Conscious Exclusive

Did you see H&M came out with a 'Conscious Exclusive' collection of clothing made from at least 50 percent sustainable or recycled material?  I mean, how lovely is this dress?

Business finding ways to make business decisions good for their bottom line and for the longevity of our planet- a win/win.

Part of the issue is, we don't have to consider the full lifecycle of goods.  We take the ability to 'waste' for granted.  Perhaps we would make different consumption decision if we had to pay something like a rental fee in landfills?  One could say we pay this through taxes, but I'd venture to say we don't pay the true value. 

A muses musings.

Until next time,

Blondeee

Sustainability and Design ....

... like Peanut Butter & Jelly!  Two things which are always better together.  Though, I really enjoy almond butter, but, you get the point.

Cheers to Parsons School of Design for committing to put Sustainability at the forefront of their education.  It's amazing what we can accomplish when we make it a priority.  And, then we come to find, it's really not that hard or laden with additional costs.  Check out topics like Biomimicry:

And the Upcycle:

On another note, we are feeling the heat in CA!  Yesterday and today are testing the robustness of our generation and grid.  So far, so good.  Do your part, reduce your use if you can (and you are in CA).

Cheers,

Blondeee

A side we often don't see of nuclear power....

.... I often feel the need to defend nuclear power because there is so much negative 'media' founded on little substance.  Admittedly, my father is a nuclear physicist.  So, I have the good fortune of an expert at my finger tips.  It can sometimes be my burden to bear as poor reporting and impassioned 'news' makes top headlines.

Passion aside, let's get one thing straight.  Nuclear provides the potential for an enormous and reliable amount of power generation at zero greenhouse-gas emissions.

Remember this easy stat: The energy produced by 1 nuclear reaction is equivalent to 3,000,000 chemical, or fossil fuel, reactions.  

More on this soon.  Until then, check out this blog post at Forbes. It is illustrative of a side of the nuclear power equation often skimmed over.

Happy Friday,

Blondeee

Knowledge is power.....

..... and these free-of-charge courses stand to provide some serious knowledge.  Through transverse properties, I imagine that means these courses will provide some serious power.  And, sustainable development is important for power, both literally and figuratively.

Think about it- natural resources provide physical power for consumers.  Countries growing in a sustainable manner, maintain their power generating natural resources.  Groups who need energy (or power) sources are at the whim of those who have natural resources.  In our current culture paradigm, physical power (carbon based) wields political power.

Jeffery Sachs and friends (ie. pretty darn smart and accomplished scholars in their areas of expertise) have partnered up to offer free lectures, coursework, reading and group chats online through the Sustainable Development Solutions Network .  Click here to see the 3 classes being offered.  The topics look groovy and edifying if you are looking to beef up in any of these topics:

Side note, I am not paid for this plug.  I just like sharing information that might be useful if you come across this blog.

Cheers!

Blondeee

Sharing is caring....

.... a funny bit today reported by the NYTs: New York City could reduce the current 13,500 taxis on the road by up to 40% if riders were willing to share.  Read the full article here.

Think about the public and environmental health implications!  Let's get some economists on that.

Sum sum summertime

Well goodness me, please excuse my absence. Consider it a long summer break ending.... now.  I am ready to get back here and talk energy.  All things energy with my best effort to be unbiased. 

My first gem...... Check out 'The Energy Gang' weekly podcast:

http://www.greentechmedia.com/podcast

Katherine, Jigar and Stephen all bring well informed perspectives and provide lively current conversation. 

Happy August,

Blondeee

SOTU

Preface: while this is about Tuesday's State of the Union, the focus is what the President said about energy, climate change and energy policy.   Because, well, that’s what I do at blondeee.

First, I was pleased climate change and energy production were one of the first topics the president launched in to during his SOTU- fabulous!

He was efficient in his messaging hitting points like the need to reduce benefits for fossil fuels and invest that in new technologies, renewable energy creating domestic jobs, the need to act now to mitigate the long term and potential irreversible effects of climate change and using natural gas (domestically produced!) as a birding technology to the future renewable based economy.  

The debate is settled: Climate Change is a fact.  

Boom.  Bold. No messing around here.  Direct and clear, Mr. President!

A funny result from the Presidents 'climate change' section- a colleague of mine was miffed at the President's focus on natural gas meaning domestic drilling/fracking and the problem of methane leakage. Methane a far more toxic greenhouse gas than CO2. And, I see his concern.

However, i reminded my colleague the President called it a bridging fuel meaning not the future. And, the reality is, we are not ready to go directly to a renewable based economy. Natural gas is cleaner than fossil fuel and buys us time to implement the right technologies and infrastructure for a clean future. 

What do you think?

CAISO bound

En route to the hub of the California energy market, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO). 

Power!

Cracking the nut of energy storage

Did you see last week the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved establishing a target of 1.3GW (1,300 MW) of energy storage to be procured (contracted) by the 3 main utilities serving the state by 2020?

California has an aggressive (relative to the US) renewable portfolio standard (RPS) of 33% by 2020.  This means 33% of the generated electricity contracted by utilities on behalf of their customers shall come from renewable energy sources.  As I mentioned in yesterday's post, public policy of this nature is a strong driver of investment.  Policy mandates create certainty of the future. 

Policy mandates also cause a domino effect.  More renewables coming online on the California grid creates operational and reliability issues with more intermittent resources in the mix.  More renewables, specifically solar, also introduces a new need for generation ramping to meet evening demand after the sun goes down.  Check out peak load shift for more information. 

So, here comes storage! Storage provides flexibility of generation (ie, when we use the energy we stored) as well as rapid response time (from what they say, I'm going on an assumption here.  But, if it responds like my cell phone, I have to believe response is pretty quick).

The below diagram is a good illustration of how energy storage is a great partner to renewable energy production- storing when we are producing in abundance and releasing storage to the grid when needed.  

 

So, why are we only now just seeing energy storage in the mix?  Well, with all new things, the technology is still expensive.  Research continues to mark progress and work towards figure out the best solution.  Once the nut of energy storage is cracked, I predict we will see a complete revolution in electricity.  

cheers from one nutty energy economist,

blondee

bits and pieces....

I recently read a story on Google purchasing the entire output of a 240MW wind farm in Texas.  While Google will not directly consume the power generated by the turbines, the electricity generated by the new wind farm will be sold into the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) market, the same grid system serving Googles Mayes County, OK data center.  Then, Google can retire the generated Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) against the company's carbon footprint.  

source: DOE Green Power Network email

This is a perfect little example of how policy, be it public policy or company policy, drives investment in renewable energy projects.  When a developer can achieve some level of 'certainty' of ROI, projects like this new wind farm in Texas get built. 

Oh, and, if you would like to know more about RECs, why don't you google it?  I'll write about them another time.

Cheers, 
blondee

Happy birthday Ford Model A...celebrating the learning curve

Did you know, on this day in 1903 Ford Motor sold it's first automobile?  Thank you Garrison Keillor and 'The Writers Almanac' for this little gem of information.  If you don't get The Writers Almanac daily email, I highly recommend it and you can see it/sign up for it here.

The Model A sold for $850 in 1903.  It sold fewer than 2,000 cars but that was enough to make Ford profitable.  And, through continued innovation, engineering, scaling and process improvements, Ford was able to bring the price of the basic Model T down to under $350 by 1918. 

This is a simple real world illustration of what economists like to refer to as the 'experience curve' and the notion of cost reduction per unit of production based on learning functions, often classified as 'learning by doing' and 'learning by researching.'

The gist of the experience curve: as cumulative production of some good doubles, cost per unit of production decreases by some percentage.  This percentage is usually referred to as the learning rate or learning ratio.

I recently applied the experience curve to an exiting new technology with great potential as a future fuel for the auto way of life Mr. Ford and the Model T helped build.  I modeled an experience curve for algae biofuel production and scale up in order to quantify potential investments necessary for the technology to reach cost parity with fossil fuel sources of transportation fuel.  I'll share my work in some upcoming posts.  I thought Model A's birthday was a particularly symbolic way to kick things off.

I love Schoolhouse Rock!

Do you remember Schoolhouse Rock episodes?  One of my personal favorites was 'Conjunction Junction.'  My friend, Josh, just reminded me of the one below, 'The Energy Blues'. Ironic I remember one about sentence structure better than one about energy- I don't consider grammar, writing and spelling skills amongst my strong suits.

Amazing how something created in 1978 is still relevant today.  And, they produce a nice little summary of energy evolution over time in this cartoon (save starting at whale oil way back, that might have been a little traumatizing for the kiddos).  Discovering oil up to the gas crisis in the early 70's. 

My personal favorite line is around 2:15 'Nuclear, thermal, and solar. If we miss it'll get colder and colder.'  That's a fun little fact about 'global warming' you don't hear about as much.  The earth will warm, however, it is predicted warmer temperatures in the short term will create more precipitation and cloud cover.  Clouds, combined with more particles in the atmosphere, will act together to reflect solar energy coming to the earth.  The overall effect will ultimately cool the earth and will experience another ice age.
 
I hope you enjoy the throwback as much as I did.

Which Schoolhouse Rock is your favorite?

Rock On,
lisa

Why reinvent the wheel? A cap-and-trade versus a carbon tax.

I read this short piece from The Guardian this morning and think it gives a really nice overview of what a 'price on carbon emissions' is and why we need one.  I can write the same thing, but this article is concise and digestible, so, I figured I'd just share it.  Take a read here.

The article talks in general concepts but gives a nice overview of the two main policy mechanisms employed to place a price on carbon emissions: a carbon tax versus a cap-and-trade system.  

Cheers from the Pacific,

lisa

energy and water.. two peas in a pod

Summer is upon us and the US is feeling the heat!

In southern California we are very thankful at times like these- just another day at 75 degrees and sunny.  As we joke- the easiest market for a weatherman/woman in the country. 

Something we often take for granted here are the nice lush greenery of gardens and golf courses.  Technically, SoCal is pretty arid and we water the heck out of it.  It's beautiful, no doubt.  And, this brings me to my fun little fact for the day.

The California Energy Commission finds that water-related energy use (transporting water around the state, treating water and heating/cooling water) consumes about 19% of the state's electricity. (source: here)

Wowza.  Water and energy- hand in hand.  Water rights in the State of California is a whole other interesting issue.  That is for another post my friends.

Hope you're staying cool!

cheers,
lisa

Californ-i-a (/eh/)

Today I'm doing a little reading up on California's impending cap-and-trade program which is kicking off in the fall. 

Generally*, a cap-and-trade system is a preferable way to reducing emissions as, say, to a carbon tax. A cap-and-trade system sets a 'cap', an identified maximum level of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), and allows emitters to trade permits/certificates to reach firm GHG emission maximums set by the government.  Certificates, the 'trade' part, create a market environment (the glories of capitalism- market competition ensures lowest cost to consumers) so firms under their allotted amount of emissions can 'sell' the unused emissions and firms over their allotted emissions can buy these credits to offset their pollution.  Overall, the cap is achieved at the lowest cost which is a good thing for society. 

There are really only a few other cap-and-trade programs in practice- the RGGI, Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, and the EU ETS, the European Union Emission Trading System.  So, what California is doing is pretty exciting from an environmental economists perspective and I look forward to seeing, and hopefully being a part of, how it all plays out.

what do you think?

cheers,
lisa

*please note this is a very surface overview of a cap-and-trade system.  I'll do a post that goes more in to depth soon.

$257 billion....

... reported invested globally in renewable power and fuels in 2011.  This is based on two reports produced by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN12).  You can see the REN12 report here. 

For more information and details head to the Department of Energy (DOE)  energy efficiency & renewable energy (EERE) website here.  They also have a great eblast you can sign up for to keep current with goings on.

blonde energy economist....

... that's me!

I love blonde jokes and embrace the humor at my own expense for a good party trick.  My personal favorite is:

Joke: How do you keep a blonde busy?

Answer: Give her a pack of M&Ms and tell her to alphabetize them.

All in good fun, but, with that said, blondes get a bad rap.  Ok, we do have more fun.  But why must we all also be 'dumb'?  Can't fun come in the form of nerd-ing out and having some good ol' intellectual conversation?

So, I embrace my blondeness and my nerdness.  And, I hope to write on energy topics from an economics perspective here.  As energy sources, consumption, carbon emissions and security of supply continue to trend as 'hot topics' (no pun intended... global warming....ha), I hope to cover things here in an interesting and understandable manner.  Sometimes it is hard to know what matters and what's noise.  What are the influencing factors and dynamics at play within energy, technology, economics and policy.

I hope you enjoy and please feel free to ask questions.  And, all blonde jokes are welcomed.