Wilson Ricks Profile picture
PhD candidate working in Macro-Energy Systems modeling at Princeton University. Energy tech/policy evaluation, with a primary focus on next-gen geothermal.
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Apr 19, 2023 11 tweets 5 min read
The waters are being muddied on annual vs. hourly matching for H2 subsidies!

Today, @ACORE and @ethree_inc released a report arguing that annual is as good as hourly for H2 emissions mitigation. How did they reach a conclusion so different from our own? iopscience.iop.org/article/10.108… Image The @ethree_inc study follows up on another one from @WoodMackenzie (funder undisclosed, *cough cough @nexteraenergy*) with a nearly identical argument: from an emissions perspective, annual matching is just as good as (or maybe even better than!) hourly. Image
Dec 20, 2022 30 tweets 7 min read
What's the most climate-consequential decision the US federal government will make this coming year?

It might just be about hydrogen.

Today, the ZERO Lab contributes to the conversation with a new paper published in Environmental Research Letters: doi.org/10.1088/1748-9…

1/n
As many #energytwitter denizens know, the US passed an enormous subsidy for clean hydrogen production this year as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. If it meets certain lifecycle emissions thresholds, clean hydrogen will receive a production tax credit (PTC) of up to $3/kg.
Dec 11, 2022 15 tweets 4 min read
The National Ignition Facility (NIF) has achieved net energy gain from fusion! This is incredibly exciting scientifically, but what does it mean for the future of energy?

In all likelihood, very little.

A thread: NIF uses inertial confinement fusion, which involves shooting ultra high-powered lasers into a small capsule containing a deuterium-tritium fusion fuel pellet. The surface the pellet heats, causing an implosion that crunches the interior until (hopefully) fusion is achieved
Sep 19, 2022 17 tweets 7 min read
Hello #energytwitter! I'm excited to announce a new working paper in collaboration with @VollerKate, @JackNorbeck, and @JesseJenkins: The Role of Flexible Geothermal Power in Decarbonized Electricity Systems.

Read it and an abridged research digest at doi.org/10.5281/zenodo… Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) have been having a bit of a moment recently, with encouraging developments in deep drilling and artificial reservoir stimulation at the Utah FORGE project and elsewhere: utahforge.com/2022/05/17/344…
Mar 23, 2022 15 tweets 4 min read
Hello #energytwitter! Very pleased to announce the first major publication of my PhD career, in collaboration with @JackNorbeck and my adviser @JesseJenkins: "The Value of In-Reservoir Energy Storage for Flexible Dispatch of Geothermal Power." Read the full paper in Applied Energy at doi.org/10.1016/j.apen…, and a preprint version and short Research Digest at our ZERO Lab Zenodo: doi.org/10.5281/zenodo…