energy consumption Archives

Mar 18

Jevon and the Transformative Chameleons

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

Four years ago, in the Four Horsemen of the Rebound, I lampooned what is known as Jevon’s Paradox. A paradox is a statement of contradiction or puzzle. For example, I remember Zeno’s Paradox from my goofy philosophy professor in college. Our class discussed Zeno’s Paradox and that you can never get through a doorway because to get to the doorway, you must first reach the halfway point, and the next halfway point, and so on, and so forth, until the measurements get to be infinitesimally small – and you never get there. Beyond that, we learned that objects are all…

May 06

Love79

Resonating Fugitive Radical Renegades and GHGs

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

Think you're a climate change genius? Strap in and prepare for whiplash. To close out last week's post, I referenced a Forbes article, Green Hydrogen's Hype Hits Some Very Expensive Hurdles, which seeded the roots for this week's Energy Rant. It referenced a Cornell University paper claiming carbon capture from the manufacture of blue hydrogen "is energy intensive and leads to even more climate pollution than if CO2 just wafted into the air." Whoa, ho, Nellie! Does carbon capture result in more emissions and energy consumption than free release of combustion products? The latter isn't surprising, but more emissions are a headliner. I…

Mar 04

Love69

Four Steps to Energy Code Flatline

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

Energy efficiency program administrators can be quite conservative regarding change and innovation. I love hearing, “Bring us new ideas that have been successful in three or four other programs.” There you are! The pinch is on. Energy efficiency codes and standards have raised the bar consistently such that incremental savings from one code change to the next are exceedingly scarce. The gravy-train days of incremental widget-efficiency improvements, including lighting efficacy and heating and cooling equipment efficiencies, are quickly closing. Vehicles A nice parallel to diminishing returns on efficiency is vehicle mileage. The following chart shows fuel energy consumed per thousand…

Aug 28

Love44

Modern Electric Rates from the Slide Rule Era

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

Last week, we looked at Total Resource Cost (TRC) tests that were developed decades ago to put a high value on avoided source energy costs. That was right for the time, but not today. I demonstrated that energy costs, mostly dominated by natural gas, are near historic lows, while zero-energy-cost renewables supply more electricity than coal-fired generation. Of course, renewable sources have zero source-energy consumption. Yet, utility commissioners are laser-focused on keeping electricity prices in check and maintaining the reliability of the electric grid. Electric Rate Basics Like the TRC, most utility rates (tariffs) are stuck in the 1970s. I…

Mar 07

Love17

Eyes Open for Food and Energy Waste

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

General Russel Honoré delivered the closing plenary from last week’s AESP Annual Conference. He humorously but effectively preached to the choir about climate change mitigation. I will take one sub-topic he mentioned, food waste, and run with that this week. I may even expand it to the grocery store. General Honoré was the Commander of Joint Task Force Katrina, the hurricane. This is an excellent opportunity to pull out an article I read a few weeks ago, Dear Consumers, Please Consume Less, posted on Energy Central. Americans consume an average of 3,600 calories daily, while the recommended ration is 2,000…

May 25

Love0

Maximize Grid Battery Value with Smart Deployment

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

Time flies even during pandemics. Two years ago, I found the quote, “Casual observers are often wrong” by Charles Bayless with Public Utilities Fortnightly. Back then, the Rant topic was that battery storage increases carbon emissions – because “Batteries, or any storage, only swap dispatchable, conventional resources; never renewable resources. Result: increased emissions.” Whenever energy is converted from electricity to battery and back to electricity, the nasty second law of thermodynamics intervenes to steal some energy. The result is more source energy consumption and more GHG emissions. That introduction leads to today’s edition of “casual observers are often wrong.” This…

Apr 28

Love0

China Holds the Climate Cards

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

This week’s post is prompted by further research developing my decarbonization course scheduled for May 19, 2021, via AESP, and information provided by the American Energy Society. Would you believe the course is filling up? Just asking. I like and respect the American Energy Society for its no-spin reporting. Again, this week we are looking at carbon emissions. Last week I reported that the carbon intensity of US-generated electricity fell by 40% from 1.45 lb/kWh to 0.89 lb/kWh. This week, via Energy Society’s newsletter, Energy Matters, the Lawrence Berkeley Lab reported that carbon emissions are down 40% in absolute tonnage…

Apr 21

Love0

Answer: Avoided Cost – What’s the Question?

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

“Can I ask a question?” My response to that, in good company, is, “You just did. Would you like another chance?” Now that, my friends, is a paradox. As you ought to know, I’m preparing a mind-blowing three-hour course on decarbonization for AESP’s Spring Training. One conclusion: 100% decarb is going to take decades and it will be expensive and disruptive. A lot of progress has been made, but it has been easy for reasons I will explain next following this chart, which shows how decarb cost will soar as the percent reduction increases. Average CO2 emissions per kWh produced…

Apr 14

Love0

Combined Heat and Power – a Serious Decarb Weapon

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

A few weeks ago, we reviewed electricity storage technologies, barriers, and issues. One storage technology is the lowly lead-acid battery, which forms the backbone of uninterruptible power supplies for data centers. They are inexpensive with readily available materials, are 100% recyclable, and therefore, they get no attention. Why? Elon Musk, the ultimate hype provocateur. What happened to the PowerWall, by the way? Disruption of rational thought? A web search of “annual Powerwall sales” results in nothing but distantly tangential content. Similarly, the utility industry, our industry, other companies, and people chase the flashy objects (squirrel!) to obtain decarbonization targets. Flash…

Jul 02

Love0

Electricity Storage by the Other NWA; Chum v Beluga

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

Energy storage is easy and cheap. Grid-grade electricity storage is complex and expensive. Definitions of energy storage vary. Some consider hot water, chilled water, or ice to be stored energy. It’s really storing the benefits of energy consumption. For phenomenal refreshers and mental strolls down memory lane, see Storing Energy v Storing Benefits and Something Old, Something Old. Why is grid-scale electricity storage so expensive? To answer this question, let’s consider the forms of storage and the hurdles that must be overcome to make it cost effective. Electricity Storage Challenge #1 = Inefficiency First, we have the storage of potential…

Jevon and the Transformative Chameleons

Resonating Fugitive Radical Renegades and GHGs

Four Steps to Energy Code Flatline

Modern Electric Rates from the Slide Rule Era

Eyes Open for Food and Energy Waste

Maximize Grid Battery Value with Smart Deployment

China Holds the Climate Cards

Answer: Avoided Cost – What’s the Question?

Combined Heat and Power – a Serious Decarb Weapon

Electricity Storage by the Other NWA; Chum v Beluga

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