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Bringing New Clean Energy Technologies to Life in the Big Apple

2010-03-10T15:20:50Z

New York City Council Passes Legislation to Provide a Smoother Pathway for the Development of Clean Energy and Building Performance Technologies

[Below is an excerpt from oral Testimony I gave before the New York City Council Committee on Technology and Environment on Feb 25. The NY City Council passed the legislation on March 3]

Through much of the last century, New York was a national and global leader in bringing bold and innovative technologies to the forefront. Whether through the world’s first large-scale suspension bridge represented by the Brooklyn Bridge, the first large-scale electric distribution grid by Thomas Edison, or one of the first — and still among the most extensive — electrically powered transit systems in the world, the City has built a legacy upon which cutting-edge inventors, designers and builders can thrive.

In the paradigm of the new clean energy economy, many building owners and developers throughout New York are eager to implement new technologies, materials and products that address environmental concerns. However, many innovative green building projects have difficulty obtaining permits because the technologies introduce interdisciplinary issues that are hard to regulate by separate agencies. Streamlining the process to speed up the adoption of sustainable building practices and technologies will provide a smooth pathway for the range of environmental, sustainability and health benefits associated with green building.

This legislation—to establish an Interagency Green Team in the Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability and an Innovation Review Board within Department of Buildings—represents an important new foundation for the City to emerge as a leader on implementing new and exciting green building technologies as it continues to move toward its environmental goals and become a center of ‘green’ innovation. It will not only help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but will result in a number of other benefits, including creation of much needed jobs, increased economic development, and improved air quality.

Additional Background

The greenhouse gas emissions that stem from aggregate energy use in New York’s buildings represent the single largest contributor of the City’s greenhouse gas profile—nearly 80% in all. The City has already taken a tremendous step forward to address these emissions and move toward achieving its mandate to reduce citywide greenhouse gas emissions 30% by 2030, with the passage of the landmark Greener, Greater Buildings Plan legislation last December.

In July 2008, Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Quinn asked the Urban Green Council to convene the NYC Green Codes Task Force to identify impediments to, and opportunities for green practices in the laws and regulations affecting buildings in New York. NRDC is one of the participating groups in the Task Force, which recently released its final report with 111 recommendations. One of which includes implementing this piece of legislation. Implementing the recommendations of that comprehensive effort will be a critical piece of achieving the City’s ’30 by ‘30’ greenhouse gas reduction target.

DOE Shows Serious Commitment Toward Creating an Energy Efficient Information Technology Infrastructure

2010-01-06T20:26:20Z

Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu announced today that the DOE has leveraged almost $70 million in private investment from $47 Million in ARRA program funding to improve the energy efficiency in information technology and communications ("ICT") sectors. I see this action by the DOE important for three reasons.

1. Our economy needs private business investments to pick up substantially in order to see a rapid and sustainable recovery . . . paraphrasing Paul Krugman, Nobel prize laureate in economics emphasized this need in his recent op-ed. This announcement of $47 Stimulus program funding leveraging $70 million in private investment exemplifies this necessary action to boost our economy.

2. "Shovel-ready". Is it just me, or does the analogy of shovels and high-tech data centers seem mis-aligned? Perhaps a better term for this rapidly evolving and growing industry ought to be "plug-'n-play-ready." The U.S. ICT infrastructure is growing and evolving very rapidly. According to DOE's release:

Information technology and telecommunications facilities account for approximately 120 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually – or 3 percent of all U.S. electricity use. Moreover, rapid growth in the U.S. data center industry is projected to require two new large power plants per year just to keep pace with the expected demand growth. Without gains in efficiency, the industry would face increasing costs and greenhouse gas emissions, along with challenges to the reliability of the electricity service.

If a 2.8 million percent efficiency gain from the microprocessors -- the little engines that truly drive all of ICT -- can happen, then with the help of this DOE program, I am confident that the computing and data center industry can be equally as proficient in making efficiency improvements. Specifically, this program is aimed toward three specific areas where efficiency gains are greatest (and most cost effective):

Equipment and Software – These projects will focus on the core components of a data or telecommunications center, such as servers and networking devices as well as software to optimize equipment energy use.
Power Supply Chain – These projects will develop technologies to minimize the power loss and heat generation that occurs as electricity moves through the ever growing number of server-based IT and communications systems.
Cooling – This effort will seek to demonstrate ways to cool the equipment used in IT and telecommunications work more effectively and with less power than current methods.

3. It's a step along the pathway of transforming our present day economy into a fluorishing clean energy economy. This program will drive projects that integrate upfront thinking about energy efficiency into the very design of our rapidly growing and evolving ICT infrastructure. Secretary Chu may have said it best,

“These Recovery Act projects will improve the efficiency of a strong and growing sector of the American economy. By reducing energy use and energy costs for the IT and telecommunications industries, this funding will help create jobs and ensure the sector remains competitive. The expected growth of these industries means that new technologies adopted today will yield benefits for many years to come.”

NRDC's Renewables for America Interactive Flashmap Gets an Update

2010-01-05T18:30:10Z

Our interactive Flashmap got updated yesterday with new information on:

Geothermal (utility-scale power plant) facilities currently operating
Solar -- including concentrated ("CSP") and large-scale Photovoltaic and/or Thin-Film "utility-scale" >20 MW -- facilities both planned and currently operating
Advanced Biofuel Facilities updates

The interactive Flashmap is also linked to new and updated State Renewable Resource Profiles with case studies. These states are:

Have fun exploring! We welcome constructive feedback and your ideas of how we can improve your experience with the Flashmap and webpage, including any large-scale (>20 MW) renewable power projects that you might know about that are planned or up and running that are not shown.

Final disclaimer: we remind you that these maps display the "technical" potential of renewable energy resources. Certain sensitive lands -- such as parks, monuments and wildlife conservation areas -- and ecologically sensitive marine areas are not appropriate for energy development. In some of these places, energy development is prohibited or limited by law or policy, and in others it would be highly controversial. NRDC does not endorse locating energy facilities or transmission lines in such areas. Siting decisions must always be made extremely carefully, with impacts mitigated and operations conducted in an environmentally responsible manner. For more information on the intersection between clean energy development and wildland and wildlife conservation in the American West, including locations of parks, wildlife refuges and other conservation areas, see this Google Earth-based feature.

Say It More So, Joe!

2009-12-15T21:28:02Z

Today Vice President Joe Biden released a memo to the President—Progress Report: The Transformation to a Clean Energy Economy—just in time before he departs for the UN Climate Talks in Copenhagen to show the U.S. and his Administration are serious about moving the World forward to solve the climate crisis. The memo highlights the goals of the $80 billion for clean energy investment from the Recovery Act.

The Recovery Act investments of $80 billion for clean energy will produce as much as $150 billion in clean energy projects.
Existing investment programs could produce up to $90 billion in additional clean energy projects.

The Administration has identified particular goals that the Stimulus funds will aim to achieve across each major technology and economic development category. Below I’ve provided a snapshot of our ‘faves’:

Renewable Energy

Recovery Act investments in renewable generation and advanced energy manufacturing of $23 billion will likely create 253,000 jobs and leverage over $43 billion in additional investment that could support up to 469,000 more jobs, putting us on track to meet the goal of doubling our renewable energy generation, including solar, wind and geothermal, in just 3 years.

Energy Efficiency

The Administration is making the largest single investment in home energy efficiency in U.S history. We are on track to weatherize the homes of half a million low income Americans through retrofits by the end of next year.

We are also setting long overdue standards for everyday appliances like refrigerators, microwaves and washer/dryers. About two dozen standards will be finalized over the next few years. We are setting an average of six standards per year, compared to just one per year when we took office. The combined annual savings of these standards is expected to total up to 4% of total US energy consumption in 2030 and carbon dioxide emission reductions equivalent to the output of 30 coal fired power plants.

Advanced Research for Next Generation Renewables, Energy Storage, and Efficiency

Science and technology must provide the foundation for the clean energy economy. We are restoring US leadership in science and technology so we can lead the global competition in clean technology innovation. In 2010, our budget includes $12.6 billion in funding for key science agencies to support advanced research and development at our national labs and universities. In addition, using $400 million in Recovery Act funds we have started the Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E) that invests in targeted projects to accelerate the pace of innovation to make advanced energy technologies like energy storage and biofuels dramatically more effective and affordable. This investment includes funds for some of the most advanced research in wind, solar, and geothermal technologies to make these clean sources of energy more efficient and easier to store and transport.

Other notable technologies include cleaner and more efficient vehicles, next generation biofuels, carbon capture and sequestration, grid modernization and nukes. NRDC will continue to engage with federal, state and local agencies, business and other stakeholders to help the Administration rapidly deploy and scale these clean energy technologies and resources in an environmentally responsible and sustainable manner.

Clean Energy Promises Abundant Opportunities for Job Growth and Farm Revenues in Arkansas — the 'Natural' State

2009-11-19T17:00:35Z

(From the new Arkansas Clean Energy Report, Figure 1: Mean wind density at 100 meters)

". . . Arkansas has the opportunity to build a strong long-term economy on the solid foundation of its bountiful renewable resources."

Today we released the third installment of our State Clean Energy Economy Issue Papers - Arkansas. The table below (Table ES1) summarizes the net positive job and economic impacts on top of carbon emission reductions that can be achieved by developing Arkansas' renewable energy potential.

And if the future prospects of in-state jobs, local economic benefits and carbon emission reductions are not enough to propel you in supporting clean energy development, perhaps the costs of today's status quo - with an energy ‘current account' ratio (imports to exports) at an imbalance of 5:1 - will give you some pause:

Each year Arkansans spend a total of $10.1 billion on gasoline and other petroleum fuels, natural gas for heating, power, and industrial use, and coal for electricity production. That translates to more than $3,500 in energy costs for every person in Arkansas-and 78 percent of those Arkansas energy dollars (or nearly $8 billion) leave the state, never to return.

The bottom line is that developing Arkansas renewable energy and energy efficiency resources sustainably - protecting undisturbed land, conserving water, air, and wildlife and ecosystem services - can be done at a profit for farmers and local entrepreneurs today; ultimately benefitting future generations of Arkansans.

Geothermal Gets Big Boost from DOE via ARRA

2009-11-02T21:55:12Z

Perhaps befitting its name by remaining "beneath the radar" from clean energy development coverage by the press, geothermal energy got a major boost of support by the Department of Energy (DOE) in a major announcement last week by Secretary Chu opening up $338 million in ARRA funding in a competitive solicitation that will fund 123 projects in 29 states.

The DOE announcement summarized the funding across six categories:

Innovative Exploration and Drilling Projects (up to $98.1 million): Twenty-four projects have been selected focusing on the development of new geothermal fields using innovative sensing, exploration, and well-drilling technologies.
Coproduced, Geopressured, and Low Temperature Projects (up to $20.7 million): Eleven projects have been selected for the development of new low-temperature geothermal fields, a vast but currently untapped set of geothermal resources. This includes geothermal heat found in the hundreds of thousands of oil and gas wells around the U.S., where up to ten barrels of hot water are produced for every barrel of oil.
Enhanced Geothermal Systems Demonstrations (up to $51.4 million): Three projects have been selected for the exploration, drilling and development of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) to validate power production from deep hot rock resources using innovative technologies and approaches.
Enhanced Geothermal Systems Components Research and Development / Analysis (up to $81.5 million): Forty-five projects have been selected to focus on research and development of new technologies to find and drill into deep hot rock formations, stimulate enhanced geothermal reservoirs, and convert the heat to power.
Geothermal Data Development, Collection and Maintenance (up to $24.6 million): Three projects have been selected for the population of a comprehensive nationwide geothermal resource database to help identify and assess new fields.
Ground Source Heat Pump Demonstrations (up to $61.9 million): Thirty-seven projects have been selected to demonstrate the deployment of ground source heat pumps for heating and cooling of a variety of buildings for a variety of customer types, including academic institutions, local governments and commercial buildings.

This announcement came on the heels of the DOE finalizing The Geothermal Technologies Program (GTP) Multi-Year Research, Development and Demonstration (MYRDD) Plan, which describes the planned research, development and demonstration (RD&D) activities for geothermal technologies through 2015, with additional information on potential program activities through 2025 for the GTP.

Geothermal Primer

Geothermal is a term that captures three general types of technologies that vary significantly in scale and output. We explain this resource and technologies used to capture it on our Renewables for America website.

Geothermal Tomorrow

Recent studies indicate that an even larger potential of geothermal energy lies a little further down in the earth's crust (3-10 km down) and is available throughout many parts of the U.S. Although it will require developing new technologies for drilling and heat transfer, "enhanced" geothermal systems (EGS) has the potential to deliver upwards of 10 percent of today's U.S. electricity supply.

Geothermal and Localized Earthquake Risk

Among some of the environmental disruptions that can occur resulting from drilling, constructing and operating utility-scale geothermal, the biggest problem appears to be around localized earthquake risk that results from drilling into bedrock containing superheated water & steam. This is an issue we will continue to monitor closely. The New York Times Energy and Environment press has covered this issue recently and provides a summary of recent projects reported on here.

Our Next Steps

While geothermal energy may not grab clean energy headlines, it is an important renewable energy resource that we think should be further developed with continued emphasis studying the impacts on localized earthquake risks. Stay tuned as we prepare to include more information for you on geothermal resource potential on our Renewables for America Flash map in the coming weeks.

Getting a Glimpse of Your Future Home

2009-10-22T18:54:47Z

Have you ever been to one of the big auto shows in Detroit, Chicago, L.A., or New York? What's the most fascinating thing you remember from those shows? I hope you were thinking about the future concept cars, of course!

Applying that same level of coolness, excitement and enthusiasm that auto shows provide for cars is the aim of the Dept of Energy organizers of the Solar Decathlon want to bring to single family home energy performance. The competition is held every two years in the on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Twenty teams representing public and private universities and colleges throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe competed in this year's event. Despite the cold, damp and rainy weather on the day I visited, I was absolutely amazed at both the creative ingenuity and downright tenacity of these student teams toward developing, constructing and living in these highly advanced - yet affordable - homes.

This competition is important for two reasons:

(1) It educates you and me on energy efficiency measures and renewable energy investments we can do for own our homes.
(2) It is spurring a whole new crop of young professional architects, engineers, clean energy businesses and real estate representatives to be green job leaders in our new clean energy economy.

Student teams who create these homes must go above and beyond the idea of just putting together technological "stuff" to show-off technologies to the competition judges and general public. Additional parameters that the student teams had to include were:

Affordability

All teams must stay under a $200k cap to design, build and populate with furniture and appliances. For example, on the design front, these teams must give very careful thought upfront to the balance of materials to purchase, insulation value, HVAC system, window placement, etc. to optimize for the most efficient use of energy and keep home occupants safe and comfortable.

Livability

A large percentage of points go toward the "livability" of the home. This includes occupant comfort and importantly, what that comfort stems from - systems reliability (e.g., solar PV and thermal systems supplying reliable energy, HVAC systems keeping temperatures comfortable).

Resiliency and Long-Term Value

Homes must meet and exceed building safety codes and withstand outdoor environmental conditions (high winds, etc.)

So who won? The competition ended with Team Germany taking first place and my alma mater, the University of Illinois, "Gable Home", taking second (way to go team!).

Finally, don't forget to save the date - October 2011 for the next Solar Decathlon!

Is Efficiency’s Low Hanging Fruit Too Sour for Florida’s Public Service Commission?

2009-10-19T21:05:36Z

I think the Florida PSC's Mission Statement is a good one: To facilitate the efficient provision of safe and reliable utility services at fair prices.

Unfortunately, the Staff of the Florida Public Service Commission (FPSC) brazenly showed neglect for this purposeful statement, and instead elected to dis-serve the citizens of Florida by opting for a more polluting, expensive and volatile energy future.

Required by law set forth in the Florida Energy Efficiency Conservation Act (FEECA), the FPSC opened the docket to explore and implement a set of ten-year energy efficiency goals for Florida's largest utilities. The FPSC staff report was released last week (full report can be downloaded here (91 pp, 1.4 MB, .doc)).

Our read: the efficiency goals recommended by FPSC staff fail to deliver millions of potential dollar savings to Florida consumers. That's too bad because the "low hanging fruit" of energy efficiency opportunities in Florida offer the least cost, non-polluting electric utility services and technologies available today.

What's more, the Commission spent taxpayer dollars to hire a well-respected energy efficiency expert, Richard Spellman (GDS Associates), to offer them guidance on what to do - and then completely disregarded his suggestions on how to save on power and lower electric bills. Seems strange, no? (Spellman's testimony can be seen here (note it's a large file - 107 pp, 21.7 MB, .doc))

Well it just so happens that on every issue before the Commission, FPSC staff sided with Florida Power & Light (FPL) and the other large power companies. Seems government and big business are on parallel tracks - that worked out well last year during the financial crisis, didn't it? But whether or not the PSC staff purposefully bent over backwards to side with the utilities, the end result is unfair to Floridians.

Briefly taking a step back, I think it's important to point out that since early 2008, several of my colleagues at NRDC and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) worked to collaborate with Florida's largest utilities, led by FPL ahead of this FPSC proceeding. Our plans were to assist in reviewing and make possible recommendations on the energy efficiency potential studies that the utilities were to base their ten-year efficiency program goals upon. Unfortunately communications broke down early this spring when FPL and associated Florida utilities left us out of the review and comment period on the energy efficiency potential reports.

The Commission's decision deprives Florida residents and businesses of the opportunity to significantly reduce their electric utility bills. If you live or run a business in Florida, you might have noticed the rise in your electric bills due to increases in fuel costs over the last couple of years. In fact, FPL even provided this information leaflet to their consumers last year (not coincidentally timed just after the dramatic rise in oil, gas and coal commodity costs that spiked in the summer of 2008). Additionally, the FPSC staff decision also passes up Florida's best opportunity to reduce global warming pollution and move toward a clean-energy economy - all while burdening Florida with millions of dollars in unnecessary energy costs. The governor recognizes this too - and in fact thinks the Staff recommendation may not even be lawful.

The fact is, every dollar spent on energy efficiency delivers more than two dollars of savings - that's pretty sweet. It simply defies common sense to deprive Florida residents and businesses of the substantial savings and to burden the State's already struggling economy. And as John Wilson from the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy has noted, dozens of states have already embraced energy-efficiency and are now reaping the rewards.

In total, the energy efficiency goals proposed by Richard Spellman - the expert hired by the PSC Staff - and proposed by NRDC and SACE, would save nearly eight times more energy compared to the amount proposed by the utilities that FPSC staff have elected to follow.

Luckily it's not completely over yet - the PSC Commissioners will make a final decision on October 27, 2009. Hopefully, they'll come to their senses before then.

A Really Bad Idea: Drill Offshore and Use Revenues for Solar in Florida

2009-10-08T17:00:49Z

A surprise headline from NY Times Green Inc. Blog earlier this week:

"Florida Solar Group Backs Offshore Drilling"

Say what?

In a release last week, the Florida branch of the Solar Energy Industries Association [FL SEIA] announced its support for drilling off the state's coast - in order to create a revenue stream to support solar energy.

If offshore drilling goes forward, "we want to be able to have a seat at the table, to direct those funds or at least a portion of those funds to a clean energy source," Bruce Kershner, executive director of the group, said in a telephone interview.

I say to Mr. Kershner, while we empathize with your frustration on the apparent lack of funding for solar development in the Sunshine State, this particular idea - trading dirty, polluting offshore drilling revenue for the benefit of developing solar energy - is unacceptable.

On Offshore Drilling...

Economically, offshore drilling comes with perilous risk to Florida's most popular tourist attraction and best economic generator - the Sunshine State's thousands of miles of coastline and beaches. $62 billion dollars and nearly one million Florida jobs are generated through the tourism industry along the coastline and beaches. According to the statement issued by FL SEIA,

Florida economists Fishkind & Associates project enabling offshore energy exploration in Florida waters could produce public revenues of between $2.3 billion and $12 billion a year.

That fact alone should speak volumes to Florida policy makers. Does it really make sense to generate a few more billion from offshore drilling revenue and risk throwing away tens of billions of dollars from Florida's well-established tourism industry?

Beyond tourism versus drilling, let's expand the discussion to also shed light on the environmental risks this would bring to Florida's marine coastal ecology and endangered and threatened wildlife. In perhaps the ultimate act of twisted fates, offshore drilling and the resulting carbon emissions that will ensue after combusting the oil for energy will contribute to the already-underway trend of the acidification of our oceans (carbonic acid is increased as the world's oceans equilibrate with the massive build up of atmospheric carbon dioxide from fossil fuel combustion). Coral reefs (some 6,000 coral reefs exist in the warm shallow waters in Southern Florida) are already showing signs of stress from ocean acidification, which is accelerating as a result of higher carbon and other acid-forming compounds from the burning fossil fuels.

On Solar...

Our clean energy policy development work at NRDC seeks to accelerate the scale up of technologies that can cost-effectively tap our vast potential of truly clean sources of renewable energy. We think that solar is among the most promising of renewable energy technologies that will greatly contribute to our [must-have very soon, or else...] clean energy future. And we do understand Mr. Kershner's frustration that Florida leadership can and should do a lot more to secure its own clean energy future. Among a number of clean energy and environmental advocacy organizations, I too, was engaged in the largely uphill battle to push for a Florida Renewable Portfolio Standard that ultimately failed to pass muster in the Florida legislature.

A Better Deal

Mr. Kershner, I recommend you rescind your statement made last week and work with us to get more solar and other renewable energy developed in Florida the right way.

The Plan

(1) Let's make another go at the FL RPS. RPS's have worked great to mandate the cost-effective development renewables in 29 other U.S. states (plus Washington, D.C.). True leaders in Florida who care about Florida's economic and environmental future will step up to join us.

(2) Let's make Florida more energy efficient and reinvest a portion of the savings toward renewables. Florida ranks second and third in its potential to significantly improve its energy productivity and reduce carbon emissions, respectively - all at a profit. My colleagues and NRDC partner organizations are hard at work in Florida, making sure that Florida utilities and regulators make the right decision to profit from the enormous potential of energy efficiency available throughout the State.

Indiana Primed to Be a Renewable Energy Hub For America

2009-10-07T20:40:13Z

Today, NRDC released the report, "A Clean Energy Economy for Indiana: Analysis of the Rural Economic Development Potential of Renewable Resources". The report shows that Indiana is poised for a major clean energy job creation boom, which would be a plus for the Hoosier State, particularly for the struggling rural areas in the state.

This concise report contains helpful maps and tables that summarize just how great this opportunity truly is for Indiana (see table below).

A recent number of green job and clean energy resource potential studies have been published that take a "top-down" research approach. What sets this report - and similar report we did for Missouri - apart is the meticulous detail and open transparency provided on how the research and calculations were conducted by lead author Martin R. Cohen. In my opinion it is a true "bottom-up" analysis of Indiana's renewable energy potential.

Below is an excerpt of what I provided to the press at a teleconference earlier today (or you can listen to the 30-minute recording including lead auther Martin Cohen and other ag-economy stakeholders here):

And the job opportunity impacts extend beyond Indiana's rural economy as well. Gary is a steel town, and a shift to renewable energy means jobs security for local workers. It takes more than 250 tons of steel to make just 1 single wind turbine (Frances blogged about this on her visit to Indiana this summer).

Comprehensive clean energy & green jobs legislation such as American Clean Energy and Security Act passed out of the U.S. House of Rep. and the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act recently introduced by Senators Boxer and Kerry in the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee represent the necessary overarching framework that our nation needs to sustainably grow these promising renewable energy industries to take advantage of the vast potential of renewable resources our country is blessed with.

But Indiana can progressively move ahead with developing its clean energy economy without solely relying on federal clean energy legislation and other national-level incentive programs like the $50 billion funding made available for new clean energy projects through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (this information provided in the report). We encourage the State to pursue an aggressive statewide renewable portfolio standard that includes only clean and truly renewable energy resources. 29 States and D.C. have moved forward with these policies and are seeing dramatic growth in their renewable energy industries. Indiana also has excellent potential for energy efficiency, which is the cheapest and quickest way we can meet the climate challenge; NRDC works with many electric and gas utilities throughout the country to develop policies that make efficiency and renewable energy development a profitable enterprise that helps the environment and saves customers money.

At the Confluence of Water Use and Energy Production

2009-09-30T21:55:58Z

On my commute on the NYC subway this morning (which by the way I discovered is decreasing in carbon intensity), I came across this New York Times story, "Alternative Energy Projects Stumble on a Need for Water" by Todd Woody that described the problem of water resource scarcity in driving potential new development of concentrating solar power (CSP). CSP technologies show much promise as a relative low cost renewable energy resource that can tap into the very sunny American Desert Southwest.

One of the key takeaways from the article is on water scarcity shaping new technology development:

Conflicts over water could shape the future of many energy technologies. The most water-efficient renewable technologies are not necessarily the most economical, but water shortages could give them a competitive edge.

The article goes on to give dimension to the size of the CSP market under consideration and the amount of water that some projects will require:

In California alone, plans are under way for 35 large-scale solar projects that, in bright sunshine, would generate 12,000 megawatts of electricity, equal to the output of about 10 nuclear power plants. ...

Their water use would vary widely. BrightSource Energy's dry-cooled Ivanpah project in Southern California would consume an estimated 25 million gallons a year, mainly to wash mirrors. But a wet-cooled solar trough power plant barely half Ivanpah's size proposed by the Spanish developer Abengoa Solar would draw 705 million gallons of water in an area of the Mojave Desert that receives scant rainfall. [I have included more numbers on these projects below.]

Our sentiments on this issue are captured well by one of our closest policy advisors quoted in the piece:

Daniel M. Kammen, director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, predicted that as intensive renewable energy development spreads, water issues will follow.

"When we start getting 20 percent, 30 percent or 40 percent of our power from renewables," Mr. Kammen said, "water will be a key issue."

However, contrary to the implicit "newness" of the water-energy issue conveyed by this NY Times article, water quantity and quality issues have long been at the center of all the various fuels and associated technologies of our energy supply (and making energy efficiency and conservation all the much more valuable).

Broadening the perspective of comparing water use for energy production, the Virginia Tech University Virginia Water Resources Research Center recently did a report giving an "apples to apples" comparison of water quantity required to produce energy from various energy sources (see figure below). Conventional fossil fuel require anywhere from 5 to 8 times as much water per million BTU of energy produced. Nukes come in even higher, ranging from 10 to 20 times as much water required to produce a million BTU than CSP (termed "solar thermoelectric" in the table below).

How do the proposed projects in the NY Times article compare? From my rough calculations,

BrightSource Energy's Ivanpah project will have 440 MW capacity and using 25 million gallons/year; (assuming a 25% utilization rate) the water 'efficiency' comes out to 76 Gallons per MMBtu.

Abengoa's Mojave project at 280 MW capacity will plan to use 705 million gallons of water/year; (Assuming a 25% utilization rate) the 'water efficiency' comes out to 3,369 Gallons per MMBtu.

Lastly, on the topic of scale in looking at water use and energy prodcution, my colleagues from our Nuclear Program would like you to keep in mind:

"Nearly two out of every three gallons of freshwater withdrawals in the Southeast are sent to electric power plants to meet cooling water demands. About a gallon of water is consumed for each kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity produced." Reported by our advocacy partners at the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE).
Union of Concerned Scientists reported on the water quantity and water quality impacts from the 104 existing nuclear power facilities throughout the U.S.
"How the Nuclear Power Industry destroys endangered marine wildlife and ocean habitat to save money"

The confluence of water and energy resources issues will continue to be very important to us as we look to develop non global warming-polluting, renewable energy technologies. But it is also important not to lose sight of the 'big picture' that some energy resources use significantly more water per unit of energy produced than others.

Watch a "major league" wind turbine installation

2009-08-24T20:20:13Z

Our friends over at the Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) posted this 90-second video taken last week on a "major league"-sized wind tubine installation in Colorado. This wind turgine, which represents a new breed of large-scale wind power, will be able to power over 150 homes (1.5 megawatts) at full capacity! You can read more on the project here.

FW: (Get Energy Smart! NOW!!!) - Barack’s Grandma Goes Solar

2009-08-20T21:41:48Z

Originally posted on Get Energy Smart! NOW!!!

As part of a 20-day "how to" workshop on solar power, Kenyan students installed solar panels the Senator Barack Obama School in Kogel, Kenay, and on Mama Sarah's home. Mama Sarah as in the President's grandmother. [Pictured above.]

(Please go to here to read further).

Potential Bio-Energy Resources Are Plentiful in Florida - Let's Develop Them Right

2009-08-11T16:45:38Z

I recently presented at the 2009 Florida Farm to Fuel® Summit (airing on the Florida Channel this Thu, Aug 13 at 8 AM) with the message that bio-energy development - including biofuels and biomass, which is potentially very abundant in the South and Florida - should happen only when benefiting four crucial aspects: (My colleague, Nathanael Greene, provides an excellent primer on these four principles here.)

(1) Energy Security

(2) Greenhouse Gas Emissions

(3) Biodiversity

(4) Sustainability of the Food Supply

Our message is not popular, especially among those who feel that our position sets too high of a standard for bio-energy producers to meet. It is not our intent to be "against bio-energy development". Instead, it's what science tells us - essentially concluding that the environmental trade-offs for significant bio-energy growth can easily come at a cost to any of the four aspects above.

A recent paper published by Jason Evans and Matthew Cohen of the University of Florida School of Forest Resources and Conservation, titled, "Regional Water Resource Implications of Bioethanol Production in the Southeastern United States", models the land, water, and energy requirements that would be needed to meet the massive new biofuel production targets legislated by the 100+ billion gallon renewable fuel standard in the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) 2007.

This target implies an appropriation of regional primary production for dedicated feedstocks at scales that may dramatically affect water supply, exacerbate existing water quality challenges, and force undesirable environmental resource trade-offs. Using a comparative life cycle approach, we assess energy balances and water resource implications for four dedicated ethanol feedstocks - corn, sugarcane, sweet sorghum, and southern pine - in two southeastern states, Florida and Georgia, which are a presumed epicenter for future biofuel production. . . .

Utilization of existing waste biomass sources may ameliorate these effects, but does not obviate the need for dedicated primary feedstock production. Careful scrutiny of environmental trade-offs is necessary before embracing aggressive ethanol production mandates.

Granted, it's fair to say that not all of the 100 billion gallons will be produced in Florida; but it is reasonable to conclude that with the nearly year-long growing season of Florida's climate, a significant portion of the feedstock for biofuel production could be developed in this state.

Understanding and backing clear scientific evidence of the environmental impacts of bio-energy production is our reason for being deeply engaged in its development today. In developing this important domestic energy resource, we can't afford to compromise our planet's imperiled biodiversity, increase global warming pollution and limit the resources within our globally interconnected food supply.

CEO of General Electric to Congress: U.S. Global Competitiveness Requires More Investment in Renewable Electricity

2009-07-17T21:22:13Z

The President and CEO of General Electric, John Krenicki, made a stern set of remarks yesterday before the Senate Energy and Public Works Committee on the need for a clear and strong Renewable Energy Standard in the Climate & Energy Bill going through committee. Since 2002, GE has invested over $850 million in renewable energy technology and production, primarily in the wind energy business. Mr. Krenicki made an excellent summary remark on "What it Takes to Lead" by saying:

"The energy business is a scale driven business. Time horizons are measured in decades; capital investments in billions, and suppliers and competitors engage globally to deliver the lowest unit cost. Competitiveness and leadership in this industry require a long-term, sustained, highly committed effort. It requires massive investment, discipline, and vision that spans beyond the next quarter, the next fiscal year, or the next election cycle."

He then explains the consequences of "business as usual". China and Europe will move ahead the U.S. in wind and other renewables capacity and domestically the U.S. will see a weaker clean energy job market that has delivered hundreds of thousands of good jobs to-date.

"Both Europe and China have publicly committed to strong, long-term renewable energy policies, with aggressive near-term goals. ... China has doubled its wind power capacity in each of the last four years, and is on track to pass the U.S. this year as the country with the largest number of wind installations in 2009." [A new Forbes report here provides more details on China's efforts]

"As I have testified, a large and relevant domestic market is key. If the wind industry moves to Europe and China, U.S. jobs that currently support the industry will evaporate. If Congress passes the weak RES targets now being contemplated, the U.S. could see up to half of our 85,000 domestic wind jobs disappear. As a country, we are contemplating climate and energy legislation with the potential to lose 42,000 clean energy jobs, in places like Illinois, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, and Texas, which have become hubs for renewable energy suppliers. Enacting no legislation will have the same result."

We agree that we need a strong Climate Bill and Renewable Energy Standard to drive new renewable energy development and innovation in America.

Relatedly, a new study published this week by Harvard scientists shows that the global physical capacity for wind energy is drastically higher than previous estimates. While we don't think new renewable energy projects should just go anywhere, especially if they have the potential to harm sensitive environments or endangered or threatened wildlife, we need not be concerned about tapping out the vast potential for renewable energy anytime soon.