retirements

Wind And Solar Pass Coal | Earth Wise

August 3, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

For the first five months of this year, wind and solar generated more electricity than coal in the United States. This is a first. Total renewable energy generation exceeded coal-fired power in both 2020 and 2022, but that counted hydroelectric power as one of the renewable sources.

This year, wind and solar alone generated a total of 252 terawatt-hours of energy through May compared with coal’s output of 249 terawatt-hours. Hydropower generated an additional 117 terawatt-hours during that period.

While solar and wind power have been expanding at a rapid rate, the biggest change this year has been a precipitous drop in coal-fired generation due to a combination of low natural gas prices, a mild winter, and a series of coal plant retirements.

Coal generated almost half of the country’s electricity as recently as 2008. Since then, coal has steadily declined as older coal plants shut down and were replaced by natural gas plants and renewable energy sources. The coal industry had a bit of a reprieve last year when natural gas prices spiked in response to the disruptions in gas supplies in Europe due to the war in Ukraine. The benchmark for natural gas prices – known as Henry Hub – was $8.81 in August 2022. In May of this year, it was $2.15. Given this trend, the demand for coal has steadily declined.

The US has retired another 7% of the coal fleet – 14 gigawatts of capacity – since the start of 2022. Meanwhile, power companies have added 22.5 GW of wind and solar capacity in just the past 12 months.

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In a First, Wind and Solar Generated More Power Than Coal in U.S.

Photo, posted September 20, 2016, courtesy of Bureau of Land Management via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Falling U.S. Carbon Emissions

September 16, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Reducing carbon emissions is a goal embraced by nearly every country in the world, but actually accomplishing it isn’t easy. It is true that renewable energy sources are playing a growing role in energy systems, but counterbalancing that trend is growing energy demand, especially in developing countries.

Here in the US, energy-related CO2 emissions actually went up nearly 3% in 2018 compared with 2017. But the US Energy Information Administration is now forecasting a 2% drop in emissions this year.

The main reason energy-related emissions are headed lower at this point is coal-fired power plant retirements. More than 90% of the coal used in the US goes toward electric power and utilities are increasingly turning away from coal.

The rapid shift away from coal has mostly been due to the increasing use of natural gas. Natural gas is not actually a clean and green fuel, but it is definitely less carbon-intensive than coal. Overall, the total installed capacity of renewable sources – hydropower, wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass – has now actually surpassed the capacity of coal plants. Given that renewables have in many places become the cheapest power option, there is little chance that coal has much of a future, despite efforts by the current administration.

The electric power sector is gradually moving away from all carbon-emitting sources – a trend that is being reinforced by legislation in many states. The real CO2 emissions leader is petroleum, which accounts for nearly half of the total. We have a long way to go to reduce emissions from the use of petroleum. There are over 250 million cars and trucks on US roads and only a little over a million of them don’t burn fossil fuels.

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Photo, posted November 6, 2017, courtesy of Cindy Shebley via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The World’s Largest Storage Battery

May 24, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Many homeowners are installing solar energy systems with battery backup. Energy stored in the battery can be used when the sun isn’t shining. As battery prices come down, utility-scale solar installations are also turning to battery-based energy storage.

Florida Power & Light has announced plans to build the world’s largest solar-storage combination facility in Manatee County. The 409-MW Manatee Energy Storage Center will be the largest solar-battery system by a factor of four. The specifics of the technology and source of the battery system components have yet to be announced.

The system, which is scheduled to be completed in late 2021, will be charged by a nearby FPL solar power plant. The plan is to discharge batteries during times of higher demand, thereby offsetting the need to run other power plants. As a result, there will be reduced emissions and customers will save as much as $100 million through avoided fuel costs.

Installing the mega-sized battery system will accelerate the retirements of two nearby 1970’s-era gas-fired generation units. At peak efficiency, the Manatee energy storage system will be able to power 390,000 homes for up to two hours.

FPL has already been pursuing the use of battery storage technology. Last year, they added a 10 MW battery storage system to its 74.5 MW Babcock Ranch Solar Energy Center in Charlotte County.

These large battery systems are increasingly practical because of dramatic reductions in lithium-ion battery costs. The levelized cost of electricity from lithium-ion batteries has declined a remarkable 38% just since the beginning of 2018. The economics of clean energy continue to get better and better.

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FP&L Plans World’s Largest Energy Storage Battery To Support Its Renewable Energy Goals

Photo, posted April 21, 2010, courtesy of Frank Starmer via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.