Category Archives: ILSR

Consumer, Employment, and Environmental Benefits of Electricity Transmission Expansion in the Eastern United States

If local towns and neighborhoods continue to oppose decentralized zero Carbon energy, whether solar ground mounts or utility scale solar farms or wind turbines, we’re going to need more transmission, much more transmission. Opponents to decentralized solar generation are either … Continue reading

Posted in alternatives to the Green New Deal, American Solar Energy Society, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, bridge to somewhere, Carbon Cycle, carbon dioxide, clean disruption, CleanTechnica, climate change, climate disruption, climate economics, climate policy, complex systems, Cult of Carbon, decentralized electric power generation, distributed generation, ecomodernism, electric vehicles, electrical energy engineering, electrical energy storage, electricity, electricity markets, energy storage, energy utilities, extended supply chains, global warming, greenhouse gases, IEEE, ILSR, investment in wind and solar energy, keep fossil fuels in ground, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, liberal climate deniers, local generation, mitigating climate disruption, On being Carbon Dioxide, photovoltaics, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, tragedy of the horizon, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | Leave a comment

“On the road again …”

Suggested citation: Davis, Lucas. “Electrification? We Are Already On The Way“, Berkeley Haas Energy Institute Blog.​ Even without environmental incentives, the United States has moved towards greater electrification. Note, however, that Massachusetts is not numbered amongst the Enlightened.

Posted in adaptation, Amory Lovins, Anthropocene, Berkeley Haas Energy, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, bridge to somewhere, CleanTechnica, cliamate mitigation, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, electricity, electricity markets, energy utilities, global warming, greenhouse gases, greenwashing, ILSR, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, solar revolution | 2 Comments

RevoluSun features us

How to achieve Carbon neutrality in Massachusetts Claire and I and our home are featured in the section on “Electrifying our energy supply” in the section “Local households making the switch to electricity”. 9 Misconceptions About Solar Energy Claire and … Continue reading

Posted in American Solar Energy Society, Amory Lovins, Claire Galkowski, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, decentralized electric power generation, electric vehicles, energy utilities, Governor Charlie Baker, green tech, Green Tech Media, greenhouse gases, home resale values, ILSR, investment in wind and solar energy, local generation, local self reliance, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, mitigating climate disruption, On being Carbon Dioxide, real estate values, reason, RevoluSun, Sankey diagram, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, solar revolution, SunPower, Talk Solar, the energy of the people, the green century, the right to know, Tony Seba, zero carbon | Leave a comment

“Strong First Quarter Growth and Fracked Gas Takes a Hit”

(To see a larger figure, click on image to open it in a new browser window. This is from ILSR‘s “Of New Power Generation, How Much is on the Roof? Quarterly Update — 2019 Q1“.) It was once warned, and … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, bridge to somewhere, clean disruption, CleanTechnica, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, ecomodernism, ecopragmatism, electricity markets, energy utilities, green tech, grid defection, ILSR, investment in wind and solar energy, investments, John Farrell, Karl Ragabo, Michael Osborne, microgrids, public utility commissions, regime shifts, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, solar revolution, Talk Solar, technology, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, tragedy of the horizon, utility company death spiral, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | Leave a comment

So, y’say you want a Green New Deal …

There isn’t a lot known about the Green New Deal or “GND”. Its proponents are certainly making the rounds, but it is light on specifics, heavy on urgency, heavily coupled with advancing jobs and justice, racial, climate, and environmental. As … Continue reading

Posted in American Solar Energy Society, Amory Lovins, Anthropocene, anti-intellectualism, Ørsted, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, bridge to somewhere, cement production, clean disruption, CleanTechnica, climate business, climate change, climate economics, corporate citizenship, corporate litigation on damage from fossil fuel emissions, corporate responsibility, corporate supply chains, decentralized electric power generation, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, distributed generation, ecomodernism, ecopragmatism, ecopragmatist, education, electric vehicles, electrical energy storage, electricity, electricity markets, energy utilities, engineering, environment, extended producer responsibility, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, Gaylord Nelson, George Monbiot, global warming, Green Tech Media, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, ILSR, investment in wind and solar energy, John Farrell, Joseph Schumpeter, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local generation, local self reliance, Mark Jacobson, Mary C Wood, Peter del Tredici, population biology, quantitative biology, quantitative ecology, rationality, rhetorical mathematics, rhetorical science, rhetorical statistics, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, Spaceship Earth, stranded assets, sustainability, sustainable landscaping, T'kun Olam, Talk Solar, Tesla, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, wishful environmentalism | 2 Comments

“Collective reflection” and working together on climate issues in Massachusetts

This is an excerpt from an article which appeared at RealClimate. That, in turn, is a translation of the same article which appeared in Le Monde on 11th January 2019. Recent discussions at climate-related blogs and among environmental activists make … Continue reading

Posted in Anthropocene, being carbon dioxide, citizenship, climate change, climate disruption, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, EBC-NE, Ecology Action, ecomodernism, ecopragmatism, environment, global warming, Governor Charlie Baker, greenhouse gases, Hyper Anthropocene, ILSR, investment in wind and solar energy, lobbying, local generation, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, New England, rights of the inhabitants of the Commonwealth | Leave a comment

“About” section of this blog has been revised, and rules of commenting made more prominent

See the About section of this blog for a revision in the blog’s description and rules governing commenting made more explicit and prominent. In fact, I have copied these at the bottom of this post. The heading of the blog … Continue reading

Posted in Anthropocene, blog, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, CleanTechnica, climate change, ecology, Ecology Action, ecomodernism, ecopragmatism, ecopragmatist, engineering, global warming, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, ILSR, Joseph Schumpeter, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local generation, local self reliance, Mark Carney, reasonableness, secularism, solar democracy, solar domination, Stewart Brand, technology, the energy of the people, the green century, Tony Seba, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | Leave a comment

“… [N]ew renewable energy capacity could quadruple that of fossil fuels over next three years”

This is utility-scale capacity only. See the footnote from the original post repeated at the bottom. Also, given uncertainties related to federal data availability at federal Web sites during the partial federal shutdown, I have copied the cited report and … Continue reading

Posted in American Solar Energy Society, Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, clean disruption, CleanTechnica, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, electricity, FERC, green tech, ILSR, investment in wind and solar energy, John Farrell, Joseph Schumpeter, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local generation, local self reliance, natural gas, rate of return regulation, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, Sonnen community, the energy of the people, the right to know, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | 1 Comment

A look at an electricity consumption series using SNCDs for clustering

(Slightly amended with code and data link, 12th January 2019.) Prediction of electrical load demand or, in other words, electrical energy consumption is important for the proper operation of electrical grids, at all scales. RTOs and ISOs forecast demand based … Continue reading

Posted in American Statistical Association, consumption, data streams, decentralized electric power generation, dendrogram, divergence measures, efficiency, electricity, electricity markets, energy efficiency, energy utilities, ensembles, evidence, forecasting, grid defection, hierarchical clustering, hydrology, ILSR, information theoretic statistics, local self reliance, Massachusetts, microgrids, NCD, normalized compression divergence, numerical software, open data, prediction, rate of return regulation, Sankey diagram, SNCD, statistical dependence, statistical series, statistics, sustainability, symmetric normalized compression divergence, time series | 2 Comments

Cold Massachusetts Thanksgiving powered by Massachusetts solar

Update, 2018-12-15 (Click on image to see larger figure, and use your browser Back Button to return to reading blog.) Thanksgiving in 2018 was cold, but it was also sunny. That means the 150,000 solar installations in Massachusetts could delivery … Continue reading

Posted in American Solar Energy Society, Ørsted, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, clean disruption, CleanTechnica, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, disruption, distributed generation, electrical energy storage, electricity markets, energy utilities, explosive methane, green tech, Green Tech Media, grid defection, ILSR, investment in wind and solar energy, ISO-NE, local generation, local self reliance, marginal energy sources, Mark Jacobson, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, Mathematics and Climate Research Network, pipelines, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Sonnen community, Spaceship Earth, the energy of the people, the green century, Tony Seba, utility company death spiral, wind energy, zero carbon | 4 Comments

What will happen to fossil fuel-fired electric bills everywhere, eventually, including those fired by natural gas

See Cost of Coal: Electric Bills Skyrocket in Appalachia as Region’s Economy Collapses, by James Bruggers at Inside Climate News. Excerpt: The common denominator is American Electric Power, one of the nation’s largest utilities. It owns Kentucky Power, along with … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, American Solar Energy Society, Amory Lovins, an uncaring American public, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to nowhere, bridge to somewhere, Carbon Worshipers, clean disruption, corporate responsibility, Cult of Carbon, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, destructive economic development, electricity, electricity markets, energy utilities, engineering, exponential growth, fossil fuels, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, ILSR, investment in wind and solar energy, ISO-NE, John Farrell, Joseph Schumpeter, local generation, local self reliance, marginal energy sources, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, natural gas, pipelines, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reason, reasonableness, rights of the inhabitants of the Commonwealth, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, Sonnen community, Spaceship Earth, stranded assets, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the right to be and act stupid, the right to know, the tragedy of our present civilization, the value of financial assets, tragedy of the horizon, unreason, utility company death spiral, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | Leave a comment

Local Energy Rules!

As John Farrell says, Keep your energy local. If you want to take back control of your democracy, a priority is taking back control of your energy supply. Centralized energy centralizes political power and influence. Listen to more from a … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, clean disruption, climate economics, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, efficiency, electricity markets, energy efficiency, energy utilities, feed-in tariff, force multiplier, fossil fuel divestment, grid defection, ILSR, investment in wind and solar energy, local generation, local self reliance, public utility commissions, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, Spaceship Earth, stranded assets, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, utility company death spiral, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | Leave a comment

CO2 efficiency as a policy concept

I listened to the following talk, featuring Professor Kevin Anderson, who I have mentioned many times here before: While I continue to be hugely supportive of distributed PV as an energetic and democratic solution, as inspired by John Farrell at … Continue reading

Posted in Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Boston Ethical Society, climate disruption, ILSR, John Farrell, Kevin Anderson, lifestyle changes, local self reliance, moral leadership, naturalism, personal discipline, Spaceship Earth, Unitarian Universalism, UU, UU Humanists | Leave a comment

storage

And, an aside on PV,

Posted in American Solar Energy Society, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, decentralized energy, distributed generation, energy storage, grid defection, ILSR, investment in wind and solar energy, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets | Leave a comment

wind+storage 2.1 ¢/kWh, solar+storage 3.6 ¢/kWh

Update, 2018-01-16 Vox has a widely acclaimed update to this story. (rubbing hands gleefully) Utility scale bids at Xcel Energy had median prices of 2.1 ¢/kWh for wind-with-storage, and 3.6 ¢/kWh for solar-with-storage. Hat tip to Utility Dive. In U.S. … Continue reading

Posted in American Petroleum Institute, American Solar Energy Society, Amory Lovins, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, Cape Wind, Carbon Worshipers, clean disruption, CleanTechnica, climate economics, corporate litigation on damage from fossil fuel emissions, Cult of Carbon, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, destructive economic development, distributed generation, economics, electrical energy storage, electricity, electricity markets, energy storage, energy utilities, FERC, Green Tech Media, ILSR, investment in wind and solar energy, Joseph Schumpeter, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local generation, local self reliance, marginal energy sources, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, microgrids, natural gas, petroleum, pipelines, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, regulatory capture, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, Spaceship Earth, stranded assets, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, tragedy of the horizon, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | Leave a comment

FERC: No multi-billion dollar bailout for coal and nuclear generating facilities

Excerpts from statements by Richard Glick, FERC commissioner are given below. The Microgrid Knowledge (“MGK”) news article summarizes the context by writing: The commission rejected the energy secretary’s assertion that retirement of coal and nuclear plants threatens electric resilience. Instead … Continue reading

Posted in American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Solar Energy Society, Amory Lovins, Berkeley, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, CleanTechnica, climate economics, decentralized electric power generation, distributed generation, electricity markets, energy utilities, FERC, green tech, grid defection, ILSR, investment in wind and solar energy, ISO-NE, John Farrell, Joseph Schumpeter, microgrids, rate of return regulation, stranded assets, sustainability, the energy of the people, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, wind energy, wind power | Leave a comment

Energy efficiency of homes in real estate listings hits the big time

You want to sell that house, right? You want to buy a house? Why oughtn’t the recurring costs of operating a home be a factor? Especially it’s energy costs. U.S. homeowners spend an average of over $2000 a year on … Continue reading

Posted in American Solar Energy Society, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, CleanTechnica, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, distributed generation, efficiency, energy efficiency, home resale values, ILSR, investment in wind and solar energy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, solar energy, University of California Berkeley | Leave a comment

Amory Lovins, 2008: `Natural Capitalism: The Next Industrial Revolution with Amory Lovins`

An excellent presentation from über successful dropout from Harvard University and Oxford University, Dr Amory Lovins, at University of California at Berkeley:

Posted in Adam Smith, affordable mass goods, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Amory Lovins, Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, bridge to somewhere, capitalism, climate economics, destructive economic development, ecological services, ecology, Ecology Action, economic trade, economics, environment, ILSR, internal inconsistency, Joseph Schumpeter, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, population biology, population dynamics, quantitative biology, resource producitivity, solid waste management, stranded assets, supply chains, sustainability, the green century, the right to know, the tragedy of our present civilization, the value of financial assets, transparency | Leave a comment

On Hoarding Electrons

I was once scolded by an energy wonk and political progressive at a semi-public forum for suggesting people “hoard electrons”. That is, instead of being grid connected, there seemed to me to be situations where becoming as independent of the … Continue reading

Posted in American Solar Energy Society, Amory Lovins, Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, clean disruption, CleanTechnica, conservation, Debbie Dooley, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, distributed generation, economics, electrical energy storage, electricity, electricity markets, energy efficiency, energy storage, energy utilities, engineering, Green Tea Coalition, green tech, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, ILSR, investment in wind and solar energy, Joseph Schumpeter, Michael Osborne, microgrids, public utility commissions, rate of return regulation, RevoluSun, Sankey diagram, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, Stanford University, SunPower, 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 | Leave a comment

The Myth of Baseload Power (Amory Lovins)

Posted in Amory Lovins, Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, Buckminster Fuller, capitalism, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, design science, distributed generation, economics, energy efficiency, energy reduction, environment, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, ILSR, integrative design, John Farrell, Joseph Schumpeter, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local generation, local self reliance, microgrids, petroleum, reasonableness, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, Spaceship Earth, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the right to know, utility company death spiral, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | 1 Comment

Solar Costs at `Jaw-Dropping Lows`; `No Evidence That Changing Power Mix Endangers Electric System Reliability`

From GTM: `Solar Moves in a Curious Direction Since Trump Quit Paris Deal: Up‘ There is “[n]o evidence that the changing power mix endangers electric system reliability”. Two reports: Advancing past baseload to a flexible grid Electricity Markets, Reliability and … Continue reading

Posted in American Solar Energy Society, Anthropocene, Bloomberg, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, clean disruption, climate business, corporate litigation on damage from fossil fuel emissions, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, distributed generation, Donald Trump, economics, electricity markets, engineering, force multiplier, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuel infrastructure, Green Tech Media, grid defection, Hyper Anthropocene, ILSR, investment in wind and solar energy, Joseph Schumpeter, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local generation, local self reliance, microgrids, public utility commissions, reasonableness, Sankey diagram, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, Spaceship Earth, stranded assets, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the right to be and act stupid, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, tragedy of the horizon, utility company death spiral, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | 5 Comments

Installed Non-Utility Solar, Massachusetts, 12/2016

(Click on image to see a larger figure, and use browser Back Button to return to blog.)

Posted in Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, clean disruption, CleanTechnica, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, destructive economic development, distributed generation, electricity markets, energy utilities, engineering, feed-in tariff, green tech, grid defection, ILSR, investment in wind and solar energy, ISO-NE, John Farrell, local generation, local self reliance, making money, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, microgrids, New England, regime shifts, RevoluSun, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, stranded assets, SunPower, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, utility company death spiral, zero carbon | Leave a comment

“The [transport-as-a-service] disruption will crater the value chain of the oil industry” (RethinkX)

… By 2030, the report predicts that oil demand will drop to 70 million barrels per day. The resulting collapse in prices will be catastrophic for the industry, and these effects are likely to be felt as early as 2021. … Continue reading

Posted in American Petroleum Institute, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, capitalism, clean disruption, CleanTechnica, climate business, decentralized energy, destructive economic development, economics, efficiency, fossil fuel divestment, green tech, ILSR, investments, John Farrell, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local self reliance, making money, Mark Jacobson, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, public transport, public utility commissions, rationality, reason, stranded assets, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, zero carbon | Leave a comment

Who paved the roads?

Professor Tony Seba of Stanford University is a great leader, visionary, speaker, and business expert. He often starts his talks with two successive public domain images to illustrate technological and business disruption. These are shown below. One is a photograph … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, Carbon Worshipers, clean disruption, CleanTechnica, climate business, climate disruption, climate economics, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, disruption, distributed generation, economics, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy storage, energy utilities, feed-in tariff, fossil fuel divestment, Gaylord Nelson, global warming, green tech, grid defection, Hyper Anthropocene, ILSR, investment in wind and solar energy, ISO-NE, Joseph Schumpeter, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local generation, marginal energy sources, Mark Jacobson, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, meteorology, microgrids, Minsky moment, planning, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reason, reasonableness, regime shifts, regulatory capture, resiliency, risk, Sankey diagram, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, Stanford University, stranded assets, supply chains, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the right to know, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | Leave a comment

`The Future of Energy’

Writing in Newsweek, Kevin Maney talks about the Future of Energy and Elon Musk’s long term plan to kill Big Oil. Hat tip to Peter Sinclair at Climate Denial Crock of the Week where I first found the mention of … Continue reading

Posted in American Solar Energy Society, Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, CleanTechnica, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, destructive economic development, disruption, distributed generation, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy utilities, exponential growth, fossil fuel divestment, green tech, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, ILSR, investment in wind and solar energy, John Farrell, Joseph Schumpeter, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local generation, Michael Osborne, microgrids, public utility commissions, PUCs, regime shifts, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, Spaceship Earth, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, utility company death spiral, zero carbon | Leave a comment

Energy Democracy

I’ve actually written about this before, but John Farrell of the ILSR (“Institute for Local Self-Reliance” a famous Emerson essay, by the way) presents an up-to-date synthesis of developments, incorporating policy as well as Tony Seba-like, Hermann Scheer-like, and Michael … Continue reading

Posted in abstraction, Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, citizenship, clean disruption, CleanTechnica, climate economics, corporate litigation on damage from fossil fuel emissions, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, distributed generation, economics, efficiency, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy storage, energy utilities, engineering, evidence, extended supply chains, feed-in tariff, forecasting, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, green tech, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, ILSR, investment in wind and solar energy, John Farrell, Joseph Schumpeter, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, liberal climate deniers, life purpose, local generation, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, Michael Osborne, microgrids, open data, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reason, reasonableness, regime shifts, regulatory capture, risk, Sankey diagram, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, spatial statistics, statistics, stranded assets, sustainability, temporal myopia, the energy of the people, the green century, Tony Seba, utility company death spiral, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | 1 Comment