While the U.S. Congress debates whether backing the transition is a winning strategy, the energy sector is clearly showing the nation’s direction of travel. Dennis Wamsted and Seth Feaster at IEEFA look at the impressive growth of the clean energy champions, wind and solar. Since 2019, wind and utility-scale solar generation has risen by 76 TWh — a 31% increase — while coal and gas has fallen by 1.6%. By 2026, wind and utility-scale solar will … [Read more...]
China’s energy crisis: the problems with coal exit, emissions targets, and a command economy
China is also suffering from an energy crisis. Major industries have had to restrict production, and reports abound of candle-lit dinners, traffic lights failing and people getting trapped in elevators. Its effect has also been global, with Apple, Tesla, Microsoft and Dell saying it’s hitting their supply chains. As Jun Du at Aston University explains, China’s drive to cut coal has collided with post-Covid resurgent demand and an unusually hot … [Read more...]
Redesigning UK electricity taxes to boost Heat Pump sales
In the UK, consumer prices for electricity are five times more expensive than for gas. It is a disincentive to adopt electric heat pumps. To make things harder, 23% of the electricity price comes from climate and social levies. It’s just 2% for gas. No wonder the UK continues to install about 1.7 million gas boilers a year. Jan Rosenow and Richard Lowes at RAP call for changes that will incentivise customers to buy heat pumps while having a … [Read more...]
Appliances and Equipment Efficiency Standards: energy savings rival total Wind & Solar generation
Don’t underestimate the effect of Energy Efficiency Standards and Labelling (EES&L) programmes for appliances and equipment, says the IEA. In other words, the gradual tightening of efficiency rules for things like refrigerators, ACs, TVs, washing machines, cookers, vending machines and other electronics. In the nine countries and regions measured (including the U.S., the EU and China), EES&L programmes reduced electricity consumption by … [Read more...]
Germany 2021: coal generation is rising, but the switch to gas should continue
As news across Europe shows, a combination of factors is seeing coal powered electricity generation on the increase. Simon Göss at cr.hub, writing for Energy Brainpool, takes a close look at what’s going on in Germany. The post-pandemic demand bounce-back, low generation from wind due to calm weather, and record high gas prices have made coal more competitive. That’s even with rising prices for CO2 and record high prices for coal (caused by … [Read more...]
Can full-scale Distributed Solar really save $473bn in grid investments?
A giant model of the entire US electricity sector which captures distributed energy resource (DER) potential has been getting a lot of attention. It estimates that distributed solar and storage can save $473bn in system-wide costs when deployed at scale (enough to power more than 25% of US homes). Rooftop solar is definitely much more expensive than grid generation, but its location (on your own roof) avoids a range of costly transmission and … [Read more...]
We’re not costing energy correctly: reward clean energy optimisation, not maximum generation
Laura Sandys at Energy Systems Catapult says policy makers today are too focussed on rewarding clean energy generation, in other words supplying as much energy as possible. With that comes a focus on reducing the cost of the energy generated. But how about reducing demand? Demand optimisation should be equally rewarded: efficiency, non-generation demand management (even at the household level: think EVs and heat pumps), and any assets that … [Read more...]
Record global power sector emissions by 2022, because Renewables aren’t growing fast enough
The IEA is forecasting that renewables will cover only half the projected increase in global electricity demand in 2021 and 2022. Despite renewables’ impressive growth, coal and gas will be needed to cover the rest. That means emissions will rise to record levels. That will be the reverse of the IEA’s (and many others’) “Roadmap to Net Zero by 2050” pathway, where three-quarters of global emissions reductions between 2020 and 2025 come from the … [Read more...]
Residential energy use: “interventions” that alter daily habits vs top-down regulations
Getting people to change their behaviour is part of the net-zero plan, with residential energy consumption at 20% of total energy demand. How big a part can it play, and how quickly? Traditional methods like economic incentives and providing consumers with raw consumption data don’t always get the results expected. Here, Elisabetta Cornago at the IEA describes behavioural “interventions” that alter daily habits, are cheaper than large-scale … [Read more...]
Super-efficient space cooling can mitigate 0.5°C of warming by 2100
Space cooling eats up 10% of global electricity use, and by 2050 total energy consumed could triple as ownership takes off in developing countries. It’s why the Global Cooling Prize was launched to find AC designs that will have an 80% lower climate impact, explains John Matson at RMI. The two main design goals were to reduce electricity demand, and use refrigerants with lower global warming potential (GWP) than traditional refrigerant gases. The … [Read more...]
U.S. can’t hit net-zero power target by 2035 without Advanced Nuclear
President Biden’s target of net-zero power generation by 2035 will be extremely challenging, if not impossible, argues Charles Merlin writing for IFRI. He says the best chance of achieving it is through advanced nuclear reactors, though the 2030+ switch-on dates of the new technology still won’t guarantee meeting Biden’s timescales. Why should the U.S. drive for advanced nuclear? Because of the known limitations of the other technologies. Wind … [Read more...]
Hydrogen: can gas, electricity and industrial majors agree on the next steps?
Here’s our written summary of our panel debate held on 16th June “Hydrogen: Designing the Net Zero Gas System”. With representatives from BASF, SNAM and ELIA to cover consumption, gas and electricity, there were plenty of differences of opinion. For example, with no end in sight for demand for green electricity for the grid, is it efficient to use some of it for hydrogen? Will subsidies for hydrogen skew markets away from industrial … [Read more...]
China’s energy system: record renewables expansion, but coal still dominates
Lara Dombrowski and Simon Göss at Energy Brainpool give the latest headline figures for China’s energy system. In 2020 electricity generation in China went up by 298 TWh – an increase equal to 60% of Germany’s total. That year, renewables capacity increased more than ever before. That made China responsible for nearly 50% of global renewable capacity additions. But China has higher CO2 emissions than all the OECD countries combined. And continued … [Read more...]
ELCC: for predicting how much storage a grid really needs
How much storage does a grid need? Too little leads to blackouts. Too much means money wasted. Getting the predictions wrong will skew policy priorities and investments, and slow the transition to a clean electric grid. Effective Load Carrying Capability (ELCC) measures a resource’s ability to produce energy when the grid is most likely to experience electricity shortfalls. Mark Specht at the Union of Concerned Scientists explains how it works. … [Read more...]
Financial incentives for Grid Modernisation: the problem with guaranteed returns on investment
Grid modernisation is going to be very expensive. What’s the best way to pay for it? The financial incentives governments put in place now will determine what investments get made, how cost-effectively it’s done, and who ultimately pays. Meredith Fowlie at UC Berkeley’s Energy Institute at Haas explains that a common method is for a government to give some sort of guaranteed return on investment for the new asset. But it’s far from ideal. … [Read more...]
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