Climate and Energy Transition
Natural Gas, The Key To A Lower Carbon Future
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This World Energy Outlook special report examines the role of fuel switching, primarily from coal to natural gas, to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and air pollutants. Four case studies, covering the United States, the European Union, the People’s Republic of China (“China”), and India, reveal the various opportunities, hurdles and limits of fuel switching as a way to address environmental challenges.
It is clear that switching between unabated consumption of fossil fuels, on its own, does not provide a long-term answer to climate change, but there can nonetheless be significant CO2 and air quality benefits, in specific countries, sectors and timeframes, from using less emissions-intensive fuels. Deployment of carbon capture, utilization and storage technologies, for both coal and gas, is another crucial variable for the future. |
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From 2008 to 2016, U.S. coal production fell 37%, from 1,172 million short tons to 739 million short tons (EIA, 2017). During this period, carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants fell by 718 million metric tons.
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Their near-instant availability makes gas turbines the ideal suppliers of peak power and the best backups for new intermittent wind and solar generation. In the United States they are now by far the most affordable choice for new generating capacities.
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100% Renewable Energy Is Not Feasible
Articles
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In 2011, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the country was turning away from nuclear energy in favor of a renewable future. Since then, however, progress has been limited. Berlin has wasted billions of euros and resistance is mounting.
The sweeping idea has become bogged down in the details of German reality. The so-called Energiewende, the shift away from nuclear in favor of renewables, the greatest political project undertaken since Germany's reunification, is facing failure. |
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Powering society entirely with wind and solar farms combined with massive batteries would require the biggest expansion in mining the world has seen and would produce huge quantities of waste. “Renewable energy” is a misnomer. Wind and solar machines and batteries are built from nonrenewable materials. And they wear out. Old equipment must be decommissioned, generating millions of tons of waste.
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An estimated 35,000 children work in perilous conditions to extract cobalt from the ground in the Democratic Republic of Congo. So what will the impact be on these exploited workers from rapid advances in electric cars, which are heavily reliant on this conflict mineral?
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Previous analyses have found that the most feasible route to a low-carbon energy future is one that adopts a diverse portfolio of technologies. A policy prescription that overpromises on the benefits of relying on a narrower portfolio of technologies options could be counterproductive, seriously impeding the move to a cost effective decarbonized energy system.
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Remarkably, the material that built the first modern civilization remains key to building today’s global economy. The cement we use in 2017 is not so different from the stuff used to build the concrete dome of the Roman Pantheon in 125 AD.
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As Colorado officials begin their quest to decarbonize the economy at a record pace, in line with a number of new laws passed by the legislature, they could do worse than pause to consider the lessons from Germany’s recent past.
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California has adopted aggressive goals to reach a low-carbon future at a scale and pace needed to meet the underlying Paris commitment of keeping temperature increases to two degrees Celsius, or even significantly lower, by the end of the century.
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Over the last decade, journalists have held up Germany’s renewables energy transition, the Energiewende, as an environmental model for the world.
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Videos & Podcasts
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In the blizzard of finger pointing that is happening in the wake of the Texas Blackouts, the natural gas sector has been getting lots of blame. In this episode, Robert talks to John Harpole, the president of Denver-based gas broker Mercator Energy about the history of gas deregulation, ERCOT’s failure to heed the lessons from the 2011 blackouts, how power cuts by ERCOT reduced the flow of gas during last month’s blizzard, and why gas should be seen as a strategic fuel for the United States.
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CNN's Fareed Zakaria gives his take on why Bernie Sanders has an unrealistic approach to achieving deep cuts in carbon.
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Environmentalists have long promoted renewable energy sources like solar panels and wind farms to save the climate. But what about when those technologies destroy the environment?
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Wind Turbines Pose Recycling Challenge
Securing wind turbine blades. CREDIT: NPR, Christina Stella/Harvest Public Media
Wind turbine blade burial at the Casper Regional Landfill in Wyoming.
CREDIT: Benjamin Rasmussen for Bloomberg Green
Decommissioned wind turbine hubs to be scrapped. CREDIT: Christina Stella/Harvest Public Media
Windmill fan blades wait for disposal at the Casper Regional Landfill CREDIT: Casper Regional Landfill staff
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A wind turbine’s blades can be longer than a Boeing 747 wing, so at the end of their lifespan they can’t just be hauled away. First, you need to saw through the lissome fiberglass using a diamond-encrusted industrial saw to create three pieces small enough to be strapped to a tractor-trailer.
The Casper landfill will soon be the home of more than 1,000 decommissioned wind turbine blades and motor housing units.
The Casper Landfill is one of the few landfills with the proper permits and certifications to accept the decommissioned turbine materials. The turbine disposal project is slated to continue until the spring of 2020. While most of a turbine can be recycled or find a second life on another wind farm, researchers estimate the U.S. will have more than 720,000 tons of blade material to dispose of over the next 20 years, a figure that doesn't include newer, taller higher-capacity versions.
Pictures surfaced of a landfill in Wyoming being filled with something you may not have imagined: wind turbine blades. It turns out that the fiberglass wind turbine blades are not recyclable, and the waste disposal site located near Casper, Wyoming will soon be the final resting place of more than 1,000 decommissioned wind turbine blades and motor housing units.
According to utility documents filed by Xcel Energy for it’s Nobles Wind facility in Minesotta, it will cost approximately $532,000 per turbine for each of the 134 turbines in operation.
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Resources |
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https://www.epa.gov/air-trends/air-quality-national-summary
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=26352 From the Regional Air Quality Council (RAQC) Simple Steps. Better Air. Moderate Area Ozone SIP Oil and Gas – Technical Support Document (TSD) Monitoring Data from Fort Collins West and NREL From the Colorado Department of Health and Environment (CDPHE) https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/ozone-information https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/ract From the American Lung Association http://www.lung.org/our-initiatives/healthy-air/sota/city-rankings/states/colorado/ |
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