WRI Stories Feed: Low-Carbon Energy Technology

U.S. Energy Policy Should Take a Lesson from Germany’s Energiewende

Jennifer Morgan — Wed, 15 May 2013 10:59:51 -0400

This post originally appeared on Bloomberg’s “The Grid” blog.

This…

5 Achievements from Germany’s “Energiewende”

Lutz Weischer — Mon, 13 May 2013 10:29:16 -0400

Germany is in the midst of an unprecedented clean energy revolution. Thanks to the “Energiewende,” a strategy to revamp the national energy system, Germany aims to reduce its overall energy consumption…

STATEMENT: EPA Finalizes New Clean Air Standards For Boilers - A “Gift for People and the Planet”

James Anderson — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 13:06:04 -0500

The U.S. Environment Protection Agency finalized new standards for boilers and certain incinerators, the Boiler Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) rules, today to protect people from exposure to hazardous, toxic air pollution from industrial, commercial and institutional boilers. By encouraging industry to use cleaner-burning fuels and to make efficiency improvements, the Boiler MACT will modernize U.S. industry, reduce toxins, and cut carbon pollution.

Following is a statement by James Bradbury, Senior Associate, World Resources Institute:

“Just in time for the holidays, this is a welcome gift for people and the planet. These new environmental standards will help spur greater efficiency across a range of U.S. industrial and commercial energy users. The EPA has taken steps to ensure that the rule will promote energy efficiency by improving environmental performance while increasing flexibility for affected facilities. This is good news for the manufacturing workforce, for public health, and for the climate.”

Background:

As required by the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990, major sources of toxic air emissions from coal, oil and biomass-fired boilers will soon be subject to technology-based emissions limits. The rule’s emissions limits will apply to certain new and existing major source boilers, which will have three years to comply by reducing emissions to levels that are consistent with demonstrated maximum achievable control technologies, or MACT standards.

Because the emissions limits under the Boiler MACT affect the largest and dirtiest polluters, 99 percent of the U.S. boilers are either unaffected or can comply with the new standards by conducting periodic maintenance or regular tune-ups. These tune-ups can improve energy efficiency as they reduce toxic air emissions.

A Positive Vision for the UNFCCC Technology Executive Committee

Letha Tawney — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:51:03 -0400

This post was written with Heleen de Coninck, Programme Manager at the Energy Research Center of the Netherlands. It was originally published on the…

ADVISORY: Press Teleconference: Launch of Online Almanac of U.S. Midwest Energy

James Anderson — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 10:08:02 -0400

National and regional energy experts will team up to launch the Power Almanac of the American Midwest, a dynamic online platform to support decision-makers and analysts in the region. Drawing on more than 50 sources, the Power Almanac will be the most comprehensive online resource for energy data in the Midwest.

The Power Almanac of the American Midwest can now be found online: www.wri.org/midwest-almanac

On the call, experts will discuss the energy challenges in the region and explain how the Power Almanac can assist in responding to a range of regional and state-level energy initiatives.

The Midwest is home to a diverse mix of energy resources, including significant generation from coal, natural gas, and nuclear power, as well as a growing renewable energy sector. However, this mix is subject to change with shifting relative costs, aging power plants, and new state and federal standards.

States included in the Power Almanac are Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

WHAT

Press call to launch the online Power Almanac of the American Midwest

WHO

Nicholas Bianco, Senior Associate, World Resources Institute

Bill Grant, Deputy Commissioner, Minnesota Department of Commerce

Rolf Nordstrom, Executive Director, Great Plains Institute

Doug Scott, Chairman, Illinois Commerce Commission

The presentations will be followed by a Q&A session.

WHEN

Thursday, April 26, 2012

11:00 a.m. EDT//10:00 a.m. CDT

CALL-IN

(888) 455-0064 (Toll Free); or

(212) 519-0819 (U.S. and International)

Access Code: WRI

For more information, contact: Michael Oko; email: moko@wri.org; tel. (202) 729-7684; or Mike Niles; email: nmiles@gpisd.net; tel. (612) 278-7159

Looking to Durban: China’s Climate Change Policy Progress Since Cancun

Deborah Seligsohn — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 13:50:34 -0500

This post was written with Angel Hsu and originally appeared on ChinaFAQs.org.

As its negotiators…

Fact Sheet: The Power of Innovation: Meeting our Energy Challenges through Accelerated Innovation

Micah Ziegler — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 12:44:38 -0500

Innovation can close the gap between the low-carbon technologies of today and the low-cost, high performance technologies the world needs.

Download PDF (PDF, 920 Kb) (includes additional references)
More WRI Climate Fact Sheets
Read more on WRI Insights: Want Low-Cost Clean Energy? Bank on Innovation

This fact sheet is based on the WRI working paper Two Degrees of Innovation — How to Seize the Opportunities in Low-Carbon Power.

Download Fact Sheet (PDF, 920 Kb)

We are facing two urgent energy challenges. We need to maintain modern energy services and expand energy access to another 1.4 billion people.¹ We also need to mitigate further climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon dioxide from fossil fuel burning.² Low-carbon technologies such as wind and solar power exist and have the technical capacity to meet global energy needs,³ but they are expensive compared to high-carbon alternatives and face performance challenges like requiring large quantities of water or land. They are new to the energy system and can create integration headaches. Innovation—improvements in cost and performance—will close the gap between the low-carbon technologies of today and the low-cost, high performance technologies the world needs.

These infographics demonstrate how innovations in solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind power over the past thirty years have dramatically improved performance and reduced cost, creating the technologies we recognize today. They also project the target costs that experts estimate are necessary to reach our energy goals, highlighting how much more we need to innovate.

For example, if we built the solar PV installations necessary by 2050 using technology from 1982, we would spend US$53.5 trillion (2010$). Building the same solar capacity with 2008 technology would only cost US$8.46 trillion. If we meet the cost goal set by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) we would spend just US$1.58 trillion. Similarly, between 1982 technology and ARPA-E’s goal technology, the total land area required for solar panels would drop by 64 percent.

Innovation is a powerful, cumulative process but it does not happen automatically in a highly regulated sector like electricity. It is critical that policymakers support innovators by building a robust, dynamic innovation ecosystem. This goes beyond investing in public research and development and creating markets through subsidies. It also includes building collaborative networks, creating stable regulatory environments, providing infrastructure, supporting innovators’ needs for finance, and building capacity in the workforce.

To achieve a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 (compared to 2005 levels) the International Energy Agency estimates that 3,155 GW of photovoltaic capacity will be required by 2050, enough to provide 11 percent of global electricity production. Over time, innovations have made reaching this target easier.⁴ Innovations like new materials and improved methods of production, including improvements through learning-by-doing and finding economies of scale, made solar photovoltaic cells significantly cheaper and more efficient between 1982 and 2008. While many factors—such as commodity prices—also impact costs, future innovations can continue to improve solar cells and push toward a competitive cost of equipment, estimated in U.S. electricity markets to be US$0.50/Wp by the U.S. Department of Energy.

To achieve a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 (compared to 2005 levels) the International Energy Agency estimates that 2,000 GW of installed wind capacity will be required by 2050, enough to provide 12 percent of global electricity production. Over time, innovations have made reaching this target easier.⁵ Between 1985 and 2010, innovations like new materials and improved methods of production, including improvements through learning-by-doing and finding economies of scale, made wind turbines more capable and their electricity cheaper. While many factors—such as commodity prices—also impact costs, future innovations can continue to improve wind turbines and farms and push toward a competitive position in electricity markets, estimated in U.S. electricity markets to be a levelized cost of electricity of US$.069/kWh by the American Wind Energy Association.

International Energy Agency, “Access to Electricity,” World Energy Outlook, 2010, http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/electricity.asp. ↩
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Working Groups I, II and III, Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report, IPCC Assessment Report (Valencia, Spain, 2007), http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/syr/ar4_syr.pdf. ↩
Ottmar Edenhofer et al., IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation - Summary for Policymakers (Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2011), 7, http://srren.ipcc-wg3.de/report/IPCC_SRREN_SPM. ↩
These calculations focus on crystalline silicon photovoltaic technology only, assume photovoltaic cells operate at peak capacity, and only consider module cost. For simplicity, this excludes many other factors that can make solar photovoltaic installations more efficient and cheaper, such as careful siting, improved operations, and reduced maintenance costs. This analysis includes only the solar module cost and omits installation and maintenance costs. ↩
The graphic slightly understates the story; the difference in number of turbines needed is so large that it was necessary to round up to make the comparison visible at all. Each turbine in the graphic represents approximately 1 million turbines. The 50% reduction goal could be met by 1.25 million 1.6 MW turbines and 200,000 10 MW turbines. In addition, these calculations focus on horizontal-rotor, onshore wind turbines and treat the 2,000 GW target as “nameplate” capacity. The cost calculations use estimates of the levelized (or lifecycle) cost of energy (or electricity) and compute the cost of producing 5,200 TWh of wind energy, which is stipulated in the IEA Blue Scenario Wind Goal. ↩

Seizing Economic Opportunities in the Low-Carbon Power Sector

Letha Tawney — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 12:19:40 -0400

In these turbulent economic times, leaders around the world are looking to strengthen their economies and create jobs. They are grappling with how to…

China’s Climate Minister Speaks in Support of Carbon Capture and Storage

Deborah Seligsohn — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 14:03:42 -0400

This piece originally appeared on ChinaFAQs.org.

China’s Climate Change Minister Xie Zhenhua offered a new phrase to…

How Germany plans to succeed in a nuclear free, low carbon economy

Jennifer Morgan — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 07:53:49 -0400

This piece was written by Felix Matthes, Oeko-Institut, and Jennifer Morgan, WRI.

Germany has taken some fundamental energy decisions in recent months, ones…