Energy Matters, vol. 17.6

The energy news you need to know.

Volume 17(6)

The week of September 3, 2019

The official e-newsletter of ...

News from the Society

- From the desk of the Editor: warning - this issue contains bonus material ... and it is a bit longer than the standard issue.

- Visit the AES website for a Daily Dose of today's energy news you need to know.

- In case you missed it: Energy Today, " Energy Conundrums" Part II (vol. 13.3).

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Headline News

Fossil Fuels

- Hydrocarbons , special report . At hydraulic fracturing sites, wastewater typically exceeds the amount of oil produced. Wastewater that returns to the surface through well bore holes are chemically tainted and its silt contains significant amounts of brine, metals, and radionuclides (radioactive isotopes). That wastewater must be captured and stored on-site, shipped to off-site storage, or injected deep into underground storage facilities. These have been the only options for dealing with wastewater. However, recently a number of companies self-identified as "green frac'ers" ( image ) have found new ways to deal with wastewater:

GasFrac - has developed their own IP-protected gelled propane fluid that eliminates the need for fresh water.
Baker Hughes GE - uses a new on-site water treatment system that allows the water to be reused without dilution with freshwater.
Halliburton - uses recycled water or brine in place of fresh water as a friction-reducing additive.

- Gas . “ Ethane cracking ” - once an unusable byproduct of gas extraction, a new industry is emerging that rearranges (or "cracks") carbon and hydrogen atoms to form ethylene, the main building block of plastic. AES Premium Members have access to a study of the ethane-cracking supply-chain.

- Coal , special report . Coal-fired power plant closings in the US, a comparison of 2015, 2018 and 2019:

Year

2015

2018

2019

Retired coal

(in GW)

Emission Reduction

(in millions of tons)

261

511

328

( Editor's note about the above: In 2015, the most inefficient coal-plants closed; in 2019, it has been the biggest plants, like the Navajo Generating Station in Arizona, or the Bruce Mansfield coal-fired power plant in Pennsylvania.)

- Carbon Capture . The National Carbon Capture Center in Alabama is expanding its facilities to apply its carbon capture technologies to natural gas power plants.

Low-Carbon Energy

- Kinetic. A quarry in Biel, Switzerland, uses a dump truck that consumes no energy. The truck ( image), which weighs 45 tons (with tires 6 feet tall) has a regenerative braking system that recaptures enough energy on its way downhill to recharge the eDumper's batteries to go back up, as well as a surplus. ( Editor's note: A typical dump truck uses between 11,000 and 22,000 gallons of diesel fuel and produces 196 metric tons of CO2 each year.)

- Nuclear-to-Hydrogen. Exelon, the nation’s largest nuclear power generator, Argonne National Labs, and Norwegian firm Nel Hydrogen are exploring the use of nuclear power plants to produce hydrogen.

- Gravity ( video). Two ventures (Tower of Power and Energy Vault) are combining software, towers, cranes, and huge composite blocks of cement to generate energy. In off-peak hours, the cranes draw energy from the grid to raise the blocks. During peak-demand, the blocks are lowered, delivering energy back to the grid.

- Tidal. Orbital O2 ( image) is a 100-foot-long “floating rotor-turbine" that rotates by the tides; each turbine generates about 2 GW of electricity each year.

- WTE. Fulcrum and Velocys are using waste-to-energy byproducts (like household waste from landfill sites) to produce low-carbon aviation fuel. ( Note: Fulcrum just received a $30 million investment from BP, and British Airways is using WTE fuels for some shorter direct flights.)

- Hydropower . Top 6 - 10 largest power plants in the world, by location, source and gigawatt capacity ( visit the AES website for the Top-5 largest power plants):

6. Kashiwasaki-Kariwa - Japan, nuclear (7.5)

7. Grand Coulee - United States, hydropower (6.5)

8. Xiangiaba ( image) - China, hydropower (6)

9. Longtan - China, hydropower (6)

10. Sayano-Shushenskaya - Russia, hydropower (6)

- Wind. Makani demonstrated off the coast of Norway in the North Sea that a kite ( image) can generate energy. As it flies in loops, rotors on the kite's wing spin as the wind moves through them, generating power that is sent down a tether to the grid.

- Contact us if you are interested in a $200 discount to attend ACORE’s Grid Forum, October 17, 2019, in San Francisco.

Policy

- According to Bill Gates, "W henever you hear a new policy that promises to keep climate change in check, the first question you should always ask is: “ What’s your plan for steel?” Making steel and other materials — such as cement, plastic, glass, aluminum, and paper — is the third biggest contributor of greenhouse gases, behind agriculture and electricity, and is responsible for a fifth of all emissions. These emissions are the hardest to get rid of because these materials are everywhere and there are no proven, affordable, zero-carbon alternatives.

- Mercedes-Benz has announced it will join Ford, Honda, Volkswagen, and BMW in a deal with California to meet its stricter fuel emission standards, rather than weaker US federal government standards. AES recommends " Did California Trump the Clean Energy Rollback," in Energy Today. Breaking news: The US Chamber of Commerce announced that it disagrees with the Trump Administration over the rollback of Obama-era clean car standards.

- Six months ago, the Trump administration instructed the US EPA to expand E15 ethanol requirements so all refineries had to blend all gasoline with 15% ethanol (the old requirement mandated 10% ethanol blended into gasoline during the spring and summer driving seasons). The new year-long requirement was expected to add 100 to 200 million bushels of corn demand. However, the US EPA has been granting 'waivers' to oil refineries, allowing them to avoid the E15 requirement. Indeed, last month, President Trump's EPA granted 31 waivers, for a total of 85 throughout his term so far. (As a point of comparison, President Obama granted 10 total waivers in eight years.) The impact on agriculture and oil and gas sectors are complex. For instance:

15 ethanol plants have closed this year.
ExxonMobil and Chevron have received most of the waivers, though the intent was to protect small refineries from extra costs.
The total amount of ethanol blended into gasoline has increased.

Pollsters are watching swing-states in the Midwest to see how corn-farmers react to the evolving regulatory mandate.

- In Ohio last month President Trump criticized wind energy : "If a windmill is within 2 miles of your house, your house is practically worthless.... They make noise, they're intermittent, they kill your birds, they break down all the time, you have to replace them every 10 years because they wear out, they cost a fortune, and they need subsidy. Other than that, they're quite good." And yet, some of the most productive wind-energy states - Iowa, Michigan, Ohio and Texas - support wind energy and also voted for Trump in the last election.

- An Oklahoma judge ruled that Johnson & Johnson's "misleading marketing and promotion of opioids" created a nuisance that compromised public health and safety and has ordered the company to pay $572 million to fund treatment programs in the state. The winning legal argument against J&J informs the same legal theory that underpins lawsuits targeting energy companies for their role in climate change. AES Premium Members have access to a true and correct PDF copy of the judge's ruling.

Policy around the world

- For the last six months, Russia has been sending millions of barrels of contaminated oil through its Druzhba pipeline system to refineries across Europe, and a few of these have redirected the tainted oil cargo to China, including Vitol and Unipec of Sinopec. The oil contains 250-330 ppm of chlorides that permanently damage refinery systems if processed (the maximum acceptable level is 10 ppm). Russia's pipeline operator Transneft will pay $15/barrel to cover the cost of repairs, but refineries say that repairs cost substantially more.

- Indonesia will move its sinking (and polluted) government capital in Jakarta to Borneo Island, known for rainforests. Meanwhile, Egypt's coastal city of Alexandria, which has survived invasions, fires and earthquakes since it was founded by Alexander the Great more than 2,000 years ago, is struggling to protect itself against rising sea levels that are threatening poorer neighborhoods and archaeological sites.

Climate and Sustainability

- Fires are burning out of control in Africa, Europe, and Asia; there have been 74,000 individual fires in Brazil so far this year. Fires in South America, satellite image August 15 - 22, 2019 ( as orange dots):

- A proposed formula that measures total GHG emissions:

The Kaya Principle:

F = P X (G / P) X (E / G) (F / E)

The total emission level of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide expressed as the product of four factors: human population, GDP per capita, energy intensity (per unit of GDP), and carbon intensity (emissions per unit of energy consumed):

Where...

F = global CO2 emissions from humans
P = global population
G = world GDP
E = global energy consumption

And...

G/P = GDP per capita
E/G = the energy intensity of GDP
F/E = the carbon footprint of energy

‌

- New York City has long had a problem with Combined Sewer Overflow, excessive rainwater inundating water treatment plants, which causes sewers to overflow directly into the Hudson and East Rivers. But, a few years ago residents started growing vegetables on rooftop gardens - about 36 tons of organic vegetables every year. These rooftop gardens reduce sewage overflow by absorbing millions of gallons of rainwater runoff. ( Image: a map of NYC sewer systems that overflowed in 2018.)

- Total methane emissions from the oil and gas industry, production side ( note: estimated total is 79,174 kt):

- Florida Aquarium scientists provoked in-lab reproductive spawning of Pillar Coral, an endangered Atlantic Ocean coral species. Meanwhile, the last two female northern white rhinos have been fertilized with frozen sperm from two now-dead males (note: it will be about 10 days before it is known whether the eggs have become embryos.) There is a breeding program at a Czech Republic zoo that has produced its first batch of Titicaca frog tadpoles, which are the main ingredient in a smoothie-type health drink in Peru. The near-extinct Titicaca water frog is only found in its heavily polluted namesake lake (image).

Electricity, Power and Efficiency

- One megawatt of electricity can generally power about 1,000 US homes, but only as few as 200 during periods of peak demand.

- In Texas, the ERCOT grid management council has more than 78,000 MW of generating capacity to meet demand. However, ERCOT's reserve margin has reached its historic low-point (7.4% of total capacity) because several coal-fired generators have retired and because demand has increased during a prolonged summer heat-wave.

- Largest electric utilities in the US (by market value in billions USD):

NextEra Energy (90.7)
Duke Energy (64.9)
Dominion Resources (59.9)
Southern Company (54.1)
Exelon (47.7)

6. American Electric (40.9)

7. Public Service Enterprise Group (29.7)

8. Exel Energy (28.1)

9. Consolidated Edison (27.3)

10. PG&E (22.4) - despite ongoing bankruptcy hearings

- Recommended resource: The Energy Information Agency launched a beta version of its new Hourly Electric Grid Monitor, which incorporates two new data elements: hourly electricity generation by energy source and hourly sub-regional demand for balancing authorities. AES provides access to the beta version of the Monitor.

Cyber Spotlight

- Cybersecurity threat tendencies, by point of origin:

Russia: energy infrastructure (operational disruptions)
North Korea and Iran: finance (denial of service)
China: espionage (spyware)
United States: military (network disruption)

- AES is co-hosting a special conference on cybersecurity solutions for the power sector. Contact us for discounts to the conference, an assigned personal concierge, and targeted introductions to attendees.

Research and Markets

- Following years of success, the Cyclotron Road model of supporting the development of hard-tech startups is expanding. Activate is opening in Boston.

- Monthly average gasoline prices peaked for the year in May at an average of $2.86 per gallon (gal), but the average price will fall to $2.64/gal in September.

- Blackstone has bet big on the energy sector with a $5.5 billion (USD) bid to acquire Tallgrass Energy, a mid-level midstream oil and gas pipeline company.

- A number of new ventures (LafargeHolcim, Solidia Technologies, etc.) are producing pre-cast concrete and cement at lower CO2 emission rates. The new product uses a special binder — produced at lower temperatures — and patented curing processes that use CO2 in place of water. For context, consider:

The construction industry (which includes concrete, cement, etc.) is responsible for 11% of global emissions - worse than transportation.
200kg of coal is used to produce 1 ton of cement.

- Net Power is demonstrating a new technology that burns fossil fuel with oxygen instead of air to generate electricity without emitting carbon dioxide (CO2). Not using air also avoids generating NOx, the main atmospheric and health contaminant emitted from gas plants.

- The global EV market has now weathered:

Historically low oil prices.
Spikes in battery material prices.
The bottom falling out of overall vehicle sales in major markets like China.

Despite all this, the EV market is on pace to grow another 40% this year.

- Echion Technologies has developed a battery technology that recharges in just six minutes rather than hours.

Features

Featured Spotlight: Energy Vaasa in Finland

The Energy Ministry of Finland is co-sponsoring a " Research-to-Market" pitch competition for anyone, anywhere working on any project (energy is a high priority). Eight finalists will get to attend (for free) a three month start-up boot-camp at Slush Helsinki and the opportunity to present at Energy Vaasa. Winners receive a €100K Skolar Award to advance her/his research to market. Contact us for more information.

Featured quotes: The climate change cultural disconnect

(Feel free to Tweet to any of the below Twitter accounts.)

Original Tweet by Jennifer Titus of Channel 10 News in Tampa, Florida:

How cool do you keep your house? These are the recommended temps for energy efficiency HVAC in the home:

78° F when you’re home
85° F when you’re at work or away
82° F when you’re sleeping

Reply from Miguel de Leon

69° F when I'm home.

69° F when I'm at work or away

69° F when I'm sleeping.

The hell is wrong with you?

(6.9K likes)

Reply from Comfortably Smug

AC should be set to 60 degrees in every home and office at all times

(2.9K likes)

Reply from The Doctor

I have an arrangement with the electric company. I set my thermostat at whatever I feel like, and they send me a bill for what I have used. We call it free market capitalism.

(2.8K likes)

In case you missed it, Energy Matters, vol. 16.6

- Most common cyberattack events, by days of the week: