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The year in energy

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Last year saw some major trends in the global energy sector. Perhaps the most dramatic was the shift to renewable power, which continued to outpace the projections of both financial analysts and industry experts.  2024 saw new highs in renewable installation, largely due to China, which accounted for more than half of all the solar power installed globally.  Huge solar installations also came online in California and Nevada during the year.  On the other hand, the amount of coal burning for the year also exceeded expert predictions, also largely due to China.

A second trend was increasing sales of electric vehicles, which reached a new high, although short of expectations.  A major driving force in EV sales is the dropping price of lithium-ion batteries, which fell by 20% in 2024.  Again, China was a major factor with roughly half of all its domestic vehicle sales being electric.

Coal’s decline is being slowed by the rising demand for electricity.  The increased use of electric heating and cooling along with the increasing use of EVs are major factors.  But the proliferation of energy-hungry data centers incorporating artificial intelligence capabilities is driving up the demand for power even more. 

Perhaps the clearest indication of the future for global energy comes from investors, who put about $2 trillion into clean energy last year.  That is twice as much as invested in oil, coal, and natural gas.

The history of energy has seen the Age of Coal and the Age of Oil.  By all indications, we are now heading into the Age of Electricity.

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The Year in Energy in Four Charts

Photo, posted November 23, 2024, courtesy of Mussi Katz via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Lithium in Arkansas

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Lithium is the critical raw material in the batteries that power electric cars as well as cell phones, computers, and other gadgets.  The stuff has been nicknamed “white gold” for good reason.  Chile and Australia are the world’s largest producers of the metal, which is mostly extracted from brine in evaporation ponds.  The majority of it is then processed in China.  The energy industry has been increasingly working to produce the raw materials needed to produce lithium-ion batteries in the United States and process those materials domestically.  There are multiple projects at various stages across the country.

Researchers at the US Geological Survey and the Arkansas state government recently announced that they have discovered a vast trove of lithium in an underground brine reservoir in Arkansas.

With a combination of water testing and machine learning, the researchers determined that there could be 5 to as much as 19 million tons of lithium in the geological area called the Smackover Formation.  This is more than enough to meet all the world’s demand for it.

Several companies – including Exxon Mobil, which is covering its bets on the future of oil as an energy source – are developing projects in Arkansas to produce lithium.  If these companies can develop and scale up economical new ways to extract lithium from salty water, the region in Arkansas could become the lithium capital of the world.

Energy and mining companies have produced oil, gas, and other natural resources in the Smackover Formation, which extends from Texas to Florida.  The same brines have long been the source of other valuable substances. 

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Arkansas May Have Vast Lithium Reserves, Researchers Say

Photo, posted May 22, 2020, courtesy of the European Space Agency via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Strawberries and climate change

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The demand for strawberries continues to climb around the world.  According to data from World Population Review, China remains the global leader in strawberry production, a spot it’s held since 1994.  Last year, China produced 3.3 million tons of strawberries, followed by the United States at 1.05 million tons, Egypt at 597,000 tons, and Mexico at 557,000 tons.

While strawberries are grown coast to coast in the U.S., California and Florida are the top two strawberry-producing states due to their favorable climate conditions.  In fact, California produces more than 90% of the domestic strawberry crop.  But Florida plays a key role in domestic strawberry production as well by growing the majority of the winter crop. 

A new study by researchers from the University of Waterloo in Canada has examined the effect of climate change on California’s strawberry crop.  According to the research team, strawberries could be fewer and more expensive because of the higher temperatures caused by climate change.  The report, which was recently published in the journal Sustainability, found that a 3° Fahrenheit rise in temperature could reduce strawberry yields by up to 40%.

According to the researchers, the impact of climate change on strawberry production could be mitigated by implementing certain sustainable farming practices.  These include optimizing irrigation to ensure adequate water supply during heat waves and using shading plants and shade structures to mitigate heat stress.

Understanding how rising temperatures affect crop yields should encourage farmers and governments to develop sustainable agriculture responses to global warming.

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Influence of Regional Temperature Anomalies on Strawberry Yield: A Study Using Multivariate Copula Analysis

Strawberry Production by Country 2024

Researchers predict fewer, pricier strawberries as temperatures warm

Photo, posted June 3, 2007, courtesy of David Slack via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A brief bout of bad air in Scotland

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Scotland, and the UK in general, used to suffer from sulfur dioxide pollution.  Industrial and domestic emissions, especially from burning coal, contributed heavily to urban air leading to the London smog of the 1950s and the acid rain of the 1980s.  But national air pollution agreements and various international measures have been highly successful in reducing sulfur dioxide emissions.  Desulfurization of coal-fired powerplants and the introduction of ultralow sulfur fuels among other measures have decreased sulfur dioxide emission by 98% since 1970. 

As a result, it came as quite a surprise on May 31st when Edinburgh saw sulfur dioxide levels higher than had been observed in over 30 years.  The levels greatly exceeded air quality objectives for 10 hours with concentrations even creeping towards workplace exposure limits.

What happened?  For once, it was nothing that people did.  Two days earlier, a volcanic fissure eruption took place in the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland, some 850 miles from Edinburgh.  Because of an unusual meteorological configuration, the prevailing winds sent the plume of volcanic gases southward towards Scotland.  Had the eruption taken place 60 miles further north or happened a few hours later, the plume of gases would have missed the UK entirely and would have traveled north to the Arctic region.

Icelandic volcanic eruptions have impacted air travel in Europe on a number of occasions.  This non-explosive eruption had little impact outside of its local region, but it turned out to briefly wreak havoc in Scotland.  Fortunately, this pollution event was short-lived.

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Atmospheric sulphur dioxide levels reach historic high in Scotland following Icelandic volcano eruption

Photo, posted November 17, 2021, courtesy of Catherine Poh Huay Tan via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Lithium in Arkansas

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There are more and more electric cars on the road and utilities are installing record amounts of battery storage to back up solar and wind power generation.  Both of these things currently use lithium-ion batteries so the need for them keeps growing.

There is actually plenty of lithium in the world.  Sources of more than 100 million tons have been identified, which is enough to meet the projected needs for decades.  But lithium is not easy, cheap, or environmentally friendly to extract.  It is either blasted out of rocks that are then roasted at 2000-degree temperatures, or it is extracted from brine in places like the high Andes where it leaves behind toxic residues.  Ramping up lithium production could greatly diminish the environmental benefits derived from green technologies.

A technique called direct lithium extraction, or DLE, may be a possible solution.  The lithium is pulled out of brine while leaving other dissolved compounds behind.  It is being tested in many places around the world and appears to offer the lowest negative impacts of available extraction technologies.

The Salton Sea area in California has rich deposits of lithium and is a good candidate for DLE.  But conditions may be even better in Arkansas whose Smackover Formation is a brine-rich expanse of limestone. 

The area was a productive oil field a hundred years ago and then undertook brine-processing in the 1950s to extract bromine.  So, the area already has industrial infrastructure and no new land would need to be cleared.

The former oil fields of Arkansas may become an important domestic source of lithium.

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In Rush for Lithium, Miners Turn to the Oil Fields of Arkansas

Photo, posted February 26, 2021, courtesy of Ivan Radic via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Pesticides and beeswax

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Honey bee colonies in the United States have experienced annual population declines since 2006.  Commercial beekeepers have reported honey bee colony loss rates averaging 30% each winter, which is startling when compared to historical loss rates of just 10-15%.  According to the USDA, there are many factors contributing to this decline, including parasites, pests, diseases, pesticides, and a phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder, in which worker bees abandon a hive and leave behind the queen.

According to a new study by researchers from Cornell University, beeswax in managed honey bee hives contains a variety of pesticide, herbicide, and fungicide residues.  Because bees reuse wax over years, these harmful chemicals can accumulate inside hives, exposing current and future generations of bees to long-term toxicity. 

The study, which was recently published in the Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation, adds that humans may also be exposed to these pesticides through contaminated honey, pollen, and beeswax (which is used in certain soaps, lotions, and cosmetics).  However, the amounts in these products are unlikely to pose a major threat to human health.

Pesticides get into the beeswax when bees feast on the nectar and pollen of plants that have been treated with the chemicals. According to the researchers, understanding which contaminants are impacting domestic honey bee populations could help better protect them and other pollinators, including birds, bats, wild bees, and other insects.

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Pesticides detected in beeswax

Photo, posted November 22, 2008, courtesy of Andrew Rivett via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Solar thermochemical hydrogen

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For decades, there has been talk of the hydrogen economy in which hydrogen would take the place of fossil fuels in a wide range of domestic and industrial applications.  Over time, hydrogen’s potential advantages in some applications have diminished but it is still seen as perhaps the most promising way to decarbonize long-distance truck, ship, and plane transportation as well as many heavy-duty industrial processes.

Hydrogen is the most common element in the universe, but here on Earth, it is tightly bound up in chemical compounds, notably water and hydrocarbons.  Extracting hydrogen from these compounds takes lots of energy.  To date, most hydrogen is produced from fossil fuel sources, resulting in carbon dioxide emissions.  So-called green hydrogen is made by splitting up water into its component elements.

Getting hydrogen from water generally uses electrolysis, which requires lots of electrical power.  That is why it isn’t the standard way to produce hydrogen; it costs too much to pay for all that power.

MIT scientists have been developing a process to make solar thermochemical hydrogen, or STCH.  STCH uses the sun’s heat to split apart water and no other energy source.  An existing source of solar heat drives a thermochemical reaction in which a heated metal surface grabs oxygen from steam and leaves hydrogen behind.  MIT did not invent the concept; their efforts are to make it practical.

Previous STCH designs were only capable of using 7% of incoming solar heat to make hydrogen.  The MIT process may be able to harness up to 40% of the sun’s heat and therefore generate far more hydrogen. 

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MIT design would harness 40 percent of the sun’s heat to produce clean hydrogen fuel

Photo, posted August 23, 2017, courtesy of Evan Lovely via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Airplane Turbulence And Climate Change | Earth Wise

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If you’ve ever been on an airplane, chances are pretty good that you’ve experienced turbulence.  As the busy summer travel season kicks off, travelers are being encouraged to brace themselves for a bumpier-than-usual ride. 

There has been a major increase in the number of severe turbulence cases on both domestic and international flights.  According to a new study by researchers from the University of Reading in the U.K., climate change is leading to this increase in turbulence, driving up costs (via wear and tear on aircrafts), and increasing the risks for passengers and flight attendants.  In the United States alone, turbulence costs the airline industry $150-$500 million annually. 

The study, which was recently published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, found that warmer air, caused by carbon emissions, is creating bumpier flights around the world.  In fact, the study found that severe turbulence in the North Atlantic is up by 55% since 1979. 

The changing climate is affecting air travel in other ways as well.  A faster jet stream across the Atlantic is altering travel times.  Rising temperatures are reducing the weight that aircraft can carry.  Rising seas are threatening low-lying coastal airports around the world. 

But carbon emissions from aviation are also a significant driver of the climate crisis.  Air travel accounts for approximately 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and is one of the fastest growing sources of emissions. According to the International Civil Aviation Organization, emissions from international air travel are expected to triple by 2050.

The future is shaping up to be a bumpy ride.

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Climate crisis leading to more turbulence during flights, says study

Evidence for Large Increases in Clear-Air Turbulence Over the Past Four Decades

Climate Scientist Explains Increase In Airplane Turbulence

Airports and Rising Seas

Photo, posted May 9, 2018, courtesy of Steve Lynes via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Reducing Cattle-Driven Deforestation | Earth Wise

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The Amazon rainforest is the biggest rainforest in the world, larger than the next two biggest combined.  It covers more than three million square miles, roughly the size of the lower 48 states.  The Amazon functions as a critical sink for carbon in the atmosphere.

However, human activity has removed more than 10% of the vegetation from the Amazon rainforest since the 1960s.  Cattle ranching accounts for roughly 70% of Amazon deforestation – much of which is illegal.   

According to a study recently published in the journal Global Environmental Change, companies’ ‘zero-deforestation’ commitments could reduce cattle-driven deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon by 50%.   Better adoption and implementation of company supply chain policies for Brazilian beef and leather could significantly reduce carbon emissions. 

Between 2010 and 2018, some of the world’s largest slaughterhouses reduced cattle-driven deforestation by 15% through their commitment to zero-deforestation policies.  If these policies were fully implemented and adopted across all cattle companies operating in the Amazon, more than 9,200 square miles of forest could have been spared over the same time period, effectively halving the cattle-driven deforestation in Brazil.  

Zero-deforestation commitments currently cover 82% of beef exported from the Brazilian Amazon for trade internationally.  However, a large amount of beef production destined for Brazil’s domestic markets is not covered.

The researchers say a mix of interventions by both the private and public sector is needed to improve cattle-rearing practices and help reduce deforestation in countries like Brazil.

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Companies’ zero-deforestation commitments have potential to halve cattle-driven deforestation in Brazilian Amazon

Photo, posted January 17, 2011, courtesy of Kelly Sato via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Offshore Wind In The Gulf Of Mexico | Earth Wise

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The US has a goal of deploying 30 GW of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030.  This is an ambitious goal given that the current installed offshore wind capacity in the US is a total of seven turbines capable of generating just 42 megawatts of power.  So, there is a long way to go in a relatively short amount of time.

Since 2021, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, a division of the Department of the Interior, has held three offshore wind lease auctions, which grant rights to developers to install offshore wind in specific marine areas.  The first two auctions involve sites in the northeast, including areas in New York.  The third auction, held last December, offered sites off the California Coast – the first US sites in the Pacific.

In February, the Department of the Interior proposed a new offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico.  It identified a 102,480-acre area off the coast of Louisiana, and two similar-sized areas offshore from Galveston, Texas.

The proposal is now in a 60-day period of seeking public comments before deciding whether to move ahead with the sale.  As was the case for the other lease auctions, there would stipulations associated with accepted bids including efforts to build up domestic industry for the supply chain and labor force.  There would also be requirements to establish and contribute to a fisheries compensatory mitigation fund to address any potential negative impacts to the fishing industry.

About two-thirds of offshore wind resources in the US are located in deep-water areas that will require floating platforms.  A federal program called Floating Offshore Wind Shot has the goal of developing cost-effective technology for this purpose.

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Gulf of Mexico may be next up for offshore wind leases

Photo, posted May 13, 2011, courtesy of the Department of Energy and Climate Change via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A Law To Tackle Climate Change | Earth Wise

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The Inflation Reduction Act signed into law in mid-August is the most comprehensive U.S. legislation addressing climate change ever enacted.   It contains $369 billion in funding for clean energy and electric vehicle tax breaks, domestic manufacturing of batteries and solar panels, and pollution reduction.

The legislation for the most part makes use of carrots rather than sticks to coax American consumers and industry away from reliance on fossil fuels.  Rather than establishing more carbon taxes, mandates, and penalties, the law largely makes use of tax credits to provide incentives for the use of clean energy.

The law provides a large mix of tax breaks intended to bring down the costs of solar, wind, batteries, electric cars, heat pumps, and other clean technology.  For example, consumers will get a $7,500 credit for purchasing many new electric car models and about $4,000 for buying a used vehicle.

On the stick side of the ledger, oil and gas companies that emit methane above certain threshold levels will incur fees that escalate over time.  The law also increases the cost to the oil industry for extracting fossil fuels from public lands.

The act provides $60 billion for overall environmental justice priorities, including $15 billion targeted specifically for low-income and disadvantaged communities. There are many other provisions in the law addressing multiple climate-related issues.

According to three separate analyses by economic modelers, the investments from the Inflation Reduction Act are likely to cut pollution by about 40% below 2005 levels by the year 2030.

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The US finally has a law to tackle climate change

Photo, posted December 15, 2021, courtesy of Mario Duran-Ortiz via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

More Troubles For Bees | Earth Wise

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Beekeepers in the United States lost nearly 44% of their managed honeybee colonies from April 2019 to April 2020, according to the 14th annual nationwide survey conducted by the nonprofit Bee Informed Partnership.  This was the second highest annual loss recorded since the surveys began.

The high loss rate over the past year was unusual in that winter losses were actually substantially lower than they have been in recent years.   The winter losses were 22.2%, which is 15.5 points lower than last year and 6.4 points lower than the average over the past 14 years.  On the other hand, summer losses were 32%, which is 12 points higher than last year and 10.4 points higher than the average.

In fact, the summer loss was the highest ever recorded and was only the second time that more bees were lost in the summer than in the winter.

Commercial beekeepers generally have lower losses than backyard and smaller operations.  Commercial honeybee colonies pollinate $15 billion worth of crops in the United States every year, so the health of these colonies is a critical issue for domestic food production and supply.

Beekeepers began noticing dramatic losses in their colonies in the early 2000s and ever since then, state and federal agricultural agencies, university researchers, and the beekeeping industry have been working together to try to understand the reasons for the population decline and to develop approaches to reduce these losses.

Winter loss has previously been the main focus of management activities since that period of the year is thought to be the most challenging for bee colonies.  This year’s results are driving a great deal of analysis of the possible causes for the dramatic summer colony losses.  Whatever they turn out to be, they represent more troubles for bees.

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Odd Year for U.S. Beekeepers Who Reported Lower Winter Losses but Abnormally High Summer Losses

Photo, posted April 14, 2013, courtesy of Paul Rollings via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

More Solar And Wind Power In The U.S.

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According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, both wind and solar power are contributing more and more to total electrical generation in the United States.  For the first 8 months of 2019, the combination of wind and solar power accounted for almost 10% of U.S. electrical generation.

Solar, including small-scale PV systems on home rooftops, grew by almost 14% compared to the first eight months of 2018 and accounted for more than 2.7% of total electrical output.  In fact, small-scale solar generation increased by 19% and provided nearly a third of all the solar power in the country. 

Wind energy in the U.S. increased by 4.4%, accounting for almost 7% of the country’s electricity.

Overall, renewable energy sources – which include biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, and wind – accounted for 18.49% of net domestic electrical generation during the first 8 months of 2019.  The non-hydro renewable sources actually accounted for over 11% of total electricity production and saw a year-over-year growth of 6%. 

Outside of renewables, nuclear-generated electricity declined by 0.6% and coal power dropped by almost 14%.  Much of the coal generation was replaced by natural gas, which grew by 6.5% compared to the previous year.

Renewables now accounting for nearly 20% of overall electricity generation in the US represents significant progress.  But the variations by state continue to be substantial.  For example, while Vermont gets 99% of its power from renewables, Ohio gets only 2%. 

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Solar and wind energy provide almost 10 percent of total generation in the US in 2019

Photo, posted April 8, 2019, courtesy of City of St. Pete via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

WAMC Northeast Public Radio

WAMC/Northeast Public Radio is a regional public radio network serving parts of seven northeastern states (more...)