Distributed Solar: The Democratizaton of Energy
Category Archives: EIA
(reblog) Bill Ritter, Jr, Colorado State University: “Market forces are driving a clean energy revolution in the U.S.”
Transforming U.S. energy systems away from coal and toward clean renewable energy was once a vision touted mainly by environmentalists. Now it is shared by market purists. Today, renewable energy resources like wind and solar power are so affordable that … Continue reading
Posted in American Solar Energy Society, Amory Lovins, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, clean disruption, CleanTechnica, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, destructive economic development, economics, EIA, electricity, electricity markets, investment in wind and solar energy, Joseph Schumpeter, Michael Osborne, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, Tony Seba, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon
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“Eon and RWE just killed the utility as we know it”
The story’s at Bloomberg.
Posted in Bloomberg, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, business, CleanTechnica, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, economics, EIA, electricity, electricity markets, energy utilities, grid defection, investing, investment in wind and solar energy, investments, Joseph Schumpeter, local generation, local self reliance, marginal energy sources, microgrids, nonlinear systems, regulatory capture, risk, Sankey diagram, solar democracy, solar domination, solar power, stranded assets, supply chains, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, tragedy of the horizon, unreason, utility company death spiral, wind energy, wind power
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“Explosive methane will create two million jobs!”
The American Petroleum Institute has trotted out a commissioned study claiming an increase of two million jobs in 2040 off a base of four million (in 2015). First, these are not people working with development or distribution of natural gas. … Continue reading
Posted in American Petroleum Institute, Anthropocene, being carbon dioxide, Carbon Worshipers, disingenuity, economics, EIA, emissions, explosive methane, false advertising, fossil fuels, gas pipeline leaks, Hyper Anthropocene, methane, natural gas, petroleum, pipelines, the right to be and act stupid, the show, the tragedy of our present civilization, tragedy of the horizon
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Deloitte: The drumbeats for the extinction of utilities have begun
Deloitte Resources 2017 Study — Energy management: Sustainability and progress. From The Economist, 25th February 2017: FROM his office window, Philipp Schröder points out over the Bavarian countryside and issues a Bond villain’s laugh: “In front of you, you can … Continue reading
Posted in Bloomberg, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, clean disruption, CleanTechnica, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, destructive economic development, disruption, distributed generation, economics, EIA, electrical energy storage, energy utilities, engineering, finance, fossil fuel divestment, green tech, grid defection, investment in wind and solar energy, John Farrell, Joseph Schumpeter, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local generation, local self reliance, Mark Jacobson, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, microgrids, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, reason, reasonableness, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, Techno Utopias, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon
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The Azimuth Climate Data Backup Project, in association with ClimateMirror
(Updated the afternoon of 31st May 2017.) The Azimuth Climate Data Backup Project, operating in association with ClimateMirror, is being funded via the Kickstarter available at this link. Give what you can. Thanks! See our goal statement. This is all … Continue reading
Posted in American Association for the Advancement of Science, citizen science, civilization, climate, climate change, climate data, climate disruption, climate education, climate justice, Climate Lab Book, cynicism, denial, Donald Trump, education, EIA, ethics, evidence, fear uncertainty and doubt, forecasting, fossil fuels, Global Carbon Project, global warming, greenhouse gases, Hyper Anthropocene, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, NASA, NOAA, open data, open source scientific software, rationality, reason, reasonableness, risk, science, science denier, science education, smart data, statistics, the right to know, the tragedy of our present civilization, UU, ``The tide is risin'/And so are we''
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Westwood Solar & Energy Fair
Today. Flyer. Position yourself to ride the Energy Revolution. Adapt to warming due to human-caused climate change in the Northeast U.S. by changing over your heating and cooling sources. Make Money. Increase the value of your home. Move towards your … Continue reading
Posted in Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, business, citizenship, civilization, clean disruption, CleanTechnica, climate business, climate economics, consumption, Debbie Dooley, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, disruption, distributed generation, economics, education, efficiency, EIA, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy storage, engineering, environment, Epcot, Equiterre, exponential growth, feed-in tariff, fossil fuel divestment, global warming, Green Tea Coalition, green tech, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, investing, investment in wind and solar energy, Joseph Schumpeter, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local generation, local self reliance, making money, marginal energy sources, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, Massachusetts Interfaith Coalition for Climate Action, New England, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reason, reasonableness, regime shifts, RevoluSun, Sankey diagram, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, Solpad, Spaceship Earth, stranded assets, SunPower, supply chains, sustainability, Tea Party, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, wind energy, zero carbon
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A model of an electrical grid: A vision
Many people seem to view the electrical grid of the future being much like the present one. I think a lot about networks, because of my job. And I especially think a lot about network topologies, although primarily concerning the … Continue reading
Posted in abstraction, American Meteorological Association, anomaly detection, Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, Boston, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, Canettes Blues Band, clean disruption, climate business, climate economics, complex systems, corporate supply chains, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, differential equations, distributed generation, efficiency, EIA, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy storage, energy utilities, engineering, extended supply chains, green tech, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, investment in wind and solar energy, ISO-NE, Kalman filter, kriging, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, Lenny Smith, local generation, marginal energy sources, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, Mathematics and Climate Research Network, mesh models, meteorology, microgrids, networks, New England, New York State, open data, organizational failures, pipelines, planning, prediction markets, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reason, reasonableness, regime shifts, regulatory capture, resiliency, risk, Sankey diagram, smart data, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, Spaceship Earth, spatial statistics, state-space models, statistical dependence, statistics, stochastic algorithms, stochastics, stranded assets, supply chains, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, thermodynamics, time series, Tony Seba, utility company death spiral, wave equations, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon
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Where’s NY-REV today?
This is a video and link from The Rocky Mountain Institute about New York State’s Reforming the Energy Visions or “REV”. I have written about REV before.
Posted in adaptation, Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, citizenship, civilization, clean disruption, climate change, climate disruption, conservation, consumption, corporate litigation on damage from fossil fuel emissions, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, distributed generation, Ecology Action, efficiency, EIA, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy storage, energy utilities, feed-in tariff, fossil fuel divestment, global warming, Green Tea Coalition, greenhouse gases, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, investment in wind and solar energy, ISO-NE, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, Life Cycle Assessment, local generation, long-term contract for differences, marginal energy sources, Mark Jacobson, microgrids, mitigation, optimization, planning, prediction, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regulatory capture, RevoluSun, risk, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, Solar Freakin' Roadways, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, stranded assets, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, utility company death spiral, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon
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Germany’s Energiewende aims to make baseload power obsolete
In a December 2015 article in Forbes, William Pentland seeks to answer the question “What is so revolutionary about Germany’s Energiewende?” Mr Pentland begins: Germany’s energy revolution has become the perennial punching bag of American energy policy. In particular, American … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, Anthropocene, Arnold Schwarzennegger, bifurcations, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, citizenship, civilization, clean disruption, conservation, consumption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, disruption, distributed generation, Ecology Action, efficiency, EIA, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy storage, energy utilities, engineering, Epcot, feed-in tariff, FERC, fossil fuel divestment, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, investing, investment in wind and solar energy, ISO-NE, Joseph Schumpeter, liberal climate deniers, local generation, marginal energy sources, mesh models, microgrids, optimization, planning, politics, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regime shifts, regulatory capture, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, Solar Freakin' Roadways, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon
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The rationale for reducing Net Metering is based both on unsound math and unsound physics
News on the diddling-with-metering front. I argued in a comment today that the standard rationale for a change in net metering is based upon accounting and legal contract which is both unsound physics and unsound mathematics. Recall that that rationale … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, Anthropocene, bollocks, citizenship, clean disruption, climate disruption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, destructive economic development, disingenuity, distributed generation, economics, efficiency, EIA, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy utilities, extended supply chains, fossil fuel divestment, global warming, greenhouse gases, grid defection, Hyper Anthropocene, investment in wind and solar energy, local generation, Mark Jacobson, microgrids, mitigation, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, Sankey diagram, solar energy, Solar Freakin' Roadways, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Tony Seba, utility company death spiral, zero carbon
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I ask again: Does Massachusetts have a share of the clean energy future?
Or is Governor Baker and the Massachusetts House going to subcontract that to other states, like Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont, and New York? They are coming. Update, 2016-02-23 Where does Massachusetts get its energy now?
Posted in Anthropocene, Cape Wind, Carbon Cycle, carbon dioxide, Carbon Worshipers, clean disruption, climate, climate change, climate disruption, conservation, consumption, corporate litigation on damage from fossil fuel emissions, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, ecology, EIA, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy utilities, engineering, environment, exponential growth, extended supply chains, forecasting, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, global warming, greenhouse gases, greenwashing, Hyper Anthropocene, ignorance, investment in wind and solar energy, Mark Jacobson, methane, municipal solid waste, natural gas, optimization, pipelines, planning, politics, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, Sankey diagram, solar energy, Solar Freakin' Roadways, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, sustainability, the right to be and act stupid, the right to know, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon
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Wind and Solar are Cheaper than Fossil Fuels and Nuclear Right Now
… and that’s based upon levelized cost of energy, without subsidies! See a summary of Lazard’s report, the key chart below: (Click on image to see a larger version. Click on your browser’s Back button to return to blog.) the … Continue reading
Posted in bifurcations, Cape Wind, Carbon Worshipers, clean disruption, conservation, consumption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, destructive economic development, economics, efficiency, EIA, energy, energy reduction, energy utilities, engineering, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, investing, investment in wind and solar energy, methane, microgrids, natural gas, nuclear power, open data, pipelines, politics, prediction, public utility commissions, PUCs, Sankey diagram, solar energy, solar power, SolarPV.tv, sustainability, temporal myopia, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, wind energy, wind power
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“Projected Costs of Generating Electricity” (IEA report)
The 2015 edition is now available. Some highlights: They included a sensitivity analysis (!) along with their statistical findings. Applause!! Figure ES.2 shows the LCOE ranges for various renewable technologies – namely, the three categories of solar PV in the … Continue reading
Posted in Anthropocene, carbon dioxide, clean disruption, climate change, climate disruption, conservation, consumption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, ecology, economics, efficiency, EIA, energy, energy reduction, energy utilities, environment, forecasting, global warming, Hyper Anthropocene, investing, investment in wind and solar energy, natural gas, NIMBY, pipelines, planning, public utility commissions, rationality, reasonableness, solar power, SolarPV.tv, temporal myopia, time series, Tony Seba, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon
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Foul concerns (UPDATE: 14th September 2015)
Updated, 14th September 2015 I submitted a Letter to the Editor of The Westwood Press last week, one which was published in Friday’s paper edition. It did not/has not yet made it online. It was in response to an article … Continue reading
Posted in Anthropocene, bifurcations, Boston, bridge to nowhere, carbon dioxide, citizenship, civilization, clean disruption, climate disruption, conservation, consumption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, economics, efficiency, EIA, energy, energy reduction, energy utilities, engineering, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, fracking, global warming, Hyper Anthropocene, investing, investment in wind and solar energy, meteorology, methane, microgrids, mitigation, natural gas, pipelines, planning, politics, public utility commissions, PUCs, rationality, reasonableness, risk, solar energy, solar power, SolarPV.tv, sustainability, temporal myopia, Tony Seba, Westwood, wind power, zero carbon
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“Dismantling the Utility Model is the Fastest Path to a Cleaner Electricity Infrastructure”
Dismantling the Utility Model is the Fastest Path to a Cleaner Electricity Infrastructure, by Thomas Conroy.
Posted in Cauchy distribution, clean disruption, climate disruption, conservation, consumption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, economics, efficiency, EIA, energy, energy reduction, energy utilities, engineering, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, global warming, investment in wind and solar energy, maths, mitigation, natural gas, optimization, pipelines, politics, public utility commissions, rationality, reasonableness, solar energy, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Tony Seba, zero carbon
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Why coastal New England is good for wind
(Click on image for larger graphic.) By the way, this “sigma.995” says the wind speeds are for where the atmospheric pressure is 0.995 of Sea Level atmospheric pressure. Compare with Texas. And see this chart of installed wind capacity: (Click … Continue reading
Posted in Cape Wind, carbon dioxide, civilization, clean disruption, climate, climate change, climate disruption, conservation, consumption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, ecology, economics, EIA, energy, energy utilities, environment, ethics, forecasting, fossil fuel divestment, games of chance, geophysics, global warming, Hyper Anthropocene, ignorance, investment in wind and solar energy, MA, meteorology, NCAR, NIMBY, NOAA, physics, politics, rationality, reasonableness, risk, science, wind power
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