Ok I’m going to live my dream: a living thread of Google reviews of power plants. These are hilarious to me because they are completely unsolicited and often rule. Will post as the spirit moves me…kicking off with — GERALD GENTLEMAN (Nebraska, coal, 1.5 GW), ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

“I was going to give this place 4 stars, but one of the towers is taller than the other. Why do we need so much electricity here anyway?”

On the occasion of the @IPCC_CH Synthesis Report (coincidentally!) -- if you'd like to spend 8 minutes with me on a journey about fossil phaseout & why we need to plan it carefully & righteously (#midtransition), have I ever got a TED talk for you.

go.ted.com/emilygrubert We need to phase out fossil fuels as fast as possible (faster, tbh, but we live in the world we've created, and there is so much to fight for).

https://twitter.com/KetanJ0/status/1637819606772400128?s=20

🚨new paper🚨 on the water consumption of electrolytic hydrogen 🫧 that I have literally been working on since before modern hydraulic fracturing was a thing

OA here: doi.org/10.1016/j.clpl…

Under deep decarb electrolytic H2 could consume ~15% of today's water for energy Big headlines:
1) a lot of processes we think we might need for deep decarb (sustainable aviation fuels, various kinds of CDR, hydrogen) might use a LOT of water

(and electrolytic hydrogen is probably on the low end for water intensity of proposed ways to make hydrogen)

As many of you know I'm obsessed with physical infrastructure & want to invite you on this journey re: fossil fuel supply chains in a decarb'd future with me.

Basically: examine claims of future small fossil use critically. A lot of these systems have minimum viable scale. The ("the") neat thing about flow renewables like wind & solar is that they do fuel harvesting & conversion at the same place, with the same equipment.

Not so for fueled systems (e.g., fossil). You need multiple industries, mostly private in the US, to keep operating.

Re: CCS in the IRA
1) emissions cuts model suggests ~1b tons of CO2 sequestered 2024-2031 due to IRA
2) Senate finance committee suggests ~0.04b tons of CO2 claiming 45Q credit 2022-2031 (0.05b if it's all tied to EOR, or 0.3b if EOR & no multiplier)

These cannot both be true. Plus, the lack of requirement to capture on an entire plant (it's unit only) means the CCS part could effectively subsidize the uncontrolled units if the math works, which it might--particularly if the capture is coupled to $90/bbl EOR.

🔥🏭 NEW from your methane attribution dream team, Diana Burns & me🏭🔥
How much do CH4 emissions contribute to GHG footprint of US natural gas-fired power, CCS, and DAC?

*Unit, utility, BA, & NERC region-level #s for power
*AR6 GWPs. Doc drop-->pub'd in 40 hours ain't bad! HEADLINES: methane matters, a lot, and emissions are spatially variable. We used our state-level consumer-attributed emissions estimates (iopscience.iop.org/article/10.108…) + the usual EIA & EPA data suspects to see what's up. What's up is CO2e: +13-48% of CO2 ems for utility gas fleets.

You can always depend on me for shoe leather reporting on Georgia infrastructure facts so I finally went up to this today.

Yall. It’s so funny.

*12 panels (smaller than my array)
*feeds an L2 charger (not wireless charging)…
*…which has been out of service for 22 days

https://twitter.com/SecretaryPete/status/1423699650004017155

I actually lol’d — I knew it was a small pilot but I didn’t realize it was *this* small. Pilots are good! Also probably good this pilot isn’t a whole lot bigger given the, ahem, challenges.

🚨New paper🚨(+ Excel models, the main event on this one) that I'm *really* excited about:

Emissions projections for US utilities through 2050, up at ERL now (open access): iopscience.iop.org/article/10.108…

Models will be SI on the final version but for now are at emilygrubert.org/publications This piece uses a generator-level model (update from my December retirements piece: science.sciencemag.org/content/370/65…) + emissions factors (including regionalized methane attribution from our CH4 work: iopscience.iop.org/article/10.108…) to ask:

what are US utilities committed to through 2050?

🔥🏭OA paper up now: methane intensity of natural gas supply varies a LOT by state🏭🔥

New @ ERL by Diana Burns & me: iopscience.iop.org/article/10.108…

We attribute production-stage methane emissions to consuming states & find 4x variability, adding 16-65% GHG to combustion (GWP-100) We know methane emissions are larger than inventories suggest, & we know that they vary by production basin. But, historically, we've focused on emissions at the industrial site and not on the impact on consumed natural gas.

🏭🧑‍🏭Out in Science today: decarbonizing US electricity by 2035 only strands about 15% of capacity-years, based on typical lifespans. Setting explicit deadlines can help with the #JustTransition. 🧑‍🏭🏭

Paper: science.sciencemag.org/content/370/65…
Interactive map: emilygrubert.org/energy-transit… Decarbonization is two separate things: shutting down infrastructure that emits GHGs, and starting up infrastructure that doesn't.

I show with a new, generator-level model, that the Biden / DNC 2035 target for decarbonizing US electricity doesn't require massive asset stranding.

Here we go: job offer has been made, & it's time to get to work.

The energy transition is underway. We've got miles and miles to go.

🧵ENERGY TRANSITION🧵
In which I:
*talk 2035
*make the case for special attn to energy workers
*yell LOUDLY about funding energy social science President-elect Biden & the Democratic Party Platform both target full decarbonization of US electricity by 2035.

joebiden.com/clean-energy/#;
demconvention.com/wp-content/upl…

(FWIW I'm on record arguing we *could* go faster & deeper, w things Biden isn't promising)
earther.gizmodo.com/heres-the-pro-…

Ok dudes I know tensions are high, Georgia is exceptionally interesting right now (can I capitalize🍑? because I want to) but:

a lot of the rhetoric around sending a bunch of ppl from liberal northern/western states to live here for a couple months is really uncomfortable. (1/n GA is interesting because people here have been doing the work. This has been a blue state that has been voter suppress'd into being red for..years. Decades?

For you lovely energy and climate folks who don't think about coal all the time: what's going on in the Powder River Basin

(the coal region mined in Wyoming that produces ~40% of US coal from ~10-15 enormous mines)

is a *REMARKABLY* big deal.

https://twitter.com/taykuy/status/1313123245076475904

I'm fairly comfortable saying that if you are going to mine coal (with the CO2 implications and all), the PRB is one of, if not the best, place in the world to do it.

Managing stormwater is a huge challenge, and climate change isn't making it any easier. If you've ever been to a wastewater plant, you've probably heard about some of the bonkers challenges that excess stormwater can cause.

In today's edn of "You did what in Excel??": new tool! Just got notification that our first paper on the cost model we built for @iDST_Team was accepted, so I wanted to do a little thread on the model.

Basic point: distributed stormwater infrastructure (like swales) can help a lot. But it's really hard to tell how much it costs.

As a Californian who now lives in a state that doesn't have an RPS, I share the rage about slow climate action, + questions about what it means to move faster.

Contribution for now: new paper + model of CA utility-specific committed emissions to 2050.

iopscience.iop.org/article/10.108… Open-access at ERL (with @JennStokesDraut, Arpad Horvath, and Bill Eisenstein).

The model is SI and won't be posted for a bit, but I've uploaded it here if you want to play with it sooner:

emilygrubert.org/wp-content/upl…

Life is pretty heavy lately, and I've been struggling with remembering that I do the work I do because I think it's important.

In honor of #SundayBunday, a short thread about finding meaning, brought to you by my rabbit.

Here is my rabbit: Since we moved here, his one true calling has been to get behind the washing machine, through a 2" crack.

I'm supposed to be either on vacation or writing this week so clearly, I felt the need to make this thread in honor of the Petra Nova...situation.

🧵: POWER Magazine's Plant of the Year -- 🎵🎶where are they now? 🎵🎶

(Descriptions linked here: powermag.com/awards/plant-o…) 2020: T-Point 2. A not-yet-online fossil demonstration.

Quote: "It requires a lot of engineering to ensure a natural gas-fired combustion turbine will operate reliably //and last for decades// without major component failure."

Cool, cool, yes, innovating fossil fuels in 2020.

~THERE WILL BE BLOOD~ Netflix watchalong begins in 30 minutes -- push play and join us at the Historians at the Movies theater, run by the capable @HerbertHistory ! Hashtag: #HATM

Kicking us off: this is a movie about oil (and much more). Here are some oil facts: DYK: Oil still provides more of the world's commercial* primary energy resources than any other fuel.

*Commercial meaning: I'm not counting the fact that the sun grows plants, heats our homes, lights our days, etc. unless it's turned into a saleable product first

Today is the delayed #GeorgiaPrimary and George Floyd's funeral. We keep hearing that voting is the answer, but #VoterSuppression is intensely real.

I've hesitated to tell this story but have been told it might be useful precisely bc I'm a privileged white person, so here goes: The long and short of it: in 2018, my white husband was falsely recorded as Black in the system. I watched him fill out the form, at a voting drive in a Black neighborhood. He did not incorrectly mark his race.

He was unable to vote that year.

Me and my electricity buddies are all set up for #TheCurrentWar with @S_HastingsSimon, you, and our other people buddies starting at 8 MT. Press play in 5 minutes to watch together in real time!

Hashtag: #TheCurrentWar

Or reply here for maximum puns! Annnnnnnd.....play! #TheCurrentWar

Alright, beautiful people: have been waiting for this for a minute. I’m really excited to share some new research, just posted (open access) at ERL (@IOPenvironment): iopscience.iop.org/article/10.108…

Let’s talk about the climate impacts of renewable natural gas (RNG). Waiting for this piece to go through peer review while watching some of the really interesting discourse on RNG recently
(e.g., vox.com/energy-and-env… by @drvox,
latimes.com/environment/st… by @Sammy_Roth) has been REALLY hard.