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Thermal batteries for heavy industry

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Heavy industries like cement, steel, chemicals, and paper require large amounts of heat and, for the most part, that heat comes from burning fossil fuels.  Other sectors of the economy have been making progress in reducing carbon emissions, but heavy industry has not found easy answers for supplying the heat it needs for manufacturing.

Researchers at MIT have developed a way to supply heat that only uses electricity, which in principle can come from carbon-free sources.  The idea is to use thermal batteries.  These are basically an electrically conductive equivalent of ceramic firebricks, which have been used to store heat for centuries in fireplaces and ovens.

A spinout company called Electrified Thermal Solutions has demonstrated that its firebricks can store heat efficiently for hours and release it by heating air or gas up to 3,272 degrees Fahrenheit. 

The firebrick arrays are contained in insulated, off-the-shelf metal boxes.  The standard system can collect and release about 5 megawatts of energy and store about 25 megawatt-hours.  The thermal battery can run hotter and last longer than any other electric heating solution on the market.

Using this technology can be a way to take advantage of the low cost of electricity in off-peak hours.  In the so-called wind belt in the middle of the U.S., electricity prices can even be negative at times.  Using the firebrick technology – called the Joule Hive Thermal Battery – it can be possible to provide industrial heating capability at very competitive prices, and that doesn’t even factor in the positive climate impact.

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Decarbonizing heavy industry with thermal batteries

Photo, posted April 19, 2019, courtesy of Hans M. via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Trends in rooftop solar

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Rooftop solar power in the United States has increased by a factor of ten over the past decade and the majority of that growth has been in the past six or seven years.  At this point, about 7% of American homes have solar panels on their roofs – about 5 million in total. 

Rooftop solar really began experiencing widespread use about 20 years ago.  Over that time period, the amount of electricity that panels are able to produce has grown substantially and the cost of solar power systems has dropped dramatically.

Twenty years ago, the median sized residential solar system generated 2.4 kilowatts of power.  In 2023, the median size was 7.4 kilowatts.  Roofs haven’t gotten bigger; solar panels have gotten better.

More importantly, 20 years ago, the average cost of installing solar power was $12 a watt. In 2023, the cost was $4.20 a watt.

Americans in fact pay considerably more for solar power than citizens in many other countries.  The reason is not the price of the equipment; it is so-called soft costs.  These include labor, financing, and permitting. Driving down soft costs is complicated and difficult. For one thing, it is important for solar industry jobs to have high pay and good benefits.

The cost of solar also varies significantly by state.  California is the leading state for solar power and its median solar cost is the $4.20 a watt, the same as the national average.  Nevada has the lowest cost at $3.40 a watt and Utah has the highest at $5.20 a watt.

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Bigger and Less Expensive: A Snapshot of U.S. Rooftop Solar Power and How It’s Changed

Photo, posted September 18, 2011, courtesy of Team Massachusetts 4D Home via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Olive oil and climate change

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Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained by mashing whole olives and extracting the oil.  A superfood staple of the Mediterranean diet, olive oil is used in kitchens around the world for frying, sauteing, baking, and as a condiment.  It can also be widely found in cosmetics, soaps, and pharmaceutical products. 

Globally, 2.6 million tons of olive oil were consumed last year.  Spain is currently the world’s largest producer of this “liquid gold,” accounting for 44% of global production.  The second largest producer of olive oil is Italy, followed by Greece, Tunisia, Turkey, and Morocco.   

But recently, the price of olive oil has been rocketing up.  Droughts, wildfires, floods, and heat waves, combined with pests, have punished olive-producing regions around the world.  The climate-fueled extreme weather has significantly impacted olive oil production in southern Europe.  Olive trees are exceedingly vulnerable to climate change. 

Spain, for example, typically produces somewhere between 1.3 to 1.5 million metric tons of olive oil each harvest.  However, officials expect a production range of only 830,000 to 850,000 metric tons this season. 

This shortage has sent prices soaring.  According to the International Monetary Fund, the average price of olive oil has doubled over the past two years.  In fact, the price is currently hovering at or around $10,000 per metric ton.  And there doesn’t seem to be much relief in sight.  

The record-breaking price has also unsurprisingly fueled a surge in crime, with criminals targeting supermarkets, oil mills, and olive groves. 

The changing climate continues to threaten food security around the world. 

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‘Liquid gold’: An olive oil shortage is fueling record prices and food insecurity fears

Extra virgin olive oil prices tipped to top £16 a litre next month

Photo, posted October 29, 2015, courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

EV battery costs continue to drop

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Electric vehicles have historically been more expensive than their gas-powered counterparts primarily because of the cost of the batteries that power them.  Today’s EV battery packs range in size from about 40 kWh to as much as 200 kWh, where kWh measure the amount of energy stored in pack.

The batteries in EVs are lithium-ion batteries, the same technology used to power cell phones, tablets, and computers.  A decade ago, the batteries averaged $668 per kilowatt-hour and packs as large as those in some of today’s vehicles were simply unthinkable from a price standpoint. 

Over the years, government subsidies, increased competition, higher volume, improvements in battery technology, and reductions in the cost of raw materials such as lithium have combined to drive continuous and dramatic reductions in battery costs.  By March 2022, the average price for lithium-ion batteries was $146 per kWh.  This past August, battery costs broke the $100 per kilowatt-hour barrier.

Industry analysts have long maintained that once the $100 barrier has been reached, EVs could achieve price parity with their fossil-fuel counterparts.  Electric cars would no longer be more expensive to buy than equivalent gas cars.

Projections are that battery prices will continue to fall by something like 10% a year for the rest of this decade.  All else being equal, EVs should be cheaper to buy than gas cars.  Of course, they have already been cheaper to operate for a long time. 

None of this means that car prices will go down in general.  That will depend on trends in inflation and those are pretty hard to predict.

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EVs Set to Match Gas Guzzlers in Price as Battery Costs Plummet

Photo, posted May 9, 2018, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Finding Homes For Rhinos | Earth Wise

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Northern White Rhinos are virtually extinct; only two female individuals survive in Kenya.  Southern White Rhinos also nearly vanished early in the 20th century, mostly because of excessive hunting.   A surviving group of fewer than 100 animals was identified in South Africa, and ongoing conservation efforts led to the existing population of southern white rhinos, which now numbers more than 16,000.

Among the most successful conservation efforts took place at a 30-square-mile farm, Platinum Rhino, that was set up in 2009 about 100 miles southwest of Johannesburg.  The owner of the farm did a great job of maintaining genetic diversity of the herd and protecting it from poachers.  Eventually, it was costing $175,000 a month just for security against illegal hunters seeking rhino horns.

Faced with unsustainable expenses, the farm put the herd of 2,000 rhinos up for auction in April with a starting price of $10 million.  No bidders came forward. 

Fortunately, in September, the conservation group African Parks announced that it had reached a deal to take over the herd.  African Parks partners with 12 countries in Africa to manage 77,000 square miles of protected areas.

The plan is to start moving the rhinos into a series of new sites in the wild starting next year.  Moving the 5,000-pound animals to new locations will be complicated and expensive, costing anywhere from $1,500 to move a single rhino by land within South Africa to $50,000 for far afield air transport.  African Parks is now raising funds to relocate the animals.

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Now Available: 2,000 Rhinos, Free to Good Homes With Plenty of Space

Photo, posted September 4, 2023, courtesy of Eric Huybrechts via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Aluminum In Batteries | Earth Wise

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Batteries are playing a bigger and bigger role in our lives.  Apart from their use in ubiquitous smartphones, laptops, and other devices, millions of electric vehicles are hitting the roads, and utilities are installing giant banks of batteries to store energy generated by wind and solar farms.

The necessary characteristics of batteries are high energy density and stability.  The latter is needed so that batteries can be safely and reliably recharged thousands of times.  For decades, lithium-ion batteries have been the go-to for all these modern battery applications.  And they have gradually gotten better and cheaper all the time.  But the improvements are getting smaller, and the price reductions have limits.

For these reasons, researchers are always looking for batteries with higher energy density – so that, for example, electric cars can drive farther on a charge – and that can be made more cheaply, are not flammable, and are very stable.

Since the 1970s, researchers have investigated the use of aluminum for the anode of batteries because its properties would allow more energy to be stored.  However, when used in lithium-ion batteries, aluminum developed fractures and failed after a few cycles.

Researchers at Georgia Tech University have developed a type of aluminum foil with small amounts of other materials that create specific microstructures.  Used in battery anodes, this material does not degrade and appears to be a path to a better battery.  When incorporated into a solid-state battery that does not contain the flammable liquid found in standard lithium-ion batteries, the result is a battery that checks most of the boxes in the search for a better battery.

Much more work is needed to assess the potential for the aluminum-based battery, but it looks very promising.

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Aluminum Materials Show Promising Performance for Safer, Cheaper, More Powerful Batteries

Photo, posted August 27, 2019, courtesy of Marco Verch via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Falling Lithium Prices | Earth Wise

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Lithium, the key element in the batteries that power electric cars, as well as smartphones, tablets, and laptop computers, is sometimes called white gold.  Over time, the price of the metal has gone up and up.  But recently, and surprisingly, the price of lithium has actually gone down, helping to make electric vehicles more affordable.

Over the first couple of months of this year, the price of lithium has dropped by nearly 20%.  The price of cobalt, another important component of vehicle batteries, has fallen by more than half.  Even copper, another battery material, has seen its price drop by 18%.

Many analysts predicted that prices of these commodities would stay high or even climb higher.  The reason for the decline, as well as whether it is likely to persist, is the subject of much debate.

Some experts believe that the price drops are a result of demand not being as high as expected, perhaps related to slowing sales growth of EVs in Europe and China after certain subsidies expired.  Other industry experts said that the drop was a result of new mines and processing plants providing additional supply sooner than was thought possible.

Despite the price drops, mining and processing lithium remains an extraordinarily profitable business.  It costs from $5,000 to $8,000 to produce a ton of lithium that sells for ten times that amount.  With such fat profit margins, there is no shortage of banks and investors eager to finance lithium mining and processing projects.  Such profit margins are probably not sustainable and that will likely result in more reasonable prices over time.

There is plenty of lithium in the world.  The huge demand for it is a recent phenomenon and the world is still working out how to meet that demand.

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Falling Lithium Prices Are Making Electric Cars More Affordable

Photo, posted January 9, 2023, courtesy of Phillip Pessar via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Community Solar On The Rise | Earth Wise

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Community solar is a way for people who can’t put solar on their own roofs to still take advantage of its benefits.  Whether they can’t afford to install their own panels, have too much shade on their roof, or don’t even own a home, community solar is another way to participate in green energy.

Community solar – also called “shared solar” or “solar gardens” – is a kind of development in which consumers can subscribe to a large solar installation in their area and receive credits on their monthly utility bills for their share of the solar electricity produced.

The large majority of community solar installations are in six states:  Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, and New York.  After substantial growth in community solar in 2022, New York now is the national leader, thanks to initiatives by the state government and the nonprofit sector.  Some programs focus on giving low-income households access to solar.  As of last fall, New York had over 728 community solar projects online.

One should understand that electrons are indistinguishable.  The power generated by a community solar installation is not piped directly to subscribers’ homes.  It just goes into the grid.  Subscribers get credit for their share of the power, but that is essentially a matter of bookkeeping, not physics.

The federal government now has $7 billion that can be used for community solar as part of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund within the Inflation Reduction Act enacted last August.  The EPA plans to award up to 60 grants to assist projects deploying residential and community solar.  Research firm Wood Mackenzie forecasts the community solar market will double by 2027.

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Community Solar Is About to Get a Surge in Federal Funding. So What Is Community Solar?

Photo, posted November 18, 2008, courtesy of the Oregon Department of Transportation via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Electric Cars Getting Cheaper | Earth Wise

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A sticking point for buying electric cars has always been that they are typically more expensive than equivalent gasoline-powered cars.  But increasing competition, government incentives, and falling prices for lithium and other battery materials is changing the equation.  In fact, the tipping point when electric cars are as cheap or even cheaper than internal combustion cars is likely to happen this year for many cars and, in fact, has already happened for some.

Battery production is ramping up for Tesla, General Motors, Ford, and others, creating cost savings from mass production. Companies manufacturing batteries in the United States are receiving government subsidies as part of a drive to establish a domestic supply chain and reduce dependence on China.  Before anyone cries foul, it should be noted that globally, oil companies received a trillion dollars in subsidies last year.  The Inflation Reduction Act is making it cheaper for automakers to build electric cars (provided they do it in the United States using US materials) and cheaper for consumers to buy them because of tax credits.

Multiple companies have lowered the price of their electric vehicles in recent months, including both the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y, which are the best-selling electric cars in the United States. GM’s electric Equinox crossover will start at about $30,000, which is still about $3,400 more than the gas-powered version.  But once the electric vehicle tax credit is figured in, it will actually be cheaper.

Electric cars are already cheaper to own and operate because of the much lower cost of powering with electricity instead of gas as well as the greatly reduced maintenance costs for the vehicles.  Once the purchase price of these cars is less than that of gas-powered cars, the economics becomes a no-brainer.

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Electric Vehicles Could Match Gasoline Cars on Price This Year

Photo, posted May 11, 2021, courtesy of Chris Yarzab via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Solar Power At Night | Earth Wise

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The use of solar power has grown tremendously in recent years as it has declined in price and become far more competitive with other forms of electricity generation.  Its fundamental drawback, of course, is that it only works when the sun is shining.  Solar panels don’t produce any power at night.  That is, until now, apparently.

A team of engineers at Stanford University have developed a new kind of solar cell that is capable of generating at least some electricity at night.  Published in the journal Applied Physics Letters, the research describes a device that can be a continuous renewable power source for both day and nighttime.

The device incorporates a thermoelectric generator that produces electricity from the small difference in temperature between the ambient air and the solar cell itself.  The amount of power produced is far less than the solar cell generates from sunlight, but the device can provide nighttime standby lighting and power in off-grid and mini-grid applications.

Mini-grid applications are independent electricity networks that are used for small populations that may be too isolated to be connected to the main power grid.  Nearly 600 million people in Africa currently live without access to electricity, primarily in rural areas.  A standalone solar system operating independently of any power grid can meet many electricity needs such as phone charging and lighting, but such systems may not be able to handle large electrical need such as powering machinery and agricultural equipment.  Mini-grids are larger installations that can provide power to a small rural community.

With innovations like the new Stanford device, a solar mini-grid may be able to keep running at some level even at night.

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Solar panels that can generate electricity at night have been developed at Stanford

Photo, posted December 15, 2021, courtesy of Pete via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Driving Electric Is Cheaper For Almost Everyone | Earth Wise

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A study by University of Michigan researchers found that about 90% of U.S. households would save money on fuel costs by owning an electric car rather than a gas-powered car.  So apart from the environmental benefits of electric cars, there are real economic benefits as well.

Both the price of gasoline and the price of electricity vary considerably across the country, so there are differences by location.  The study found that 71% of U.S. drivers would see their fuel expenses cut at least in half by driving an electric car.


Drivers in California, Washington, and New York would see the largest fuel savings as well as the biggest emissions reductions from a new electric car.  Those states have cleaner electric grids and a bigger gap between the cost of electricity and the cost of gas.

The study, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, only looked at fuel costs and did not take into account the purchase cost of new cars.  Generally speaking, plug-in cars have higher sticker prices than gas-powered cars but multiple studies have shown that over their lifetimes, electric vehicles end up being cheaper to own than comparable gas-powered vehicles because of lower maintenance costs on top of the fuel savings.  The price gap between equivalent gas and electric cars continues to narrow in any case as the cost of batteries continues to decline.  On top of that, the recent expansion of federal tax credits on electric cars is making the vehicles cost-competitive right at the point of purchase.

Gasoline prices have come down considerably from their peak a year ago, but for almost everyone, it is still much cheaper to drive on electricity.

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Seven in 10 U.S. Drivers Could Halve Their Fuel Costs by Going Electric, Study Finds

Photo, posted April 23, 2022, courtesy of Pedrik via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Record European Heat | Earth Wise

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The new year began with record-breaking heat across Europe.  In fact, on December 31 and January 1, about 5,000 all-time high temperature records for those dates were broken, in some cases by margins of more than 9 degrees Fahrenheit.

On New Year’s Day, eight European countries recorded their warmest January day ever. These were Liechtenstein, the Czech Republic, Poland, the Netherlands, Belarus, Lithuania, Denmark, and Latvia.

Many of the European cities affected by the heat wave would ordinarily be covered in snow at that time of year.  For example, Vaduz, the capital of Liechtenstein, the Czech town of Javornik, and the Polish village of Jodlownik, all recorded peak temperatures between 66 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit.

By the measure of how far above normal temperatures rose, it was the most extreme heat wave in European history.  Last summer saw record-breaking heat waves across much of Europe, but the actual temperature increases over normal were smaller than what just occurred at the beginning of the year.

The source of the exceptional heat was a warm mass of air from the west coast of Africa moving across Europe.  As is the case for any individual weather event, one cannot definitively attribute this one to climate change.  However, it is abundantly clear that because of climate change, extreme weather events of all types are becoming more frequent and more intense.

The unprecedented European weather does have the effect of helping to ease the energy crisis that has gripped the European continent.   The Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to soaring natural gas prices.  The warm weather has meant a lower demand for gas, causing gas prices to drop to their lowest level since the start of the war.

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‘Uncharted territory’: January heat records smashed across Europe

Photo, posted August 13, 2019, courtesy of Herbert Frank via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A Growing Threat To Wheat | Earth Wise

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Wheat is one of the most widely-grown crops in the world and plays a major role in human nutrition.  In fact, wheat contributes approximately 20% of the protein and 20% of the calories consumed by humans globally.  It is grown on every continent except Antarctica.  

But wheat is under growing attacks from harmful toxins.  According to a new study by researchers from the University of Bath and the University of Exeter in the U.K., almost half of wheat crops across Europe are impacted by the fungal infection that gives rise to mycotoxins.

Mycotoxins are naturally occurring toxins produced by the fungus that causes Fusarium Head Blight.  Fusarium Head Blight is a disease that affects wheat and other grains growing in the field. Eating products contaminated with mycotoxins can cause sickness in humans and livestock, including vomiting and other gastrointestinal problems.

In the study, the research team examined 10 years of government and agribusiness data, which tracked Fusarium mycotoxins in wheat entering the food and animal supply chains across Europe and the U.K.  Half of the wheat intended for human food in Europe contained the Fusarium mycotoxin.  In the UK, 70% of wheat was contaminated.

Governments set legal limits on mycotoxin contamination levels in wheat that is to be consumed by humans. But with the ubiquitous nature of these mycotoxins, the effect of constant, low-level exposure in the diet over the course of a lifetime is not known. 

With climate change and the war in Ukraine already impacting both wheat yield and price, preventing toxin contamination is critical to help maintain a stable crop price and to protect global good security. 

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Harmful fungal toxins in wheat: a growing threat across Europe

Photo, posted July 11, 2011, courtesy of Maria Keays via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Lithium Mining And Andes Ecosystems | Earth Wise

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A remote region in the high Andes straddling the borders between Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile has become known as the Lithium Triangle.   The area has become the focus of a global rush for lithium to make batteries for electric cars.  The global demand for lithium is expected to quadruple by 2030 to 2.6 million tons a year.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, more than half of the world’s lithium reserves are dissolved in ancient underground water within the Lithium Triangle.  The cheapest way to extract the lithium is to pump the underground water to the surface and evaporate it in the sun to concentrate the lithium carbonate contained in it.

Every ton of lithium carbonate extracted using this cheap, low-tech method dissipates into the air about half a million gallons of water that is vital to the arid high Andes.  The process lowers water tables and has the potential to dry up lakes, wetlands, springs, and rivers.  Hydrologists and conservationists say the lithium rush in Argentina is likely to turn the region’s delicate ecosystems to deserts.

The global drive for green vehicles to fight climate change has the potential to be an ecological disaster in this remote region of South America and for the indigenous people who live there.

The environmental impacts are not an inevitable price for the transition to electric vehicles.  First of all, there are alternatives to lithium.  Both zinc and nickel are potential substitutes in rechargeable batteries.  But, there are also ways of obtaining lithium that are less destructive than evaporating the metal from saline ecosystems.  It is up to battery manufacturers, automakers, and financiers to start demanding lithium from sources that are less environmentally destructive.

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Why the Rush to Mine Lithium Could Dry Up the High Andes

Photo, posted September 25, 2015, courtesy of Nuno Luciano via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Birds Bees And Coffee | Earth Wise

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A new study by the University of Vermont in collaboration with researchers from three Latin American countries looked at the effects of birds and bees on coffee crops.  They found that coffee beans are bigger and more plentiful when birds and bees team up to protect and pollinate coffee plants.

The real-world study manipulated coffee plants across 30 farms by excluding birds and bees with a combination of large nets and small lace bags.  They looked at four scenarios:  bird activity alone (pest control), bee activity alone (pollination), no bird and bee activity at all, and a natural environment where birds and bees were free to pollinate and eat insects that otherwise damage coffee plants.

The study looked at fruit set, fruit weight, and fruit uniformity – important factors that determine the quality and price of the coffee crop.  The results were that the combined positive effects of birds and bees were greater than their individual effects.   Without birds and bees, the average coffee yield on the farms declined nearly 25%.  That is important information for the $26 billion coffee industry.

A surprising result of the study is that many birds providing pest control to coffee plants in Costa Rica had migrated thousands of miles from Canada and the U.S.

Previous studies looked at the benefits of natural factors separately and then added them up.  But the new study demonstrates that nature is an interacting system with both synergies and trade-offs.  Past assessments of individual ecological services may have underestimated the benefits biodiversity provides to agriculture and human wellbeing.  Ecosystems services are more valuable together than separately.

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The Secret to Better Coffee? The Birds and the Bees

Photo, posted March 2, 2012, courtesy of Caroline Gluck/Oxfam via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Electric Car Sales Surge | Earth Wise

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During the fourth quarter of 2021, overall auto sales in the US fell by 21.3% compared to the same quarter of 2020.  At the same time, sales of electric cars grew by 73%.  Is this the beginning of the end for the Gasoline Era, or was it a just an anomaly during the COVID pandemic?

The biggest factor for the big drop in car sales was probably on the supply side.  The ongoing chip shortage as well as other supply-chain problems made it difficult to find many desired vehicles.  Meanwhile, the soaring electric car sales in the US was mostly soaring Tesla sales.  According to Kelley Bluebook, 72% of all electric cars sold in the US in the fourth quarter were Teslas.  For a number of reasons related to its in-house software development and it unified computer architecture, the chip shortage has been far less of a problem for Tesla than for other car brands.  So, Tesla bucked the overall market decline because it actually had cars to sell.

So, once these supply-chain issues are resolved, will the car market return to “normal”?  That is actually unlikely.  Apart from the short-term issues, there are long-term factors that are changing the automobile market.

There is far more public attention on EVs these days.  Multiple commercials during the Superbowl demonstrated that.  All the carmakers are gearing up for an electric future as government policies push for it.   Electric vehicle sales are already booming in Europe.  Cars are fashion products and electric cars are the latest trend.  Electric car sales will continue to grow at an impressive pace this year.  According to many observers, the recent trend could be the beginning of an avalanche.

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US Electric Car Sales Surge As Overall Car Sales Slip — A Game-Changing Trend?

Photo, posted July 28, 2017, courtesy of Steve Jurvetson via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Synthetic Palm Oil | Earth Wise

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Palm oil is the world’s cheapest and most widely used vegetable oil.  Producing it is a primary driver of deforestation and biodiversity loss in the tropics.  In Borneo, for example, oil palm cultivation has accounted for more than half of all deforestation over the past two decades.   More than one million square miles of biodiversity hotspots could be threatened by oil palm cultivation, which could potentially affect more than 40% of all threatened bird, mammal, and amphibian species.

Today, the world consumes over 70 million tons of palm oil each year, used in products ranging from toothpaste and oat milk to biodiesel and laundry detergent.

Given this situation, there are now multiple companies developing microbial oils that might offer an alternative to palm oil while avoiding its most destructive impacts.

A company called C16 Biosciences is working on the problem in Manhattan, backed by $20 million from a Bill Gates’ climate solutions investment fund.  A California-based startup called Kiverdi is working to manufacture yeast oil using carbon captured from the atmosphere. 

Xylome, a Wisconsin-based startup is working to produce a palm oil alternative that they call “Yoil”, produced by a proprietary strain of yeast.  The oil from the yeast strain is remarkably similar to palm oil. 

The challenge is to be able to produce microbial oils at large scale and at a competitive price.  Unless valuable co-products could be manufactured along with the oil, it may be difficult to compete with palm oil.  Without regulatory pressures and willingness of consumers to pay more, it may be difficult to replace palm oil in many of its applications.

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Can Synthetic Palm Oil Help Save the World’s Tropical Forests?

Photo, posted December 9, 2008, courtesy of Fitri Agung via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Cheaper Electric Cars | Earth Wise

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The price of the batteries that power electric cars has fallen by about 90% since 2010.  This continuing trend will eventually make EVs less expensive than gas cars.

For many years, researchers have estimated that when battery packs reach the price of $100 per kilowatt-hour of energy storage, electric cars will cost about the same as gasoline-powered vehicles.  In 2021, the average price of lithium-ion battery packs fell to $132 per kilowatt-hour, down 6% from the previous year.  According to analysts, batteries should hit the average of $100 as soon as 2024.

It is not the case that as soon as the $100 level is reached, EVs will abruptly reach cost parity.  Across different manufacturers and vehicle types, the price shift will occur at different rates.  However, by the time batteries reach $60 a kilowatt-hour, EVs will be cheaper than equivalent gasoline models across every vehicle segment.

It is not known exactly when EVs will cost less than gasoline models, but there is little doubt that this point is coming.  We have only been talking about the purchase price of a new vehicle.  When one looks at the total cost of ownership of a vehicle, including fuel, insurance, maintenance, and depreciation, it is a different story.

Because of savings on fuel and maintenance, EVs are already in many if not most cases cheaper to own than gas-powered cars.  The Department of Energy provides an online calculator to help consumers estimate the cost differences between gasoline and electricity.

In any case, the number of electric cars on the market is increasing and the number of gas-powered cars will be shrinking.  Sooner or later, we will all drive electric.

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Inside Clean Energy: Batteries Got Cheaper in 2021. So How Close Are We to EVs That Cost Less than Gasoline Vehicles?

Photo, posted July 29, 2017, courtesy of Steve Jurvetson via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Ever Cheaper Solar Power | Earth Wise

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The price of electricity from solar panels has been dropping dramatically over the last decade.  The average cost of utility-scale solar power has gone down more than 80% since 1980, making it the least expensive power source in many places.  The plunging price of solar power is one of the driving forces behind the transition to clean energy. 

The 2020 average cost of solar power was 4.6 cents per kilowatt-hour.  The Department of Energy has recently set a target of reducing the cost of solar power by more than half again by 2030, to an unsubsidized average of 2 cents per kilowatt-hour.  The 2-cent goal is not just the ordinary cost of electricity; it is the levelized cost of energy which is based on a formula that includes the cost of construction and operation of a power plant.

If the least expensive power source becomes that much cheaper, it will really shake the foundation of many energy debates.  One of these debates is how to meet the need for more interstate power lines to transport renewable energy from rural areas to population centers.   If large amounts of additional renewable energy sources are added, policymakers will need to work harder to reform the regulatory system to make sure that new interstate power lines get built.

If the average cost of solar power reaches 2 cents a kilowatt-hour, the actual price will be lower in sunnier regions and higher in those that get less sun.  However, the continuing decrease in solar electricity costs will actually have the greatest impact in the northern, less sunny regions, because solar power may not currently be the least expensive option there but it will become the cheapest alternative over time.

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Inside Clean Energy: What Happens When Solar Power Gets Much, Much Cheaper?

Photo, posted May 14, 2020, courtesy of Courtney Celley/USFWS via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

What’s The Best Way To Reduce Emissions? | Earth Wise

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A carbon tax is a fee imposed on the burning of carbon-based fuels, like coal, oil, and gas.  It’s one way to make the users of carbon fuels pay for the climate damage caused by releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. 

According to a new study by researchers at Ohio State University, putting a price on producing carbon is the cheapest and most efficient policy change that legislators can make in order to reduce climate change-causing emissions. 

The case study, which was recently published in the journal Current Sustainable/Renewable Energy Reports, looked at the impact that a variety of policy changes would have on reducing carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation in Texas. The researchers found that assigning a price to carbon, based on the cost of climate change, was most effective. 

The study did not look at how policy changes might affect the reliability of the Texas power system, an important consideration after the failure of the state’s power grid following winter storms in February. 

But the study did examine other policies and found that they were either more expensive or not as effective, including mandates that a certain amount of energy in a portfolio come from renewable sources.  Subsidizing renewable energy sources was also found to be less effective. 

According to researchers, market-based solutions have previously proven effective combating environmental issues.  For example, a cap-and-trade approach was used to reduce levels of sulfur dioxide, one of the chemicals that causes acid rain. 

For the sake of the climate, we should probably tax carbon. 

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Want to cut emissions that cause climate change? Tax carbon

What’s a carbon tax?

Photo, posted June 5, 2011, courtesy of John Englart via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

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