tingilinde

remaking pucs

You probably have spent some time thinking about public utility commissions if you have any interest in the energy transition - usually something like 'why are they getting in the way and/or screwing things up?'  Andy pointed to a talk on a new organization with some ideas.  Over an hour..  I read the transcript.   

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David Roberts

I'm so geeked about this. I've been geeked about this for a long time, ever since we first talked about it. This is one of those ideas that I just feel like, you know, the time has come. I'm really excited to walk through it. So, you know, I said in the intro, PUCs, there's one in every state. Their job is to regulate utilities. Maybe let's just talk a little bit to begin with, for two or three minutes, just about what do they do? Kind of on a day-to-day basis. What does it mean that PUCs regulate utilities?

Charles Hua

Sure. So first, we're spending an hour talking about PUCs because they're the most important, least understood body in energy. I like to call them the guardians of the energy transition. So, what do they do? Well, they regulate all kinds of utilities: electricity, gas, telecoms, water, or in some cases, rail and transportation as well. They usually regulate the investor-owned utilities in the state, although sometimes they regulate the munis and rural electric co-ops. And broadly speaking, they're in charge of three really important things. One is how much people pay for energy; two is how much utilities invest in different forms of energy; and then third is where certain energy and transmission projects are located.

They can play other roles as well. They participate in regional transmission organizations. They coordinate with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and they implement federal and state policies like the Inflation Reduction Act and Renewable Portfolio Standards. So, they're really, really powerful. In fact, these 200 people oversee over $200 billion in annual utility spending. That's a billion dollars a person. Yet, few people know who their state's PUC commissioners are or what they do. And we should be talking about them like they're Supreme Court justices in terms of their impact on energy and equity issues.

David Roberts

It is a little crazy how much people in our world complain about utilities — and here I am, very much looking in the mirror — and how little they complain about PUCs. But as you say, like, utilities can't really do anything without PUC permission. Like almost nothing. They can't raise rates, they can't spend substantial amounts of money, they can't permit large projects. All of it goes through this regulatory body. And yet, as you say, it's bizarre: they almost never come up in conversation. Like, I bet not one person out of a thousand could tell you the name of a single person on their state's PUC.

Charles Hua

That's generous.

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burning wood pellets is far from green

Several countries do it and claim it's carbon neutral.  In reality it isn't and has some other issues.  

 

 

 

 

 

"green" bitcoin mining

It's a scam, of course.

Note they're pivoting to AI training..  yet another scam in the making.

 

 

passive solar cooling

There's some work in the area - Greg notes two nice YouTube projects.  Both would have application.  The first strikes me as a nice undergrad engineering project - how do you refine the design (or come up with something better) for low cost manufacturability..

 

on wood burning as a climate "fix"

Commentary by Andy Revkin

 

 

thermal energy storage in a depleted oil field

Using solar energy to heat underground water.  Starting small, but real potential

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The GeoTES project occupies a dusty patch of ground nestled between well-plumbed oilfields with hundreds of wells — some idle, some still pumping. Just 1,200 feet below its surface — shallow by drilling standards — are pockets of permeable sandstone, now emptied of oil, into which highly brackish water has seeped.

Like the oil it is replacing, GeoTES begins with the sun. At the surface, parabolic mirrors gather solar energy, which is used to heat a silicon oil flowing through an aboveground loop to 700 degrees Fahrenheit. Comparatively cold groundwater is pumped up, heated by the oil, then sent back down. As long as the sun is shining, the system heats the water in the reservoir. At night, the water continues circulating, maintaining a temperature of about 500 degrees. When called upon to make electricity, the groundwater is brought to the surface through an extraction well, where its heat spins a turbine.

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renewables in china

Beating the rest of the world.

While the GOP is working on a return to buggy whips.. 

 

 

fusion is always 20 years in the future

Another chapter to the story.

Even if it did work, the reactors would probably be so expensive it wouldn't make sense.  If the goal is getting away from carbon, there are many shovel ready approaches.  There's this great fusion reactor about 500 light seconds away.  

 

 

 

gavin schmidt and sean carroll

Sean chats with Gavin Schmidt about modeling climate change.  audio and transcript (I went for the transcript as time and the fact that audio quality is a bit off on this one)

 

 

calculating risk on energy investment

Banks tend to consider low carbon investments a higher risk than fossil fuel investments.

Looking backwards rather than considering the future.