Wind power is a variable resource – meaning, it ebbs and flows over time. There has been a lot of discussion about how to “firm up” the resource, which would make it easier for utilities to depend more and more on wind (instead of having to fill in the gaps with other fuels). One possibility for doing this is compressed air storage (NYTimes). Quotable:
But a New Jersey company plans to announce on Tuesday that it is working on a solution to this perennial problem with wind power: using wind turbines to produce compressed air that can be stored underground or in tanks and released later to power generators during peak hours….
… But the new venture hopes to put wind power generated during off-peak hours to use during peak hours — typically 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. — and especially on hot days.
One of the main challenges to using wind power is that the wind, in general, is unpredictable, which makes it harder for utilities to rely exclusively on it since they prefer to buy energy a day or more in advance.
Abandoned salt mines, BTW, are a great geologic formation for compressed air storage. (Hello, Reno County.)
Horizon Wind Energy opens office in Kansas (MarketWatch). Quotable:
“Today clean energy is at the center of our attention; new technologies and improvements in existing technologies are key to addressing our energy needs and climate change,” said Ken Ripper, Chief Technical Officer, Horizon Wind Energy. “Horizon is proud to do business in the great State of Kansas and applauds the efforts taking place at Cloud County Community College to educate and train the next generation of wind technicians. The school currently has 50 students enrolled and is beginning a web-based program. Horizon has hired some of these students as interns and full-time employees at our Meridian Way Wind Farm and is very pleased with the results.”
New study finds a lot more carbon sequestered in Artic soils – which means a new feedback loop for climate scientists to consider (AP). If the soils defrost, there goes the carbon into the atmosphere, thus creating an exponential warming effect. Quotable:
And according to one commentary on the research, current models of climate change have not taken this extra source of greenhouse gas into account.
Scientists have long known that organic carbon trapped inside a blanket of frozen permafrost covering one fifth of the world’s land mass would, if thawed, release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
But until now they simply did not have a good idea of how much carbon is actually locked inside this Arctic freezer.
FYI – relationship between hurricane forecasts and oil and gas prices (Climateer).
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
Live blogging – Notes from the KCC Workshop on Energy Efficiency
August 26, 2008
Live blogging is kind of back today. An all day workshop – even when it is on energy efficiency! One of CEP’s favorite topics!! – is not usually a knee slapper. So this will be notes, rather than verbatim uptake.
Where: Kansas Corporation Commission
Topic: Second workshop on energy efficiency for the decoupling question before the KCC (it was split into two dockets – this is about how to figure out the incentives for decoupling)
Why it matters to Kansans: Kansas utilities are trying to get the right to make profits from helping consumers save energy, rather than getting them to use more and more (a consumption model that is obviously increasingly at odds with economic and environmental realities)
The format: These are usually big information gathering sessions, combined with what I think can safely refer to as very free flowing discussions afterwards. It’s a way for the commissioners to take public and expert opinion at the same time. The speaker I am most excited about today is Chuck Goldman from Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, on energy efficiency options.
all of the presentations are usually available on the KCC website afterwards.
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Chairman Wright: what we do today has impact on businesses and users “Sometimes we’re blamed for not having right attitude toward energy and power – but I think we do. I think we know where energy conservation belongs. Most of us instinctively know we need to save vital resources. At the KCC we have to balance that with fair treatment of the businesses that provide energy.”
They do have a court reporter here today :) :) to track the discussion portion. (No mention of whether those notes are posted.) EDIT: wait, yes, they are available for purchase from the court reporter’s firm.
Point of today – there are many, many approaches to decoupling, today is to get an overview.
First speaker: Wayne Shirley, RAP
Decoupling basically takes place against the larger context of how to get utilities to provide EE to consumers. To do so, utilities need to recover the costs of those programs in their rates. On some level, all the models are trying to balance the costs of utilities to provide EE, against the “reward” that they earn for doing so. EE efforts involve target savings, benchmarks and intermediate goals.
Issues: what are utilities rewarded for, and how do they get the money. Cost capitalization is one of four models for reimbursement. Issue: EE avoids building new power plants, which do make profits. How do you make up this loss? All of these models can have very different $$ outcomes. MH: EE/ decoupling is about negotiating a whole new deal between utilities and regulators.
