energy mix

Busting Electric Vehicle Myths | Earth Wise

September 20, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

From the early days of hybrid vehicles right on through the current booming market for electric cars, there has been the contention by some people that these cars are responsible for comparable or even greater amounts of greenhouse gas emissions over their product lifetimes. The arguments generally centered around the carbon costs of creating batteries for the cars as well as the emissions associated with generating the electricity used to charge them.

A new study published by the International Council for Clean Transportation reports a life cycle assessment (or LCA) that considers every source of carbon generated from the cradle to the grave of the vehicle.

Included in the assessment are the mining costs of the lithium to make batteries, the transportation of batteries across the world by container ship, the end-of-life burden, the mix of energy generation in various places around the world, and so on.

The results of the analysis are that even in India and China, which are the biggest burners of coal and oil on earth, it still results in lower emissions to drive an EV instead of an internal combustion vehicle.

Lifetime emissions of today’s average medium-size EVs are lower than comparable gasoline cars by 66-69% in Europe, 60-68% in the US, 37-45% in China, and 19-34% in India. As electricity generation continues to further decarbonize, all these numbers will only get better. While it is somewhat more carbon-intensive to manufacture an EV, it doesn’t take very long in the car’s life to come out ahead owning one.

Early skeptics of EVs and hybrids had more legitimate concerns a decade or so ago, but the advantages of these vehicles are now unambiguous.

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One of the Biggest Myths About EVs is Busted in New Study

Photo, posted December 30, 2020, courtesy of Chris Yarzab via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Renewables Are Slowly Taking Over | Earth Wise

August 17, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

According to data released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, wind, solar, and hydropower provided 100% of the 1.3 GW in new U.S. electrical generating capacity added in April 2020. Furthermore, the FERC report revealed that renewable sources accounted for 56% of the 9 GW added during the first four months of the year. Apart from renewables, the balance of new generation was almost entirely made up of new natural gas capacity. There have been no new capacity additions by coal, oil, nuclear power, or geothermal energy since the beginning of the year.

Renewable energy sources now account for nearly 23% of the nation’s total available installed generating capacity and continue to increase their lead over coal, which now accounts for only 20% of the nation’s electricity generation.

FERC data also suggests that renewables’ share of generating capacity should increase significantly over the next three years. So-called “high probability” generation capacity additions for wind, minus anticipated retirements, project a net increase of nearly 27 GW, while solar is projected to grow by 24 GW. By comparison, net growth for natural gas is expected to be just over 20 GW.

Hydropower, geothermal, and biomass are all expected to experience net growth while the generating capacity of coal and oil are expected to plummet. Nuclear power is forecasted to remain essentially unchanged.

In total, over the next three years, the mix of all renewables is predicted to add more than 50 times the net new generating capacity added by natural gas, coal, oil, and nuclear power combined. Renewables are truly on the rise.

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Renewable Energy Provides All New US Generating Capacity in April – Forecast to Add Almost 50x More Than Coal, Oil, Gas & Nuclear Over Next Three Years

Photo, posted May 24, 2011, courtesy of Michael Mees via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Lots Of Renewable Energy In Germany

April 29, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

As the contributions to the electrical grid from renewable sources continue to rise, people have expressed concerns about what might happen as sources like wind and solar energy become dominant. Not many years ago, there was a common concern that if wind and solar contributed more than about a quarter of the energy mix, the grid might become unstable or unreliable. Theoretical models looked at this situation but there hadn’t been much real-world data to look at.

One place where there is now real-world data on a large scale is Germany. Germany has been aggressively deploying both wind and solar energy for years as part of a national initiative called the Energiewende or energy transition. Germany recently increased its renewable energy goal from 55% to 65% by the year 2030. The increased share of renewables takes into account the decommissioning of aging nuclear and coal power plants.

A demonstration of the feasibility of such a goal occurred in the first week of March when renewable sources actually supplied nearly 65% of Germany’s electricity. Wind power alone provided nearly half of the country’s power. As a result, fossil fuel plants ran at a minimum output and nuclear facilities were shut down at night.

Germany has a very large domestic coal industry and indeed lignite coal generated an average of 24% of the country’s power last year. However, recently that share was down to just 12%. During that first week of March, solar power contributed more than 5% of Germany’s electricity, biomass 7.6%, and hydropower 3.5%.

While the week with 65% renewable set a record, the ongoing trend is very positive as well. In 2018, renewable energy generated an average of more than 40% of Germany’s electricity.

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Renewables Generated a Record 65 Percent of Germany’s Electricity Last Week

Photo, posted April 28, 2012, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Renewables Taking Over In Britain

March 14, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

A year-and-a-half ago, we reported on the steep decline in the use of coal in Britain, including the conversion of the giant Drax Power Station from burning coal to running on wood chips. Since then, Britain has been steadily moving away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy sources. The transformation is being driven by a surge in offshore wind farms currently under construction or about to begin operating. Britain is in the process of adding over 6 GW of offshore wind to its current total of 8 GW. Renewables generated one-third of the UK’s electricity last year, and half of that came from wind power.

In 2018, coal- and gas-fired power stations generated about 131 terawatt-hours of electricity in Britain. Renewable energy plants – including wind, solar, biomass, and hydropower – produced about 96 terawatt-hours. Based on the new projects coming online, renewable sources could generate 121 TWh by 2020 and fossil fuel plants are likely to fall to 105.6 TWh as more coal plants are retired. Thus, within the next year or so, renewables in Britain are likely to surpass fossil fuels in electricity generation.

The transformation in Britain has been rapid and dramatic. In 1974, the country generated 80% of its electricity using coal. By 2016, that number had dropped to 9%. Last April, the British power grid went three days in a row without burning any coal. The UK is expected to shut down its remaining coal plants by 2025, if not sooner.

At the same time, Britain’s renewable energy capacity has more than quadrupled since 2010, jumping from 21 TWh that year to 96 TWh last year. Britain’s energy mix is changing fast and getting significantly cleaner every year.

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Renewables Could Surpass Fossil Fuels in Britain by 2020

Photo, posted August 2, 2008, courtesy of Richard Allaway via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Droughts And Hydropower

February 7, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Recent droughts in several western states have led to well-publicized problems including wildfires, loss of trees, and damage to crops. A lesser-known impact of drought conditions has been increases in emissions of carbon dioxide and harmful air pollutants from power generation.

When hydropower runs low in a drought, western states tend to ramp up power generation – and therefore emissions – from fossil fuels. According to a new study from Stanford University, droughts caused about 10 percent of the average annual carbon dioxide emissions from power generation in California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington between 2001 and 2015.

Water is used in electricity generation both directly for hydroelectric power and indirectly for cooling in thermoelectric power plants. When water for hydropower comes up short because of drought conditions, natural gas or coal-fired power plants are brought online to pick up the slack.

These drought-induced shifts in energy sources led to an estimated 100 million tons of carbon dioxide across 11 western states between 2001 and 2015. That is the equivalent of adding 1.4 million vehicles to the region’s roadways. California, whose legislature has mandated that the state be carbon-free by 2045, contributed about half of this total. Washington, which is considering a similar mandate, contributed nearly a quarter of the total.

Western states in recent years have suffered intense droughts that scientists expect to become more common as global warming continues to intensify. The new study indicates that in regions where clean, reliable hydropower has been an important part of the energy mix, it will be increasingly necessary to provide clean backup energy sources in order to meet emission reduction targets.

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Droughts boost emissions as hydropower dries up

Photo, posted March 7, 2016, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Solar Power In China

March 27, 2017 By EarthWise

Installations of solar power continue to increase rapidly around the world and in no place more than China. By the end of 2016, total solar generating capacity in China reached 77.4 gigawatts, making it the largest producer of solar energy in the world. Globally, there is a total of 228 gigawatts of solar power installed, although that number keeps changing rapidly.

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