energy

Big Success From A Big Battery

January 1, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

In the fall of 2017, Tesla took on the challenge of installing a 100-megawatt battery storage system in South Australia in under 100 days, promising that the system would be free if it was not built in time. The project was actually completed in 54 days.

The system is located at the Hornsdale Wind Farm, which consists of 99 wind turbines with a generation capacity of 315 MW. The Hornsdale Power Reserve installation is the world’s largest lithium-ion battery system and, after a year of operation,has proven to be a smashing success. Estimates are that the project has reduced costs associated with stabilizing the energy grid by about $29 million. The cost of the system was about $87 million, so it is paying for itself quite rapidly. The wind farm and battery systems are owned and operated by a French renewable energy company.

The battery storage system provides a variety of different services to the electric grid. The primary motivation for it was to achieve system security and reduce the risk of blackouts and load shedding. Having the battery system in place protects the regional interconnection from tripping,which reduces the risk of separation of South Australia from the National Electricity market. The system also provides so-called ancillary services such as frequency control and other forms of electricity supply regulation.

The most significant contribution of the Hornsdale Power Reserve is that it has raised the profile of energy storage technology and demonstrated its unique capabilities. Based on the success of the system, there are now about 2,500 MWh of new storage projects announced by the public and private sectors in Australia.

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Tesla’s Battery Has Already Saved South Australia a Huge Amount of Money

Photo courtesy of Hornsdale Power Reserve.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Electricity From A Bionic Mushroom

December 28, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

In an engineering feat straight out of a weird science-fiction story, researchers at Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey have taken an ordinary white button mushroom and used 3D printing technology to coat it with graphene microribbons and cyanobacteria to produce a device that generates electricity.

New Ocean Energy Technologies

December 26, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The ocean energy sector is still at an early stage of development. Despite the fact that the ocean is permanently in motion, extracting energy from that motion on a major scale continues to be a challenge. But the potential benefits of ocean technologies are compelling enough that many approaches continue to be pursued.

Cleaning And Splitting Water

December 18, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Researchers at EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland, have developed a photocatalytic system that can be used to degrade pollutants present in water while simultaneously producing hydrogen that can be captured and put to use.

Growing Use Of Wind And Solar Power

December 10, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

According to a new report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, solar and wind energy now generate more than 20% of the electricity used in 10 states. Topping the list is Iowa, which got 37% of its electricity from wind and solar in 2017. The next three states were Kansas, Oklahoma, and South Dakota, all getting more than 30% of their power from the renewables. The top five states, which adds North Dakota to the list, actually get nearly all of their renewable energy from wind. In fact, during some months in 2017, Iowa and Kansas both got more than half of their electricity from wind.

A Prize For Water From The Air

December 7, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The XPrize competitions provide monetary incentives to crowdsource solutions to the world’s grand challenges. Originally started in 1994 to spur the development of private spaceflight, the XPrize program now offers prizes for diverse fields including Oceans, Learning, Health, Energy, Environment, Transportation, Safety and Robotics.

Powering Africa With The Sun

December 3, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

There are roughly 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa who currently live without electric power. Putting in the infrastructure to supply power to these people in their various countries has been a major economic and logistical challenge.

Turning Plastic Waste Into Green Energy

November 14, 2018 By EarthWise 1 Comment

**In the Back to the Future movies, the DeLorean time machine ran on garbage. We aren’t any closer to building time machines, but it might soon be practical to produce fuel from garbage.**

Capturing CO2 From The Air

November 9, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

It is increasingly clear that the rate at which carbon dioxide emissions are being reduced is not sufficient to prevent dire consequences of climate change. It appears that it will be necessary to try to actually remove carbon dioxide from the air. Such actions are termed “negative emissions.”

Environmental Impact of Wind Power

November 8, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

A recent study by Harvard University researchers published in two papers looked at the environmental impact of installing sufficient wind power to meet all the energy needs of the US. While doing so would be far better for the environment than burning coal, it would not have negligible impacts.

A Battery That Eats Carbon Dioxide

October 30, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Fossil fuel-based power plants are increasingly considering the use of carbon capture technologies as a way to reduce emissions. The biggest challenge to the wide-spread adoption of such technology is its energy cost, which of course equates to economic cost. Present-day power plants equipped with carbon capture systems can use up to 30% of the electricity they generate just to power the capture, release, and storage of carbon dioxide.

Peak Fossil Fuel Demand

October 19, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

There used to be a lot of talk about peak oil. Peak oil was the theorized point in time when the maximum rate of extraction of petroleum was reached, after which there would be a terminal decline. It was often presented as a looming catastrophe for civilization.

Rapid Response To Climate Change More Important Than Ever

October 17, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a new report emphasizing the importance of taking rapid action to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and examining the consequences of allowing temperatures to rise 2 degrees instead.

The Problem With Flaring

October 12, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Oil and gas are typically produced together. If oil wells are located near gas pipelines, then the gas gets used. But if the wells are far offshore, or it is not economical to get the gas to market, then oil companies get rid of the gas by burning it – a process known as flaring.

The Earliest Overshoot Day Ever

October 11, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humankind’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what our planet can regenerate in that year. The deficit for the remainder of the year means we are liquidating stocks of ecological resources and accumulating waste, primarily carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Pests And Crops In A Warming World

October 1, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

By the year 2050, scientists predict that there will be two billion more people to feed in the world. And climate change isn’t making that task any simpler. From extreme weather events to rising global temperatures, climate change is expected to affect the types of food we grow, and to negatively affect the food production needed to feed the growing population.

Energy Justice In California

September 27, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

California put in place a cap-and-trade program in 2013. In such a program, companies pay penalties if they exceed a cap in carbon emissions but can buy and sell allowances that permit them to emit a given amount. Trading gives companies a strong incentive to save money by cutting emissions. Since taking effect, the California program has raised more than $6.5 billion and is the fourth largest in the world.

Accelerating Sugarcane Growth

September 21, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Brazil is the world’s second largest producer of ethanol fuel behind the United States. More than that, it has the first sustainable biofuel economy, which is based on sugarcane ethanol, not corn ethanol. It is sustainable because of Brazil’s advanced agri-industrial technology and its enormous amount of arable land. Furthermore, producing sugarcane ethanol is far more energy-efficient than corn ethanol. It actually makes energy sense to produce it.

California vs. Fossil Fuels

September 19, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

California has led the way in deploying and committing to clean energy for a long time. In August its legislature strengthened that commitment by passing a bill to stop using fossil fuels entirely by 2045. It is the second state to do so, following Hawaii. The bill still needs to be passed by the Senate and signed by the governor. Both actions are expected to occur.

Emissions From Electric Buses

September 12, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Municipalities and transit agencies are gradually replacing conventional diesel buses with cleaner alternatives such as natural-gas-powered, diesel-electric hybrid, or fully electric buses. The goal is to reduce the substantial carbon emissions associated with buses as well as reducing unhealthy air pollution. Diesel buses on average get less than 5 miles per gallon as they transport passengers around, so there is plenty of motivation to find more efficient ways to power them.