♻️ What happens when renewable energy isn’t so cheap?: The falling cost of renewable energy has been one of the great success stories of our time. Not only does it | operated by sonicboom ⚈ #RenewableEnergy #CleanEnergy #Sustainability

"A problem well stated is a problem half-solved." — Charles Kettering. Running from carbon fuels into the first "solution" is worrisome. I like this article talking about the current mistakes because most people think these renewables are working but we need more money into them to properly transition from carbon fuels. We will make mistakes trying to find new energy sources but the faster we realize them the faster we will approach a better solution. Not to say solar and wind can't be part of the solution but it is definitely not worth investing in larger scales of these unless design changes are made.

♻️ More expensive renewable energy is still worth doing, by Matthew Yglesias: Matthew Yglesias Bloomberg Opinion The falling cost of renewable energy has been one | operated by sonicboom ⚈ #RenewableEnergy #CleanEnergy #Sustainability

What am I missing? I have spent much of the last year working with Energy Transmission companies to help them use digital technologies to speed up the energy transition. There have been some successes and some less successful stories in this journey within the UK. Don't the government's recent announcements show that they haven't learned lessons from this journey? First the success - as the chart in the link at the bottom shows, the UK is a world-leader in the amount of wind power it produces: about 80TWh per year which puts us 5th on the list. If we look only at offshore wind, we are in second-place, behind only China, with the world’s first, second, third and fourth largest offshore wind farms. A large part of the success of the UK’s build-out of wind farms comes from the government’s commitment to subsidise renewable power generation since 2002 through two main funding mechanisms: The Renewables Obligation and then Contracts for Difference (since 2014). These subsidy schemes made it clear to industry that the government was backing renewable generation over the long-term and gave industry the long-term certainty to invest in new technologies. These subsidies are now paying off in two ways. First, they have contributed to making offshore wind generation among the cheapest forms of electricity generation in the UK. Second, as a direct result of this, many wind generation companies are now subsidising the cost of electricity for consumers under the terms of their contracts for difference. Now the less good. The race to connect new generation capacity to the networks, coupled with greater demand from increasing electrification and other trends such as data centre growth, has led to a huge increase in the work transmission companies (and others) are having to do. Inevitably, this has created a surge in demand for talent and, in some roles such as Power Systems Engineers, there is a real shortage of skills. This has pushed wages up and this will not help to make electricity cheaper. However, surely it is clear that the solution to this problem would never have been to attempt to delay the energy transition and kick the problems down the road. Instead, surely it would have been better to plan more effectively and invest in training the workforce in the skills of the future? By delaying the roll out of various green commitments without any meaningful investments announced to support these changes (e.g. to fund research to help bring the cost of technology down, or to subsidise uptake by consumers and thus promote new job creation), surely the government is simply throwing away the environmental benefit of such policies with limited economic or social benefit in their place? Which brings me back to my original question…what am I missing? Sources: https://lnkd.in/eZxtPE25 (Wind Energy Generation by Region) https://lnkd.in/eNJrxBTq

The expansion of battery storage systems represents a positive step forward in balancing our grid capacity with the challenges of renewable energy. Battery storage helps us rely less on fossil fuels to generate electricity without disrupting existing energy systems. This way, we cut down on pollution but keep the grid stable. Plus, it makes our energy systems more reliable and sustainable for the future. #BatteryStorageSystem #FutureOfEnergy #GridCapacity #RenewableEnergyChallenges

According to a new report from researchers based at the University of Colorado Boulder, US electrical utilities are on course to get 100% of their energy from #renewables by 2060. While state governments have been setting renewable energy targets, the utility companies themselves have been leading the march towards a more #sustainablefinance.   The private sector is moving faster than was first thought. This is due to falling technology costs, natural gas replacing coal, and renewables replacing fossil fuels The report concludes that policy is not the only lever delivering this change.   However, neither state nor utility company goals, are on track to achieve the Biden administration's goal, announced in April, of eliminating all fossil fuels from the entire U.S. energy sector by 2035. It is highly likely, that if Biden is re-elected in 2024, that the pace of the US conversion will accelerate, and the US will play a lead role in the transition to #netzero. The Republican position is unlikely to be as supportive. The sad conclusion is that saving the planet has a large political dynamic. https://lnkd.in/eHTtcsh6

Since Germany is clearly not the poster-child of a successfull renewable energy transition anymore, how about just looking at other countries for answers (until Germany gets its grip back)? Uruguay, for example, has had incredible success in rebuilding their energy generation with wind power - you should read on. #ev #electric #electrification #electricvehicle #electricvehicles #evcharging #charging #chargingstations #renewableenergy #energy #economics #solar #photovoltaics #pv #wind #climatecrisis https://lnkd.in/d64T4_iQ

Speaking at POWERGEN International, Kevin Lauzze of Sargent & Lundy emphasizes how, in the larger power sector, finding a viable decarbonisation solution all comes down to the bottom line. He’s right, and the construction industry is no different. Whether for the grid, or off-grid applications like many construction sites, fuel-based power is really not going anywhere. The challenge we’re facing, particularly in construction, is how to move from diesel to a renewable fuel such as hydrogen cost-effectively, and at scale. But what if, instead of having to make an all-or-nothing switch on day one, the transition from diesel to 100% renewable fuels for onsite power could actually be a transition? At IPG Energy, we’re excited for the impact fuel-agnostic power can have for overcoming this challenge. Our clean, fuel-flexible generator lets you operate your sites on a mix of renewable or conventional fuels, and to flex the blend of those fuels as budget permits. Not only can it be scaled across projects today without risk, but it helps to accelerate your transition to 100% renewable fuels by signaling for more supply of these fuels, which will in turn drive down the price. Until you’re using renewable fuels across all of your projects, never having impacted your bottom line. Learn more: https://bit.ly/3nwhDMD Read the full review of Kevin’s talk on Power Engineering International: https://bit.ly/4biKWqa #NetZero #RenewableFuels #SustainableConstruction #OnsitePower

International Energy Agency (IEA)'s flagship energy report - World Energy Outlook 2023 - is out today. The report is cause for cautious optimism IMHO. Notwithstanding ongoing conflict and global security risks in the future, the past few years have been defined by investments in and installations of renewable energy that have far outstipped expectations. This has 'kept the path to 1.5 degrees alive', even if only by a whisker. Here are some optimistic notes: - In 2020, one in 25 cars sold globally was an electric vehicle; in 2023, this is now one in 5. - More than 500 gigawatts (GW) of renewables generation capacity are set to be added in 2023 – a new record.  - Thanks largely to the Inflation Reduction Act in the United States, we now project that 50% of new US car registrations will be electric in 2030. Two years ago, the corresponding figure in the WEO-2021 was 12%. - In the European Union in 2030, heat pump installations reach two-thirds of the level needed in the NZE Scenario, compared with the one-third projected two years ago. - In China, projected additions of solar PV and offshore wind to 2030 are now three-times higher than they were in the WEO-2021. - Prospects for nuclear power have also improved in leading markets, with support for lifetime extensions of existing nuclear reactors in countries including Japan, Korea and the United States, as well as for new builds in several more. What about Australia? - The 355 page report makes a single reference to Australia regarding our contribution of significant gas export capacity from 2015-2019. - It would seem that any vision Australians may have of achieving renewable energy superpower status, by exporting renewable molecules/electrons and/or 'importing' carbon via sequestration, are yet to be recognised by the IEA? - No doubt there are explanations here which others can elaborate on? - IMHO it would be great to see Australia gain greater prominence in future reports by the rapid scaling of our renewable energy and other green industries (like near-zero steel). But this will require accelerated and coordinated Federal action and investment. - Perhaps the Australian Government's clean sector strategies, currently being developed, will help animate our role in global energy markets. I guess time will tell! #energytransition #renewables #climatechange https://lnkd.in/dErn3T4h

Why Europe needs a new body to design its hydrogen infrastructure First, we will need much less gas infrastructure than today. Fossil gas demand is in sharp decline in Europe, according to the European Commission, it will fall by 67% between 2021-2030. This concerns in particular home heating and low-temperature applications in industry. Only about 10% of the fossil gas will be replaced by (more costly) hydrogen, in so-called no-regret applications where direct use of increasingly renewables-based electricity is not an option. Second, Europe’s hydrogen map will look different from the current gas map. Green hydrogen needs cheap renewables and thus hydrogen will often be produced in different locations than natural gas. Hydrogen will serve a smaller range of end uses and customers, and for the immediate future, it is a scarce resource. In particular, hydrogen will only play a very limited role for home heating in sharp contrast to today’s fossil gas use – as more than 32 independent studies and a recent net-zero modelling exercise by Agora Energiewende have concluded.