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Electric Utilities: ESG investors should invest in, not avoid, the high-carbon emitters

April 28, 2023 by Tricia Holland, Ryan Foelske, Ella Warshauer, Jon Rea, Sarah LaMonaca and Uday Varadarajan

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ratings point climate-conscious investors away from companies that are not decarbonising fast enough (or at all!). But surely they should be doing the exact opposite when it comes to climate-critical sectors like electric utilities, explain Tricia Holland, Ryan Foelske, Ella Warshauer, Jon Rea, Sarah LaMonaca and Uday Varadarajan at RMI. Of course, that presents a new challenge. The investor first needs … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Grids, Investment Tagged With: decarbonisation, electricity, ESG, fossils, grids, investment, renewables, utilities

Credit Rating Agencies: a guide to pricing in long-term climate risks

April 20, 2023 by Hazel James Ilango

Nobody wants share, stock and bond prices to fall off a cliff unexpectedly. But while Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs) continue to evaluate based on short-term policy changes and market forces without specifically accounting for climate risks, that’s what could happen. IEEFA have published their guides to how CRAs can adapt – without throwing out – their existing models to integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) credit risks. Hazel … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Investment Tagged With: Climate, coal, CRAs, credit, ESG, Fitch, gas, Moodys, oil, prices, rating, risks, SandP, utilities

Renewables “cost of capital” in Europe lower than oil, gas, coal. What the U.S. and China can learn

April 17, 2023 by Gireesh Shrimali, Christian Wilson and Xiaoyan Zhou

The ultimate price of anything is highly dependent on the cost of capital needed to put it in place. That cost reflects the risks financial markets perceive. And policy certainty reduces risk. Gireesh Shrimali, Christian Wilson and Xiaoyan Zhou at Oxford University, writing for WEF, summarise their global study which shows the cost of capital for different energy technologies, and therefore which ones will trend upwards and dominate. They cover … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Investment Tagged With: capital, China, coal, costs, debt, electricity, equity, Europe, gas, oil, policies, production, renewables, risks, solar, US, utilities, wind

U.S. FERC proposal for grid planning has serious flaws around benefits and beneficiaries

May 30, 2022 by Mike Jacobs

The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is in the midst of a key rulemaking on planning and building an electric grid. But the plan has serious flaws, says Mike Jacobs at UCS, rooted in the lack of coordination and control at the federal level. FERC wants the states to work with the utilities to define the sharing of benefits and costs from transmission, describe resource areas (like wind, solar, geothermal) where transmission is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Grids Tagged With: consumers, costs, FERC, girds, planning, states, Transmission, US, utilities

If most truck journeys are less than 300 miles the E-Truck revolution can happen now

May 16, 2022 by Emily Porter

What proportion of trucks today could go electric? That’s the question Emily Porter at RMI has asked for California and New York. The answer is 65% of medium-duty trucks and 49% of heavy-duty trucks. Those are very encouragingly high numbers. RMI’s definition of “electrifiable” is if they travel fewer than 300 miles between trips to their home bases. The study gathered real data on how freight trucks are driven today. Clearly, a large number of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Transport and energy Tagged With: California, charging, costs, electrification, EVs, fleets, heavytransport, NewYork, Nicola, range, transport, trucks, US, utilities, Volvo

The right – and wrong – way to design a behind-the-meter Battery pilot

January 31, 2022 by Joseph Daniel

Here’s a story on how not to design a pilot project. The point of any pilot is to serve as the basis for larger rollouts. They should also be designed to maximise benefits. Joseph Daniel at the Union of Concerned Scientists describes how a U.S. utility in Michigan tried to create a pilot for behind-the-meter small-scale home storage. They wanted to invite anyone to apply to join. The problem was the likely applicants would be wealthy home owners. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Grids, Storage Tagged With: batteries, buildings, costs, efficiency, electricity, grids, JustTransition, peakers, storage, upgrades, utilities

Replacing centralised power with Distributed Energy Systems needs new policies and coordination

January 24, 2022 by Sara Stefanini

We need integrated resilient smart grids that can accommodate the rapid growth of intermittent renewables as well as the rise of “prosumers” who both buy and sell electricity into the grid. This is the focus of three online discussion sessions on February 8th, 9th and 10th organised and hosted by power management company Eaton. The proliferation of multiple generation sources (solar, wind, batteries and other clean, flexible technologies) means … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Grids Tagged With: batteries, bigtech, DER, Distribution, electricity, EU, grids, innovation, investment, jobs, power, prosumers, renewables, solar, utilities, wind

Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings: how to start saving from day one

December 3, 2021 by Edie Taylor, Rebecca Esau and John Matson

Edie Taylor, Rebecca Esau and John Matson at Rocky Mountain Institute explain how their report “Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings Made Easy” identifies simple, low-cost steps that produce immediate cost, energy, and carbon savings. As utilities evolve their pricing structures to encourage users to avoid peak times, building managers must ready themselves with the controls that will allow them to buy electricity when it is cheapest. Demand … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Buildings, Energy Tagged With: buildings, demand, efficiency, flexibility, grids, HVAC, lighting, utilities

When Electrification is cheaper than maintaining Gas infrastructure

November 9, 2021 by Max Dupuy

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...]

Filed Under: Energy Tagged With: COP26, costs, efficiency, electrification, gas, heating, infrastructure, NPA, pipelines, US, utilities

CEPP incentives and penalties: current design could undermine U.S. clean energy growth

October 8, 2021 by Severin Borenstein, James Bushnell, Steve Cicala and Ryan Kellogg

The Clean Electricity Performance Program (CEPP) is a key part of President Biden’s energy and climate plans. It will steer utilities towards clean energy with incentives and penalties, and is still being designed. Severin Borenstein and James Bushnell at the Energy Institute at Haas, Steve Cicala at Tufts University and Ryan Kellogg at the University of Chicago warn that current proposals will allow utilities to game the system, resulting in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Policies, Renewables Tagged With: CEPP, costs, electrification, GreenDeal, incentives, penalties, policy, renewables, US, utilities

Gas crunch: market and policy causes, and lessons learned

October 5, 2021 by Andrei Belyi

Andrei Belyi at the University of Eastern Finland says there are three main causes behind the huge rise in European gas prices. Everyone already understands that the reversal of the previous gas glut that gave us such low prices has been caused by a decline in European gas production, LNG imports and Russian gas deliveries. Added to that is the utilities’ reliance on spot contracts rather than termed contracts – great when prices were low – that … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Oil, Gas & Coal Tagged With: CarbonPrice, deliveries, EU, Europe, gas, imports, LNG, NordStream2, prices, production, Russia, spot, Ukraine, utilities

DoE study: 45% of U.S. power from Solar by 2050. How?

September 30, 2021 by Joshua Rhodes

This month, the White House released a U.S. Department of Energy report, the Solar Futures Study, on how solar power could generate up to 45% of the U.S. electricity supply by 2050. It’s less than 4% today. Joshua Rhodes at the University of Texas at Austin looks at what obstacles must be overcome. The good news is that the technology and engineering is already available. And solar’s advantage is that the sun shines nationwide. Other region and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Renewables Tagged With: demand, materials, solar, storage, Transmission, US, utilities

California: Designing electricity rates that are fair and encourage EV and Heat Pump take-up

March 25, 2021 by James Sallee

Electricity prices in California are not fair and not good for incentivising electrification, says James Sallee at the Energy Institute at Haas, because of the way people are being billed. There is no doubt that electrification (grid upgrades, etc.) and climate mitigation (including controlling California’s wildfires caused by power cable failures) must add to the cost of transition. But Californians can now find themselves paying up to twice the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Grids Tagged With: California, electricity, grids, JustTransition, prices, rooftopsolar, utilities

Are EV owners driving less than we thought?

March 5, 2021 by Catherine Wolfram

Research from California, the EV leader in the U.S., suggests that EV owners drive their vehicles half as much as the average gasoline car owner. Catherine Wolfram at the Haas School of Business explains that their research project reveals mileage data is so hard to gather that it’s difficult to know what’s actually going on. Is the data wrong (they don’t think so), or are EVs only being bought by drivers who don't use a car much? If so, the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Transport and energy Tagged With: California, charging, data, EVs, GM, grids, infrastructure, subsidies, Tesla, transport, utilities, Volvo

The Road Transport Transition: a policy toolkit for electrification

November 30, 2020 by Camille Kadoch

For the electrification of road transport, planning, incentives, the removal of barriers, and the right regulatory framework are all needed. But different regions with different rural and urban lifestyles will each need their own solution. Camille Kadoch at RAP summarises their RAP EV Roadmap for the U.S. which provides a toolkit for assembling your unique solution. It includes targets, funding sources, policy coordination, incentives (including … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Transport and energy Tagged With: electrification, emobility, EVs, funding, jobs, legislation, transport, US, utilities

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  • Financing Renewable Hydrogen globally: ramp up to 2030 only needs $150bn/year by Dolf Gielen | posted on May 26, 2023
  • Five charts on the Energy Transition: the 2020s is the decade of maximum disruption. By 2030 the endgame will be clear by Sam Butler-Sloss | posted on May 25, 2023
  • Making Hydrogen direct from seawater using double-membrane electrolysis by David Krause | posted on May 24, 2023
  • 10 Carbon Capture methods compared: costs, scalability, permanence, cleanness by Ella Adlen | posted on November 11, 2019
  • Understanding the new EU ETS (Part 2): Buildings, Road Transport, Fuels. And how the revenues will be spent by Simon Göss | posted on February 6, 2023
  • Micro-nuclear reactors: up to 20MW, portable, safer by Christina Nunez | posted on April 22, 2021
  • Oil & Gas can meet 2030 net-zero target for only $600bn, quickly recouped. But it’s still not happening, warns IEA by IEA | posted on May 22, 2023
  • Gravity Batteries: any nation can do it at scale using rocks by Simon Read | posted on July 27, 2022
  • The history of evidence of CO2-driven climate change starts in the mid-1800s by Marc Hudson | posted on May 23, 2023
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  • Hydrogen production in 2050: how much water will 74EJ need? by Herib Blanco | posted on July 22, 2021
  • U.S. EPA: new rules proposed for cutting Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plant emissions by Cy McGeady | posted on May 30, 2023
  • Why hydrogen fuel cell cars are not competitive — from a hydrogen fuel cell expert by Zachary Shahan | posted on June 17, 2016
  • EU Carbon Removal Certification Framework: new rules to turn greenwashing into genuine removals by Simon Göss | posted on May 16, 2023
  • Modelling green Ammonia and Methanol in 2050. It will be expensive by Schalk Cloete | posted on September 9, 2022
  • China should comfortably meet its 2030 Renewables target. But its emissions? by Simon Göss | posted on February 21, 2022
  • Germany: will the end of feed-in tariffs mean the end of citizens-as-energy-producers by Isabel Sutton | posted on June 3, 2021

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      Recent Posts

      Perovskite: abundant, cheap, printable solar cells demonstrated, ready to generate power

      U.S. EPA: new rules proposed for cutting Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plant emissions

      Financing Renewable Hydrogen globally: ramp up to 2030 only needs $150bn/year

      Five charts on the Energy Transition: the 2020s is the decade of maximum disruption. By 2030 the endgame will be clear

      Making Hydrogen direct from seawater using double-membrane electrolysis

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