Despite continued economic growth, American households use less electricity than they did five years ago, writes Lucas Davis of the Energy Institute at Haas School of Business. The reason may surprise you, notes Davis: it’s energy-efficient lighting. According to Davis it is not clear yet whether household electricity use has peaked or will rise again in future. Courtesy Energy at Haas. … [Read more...]
Archives for May 2017
Death spiral for cars. By 2030, you probably won’t own one
By 2030, you probably won’t own a car, but you may get a free trip with your morning coffee, writes Giles Parkinson of Reneweconomy.com. Transport-As-A-Service (TaaS) will use only electric vehicles and will upend two trillion-dollar industries. It’s the death spiral for cars as we know them today. Courtesy of Reneweconomy.com. … [Read more...]
Costs of electricity generation compared: beware of simple metrics
With the rapid growth of renewables, comparing costs of different forms of power generation has become important for policymakers, investors and analysts. In these comparisons, the metric of LCOE (levelized cost of energy) is often used, but the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) warns that this metric does not cover all the complexities involved. The EIA has written a short primer on comparing power generation costs. … [Read more...]
Trump on the wrong side of energy history
His most recent energy appointments show that president Trump insists on moving the U.S. away from clean energy. This goes against the global trend and will put this Administration on the wrong side of energy history, writes Allan Hoffman, a former official at the U.S. Department of Energy and contributor to a new handbook on the history and future of solar power. … [Read more...]
Divestment will not block German lignite
Stock divestment strategies have been widely proposed to undercut financial support for fossil fuels. The German lignite industry, however, cannot be tackled in this way, writes independent energy expert Jeffrey Michel in a highly informative analysis. Lignite stations and mines are owned by regional communities in the west and a Czech consortium in the east. Although some power plants are being phased out against government-arranged subsidies, … [Read more...]
How to calculate revenues of solar and wind power when the subsidies stop
As the recent offshore wind auction in Germany showed, unsubsidized renewables are rapidly becoming a reality. But how do you calculate the revenues from intermittent solar and wind power plants that receive no financial support, in particular in view of the frequent occurrence of zero or negative power prices? Carlos Perez Linkenheil, Marie-Louise Niggemeier and Simon Göß from Energy Brainpool, independent Berlin-based energy market experts, … [Read more...]
Tobacco and climate change liability: there are more similarities than you might think
While there are some important differences between liability for the damage of smoking and the damage caused by climate change, from a legal perspective there are also many significant similarities, write Martin Olszynski, Sharon Mascher (both at the University of Calgary) and Meinhard Doelle (Dalhousie University). Automakers and fossil fuel energy companies may want to start warning the public more explicitly about the risks of fossil fuel … [Read more...]
Interview Ray Thompson, Siemens: “Offshore wind increasingly fuel of choice”
As governments are focusing increasingly on industrial growth strategies, offshore wind is becoming a double win for policymakers, says Ray Thompson, Head of Business Development at Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy. “Offshore wind helps them to achieve carbon targets and to create new jobs.” Thompson explains how the industry managed to bring costs down spectacularly and what is still in store: “Offshore wind is coming to represent a major … [Read more...]
With gas and hydro plans, Australian government is looking at whole picture
The Australian government has ambitious plans to expand hydropower capacity in Tasmania – and to restrict gas exports so they can be reserved for domestic use. Cle-Anne Gabriel, Lecturer in Sustainability at the University of Queensland, argues these policies are going in the right direction. Courtesy The Conversation. … [Read more...]
Bioenergy increases emissions in Europe
The way the EU Emission Trading (ETS) has been set up, means that replacement of coal or gas with biomass will lead to higher greenhouse gas emissions, writes Rauli Partanen, freelance author and analyst. And in combination with the renewable energy targets all EU member states have, this is exactly what our policies encourage us to do. … [Read more...]
Total makeover: wholesale markets need new thinking
The integration of renewables into the grid is becoming an increasingly acute problem, writes Fereidoon Sioshansi, editor of newsletter EEnergy Informer. According to Sioshansi, this is especially true in energy-only markets that have no capacity mechanism of any sort. But market interventions in the form of subsidies are not the answer. Joe Bowring of independent consultancy Monitoring Analytics has an alternative: offering capacity against a … [Read more...]
Big Oil: growth of electric vehicles will lead to oil demand peak
Following Shell, oil major Total has now also indicated it is expecting increasingly tough competition from electric vehicles (EVs), writes John LeSage of Oilprice.com. One significant trend is the wide range of EVs that will be available in a few years. Courtesy Oilprice.com. … [Read more...]
How the Internet of Things can fight climate change
The Internet of Things could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15% in 2030 if its potential is fully used, writes Kevin Williams, CEO of startup Wise Distributed Energy in California. … [Read more...]
The drivers behind flattening CO2 emissions
CO2 emissions have stopped growing – thanks to renewable energy, some say, but according to David Hone, Chief Climate Change Advisor of Shell, there are other factors at play as well, such as coal-to-gas substitution and limited demand growth. … [Read more...]