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Energy Post

The best thinkers on energy

How Shell’s new Sky scenario achieves net zero emissions

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In Shell's recently published Sky climate scenario, the energy system reaches net zero emissions by 2070 using several technologies that are at an early stage. David Hone, Chief Climate Change Advisor at Shell, explains how this would work and why Shell regards this scenario as plausible. Courtesy David Hone’s Shell Climate Change blog … [Read more...]

How aggregators will alter fundamentals of electricity business

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As the number of “prosumers” with batteries grows, huge opportunities will be opened up for aggregators who will be able to optimize these behind-the-meter-assets, writes energy expert Fereidoon Sioshansi, publisher of newsletter EEnergy Informer. Sioshansi explains how this development is likely to transform the electricity sector. … [Read more...]

Europe’s coming gigafactory boom

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By 2020, at least seven new gigawatt-size battery factories are scheduled to start operating in Europe, writes Zak Derler of Climate Home News. European companies, such as car manufacturer Daimler, invest in their own regionally-based gigafactories to meet the battery demand for electric vehicles in the continent and the world. Article courtesy Climate Home News.  … [Read more...]

How energy storage is starting to rewire the electricity industry

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A world of low-cost batteries will transform the way the electricity and automotive industries operate and how homeowners, businesses and utilities produce and use power, write Eric Hittinger and Eric Williams of the University of Rochester. What is more, their research shows that storage is "future-proof" - it works no matter how the energy system evolves. Article courtesy The Conversation. … [Read more...]

Shell’s new SKY scenario shows how to meet the goals of the Paris agreement

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Shell has launched a new scenario that illustrates a "technically possible but challenging pathway" for society to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change. The Sky outlook sees a rapid energy transition taking place over 50 years reaching net-zero emissions in the energy system by 2070. Courtesy David Hone’s Shell Climate Change blog.  … [Read more...]

Energy storage does not always make the electric grid cleaner

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Energy storage can help grids use more wind and solar power, but it does not always reduce carbon emissions, write Naga Srujana Goteti, Eric Hittinger and Eric Williams of the University of Rochester. In some cases, adding storage actually even increases carbon emissions. This happens when consumption is shifted to periods when coal power is used more. Article courtesy The Conversation. … [Read more...]

Why the future of batteries is lithium and why their impact will be bigger than you think

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The tremendous advances being made in lithium battery technology are being underestimated by many people, writes financial energy specialist Gerard Reid. Competitive EVs are just a few years away. They will be followed by radical improvements that will have huge implications for air and ship transport as well. Courtesy Energy and Carbon blog. … [Read more...]

The net cost of using renewables to hit Australia’s climate target? Nothing

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Australia can meet its 2030 greenhouse emissions target at zero net cost, according to a new analysis of a range of options for the National Electricity Market, write Andrew Blakers, Bin Lu and Matthew Stocks of Australian National University. Courtesy The Conversation. … [Read more...]

Wind, solar costs continue to fall and fossil fuels can’t stop them

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The latest update for energy technology costs put together by global investment bank Lazard has been released and shows a growing advantage for wind and solar technologies over fossil fuels such as coal, gas and nuclear, writes Giles Parkinson of Reneweconomy.com. Original post. … [Read more...]

Want energy storage? Here are 22,000 sites for pumped hydro across Australia

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Three researchers from Australian National University have conducted a study into the possibility for new pumped hydro storage capacity in Australia – with remarkable results. They have identified more than enough sites to provide all the energy storage Australia needs for an energy system based on renewables. Courtesy The Conversation. … [Read more...]

Exclusive interview: Bertrand Piccard will go around the world again – with 1,000 solutions

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Bertrand Piccard, the man who flew around the world in a solar-powered airplane, will be taking another trip around the world. This time he will show governments 1,000 innovations that together will make it possible to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by half. “I want to show that it is possible and profitable for countries to be much more ambitious in their climate policies”, says Piccard, who considers this the second … [Read more...]

The spectacular success of the German Energiewende- and what needs to be done next

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While a government is being formed in Berlin, which will have important implications for the future of the Energiewende, author and scholar Professor John Mathews of Macquarie University in Australia, looks back on what Germany has achieved so far with its unique energy policy and concludes that it has been a spectacular success, whatever its detractors may say. But he also has some advice to offer: the German government, he writes, should be … [Read more...]

How Paris and Vienna are struggling to become the clean cities of the future

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The success of the clean energy transition will depend to a large extent on the actions of local and regional authorities. Sustainability officers from Paris, Sabine Romon, and Vienna, Bernd Vogl, explain what clean energy goals they have set themselves and how they are planning to achieve them. “The thing to start with is the infrastructure”, says Vogl. “The first task is to work on our public buildings”, says Romon, who warns that Paris' ban on … [Read more...]

Shell executive describes inevitable transition to carbon-free energy

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"Shell wants to be a voice and a leader in the energy transition", said Harry Brekelmans, the projects and technology director for Royal Dutch Shell, a founding member of the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI). But the company must "not abandon the process that made us a leader", namely production and distribution of oil and gas. Brekelmans met with groups of MIT students and faculty members for a public discussion about energy issues with MITEI … [Read more...]