economists

The green grab for land

March 27, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Solar and wind farms are spreading rapidly around the world. Many economists believe that solar power has crossed the threshold where it is generally cheaper than other ways to make electricity and will become the dominant energy source in the next couple of decades. As a result, both solar and wind farms are gobbling up more and more land around the world. Estimates are that they will take up around 30,000 square miles by mid-century.

One concern is whether we are entering an era of trading food for energy. Land conflicts seem inevitable since solar power operates best in unshaded areas with gentle winds and moderate temperatures, which are the same conditions favored by many crops.

China is installing more solar farms than the rest of the world combined. Many of these are in the Gobi Desert, where there is no competing need for the land. But some are in eastern China, in densely populated grain-growing areas.

There are a number of strategies that reduce the impact of solar farms on land use. One approach is to put them on old industrial or brownfield sites that are otherwise unusable. Another is floatovoltaics: putting solar panels on the surface of lakes and reservoirs. And then there is agrivoltaics, where solar panels are installed above crop fields or where livestock graze between or even beneath solar arrays. China has more than 500 agrivoltaic projects that incorporate crops, livestock, aquafarming, greenhouses, and even tea plantations.

Green energy has both environmental and economic benefits to offer, but it must conserve nature and not excessively grab land needed for people, wildlife, and ecosystems.

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‘Green Grab’: Solar and Wind Boom Sparks Conflicts on Land Use

Photo, posted May 25, 2011, courtesy of Michael Mees via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Saving Money By Predicting The Wind | Earth Wise

July 1, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Managing an electrical grid that utilizes significant amounts of intermittent generation sources – solar and wind power – brings with it some unique challenges. There are abundant wind resources in this country and more and utilities are taking advantage of these resources. But there are times when there is more wind, times when there is less wind, and times when there is no wind at all. Utilities need accurate wind forecasts to determine when they need to generate or purchase energy from alternative sources.

Poor wind forecasts can cost utilities a lot of money. If there is overprediction – that is, when there is less wind than predicted – utilities have to purchase energy off the spot market at higher prices. If there is underprediction – more wind than predicted – utilities may needlessly burn fossil fuels and waste money that way.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration produces wind forecasts using its High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) weather model, which provides hourly updated forecasts for every part of the United States looking forward up to 48 hours. The model generates predictions of wind speed and direction at multiple levels of the atmosphere, information that utilities can use to predict the output of their wind turbines.

A new study by economists and scientists from Colorado State University and NOAA estimated the financial impact of the HRRR model on wind farm production. The research team calculated that increasingly accurate weather forecasts over the last decade have saved consumers over $150 million a year. Estimates are that if the newest model was in use in previous years, the savings would have been over $300 million a year.

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NOAA wind forecasts result in $150 million in energy savings every year

Photo, posted May 2, 2022, courtesy of California Energy Commission via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

An Incentive For Carbon Capture | Earth Wise

April 1, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Convincing industries to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions has not been easy. Many approaches have been debated, including carbon taxes, carbon tax-and-trade schemes, and passing a giant Green New Deal. Most economists agree that putting a price on carbon is likely to be the most effective approach.

But there is already in place an adjustment to the US tax code that is more of a carrot than a stick. It is a tax credit that is designed to make capturing CO2 a financial winner for a number of high-emitting industries. The credit, called 45Q, was enacted in February 2018.

The 45Q credit earns industrial manufacturers $50 per metric ton of CO2 stored permanently or $35 per ton if the CO2 is put to use. An earlier credit for capturing carbon dioxide was limited to only $20 per metric ton and was capped at 75 million tons. Some large fossil fuel companies did make use of the earlier credit.

The new version does not have a cap, but to qualify, companies need to start constructing carbon-capture facilities within 7 years and have 12 years to claim their money.

Companies with emission-intensive operations are busy figuring out how to take advantage of the credit. These include cement makers, steel and power plants, corn ethanol producers, and ammonia plants.

Because the credit mandates that companies start constructing their carbon-capture facilities within seven years, most companies will tend to rely on mature technologies. But the tax credit should also drive demand for next-generation carbon-capture technologies, of which there are many under development. Saving lots of money on taxes is likely to lure US companies to capture carbon dioxide.

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45Q, the tax credit that’s luring US companies to capture CO2

Photo, posted October 2, 2014, courtesy of Sask Power via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A Powerful Case For Protecting Whales

October 24, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Efforts to mitigate climate change typically face two major challenges. One is to find effective ways to reduce the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide. The other is how to raise enough money to implement climate mitigation strategies.

Many proposed solutions to climate change, like carbon capture and storage, are complex, expensive, and in some cases, untested. What if there was a low-tech solution that was effective and economical?

Well, it turns out there is one, and it comes from a surprisingly simple, “no-tech” strategy to capture CO2: increase global whale populations.

According to a recent analysis by economists with the International Monetary Fund, whales help fight climate change by sequestering CO2 in the ocean.

Whales sequester carbon in a few ways. They hoard it in their fat and protein-rich bodies, stockpiling tons of carbon apiece. When whales die, they turn into literal carbon sinks on the ocean floor. While alive, whales dive to feed on tiny marine organisms like krill and plankton before surfacing to breathe and excrete. Those latter activities release an enormous plume of nutrients, including nitrogen, iron, and phosphorous, into the water. These so-called “poo-namis” stimulate the growth of phytoplankton, microscopic marine algae that pull CO2 out of the air and return oxygen to the air via photosynthesis. Phytoplankton are responsible for every other breath we take, contributing at least 50% of all oxygen to the atmosphere and capturing approximately 40% of all CO2 produced.

With other economic benefits like ecotourism factored in, economists estimate that each whale is worth $2 million over its lifetime, making the entire global population possibly a one trillion dollar asset to humanity.

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How much is a whale worth?

Photo, posted June 12, 2013, courtesy of Gregory Smith via Flickr.

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