing auction for rights to offshore wind development attracted nearly $1.54 billion in bids on Wednesday for six areas with an estimated potential for 5,600 to 7,000 MW of development, depending on the efficiency of the turbines. BOEM said 14 bidders participated in the first day of the auction, from a total of 25 eligible bidders. BOEM did not identify the bidders, but eligible bidders include Avangrid Renewables, PSEG Renewable Generation, Equinor Wind US, and subsidiaries of EDF Renewables, BP and Shell. Provisional winners will be announced following the end of the auction. - Utility Dive
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People power: Hawaii utility wants to pay households to share clean energy

2/17/2022

 
Something unusual is happening in Hawaii: An electric utility and rooftop solar installers have agreed on a proposal to reward households for sharing clean energy with the grid at useful times. In many places around the U.S., utilities treat rooftop solar as an obstacle. They say it shifts grid-maintenance costs from customers who have solar to those who don’t, or causes headaches for their system planning and operations. Utilities in California are currently urging regulators to levy a monthly fee on anyone who adds rooftop solar, regardless of how it operates. - Canary Media

Corn-Based Ethanol May Be Worse For the Climate Than Gasoline New Study Finds

2/17/2022

 
Ethanol made from corn grown across millions of acres of American farmland has become the country’s premier renewable fuel, touted as a low-carbon alternative to traditional gasoline and a key component of the country’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But a new study, published this week, finds that corn-based ethanol may actually be worse for the climate than fossil-based gasoline, and has other environmental downsides. “We thought and hoped it would be a climate solution and reduce and replace our reliance on gasoline,” said Tyler Lark, a researcher with the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and lead author of the study. “It turns out to be no better for the climate than the gasoline it aims to replace and comes with all kinds of other impacts.” - Inside Climate News

California Will Stick Solar Panels Over Canals to Fight Two Disasters at Once

2/17/2022

 
A water and electric utility in central California will install a first-of-its-kind network of solar panels on water canals. Turlock Irrigation District (TID) has secured a $20 million grant from the state to pursue the first-in-the-nation project, which could serve a beneficial double whammy: create renewable energy and save some water in the process. Project Nexus is based off an analysis published last year in Nature Sustainability, which put some real numbers behind the idea that solar panels over canals could do some good. A lot of water in California wends its way through the state’s 4,000 miles (6,437 kilometers) of open delivery canals that comprise the aqueduct system, transporting water supply from the Sierra Nevada mountains and northern parts of the state to reservoirs, lakes, hydropower plants, and farms. The water supply in the state is already under serious dual threats from overuse and climate change, so every drop counts. And these exposed canals have a serious flaw: They allow some of that precious water to evaporate. - Gizmodo (from Nature)
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Amazon, Target & othespace record ‘clean’ energy buying, little sign of stopping

2/12/2022

 
Influential companies, including retail giants Amazon.com and Target; and tech powerhouses Microsoft and Meta — parent company of Facebook FB, -3.74% bought a record 31.1 gigawatts of renewable energy to run their operations in 2021. That’s a jump of nearly 24% from the previous year’s record of 25.1GW of renewables, mostly solar and wind. The latest tally comes from research firm BloombergNEF, which said in a release Monday that over two-thirds of these purchases occurred in the U.S. America has trailed Europe and parts of Asia in shifting from coal and natural gas-derived NG00, +1.04% power to renewable alternatives ICLN, -2.60% to create electricity. Within the U.S., the largest technology companies are leading the move, however; they collectively signed over half of the deals. - MarketWatch
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AZ regulators reject 100% clean energy rules package, energy efficiency standard

1/27/2022

 
The Arizona Corporation Commission rejected the adoption of a set of clean energy rules on Wednesday in a 3-2 vote. The rules package included a timeline for 100% carbon-free electricity, new demand-side resources standards and integrated resource planning reforms. The package would have expanded energy efficiency programs for Arizona Public Service (APS) and Tucson Electric Power (TEP), offering rebates to customers for replacing inefficient appliances and upgrading lighting. Commissioner Jim O'Connor, R, voted against the rules package despite his work last May with Commissioner Anna Tovar, D, to revive the package through a separate rulemaking. Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) called O'Connor's vote "surprising." - Utility Dive

How coal holds on in America

1/18/2022

 
David Saggau, the chief executive of an energy cooperative, tried to explain the losing economics of running a coal-fired power plant to a North Dakota industry group more than a year ago.
Coal Creek Station had lost $170 million in 2019 as abundant natural gas and proliferating wind projects had cut revenue far below what it cost to run the plant. After four decades sending electricity over the border to Minnesota, Coal Creek would be closing in 2022, Saggau said, and nobody was clamoring to buy it.
“We made folks aware that the plant was for sale for a dollar,” Saggau, of Great River Energy, told the Lignite Energy Council during an October 2020 virtual meeting. “We’re basically giving it away.” - Washington Post

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U.S. Looks to Extract Lithium for Batteries from Geothermal Waste

12/30/2021

 
According to a study by the Department of Energy, the Salton Sea in California’s Imperial Valley—one of two large geothermal energy production sites in the state—could produce as much as 600,000 tons of lithium annually. That is more lithium than the United States currently uses. It could bring in $7.2 billion a year, and that could just be the beginning of expected economic benefits. The global demand for lithium is expected to grow as much as tenfold by 2030. - Scientific American

Right -  A geothermal energy plant taps deep underground heat from the southern San Andreas Fault rift zone at the Salton Sea near Calipatria, Calif. 
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Staying below 2° C warming costs less than overshooting and correcting

12/30/2021

 
What will it cost if the climate exceeds the Paris Agreement temperature goals this century—even if we later remove carbon dioxide from the air and manage to bring temperatures back down to meet those targets by 2100? And how does that compare with the costs of staying below those targets? Most plans that are consistent with the Paris Agreement goals assume that temperatures will rise above 1.5° or even 2° C before 2100. They then heavily rely on the success and wide adoption of what are called negative carbon emissions techniques, which involve the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to bring temperatures back down. That’s a gamble for a number of reasons. “Betting on being able to bring temperatures down after a larger overshoot is very risky because of the uncertain technological feasibility and because of the possibility of setting off irreversible processes in the earth system with even a temporary temperature overshoot,” wrote second author Christoph Bertram, of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, in an email to Ars Technica. “Furthermore, such an approach would be unfair to future generations, as it basically would shift more of the mitigation burden on them.” - ArsTechnica
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Capturing carbon, as this algae-growing plant does, may not be the most economical way to reach our climate targets.

This Colorado 'solar garden' is literally a farm under solar panels

11/15/2021

 
When Byron Kominek returned home after the Peace Corps and later working as a diplomat in Africa, his family's 24-acre farm near Boulder, Colo., was struggling to turn a profit. "Our farm has mainly been hay producing for fifty years," Kominek said, on a recent chilly morning, the sun illuminating a dusting of snow on the foothills to his West. "This is a big change on one of our three pastures." That big change is certainly an eye opener: 3,200 solar panels mounted on posts eight feet high above what used to be an alfalfa field on this patch of rolling farmland at the doorstep of the Rocky Mountains. Getting to this point, a community solar garden that sells 1.2 megawatts of power back into the local grid, wasn't easy, even in a progressive county like his that wanted to expand renewable energy. When Kominek approached Boulder County regulators about putting up solar panels, they initially told him no, his land was designated as historic farmland. - NPR
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Running homes/cars on electricity alone would save households $5,443/year

11/5/2021

 
What would you do with an extra $5,443 a year? Converting all home appliances and cars to run on electricity could eliminate a third of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions while saving households $40bn a year by 2028, according to a new report. The report, Castles and Cars, by the new energy thinktank Rewiring Australia, found the average Australian household uses 102kWh of energy a day at a cost of $5,248 a year. Much of this cost comes from relying on petrol and gas to power cars, stoves, showers and heaters. - Guardian

Pushing renewable power immediately could save trillions in health costs

11/2/2021

 
The use of fossil fuels comes with a wide variety of externalized costs. The big focus tends to be on the carbon dioxide fossil fuel produces and its role in warming the climate. But fossil fuels also cause environmental damage when they're extracted, and burning them produces particulate pollution and ozone. Those substances have downstream effects on human health and agriculture. If all of these costs were included in the price of fossil fuels, then alternatives would be far more competitive.

There have been numerous attempts over the years to quantify these externalized costs. Some look at the issue from a purely economic perspective, and others look at efforts to inform policy. These efforts tend to be based on our best understanding at the time; however, as our knowledge improves, the figures can be worth revisiting. That's exactly what's been done by a team of researchers at Columbia and Duke Universities who use current climate scenarios and updated health data.

The researchers' results say that, even if you ignore the climate benefits, moving away from fossil fuels rapidly would lead to benefits that, in the US alone, can add up to trillions of dollars before the century is over. - ArsTechnica / CarbonBrief

DOE commits $20M to create clean hydrogen from Palo Verde NGS

10/26/2021

 
The U.S. Department of Energy on Friday unveiled plans to spend $20 million on research into the production of clean hydrogen from nuclear power. The money will help pay for a demonstration project by PNW Hydrogen at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in Phoenix. DOE’s funding announcement comes amid growing interest by the Biden administration and the utility sector in the potential large-scale use of clean hydrogen to reduce carbon emissions. - Utility Dive
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Colorado steel mill is now largely powered by solar, among the first in the world

10/26/2021

 
Something big is happening in southern Colorado. One of the state's largest solar fields is now almost fully powering the 150-year-old EVRAZ steel mill in Pueblo. "We've always been a trendsetter here in the West," said David Lawler, the chairman and president of bp America. "This sets up the steel mill for long-term success." - The Denver Channel
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Renewable energy is cheaper, a game changer in the climate change battle

10/24/2021

 
Renewable energy prices have fallen far more quickl than the industry anticipated, says a new report. And they are fast becoming cheaper than fossil fuels. A rapid transition to emissions-free ‘green’ energy could save many trillions of dollars in energy costs - and help combat climate change. The global energy sector has an impressive record of scaling-up renewables like wind and solar – but it is not so good at predicting future price changes of the clean energy these renewables produce, according to a new report. Researchers at the University of Oxford’s Institute of New Economic Thinking suggest early pricing prediction models have consistently underestimated both how far the costs of renewable energy sources might fall, and the benefits of an accelerated switch to clean energy. - WEForum / Oxford University
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Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia targets net zero emissions by 2060

10/24/2021

 
Saudi Arabia's crown prince said on Saturday that the world's top oil exporter aims to reach "net zero" emissions of greenhouse gases, mostly produced by burning fossil fuels, by 2060 - 10 years later than the United States. He also said it would double the emissions cuts it plans to achieve by 2030. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his energy minister said Saudi Arabia would tackle climate change, but also stressed the continued importance of hydrocarbons and said it would continue to ensure oil market stability. They were speaking at the Saudi Green Initiative (SGI) ahead of COP26, the United Nations climate conference in Glasgow at the end of the month, which hopes to agree deeper global emissions cuts to tackle global warming. The United States, the world's second-biggest emitter, is committed to achieving net zero, meaning that it emits no more greenhouse gases than it can capture or absorb, by 2050. But China and India, the world's biggest and third-biggest emitters, have not committed to this timeline. - Reuters

Boosting transmission between East, West grids will lower costs: NREL

10/24/2021

 
Adding transmission capacity between the Eastern and Western interconnections would reduce costs by allowing wind, solar and natural gas-fired generation to flow more freely across broad regions, according to a recently published study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).  Increasing transfer capacity between the two grids could produce $2.50 in benefits for every dollar spent on the new transmission facilities, NREL said Monday. "The ability to transfer [wind and solar] across regions could be incredibly valuable — whether that's in periods of power system stress, like extreme weather, or during a typical day when we want to take advantage of the best available resources," Josh Novacheck, NREL senior research engineer and technical lead for the study, said. - Utility Dive
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NextEra doubles down on green hydrogen, other renewables

10/24/2021

 
NextEra is doubling down on green hydrogen, with plans to build a 500-megawatt wind project to provide power to a hydrogen fuel cell company, the company noted Wednesday in a third quarter earnings call with analysts. The Florida-based energy giant said it continues to expand its wind portfolio as well, announcing on Wednesday's call a deal by its NextEra Energy Partners limited partnership to acquire a 100-megawatt wind project in California for $280 million, including taking on $150 million in existing project finance debt. Overall, NextEra said it has added more than 5,700 megawatts over the first nine months of 2021 to its backlog of renewable energy and storage projects. A large chunk of that — 2,160 megawatts — came during the third quarter, divided up between 1,240 megawatts of new wind projects, 515 megawatts of new solar projects and 345 megawatts of new storage assets. - Utility Dive

Record levels of renewable energy drive down electricity prices across Australia

10/24/2021

 
Record levels of renewable energy drove down electricity prices across Australia in the September quarter, with prices zero or negative for one-sixth of the time, the Australian Energy Market Operator has said in its latest report. There was also little sign of the Morrison government’s much-touted “gas-led recovery”, with a supply disruption at Victoria’s Longford gas plant initially leading to record or near-record spot prices for the fossil fuel in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne. Gas’s share of the power mix also slumped one-fifth from a year earlier for the quarter as a whole. - Guardian 

Can Geothermal Energy Solve the Lithium Shortfall?

10/19/2021

 
Lithium might seem like an unlikely object for the limelight, but those steeped in the mineral commodities market are not surprised. The need for lithium has grown exponentially in recent years. It plays a vital role in our high-tech world, particularly with rechargeable lithium batteries, which drive the growing market for portable electronic devices, electric tools, vehicles, and grid storage solutions. Global demand for lithium is expected to increase by 500% by 2050 due to the widespread adoption of these technologies.1  Lithium is a crucial element in the clean energy supply chain; a reliable, diversified lithium supply is a top priority for the DOE. Geothermal energy presents a solution... literally. Hot salty water, or geothermal brine, is pumped to the surface and converted to a gas that turns a turbine to generate electricity from heat within the Earth. In addition to electricity production, these geothermal brines can yield lithium, brought up in the brine solution from thousands of feet underground. Geothermal electricity production is already environmentally friendly: It has a small physical footprint, is renewable and weather-independent, and is virtually carbon free. In repurposing the extracted fluids already used for electricity production as a lithium source, we can put domestic lithium onto the market while producing electricity simultaneously, all with a minimal environmental footprint. - DOE
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This tiny town got the first big Kansas wind farm 20 years ago. Here's what happened

10/6/2021

 
As long as the wind has been blowing through the Kansas plains, people have been harnessing it to do their work. But it wasn’t until 2001 that the first large-scale, megawatt-generating wind farm took root outside this small town in southwestern Kansas and began to harness the power of breezes on a 21st-century scale. For anyone with a wall socket, it began to change what turned on the lights. For the environment, the wind farm marked another step to lighten mankind’s footprint on the planet. For people in the shadows of those towering three-blade contraptions, it meant found money “I like them,” said Orville Williams. “They’ve been a very great economic boost for this area.” - KMWU
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