🚨New Report🚨

What might a nation-wide Macro Grid look like, and how might it operate? Breakthrough Energy Sciences investigated four network designs which could each get the U.S. to 70% clean energy by 2030, ranging from AC-only upgrades to a coast-to-coast HVDC network. The four designs emulate those used in the NREL Interconnections Seam study, which drew on previous work from Iowa State (Figueroa-Acevedo & McCalley), with ~930 GW of new wind/solar. One big difference: we included connections to ERCOT, which were not included in the NREL study.

🚨New paper alert!🚨#energytwitter
In the absence of a price on carbon, the operation of grid-scale energy storage tends to increase GHG emissions, not decrease them. We propose a market rule to mitigate this effect: an Emissions Neutrality Constraint.
ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/88448… First, why does energy storage tend to increase GHG emissions? Plenty of work has already been done on this topic (see R. Sioshansi and @ElephantEating for some examples), but the gist is that it's most profitable to charge with coal power and discharge to displace natural gas.