pipeline

Progress towards electric school buses

November 8, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The U.S. has nearly half a million school buses providing daily transportation for about 20 million students. Most of these buses are powered by diesel engines which not only dump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere but also fill kids’ lungs with harmful fumes.

Thanks to various federal and state incentive programs, this situation is starting to change. School districts all over the country are beginning to swap out old diesel buses for emissions-free electric-powered school buses.

Electric school buses are finding their way into school districts of all sizes and demographics. The first district in the country to go fully electric was in Martinsville, Texas, which last year converted its 4-bus fleet. The first large urban district to go all-electric was the 74-bus fleet in Oakland, California this summer.

The EPA’s $5 billion Clean School Bus program and many state initiatives are providing incentives for the transition. Five years ago, there were less than 1,000 electric school buses in the U.S. Now there are about 5,000 and more than 7,000 additional buses are in the pipeline.

Apart from the climate implications, there is urgency to replacing diesel school buses from a health perspective. Diesel exhaust is classified as a carcinogen by the World Health Organization, and it contains fine particles and nitrogen oxides, both of which are well-documented asthma triggers.

Electric buses are more expensive than diesel buses, but they are much cheaper to operate. School districts need to put in place charging infrastructure. The transition is not so easy to accomplish, but it is an important step, and more and more school districts are taking it.

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Slowly but Surely, U.S. School Buses Are Starting to Electrify

Photo, posted May 5, 2021, courtesy of California Energy Commission via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Geological thermal energy storage

August 7, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The electricity grid is increasingly using solar and wind power. Depending on those two sources requires the ability to store energy to have on hand when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing. Energy needs to be stored away to be used hours, days, or even weeks after it is produced.

Energy storage is booming. California has increased its energy storage capacity tenfold in recent times. One day in April, storage batteries were the largest source of electricity in the state for a period of two hours. But batteries are not the only way to store energy. There are chemical, electrochemical, mechanical, and thermal methods that each has potential advantages and unique features.

A project in Kern County, California, is making use of an abandoned oil field to create a long-term energy storage installation. The plan is to retrofit depleted oil wells to store concentrated solar energy in superheated groundwater for long periods of time. The stored heat can then be used to drive turbines when electricity is needed.

Some 1,200 feet below the surface of the oil field are pockets of permeable sandstone that have been emptied of the oil they previously contained. An array of parabolic mirrors will gather solar energy that will heat silicon oil in an underground loop to 700 degrees Fahrenheit. The oil pipeline will heat up groundwater down below. When electricity is needed, the heated groundwater will be brought to the surface to operate turbines.

There is no new technology involved. The individual aspects have never all been combined before, but the likelihood of success is high. There are lots of depleted oil fields that could be used this way in the future.

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Can a California Oilfield Be Retrofitted to Store Solar Energy?

Photo, posted July 18, 2017, courtesy of John Ciccarelli / BLM via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Where not to plant trees

May 10, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Planting huge numbers of trees is often proposed as a way to reduce the severity of climate change. Studies have looked at the potential for Earth‘s ecosystems to support large additional areas of forest and have found that it would be possible to have at least 25% more forested area than we do now. This in turn could capture large amounts of carbon and substantially reduce the amount in the atmosphere.

A recent study by researchers at Clark University in Massachusetts and The Nature Conservancy mapped the climate impact of tree planting across the globe, identifying where it would be most and also least beneficial. The study, published in Nature Communications, found that trees planted in arid, desert regions or in snowy places like the Arctic would, on balance, worsen warming rather than reduce it.

Trees take up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which helps to keep warming in check. But trees with dark, green leaves also absorb heat from sunlight. Snow and desert sand, on the other hand, are light-colored and reflect more sunlight back into space. For this reason, trees planted in snowy areas or in the desert will absorb more sunlight than their surroundings. This can negate the climate benefits of soaking up carbon dioxide.

Previous studies only looked at how much carbon dioxide would be removed by planting trees in order to determine how much warming would be prevented. The new study finds that it matters where the trees are planted.

Fortunately, the new study also shows that tree planting projects that are currently underway or that are in the pipeline are largely concentrated in regions where they will indeed help slow global warming.

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This Map Shows Where Planting Trees Would Make Climate Change Worse

Photo, posted April 5, 2022, courtesy of UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

New York’s first offshore wind farm

December 14, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

New York has set a target of installing 9 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2035. The first offshore wind farm in the state – South Fork Wind – was approved by the Long Island Power Authority in 2017. Construction began in 2022.

South Fork Wind Farm is a 132 MW project sited 35 miles offshore from Montauk, New York. Early this year, the subsea power export cable was installed by Nexans, a cable and optical fiber company. In June, the project reached its “steel in the water” milestone with the installation of the farm’s first monopile foundation.

In November, the first of South Fork Wind’s 12 Siemens Gamesa wind turbine generators was hoisted into place by the offshore construction team. The turbines are being installed by a specialized vessel called the Aeolus. Turbine installation involves using a crane to place the steel turbine tower onto the foundation. The nacelle and rotor are then installed on top of the tower. Finally, the blades are bolted one by one to the rotor.

All 12 turbines for the project are expected to be installed by the end of this year or by early 2024.

There have been setbacks for the U.S. offshore wind industry in recent times. Two projects in New Jersey have been scrapped because of supply chain issues. Rhode Island Energy pulled out of a project citing higher interest rates, increased expenses, and problems with tax credits.

But despite these setbacks, the industry continues to make headway. Vineyard Wind in Massachusetts is on the precipice of delivering its first power to the grid and the pipeline of additional projects continues to grow.

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First turbine installed at South Fork Wind, New York’s first offshore wind farm

Photo, posted August 7, 2013, courtesy of SSE / Department of Energy and Climate Change via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Water For Arizona | Earth Wise

July 17, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The Phoenix area is the fastest growing region in the country. Arizona’s two major sources of water – groundwater and the Colorado River – are dwindling from drought, climate change, and overuse. Officials in the state are considering a radical plan to construct a desalination plant off the Mexican coast that will take the salt out of seawater, and then pipe that water hundreds of miles, much of it uphill, to Phoenix.

The project is the brainchild of the Israeli company, IDE, which is one of the world’s largest desalination companies. IDE has asked Arizona to sign a 100-year contract to buy water from the project.

There are multiple complications surrounding the plan. Desalination plants are common in California, Texas, and Florida, and in more than 100 other countries. But the Arizona project is unusual because of the distance involved and because the state is landlocked. The water would have to travel 200 miles and climb 2,000 feet along the way.

There is also the issue of waste brine, which is a major output of desalination plants. In this case, the brine would flood the northern Gulf of California, potentially threatening a productive fishery. In addition, the pipeline, as well as electrical transmission lines, would have to go through the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, a UNESCO biosphere reserve.

The plant would be located in Puerto Peñasco, a struggling town with its own water problems.

With booming home construction going on in the Phoenix area, the need for more water continues to grow. Whether this plan will be approved by Arizona and by Mexico remains to be seen.

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Arizona, Low on Water, Weighs Taking It From the Sea. In Mexico.

Photo, posted September 26, 2008, courtesy of Dan via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Carbon Capture Booming | Earth Wise

November 24, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

For the world to reach a state of net-zero emissions, it is going to require more than the ongoing transition to renewable energy sources. There will also need to be efforts to capture the emissions from sources that can’t easily eliminate their pollution. These include steel mills, cement plants, and other industrial sites. At least for the foreseeable future, a number of essential industries have no other viable path to deep decarbonization, and carbon capture and storage projects are the only promising strategy on hand.

Companies use CCS to filter emissions from fossil fuel power plants and industrial facilities and then bury the captured carbon underground, often in deep caverns.

Over the past 12 months, the pipeline for carbon capture and storage projects has grown by 44%. This year, firms have announced 61 new CCS projects, bringing the total number of commercial projects in the global pipeline to 196, which includes about 30 that are already in operation. Another 11 are under construction, and 153 are in development.

When all of these projects are completed, they will have the capacity to capture a total of about 270 million tons of carbon dioxide per year. Estimates are that there need to be 1,400 million tons locked away each year to reach zero-emissions. So, the existing project pipeline constitutes about 20% of what is ultimately needed.

The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act boosts tax incentives for carbon capture. Analysts believe this could multiply U.S. deployment of the technology more than 10-fold. Globally, it is expected that CCS will continue its rapid growth as countries ramp up investments in the technology.

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Carbon Capture Projects See Meteoric Growth in 2022

Photo, posted August 22, 2022, courtesy of Nenad Stojkovic via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Community Solar In New York | Earth Wise

April 18, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

New York has now installed 1 GW of community solar capacity, which is more than any other state.

Community solar is a solar energy project within a geographic area for which the benefits flow to multiple customers such as individuals, businesses, nonprofits, or other groups. For the most part, the customers benefit from energy being generated by solar panels located at an off-site array. Customers typically buy or lease a portion of the solar panels in the array and then receive an electric bill credit for the electricity generated by their share of the community solar system. It is a great option for people who can’t install their own solar panels because they don’t own their home, don’t have a suitable location for various reasons, or have financial constraints.

Community solar in New York now generates enough electricity to power 209,000 homes. Community solar installations accounted for 70% of New York’s solar additions in 2021 and the state has a pipeline of 708 more projects totaling 2.3 gigawatts.

The NY-Sun program run by NYSERDA since 2011 has directed over $200 million to low-to-moderate income households as part of its Solar Energy Equity Framework.

Growing community solar depends strongly on policy expansion. At this point, 19 states and D.C. have established policies and programs to support community solar adoption. The federal government set a goal of powering 5 million American homes with community solar over the next five years. With 30% of the country’s current community solar capacity, New York is leading the way.

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New York reaches 1 GW community solar milestone

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

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Restoring Environmental Rules Will Take Time | Earth Wise

February 17, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Over the previous four years, the Trump administration weakened or rolled back more than 100 rules and regulations on air, water, public lands, endangered species, and climate change. The Biden administration has vowed to review these changes and restore the environmental protections that were removed or weakened.

The process of restoring environmental protections generally fall into a few broad categories. Some changes can happen by executive order. The President can cancel individual fossil fuel infrastructure projects or reinstate federal protection of specific places. On his first day in office, President Biden rescinded the construction permit for the Keystone XL pipeline.

The President is also expected to restore federal protection to the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah, which the Trump administration opened up to mining, logging, and drilling.

However, it could take two years or more to restore Obama-era climate change regulations including limits on emissions, rules on industrial emissions of toxic pollutants such as mercury, and protections on wetlands and waterways.

Reinstating comprehensive regulations on air, water, and climate pollution will take years because the Trump administration, rather than eliminating rules entirely, often replaced them with weaker regulations. Replacing the weak regulations cannot just happen by executive order. The process involves scientific and economic analysis, and that takes time.

After four years of shrinking budget and shrinking staff, the Environmental Protection Agency has a lot of catching up to do and will need to prioritize its actions in order to deal with the most damaging consequences of the previous administration.

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Restoring Environmental Rules Rolled Back by Trump Could Take Years

Photo, posted September 25, 2012, courtesy of Tar Sands Blockade via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Storing CO2 Underground | Earth Wise

February 19, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Capturing the carbon dioxide emitted from power plants and factories and safely storing it so it can’t enter the atmosphere has long been an attractive and desirable goal. Even though the use of renewable energy sources has been expanding rapidly, it will still be a long time before fossil fuel plants go away entirely.

The most widely considered method of carbon capture and storage is underground storage. The idea is to send the carbon dioxide through a pipeline to a place where underground rock formations can store it safely and permanently. Typically, it would be pumped deep underground – often more than half a mile down – and the site would be monitored to make sure the CO2 doesn’t leak back up to the atmosphere or into the water table.

A new study looked at how much carbon dioxide the suitable geological formations on Earth can store. The conclusion of the study is that drilling about 12,000 carbon storage wells globally could provide enough capacity to store 6 to 7 billion tons of CO2 a year by 2050. That is about 13% of global emissions.

Drilling 12,000 wells is equivalent to the amount of oil and gas drilling that has taken place just in the Gulf of Mexico over the last 70 years. The study identified locations worldwide that could handle the pressures associated with storing injected carbon dioxide.

So far, less than two dozen projects exist that capture and store carbon dioxide from fossil fuel plants. In total, these plants can capture about 36 million tons a year, which is far less than what is needed. But the new study at least shows that finding places to put captured carbon is not a problem.

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