Electrify Everything (reasonable)

In a recent post I offered my opinion of the three things we need to do now to combat climate change. One of those was to electrify everything reasonable. This is complex topic that I will try to simplify.

The Department of Energy is aggressively studying and forecasting US energy use through 2050. Their latest estimates show that a high level of electrification defined to include adoption of EV transportation and building electrification drives a reduction in absolute energy-sector CO2 emissions over time regardless of the fuel, technology, and system constraint assumptions[1]. The study shows that growth in the US electricity industry needs to double between 2018 and 2050 for high electrification and doing so creates an economic market for both Renewable Energy (RE) and Natural Gas (NG) and can’t be accomplished without both. The balance between these two energy sources drives other decisions on how to expand the US electric grid and impacts how much CO2 and other GHG reduction can be achieved.

This growth in both RE and NG may come as a surprise. Those demanding the end of the oil & gas industry, and conversely those fearing the end of the same need to recognize the potential win-win this opportunity provides. (See the Methane Emission post about the urgent need to clean up methane leaks from oil & gas, another sub-topic of the Three Things posting).

Electrification makes sense even in the absence of renewable energy growth due to increased efficiency. The move to Electric Vehicles (EV) is important simply because EV’s are more energy efficient. The best internal combustion engine loses more than 70% of the available chemical energy in gasoline through heat loss and friction compared to less than 30% losses for EV’s. On the other hand, not every electrification makes sense. A high efficiency NG water heater extracts more of the chemical energy to heat than replacing your water heater with a traditional electric water heater because the best power plants are only 40% efficient. But if you replace your NG water heater with an electric heat pump water heater the tables turn with the latter being more efficient meaning less overall CO2 emissions. Better yet is if you have solar PV to provide that electricity.

Our electrical infrastructure needs to expand to meet the doubled electrical load by 2050. Transmission from the RE rich central and southwest regions of our country to the coasts is in great need. Fortunately, the US electricity transmission capacity does not have to be doubled, especially with high penetrations of renewable energy. RE by nature is a distributed energy source and wide adoption of RE lessens the need move electricity long distances.

Electrification with aggressive growth in RE provides the path to directly reduce CO2 and nearly eliminates SO2, and NOX emissions across the US.

[1] C. Murphy et al., “Electrification Futures Study: Scenarios of Power System Evolution and Infrastructure Development for the United States,” NREL/TP--6A20-72330, 1762438, MainId:6548, Jan. 2021. doi: 10.2172/1762438.

Methane Emissions

In a recent post I highlighted methane emissions as one of three areas we should immediately attack to combat climate change. I also called out recent satellite measurements showing oil and gas production as culprits. This current BBC report shows images of emission sources [1]. Cleaning up methane leaks in oil and gas can provides near term reduction in GHG emissions[2]. To be fair, it is easy for us to paint the lucrative carbon based energy industry as dirty, but there are other big methane emitters that hit closer to home. The trash we throw away and the foods we eat also play a big role in methane emissions. Do you know where your garbage goes? Does your landfill have an active methane collecting system? Mine doesn't.

The Landfill Methane Outreach Program has a website where you can research the programs in place at your local landfill [3]. Did you know if your landfill doesn’t manage methane emissions that disposing of food waste through a garbage disposal may be a better alternative. (BTW- on average each of us throws away 125 lbs of food waste each year). Addressing climate change is a complicated challenge, and it is going to affect us more than turning off the light when we leave the room or converting to EV transportation. If you want to learn more about global methane emissions I suggest this source from the IEA.[4]

[1] “Climate change: Satellites map huge methane plumes from oil and gas - BBC News.” https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-6020368

[2] “Climate change: Curbing methane emissions will ‘buy us time,’” BBC News, Aug. 11, 2021. Available: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-58174111

[3] O. US EPA, “LMOP National Map,” US EPA, Jul. 03, 2017. https://www.epa.gov/lmop/lmop-national-map (accessed Sep. 12, 2020).

[4] “Methane Tracker 2020 – Analysis,” IEA. https://www.iea.org/reports/methane-tracker-2020.

Ski Resort Sustainability

I recently enjoyed a 2-foot powder day at Whiteface Mountain Ski Resort in Upstate New York. The mountain offers the opportunity for great skiing and snowboarding and has hosted two Winter Olympic Games (1932 & 1980). When purchasing my lift ticket, I noticed their webpage had a tab for “Sustainability” and naturally I had to investigate. The resort has incorporated the following items into their daily operations:

· Installation of a 2.6 MW solar PV System in the Champlain Valley

· Installation of energy efficient snowmaking machines

· Purchase of snowcats (snow grooming machines) with Tier-1 diesel engines

· LEED certified (green and efficient) building technology

I believe the bulleted items above are great efforts that increase energy efficiency, incorporate renewable energy systems into a business’ operations, and are definitely a step in the right direction. However, I do think there is only so much a traditional ski resort can do to reduce its environmental impacts. You can’t ski if there is no snow! With declining snowfall over the decades there has been an increase in artificial snowmaking at ski resorts. This requires the use of more water, energy, snowmaking machines, and grooming equipment to provide an adequate snow base for skiers and snowboarders. I won’t go into detail about the clear-cutting of alpine forest to create open ski runs, as depicted in the picture above, but I think it is understandable to see what impacts deforestation can have on the local environment.

As much as I do enjoy the convenience of riding ski-lifts up the mountain to do multiple runs down the mountain, I also enjoy backcountry skiing & snowboarding. The backcountry route is definitely more challenging as one has to snowshoe/skin up the mountain and is more hazardous due to avalanche risk and unmarked features. Backcountry skiing has less of an impact on the environment with untouched snow more easily to come by than at ski resorts. Some backcountry areas require initial trail thinning and periodic brush removal to keep the glades manageable for skiing and snowboarding. This is not without controversy, especially in the northeast of the United States where the forests are very dense. However, these thinning/brush removal techniques do not require clear-cutting of forests. I recently came across a backcountry destination in Colorado called Bluebird Backcountry, which looks to try to mitigate many of risk associated with the backcountry terrain. “Avalanche-managed terrain, skin tracks instead of chairlifts, slopeside parking instead of crowded lots, great terrain without all the hype, a culture of education, and a grassroots scene chock full of campfires and live music. It’s hard to beat Bluebird Backcountry.”

In summary, I really respect that many ski resorts are reducing their greenhouse gas emissions with the use of energy efficient processes and by using renewable energy. However, I am curious if some sort of classic ski resort/backcountry hybrid is a viable option for the ski industry to consider in the future. This more environmentally friendly option would put us at the mercy of the weather gods more often and therefore, we would see a more variable and shorter ski season than resort goers of today expect. The three pillars of sustainability include the environment, economy, and society; can hybrid ski resorts attract enough people to visit annually and be profitable? I am curious to hear the opinion of other skiing and snowboarding enthusiasts on the topic.