Financial incentives legislated by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 are encouraging widespread adoption of clean energy technologies across the United States. The law offers tax credits for...
Financial incentives legislated by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 are encouraging widespread adoption of clean energy technologies across the United States. The law offers tax credits for things like residential solar panel installations, potentially saving homeowners 30% on the purchase (for example).
In the past year, about 80 manufacturing facilities related to clean energy have been announced, which is apparently "equal to the previous seven years combined." That's a big deal! But the law will continue to affect commerce in the US for some time: experts project that we'll see increasingly greater investments from the legislation through 2026–28 and beyond.
The law is supposed to reduce the emissions of the U.S. — the country most responsible for greenhouse gases historically — by as much as 41% by 2030, according to a new analysis by Princeton researchers. That’s not enough to hit U.S. goals, but is a significant improvement.
But those crucial greenhouse gas cuts are partially at risk if the U.S. electric grid cannot grow enough to connect new wind and solar farms and handle new demands, like mass vehicle charging.
I'm optimistic that the grid will be able to handle whatever comes its way (well, not sure about Texas, but I think the rest of us will be OK). The massive wind farm under construction off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, MA is an example of one major clean energy investment that will help tip the scales in our planet's favor.
They need to do something about the absolutely insane price of housing so people can afford to actually purchase homes to put solar panels on in the first place.
They need to do something about the absolutely insane price of housing so people can afford to actually purchase homes to put solar panels on in the first place.
Not necessarily - with the proper financial reform, landlords/strata could be incentivized to build out solar panels and profit from lower energy costs. It's sort of weird that only home-owners...
Not necessarily - with the proper financial reform, landlords/strata could be incentivized to build out solar panels and profit from lower energy costs. It's sort of weird that only home-owners are financially incentivized in the first place.
Of course, that only works if the landlord isn't a completely useless bastard, which is often the case in a seller's market where the price of housing is sky-high and expected even higher in future.
Clean energy is great, but the grid is going to need some work. The reason is simple: as temperatures rise, your going to have more A/C load (both commercial and residential), and the northern...
Clean energy is great, but the grid is going to need some work.
The reason is simple: as temperatures rise, your going to have more A/C load (both commercial and residential), and the northern grids were never designed for that kind of load. I've lived in Pittsburgh for almost 20 years, and in that time, it's gone from "air conditioning is optional" to "you need A/C in the summer". Last summer in Columbus, they had a major transition line down for maintenance, then got a heat wave, and ended up with a three day outage.
Local generation from solar can alleviate this problem in some places, but it becomes less effective as you go north (solar energy is less intense), and residential buildings (mostly multistory) generally don't have enough roof ares to make it effective. Also, the time to make back your investment in solar (last time I looked) was about 20 years, so most people are not going to implement it on their own without some other incentive.
Microgrid storage (batteries or fuel cells in your basement) could alleviate problems with the grid by shifting load to off-peak times, but the efficiency losses from the batteries only add to the climate impact.
Better insulation could also help, by reducing the need for A/C in the first place. Also, if it can be reliably toggled so it doesn't hurt heating in summer, the barium sulfate paint could...
Better insulation could also help, by reducing the need for A/C in the first place.
Also, if it can be reliably toggled so it doesn't hurt heating in summer, the barium sulfate paint could significantly improve the cooling efficiency of A/Cs.
Although, those two are a supplement for improving the grid, not a substitute.
A big problem with monumental reform are that people are looking for big solutions to solve very big problems like climate change and health care. While we should be seeking the big solutions we...
A big problem with monumental reform are that people are looking for big solutions to solve very big problems like climate change and health care. While we should be seeking the big solutions we really need to focus on investing in the small incremental improvements that help the overall system. The two you mentioned might only contribute to, for the sake of argument, 2% efficiency improvements each but that's already 4%! Continue to tackle small fish and suddenly you could be reducing infrastructure demand by 50+%
I agree, but usually monumental reforms are necessary for big problems, because the reason they're so big is because they're self-reinforcing with e.g. network effects and lobbyists boosting them....
I agree, but usually monumental reforms are necessary for big problems, because the reason they're so big is because they're self-reinforcing with e.g. network effects and lobbyists boosting them.
With climate change, the single biggest thing would be a $100/tonne carbon tax. It would create a serious price signal that the market would adapt to by reducing the least profitable carbon emissions. Until we do that, we're sort of skirting around the edges.
Speaking of insulation, there's another way of insulating homes: detached housing is less insulated than an equivalent-sized apartment, because an apartment will share some walls with neighboring apartments instead of them all being exposed to the outside cold. So if we build more apartments, we improve energy efficiency. But that would require tackling zoning.
It may be less effective as you go north, but I live about 45 minute drive south of the Canadian border, and solar is abundant here, so I don’t see it as out of the question.
It may be less effective as you go north, but I live about 45 minute drive south of the Canadian border, and solar is abundant here, so I don’t see it as out of the question.
Payback time is caveated by the usual "it depends" and is increasingly shorter. Not only the costs of purchase and installation, as manufacture is more commodified and installation is more...
Payback time is caveated by the usual "it depends" and is increasingly shorter. Not only the costs of purchase and installation, as manufacture is more commodified and installation is more competitive, but also the comparison cost of purchasing electricity from the grid. In the UK for example the cost of electricity has more than doubled in recent years, and long term it's only going to go one way.
Financial incentives legislated by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 are encouraging widespread adoption of clean energy technologies across the United States. The law offers tax credits for things like residential solar panel installations, potentially saving homeowners 30% on the purchase (for example).
In the past year, about 80 manufacturing facilities related to clean energy have been announced, which is apparently "equal to the previous seven years combined." That's a big deal! But the law will continue to affect commerce in the US for some time: experts project that we'll see increasingly greater investments from the legislation through 2026–28 and beyond.
I'm optimistic that the grid will be able to handle whatever comes its way (well, not sure about Texas, but I think the rest of us will be OK). The massive wind farm under construction off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, MA is an example of one major clean energy investment that will help tip the scales in our planet's favor.
They need to do something about the absolutely insane price of housing so people can afford to actually purchase homes to put solar panels on in the first place.
Not necessarily - with the proper financial reform, landlords/strata could be incentivized to build out solar panels and profit from lower energy costs. It's sort of weird that only home-owners are financially incentivized in the first place.
Of course, that only works if the landlord isn't a completely useless bastard, which is often the case in a seller's market where the price of housing is sky-high and expected even higher in future.
Clean energy is great, but the grid is going to need some work.
The reason is simple: as temperatures rise, your going to have more A/C load (both commercial and residential), and the northern grids were never designed for that kind of load. I've lived in Pittsburgh for almost 20 years, and in that time, it's gone from "air conditioning is optional" to "you need A/C in the summer". Last summer in Columbus, they had a major transition line down for maintenance, then got a heat wave, and ended up with a three day outage.
Local generation from solar can alleviate this problem in some places, but it becomes less effective as you go north (solar energy is less intense), and residential buildings (mostly multistory) generally don't have enough roof ares to make it effective. Also, the time to make back your investment in solar (last time I looked) was about 20 years, so most people are not going to implement it on their own without some other incentive.
Microgrid storage (batteries or fuel cells in your basement) could alleviate problems with the grid by shifting load to off-peak times, but the efficiency losses from the batteries only add to the climate impact.
Better insulation could also help, by reducing the need for A/C in the first place.
Also, if it can be reliably toggled so it doesn't hurt heating in summer, the barium sulfate paint could significantly improve the cooling efficiency of A/Cs.
Although, those two are a supplement for improving the grid, not a substitute.
A big problem with monumental reform are that people are looking for big solutions to solve very big problems like climate change and health care. While we should be seeking the big solutions we really need to focus on investing in the small incremental improvements that help the overall system. The two you mentioned might only contribute to, for the sake of argument, 2% efficiency improvements each but that's already 4%! Continue to tackle small fish and suddenly you could be reducing infrastructure demand by 50+%
I agree, but usually monumental reforms are necessary for big problems, because the reason they're so big is because they're self-reinforcing with e.g. network effects and lobbyists boosting them.
With climate change, the single biggest thing would be a $100/tonne carbon tax. It would create a serious price signal that the market would adapt to by reducing the least profitable carbon emissions. Until we do that, we're sort of skirting around the edges.
Speaking of insulation, there's another way of insulating homes: detached housing is less insulated than an equivalent-sized apartment, because an apartment will share some walls with neighboring apartments instead of them all being exposed to the outside cold. So if we build more apartments, we improve energy efficiency. But that would require tackling zoning.
It may be less effective as you go north, but I live about 45 minute drive south of the Canadian border, and solar is abundant here, so I don’t see it as out of the question.
Payback time is caveated by the usual "it depends" and is increasingly shorter. Not only the costs of purchase and installation, as manufacture is more commodified and installation is more competitive, but also the comparison cost of purchasing electricity from the grid. In the UK for example the cost of electricity has more than doubled in recent years, and long term it's only going to go one way.