Public Power - January/February 2009 - (Page 34)

■ Visions of Green that infrastructure would need long-term According to the AWEA/AEP study, it management. Maintaining wind turbines would cost $60 billion to bring wind energy on a small scale is manageable, he said. from the Midwest to load centers. “But the access, vehiGore called carbon cles and workers dioxide taxes “the sinneeded to maintain half “There is more gle most important a million wind turbines policy change we can would necessitate a than enough make.” Apt offered tremendous infrastruc- renewable energy this modified version: ture.” CO2 price is the most PV has a 20-year life to meet demand,” important single polexpectancy, said Moniz. icy change we can If photovoltaics were a said James. “But make. “It doesn’t matlarge component of the how efficiently ter if it’s a country’s renewable cap-and-trade genermix, PV elements can we convert it ated price or a would eventually have performance-standard to be recycled. “We to electricity?” generated price.” would need energy, waWhen asked what ter and infrastructure for recycling,” he three policies he would put in place, Moniz said. “On a large scale, that would repre- replied: price carbon, price carbon, price sent a major consumption of resources.” carbon. “But what I mean is to price carIn presenting his challenge, Gore said a bon at a level, in a cap-and-trade system, “united national grid” is needed if the that leads to an accelerated technology country is to generate all its electricity from shift.” Otherwise, he said, pricing won’t be renewables and carbon-free sources. the most important policy. “We don’t have the kind of grid system Should we, as Gore said, tax what we needed to move that power around,” said burn, not what we earn? Moniz. “The technology is available, but Such a policy would be a move in the given our regulatory system and rights of right direction, said Moniz. Recently, the way, it does not look feasible in a 10-year Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative period.” (RGGI)—a coalition of 10 northeastern Renewables today account for approxi- and mid-Atlantic states—held the first aucmately 1.5 percent of total electricity tion of emission allowances. “The question generation, said James. If renewables ac- is: What do we do with the revenues from counted for 100 percent, some parts of the the auction?” asked Moniz. The RGGI transmission system might not be usable, plans to invest the money in energy effias they might not be located in the right ciency programs and renewable energy place. “The challenge is: How can we use technologies. Gore would like to see the as much of the transmission system that we funds from auctions recycled back to the already have?” he asked. public, and Moniz thinks he’s right. Creating the necessary transmission net“Sending money to the public could take work would be an enormous construction the form of reduced income taxes, as Gore project that could cost $100 billion, said implied,” said Moniz. “Or it could be in the Moniz. “We have the technology to do a lot form of reduced payroll taxes. Or it could of what is needed for a large-scale smart be divided into 300 million payments, with grid.” everyone in the country receiving a check,” Apt noted that a study by the American Moniz prefers the “check to everybody” Wind Energy Association and American option. “But the reality is that we won’t get Electric Power calls for a transmission su- to that end state for some time, which is an perhighway. “The median time to build impetus for getting something going transmission lines over 50 miles in length is quickly. It will take 10 or 20 years to evolve seven years, but much of it won’t be built to the system that we would design if we because of public and economic concerns.” were starting from a blank slate.” 34 January-February 2009 Is 100 percent renewables the right goal? If the objective is to eliminate, or significantly reduce, greenhouse gas emissions, some experts argue that there are other ways to do so. “If you look back in history, the solutions that put all our eggs in one basket generally ran into a brick wall at some point,” said Apt. “Investor-owned utilities will have to invest half of their net worth between now and 2030 just for upgrades. We need to invest in cost-effective solutions to real problems, not some other agenda, like solar, which is unaffordable. If, on the other hand, we say that we know how many pounds of CO2 are emitted by the power industry, and it will cost $30 to $50 a ton to remove it, we get a number like 0.6 percent of U.S. GDP.” When someone comes up with a proposal, such as Gore’s, it is not a question of whether it is technically feasible, said James. “It might be possible to do, but is it the best economic choice?” Going with one particular technology is not the cheapest way to meet demand and reduce emissions, in EPRI’s view. “Costs will increase, even if we have a diverse portfolio. The question is: how can we limit the increases as much as possible?” In Apt’s view, 100 percent renewables is not necessary. “Renewables are not the only—and perhaps not the best—way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” Apt believes we should not pick a single technology, such as renewables. “The problem is greenhouse gases. If we focus on that, we can afford the solution.” That includes demand-side management and more efficient appliances. “What Amory Lovins called negawatts.” Other options include post-combustion CO2 capture from natural gas-fired and coal-fired plants, said Apt. There’s also pre-combustion CO2 capture that an integrated gasification combined cycle plant would offer, and ultra supercritical coal-fired plants. What, asked James, is the metric for evaluating technologies? “How can we tell the difference? Is one more feasible or valuable technically?” EPRI answers these questions by looking at the impact on U.S. GDP of placing a limit on CO2 emissions, he said. Public Power

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Public Power - January/February 2009

Public Power - December 2008 Contents Perspective 10 Questions Heat or Eat? Achieving Excellence in Nuclear Operations Training Grand Ambitions for Wind Power Visions of Green Carbon Trading Across The Pond Reliability Green Energy Customer Service DEED Hometown Connections Parting Shot

Public Power - January/February 2009

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