Hello Readers,
Today, I stumbled across an interesting article on IBM's research initiative to develop light-weight electric vehicle batteries that store charge using lithium and oxygen from the air. A short video from the article is below, and more links about energy storage are given in the article as well.
Enjoy,
Sean
Friday, April 27, 2012
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Update: Inaction on HB 1580
Hello Readers,
My previous posts: Response to Inaction on PA HB 1580 and Pennsylvania HB 1580 - Bill Introduced, so I have decided to provide brief follow up on the bill.
As you are likely aware, the bill has not yet passed. It stands in virtually the same position as it did when I wrote the original articles (stuck in committee). The Consumer Affairs Committee had a hearing on the bill (after weeks of postponements) on January 11, 2012. Unfortunately, due to strong resistance from the committee chair and a promise by the governor not sign the bill as it stood, the bill has not yet been brought to a vote.
Thanks in large part to the efforts of PASEIA (Pennsylvania Solar Energy Industry Association), the author of the bill made some amendments to gain the support of the Chair of the PUC (Public Utility Commission) during mid-March. However, this was not enough to secure a vote in the committee prior to the legislative break for the primary. Thus, it is now extremely unlikely that the bill will pass in any form prior to June (in time for the new utility accounting year, which the SREC market tracks).
As a result, the SREC market regulations will not be adjusted for the 2013 Utility Year in Pennsylvania. This means:
I encourage you read more about this issue and contact your legislators and local newspapers. Virtually no action has been taken by the legislature and equally little news coverage has been given to a bill that will impact (and already has impacted) thousands of jobs and millions of dollars of private and public investment in the state.
Links about this issue:
Despondently,
Sean Diamond
My previous posts: Response to Inaction on PA HB 1580 and Pennsylvania HB 1580 - Bill Introduced, so I have decided to provide brief follow up on the bill.
As you are likely aware, the bill has not yet passed. It stands in virtually the same position as it did when I wrote the original articles (stuck in committee). The Consumer Affairs Committee had a hearing on the bill (after weeks of postponements) on January 11, 2012. Unfortunately, due to strong resistance from the committee chair and a promise by the governor not sign the bill as it stood, the bill has not yet been brought to a vote.
Thanks in large part to the efforts of PASEIA (Pennsylvania Solar Energy Industry Association), the author of the bill made some amendments to gain the support of the Chair of the PUC (Public Utility Commission) during mid-March. However, this was not enough to secure a vote in the committee prior to the legislative break for the primary. Thus, it is now extremely unlikely that the bill will pass in any form prior to June (in time for the new utility accounting year, which the SREC market tracks).
As a result, the SREC market regulations will not be adjusted for the 2013 Utility Year in Pennsylvania. This means:
- SREC prices will not recover to any significant level in the coming year or anytime prior to 2015 (when the demand for SRECs once again overtakes the current annual production from previously installed systems).
- Further, SREC prices will likely not mean anything at all until about 2018 (when all of the previously accrued SRECs lose their value - an SREC has a 3 year lifespan).
- Current system owners in Pennsylvania should not expect to receive any significant income from SRECs. Thus, their return on investment is likely to be twice as long as they initially estimated (if the system was bought prior to mid 2011).
- Prospective system owners in Pennsylvania should also plan accordingly.
- Pennsylvania installers will face (and have already faced) significant difficulty selling new systems despite the drop in installation price by about 70% since the 2007. Thus, many installers are likely to leave the state or go out of business (if they haven't already).
- This means Pennsylvania will likely lose (have already lost) nearly as many jobs in the solar PV industry as there are employees of the coal mining industry in Pennsylvania.
- Many of the systems installed in Pennsylvania will not be properly maintained, because the companies that offered service warranties will be out of business or understaffed.
I encourage you read more about this issue and contact your legislators and local newspapers. Virtually no action has been taken by the legislature and equally little news coverage has been given to a bill that will impact (and already has impacted) thousands of jobs and millions of dollars of private and public investment in the state.
Links about this issue:
- Response to Inaction on PA HB 1580
- Pennsylvania HB 1580 - Bill Introduced
- Official Legislative Page for the Bill
- PASEIA's March update on the Bill
- SRECTrade.com's information about the Bill
- Recent York Daily Record article about the Bill
Despondently,
Sean Diamond
Monday, April 9, 2012
Energy Storage TED Talk
Hello Readers,
If you have been following my blog, you may remember that I wrote my graduate dissertation on the GHG emissions impact of adding energy storage technology to the electric utility grid. Of course, at the time I wrote it, there were only a few energy storage technologies that were close to meeting the technological and economic thresholds that would be practical in the real world. Instead, I had to do my calculations on the premise that those thresholds could be reached.
Thus, I was ecstatic to discover a TED Talk by Donald Sadoway, a professor at MIT, about a technological breakthrough in utility-scale energy storage. Please enjoy the TED Talk below.
Cheers,
Sean
If you have been following my blog, you may remember that I wrote my graduate dissertation on the GHG emissions impact of adding energy storage technology to the electric utility grid. Of course, at the time I wrote it, there were only a few energy storage technologies that were close to meeting the technological and economic thresholds that would be practical in the real world. Instead, I had to do my calculations on the premise that those thresholds could be reached.
Thus, I was ecstatic to discover a TED Talk by Donald Sadoway, a professor at MIT, about a technological breakthrough in utility-scale energy storage. Please enjoy the TED Talk below.
Cheers,
Sean
Friday, April 6, 2012
EPA's Recent CO2 Ruling
Hello Readers,
As you may have heard, the US Environmental Protection Agency recently released rules that limit CO2 emissions from new power plants in the US to 1000 pounds of CO2 per megawatt-hour (MWh). This limit is higher than the 800 lbs/MWh emitted by modern natural gas plants, but it is much lower than the 1800 lbs/MWh emitted by traditional coal plants.
There is already a lot of commentary and analysis about this ruling, so I will not add too much of mine. Instead, here are some news articles, which I have renamed and summarized, that discuss the ruling.
From the Washington Post: "Why EPA’s new carbon rules won’t have much impact — for now"
An article that should be named: "Now 'n' Later: a Coal Story"
This article summarizes the basics of the ruling and the impact it will have on current coal power plants, new coal power plants, and just a little bit about the wider impact of the ruling.
From Forbes: "Will Congress Save Coal after EPA Carbon Ruling?"
An article that should be named: "Why Bother?"
This article lays out the options that the coal industry can suggest to congress to avoid or mitigate the effects of the ruling. Although, it also points out that many in the overall energy industry have already started to move on or diversify their energy portfolio.
From Platts: "Does EPA's carbon rule make it easier or harder for utilities to plan?"
An article that should be named: "Congressional Conservatives Undermined Coal by Cutting Cap-and-Trade"
This article talks a lot (a lot!) about CCS. It discusses some of the costs for using coal 'responsibly' in the future. It also mentions that the coal industry is looking for government money to meet these costs, so if you ever hear someone knocking on the renewable energy industry for taking government money let them know about how much coal is requesting!
For EPA updates about progress on limiting GHG emissions, you can visit the EPA website:
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ghgrulemaking.html.
Hooray for later!
Sean
As you may have heard, the US Environmental Protection Agency recently released rules that limit CO2 emissions from new power plants in the US to 1000 pounds of CO2 per megawatt-hour (MWh). This limit is higher than the 800 lbs/MWh emitted by modern natural gas plants, but it is much lower than the 1800 lbs/MWh emitted by traditional coal plants.
There is already a lot of commentary and analysis about this ruling, so I will not add too much of mine. Instead, here are some news articles, which I have renamed and summarized, that discuss the ruling.
From the Washington Post: "Why EPA’s new carbon rules won’t have much impact — for now"
An article that should be named: "Now 'n' Later: a Coal Story"
This article summarizes the basics of the ruling and the impact it will have on current coal power plants, new coal power plants, and just a little bit about the wider impact of the ruling.
From Forbes: "Will Congress Save Coal after EPA Carbon Ruling?"
An article that should be named: "Why Bother?"
This article lays out the options that the coal industry can suggest to congress to avoid or mitigate the effects of the ruling. Although, it also points out that many in the overall energy industry have already started to move on or diversify their energy portfolio.
From Platts: "Does EPA's carbon rule make it easier or harder for utilities to plan?"
An article that should be named: "Congressional Conservatives Undermined Coal by Cutting Cap-and-Trade"
This article talks a lot (a lot!) about CCS. It discusses some of the costs for using coal 'responsibly' in the future. It also mentions that the coal industry is looking for government money to meet these costs, so if you ever hear someone knocking on the renewable energy industry for taking government money let them know about how much coal is requesting!
For EPA updates about progress on limiting GHG emissions, you can visit the EPA website:
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ghgrulemaking.html.
Hooray for later!
Sean
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