Most calculations of the costs of stranded assets abandoned and replaced by the net-zero economy have been missing the biggest element: human capital. It’s not sufficient just to total up the assets and supporting infrastructure for coal, gas, old-style buildings, machines, vehicles, etc., says Dan Chester at Lancaster University and co-author of the paper “Stranded Human and Produced Capital in a Net-Zero Transition”. Worker output is not only … [Read more...]
The 10 big problems with simply replacing fossil cars with electric
The planned rapid transition to electric vehicles has major challenges. Schalk Cloete complies them into a list of ten, including: preserving our car-centric cities preserves its inefficiencies and societal costs; it works against much of the personal “behaviour change” we need; though BEVs (battery electric vehicles) are better in cities, when infrastructure costs are included they are less efficient than hybrids and modern ICEs for many driving … [Read more...]
Distributed Energy Resources and Smart Grids: an opportunity or a distraction?
Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) are poorly understood by the utilities, explain Doyob Kim and Alyssa Fischer at the IEA. Part of the problem is that new innovations and solutions are coming fast, and policy-makers aren’t creating the incentives and frameworks to make them an imperative. But, done right, the successful integration of DERs into the grid will accelerate electrification, address grid stability, and reduce spending on expensive … [Read more...]
Avoiding renewables bottlenecks needs long term planning of electricity transmission infrastructure
As more renewables are rapidly added to grids, network operators must plan new transmission lines to integrate them immediately, avoiding wasteful bottlenecks. It’s a puzzle that’s getting bigger and more complex as the energy transition gains pace, which means transmission policy and planning must improve, and fast. Rather than making lots of small incremental steps, planning ahead will prove less costly and capture efficiencies and economies of … [Read more...]
When Electrification is cheaper than maintaining Gas infrastructure
The gas sector continuously faces major expenses to maintain and replace aging distribution systems. Non-Pipeline Alternatives (NPAs) are solutions that avoid the scale of these infrastructure costs by judiciously spending money on cutting future gas use instead. Given gas’s limited long-term future in a net-zero world, this makes sense. It’s not just about efficiency wins, explains Max Dupuy at RAP who summarises their research. Gas utilities … [Read more...]
Germany: can 100% renewable power reduce energy costs within the decade?
A bold report is presented by Thure Traber, Hans-Josef Fell and Sophie Marquitan at Energy Watch Group. It says that a 100% renewable power system for Germany can undercut fossil power within this decade. The authors look at the full cost of fossil power, including subsidies. Importantly, they explain how unit costs will rise further, as demand declines, due to the decreasing utilisation of its expensive infrastructure. Meanwhile, total system … [Read more...]
IEA WEO 2021 message to COP26: 40% of clean energy goals will cut costs
The IEA’s latest World Energy Outlook was published on Wednesday. This year’s WEO-2021 is released earlier than usual to inform COP26 and, for the first time, is available for free to ensure the widest possible audience. Simon Evans at Carbon Brief offers his summary of the 386-page report, quoting relevant numbers and charts. He first points to the new scenario, Net-Zero Emissions by 2050 (NZE), as the IEA’s recognition that this is what … [Read more...]
How to share the cost of an EU-wide Hydrogen network
The EU’s ambition is to make green hydrogen available throughout the region, and ramp up the transportation infrastructure as fast as possible to deliver it at a competitive price. But there are big disagreements between stakeholders over how and who should pay, explains Walter Boltz. The simplest solutions like focussing on hydrogen clusters will only deliver it to nearby customers. If only the customers pay it will make the hydrogen very … [Read more...]
New rules for EU green bonds to raise €350bn/yr, but no decision on nuclear and gas
The EU needs €350bn/year from private investors to fill the Green Deal’s funding gap. The rules for the new green bonds that companies can issue to raise money are supposed to set a “gold standard”, ensure there’s no greenwashing, and make Europe the best place to invest your money sustainably. Benjamin Wehrmann at CLEW summarises the new strategy that was presented on 6th July, and has gathered reactions. Particular attention is paid to … [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...]
Don’t commit to Hydrogen pipelines yet? Trucks can do the same job more flexibly
Could trucks be a better way to transport (and even store) hydrogen than pipelines? Yes, says a research team led by the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI), mainly because of the flexibility they offer particularly in the early stages of the hydrogen roll-out. Kathryn O'Neill at MIT explains the findings. A pipeline can take 10 years to build, during which time the locations where the supply and demand must be met are likely to have moved, given the … [Read more...]
NW Europe’s Hydrogen targets: ambition must match reality
The IEA’s report released earlier this year, “Hydrogen in North-Western Europe: A vision towards 2030”, welcomes the fact that the six countries analysed - Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and the UK – have the ambition to build a hydrogen economy. They are Europe’s major hydrogen producers and consumers, have major ports that already service this sector, have natural gas infrastructure that can be repurposed, and access … [Read more...]
How Clean Energy Standards have driven clean electrification in the U.S.
John Rogers at the Union of Concerned Scientists presents evidence from the U.S. of the effectiveness of using standards to drive clean electrification. In principle it’s simple: set a legal requirement for the percentage of clean electricity. How it’s done depends on the efforts of all the actors affected. 30 states are using different versions of Clean Energy Standards (CES) – the first began in 1983 and more than half of them began before 2004 … [Read more...]
U.S. EV transition means major shake-up of car makers, hubs, jobs, dealerships, gas stations
General Motors (GM), in the past considered the measure of U.S. economic health, is retrenching to become an EV leader, writes Paddy Ryan at the Atlantic Council. CEO Mary Barra even wants people to think of GM as a tech company. Loss-making divisions have been shed and tech investments made. Rivals - from Tesla to pure start-ups - are forcing all car makers to face up to the electric future. But the disruption will go much further, explains … [Read more...]
Biden’s Leaders Summit: turning climate commitments into solutions
President Biden's Leaders Summit on Climate last month helped focus minds on making firm commitments to reducing global emissions. As we all know, targets are one thing, credible and realistic solutions are another. To understand the challenge better, Dolf Gielen, Ricardo Gorini and Gayathri Prakash at IRENA break down into themes those areas that need much more effort and, if dealt with successfully, can get us to net zero by 2050: structural … [Read more...]
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