Wind Power –

The wave of generator interconnection queue reforms hit PJM –

Renewable Energy World — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 11:38:00 +0000

Pennsylvania New Jersey Maryland Interconnection (PJM), the grid operator based in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, is preparing for the queue reform process. At a recent workshop, PJM heard stakeholder concerns about the current process. Like grid operators in the Midwest, we can expect a federal filing before mid-2021 from PJM. Renewable developers are waiting to see if PJM will improve upon current Midwest grid operators’ experience with their queue reform.

Developers are wary of transmission cost allocation for upgrades on the border of PJM and other regional grid operators. Hopefully, PJM can balance renewable developers and PJM transmission owners for the sake of meeting the PJM state’s renewable policy goals.

Renewable Developers want TOs to have a “skin in the game”

In general, renewable developers were consistent across the board in their presentations at the PJM workshop on the delays caused by PJM project managers and PJM Transmission Owners (TOs) regarding interconnection studies and access to detailed transmission planning models.

Some complained about year-long delays in receiving updates on their studies. This concern led to a suggestion echoed by quite a few developers that both PJM and PJM TOs need to have a “skin in the game” with strict PJM guidelines around the model review and study updates. Exelon, one of the presenting PJM TOs, said they are already operating under tighter deadlines.

PJM Transmission Owners don’t want speculative projects

Once an interconnection customer submits a request to interconnect at a specific transmission substation, the role of PJM RTO is limited under the current process. In a project manager role, PJM oversees the study processes and coordinates with the PJM TO, who owns the transmission substation. Some of the PJM TOs complained about PJM’s tight deadlines to turn around the review on their end. Renewable developers’ strategy to hit the PJM queue at multiple substations in the same county to assess transmission upgrade costs was also called out specifically as a leading cause for delays on the TOs end.

With speculative projects in the queue, renewable developers are increasing PJM and PJM TOs work, which leads to delays in model verification and data management. That upfront model delay leads to downstream impacts on generator interconnection agreement negotiation. However, according to one of the developers, there is not much to negotiate.

PJM Workshops Schedule

PJM started down this path of stakeholder workshops given the increase in renewable projects in the PJM queue. This second workshop was a listening session. The first workshop laid out what was at stake, given several clean energy mandates and PJM states’ goals. PJM also indicated at the first workshop that PJM, like any Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) jurisdictional RTO, must make a FERC filing if tariff changes are needed.

The third workshop (scheduled for the end of Jan 2021) is about PJM reporting back on what they heard are the main issues and possible initial thoughts on the queue reform at PJM.

Evidence is mixed from queue reform at other ISOs because of upgrade costs

Both MISO and SPP saw growth in renewable project requests much sooner than PJM. As a result, both MISO and SPP have new FERC-approved generator interconnection processes. But that does not mean these RTOs have a perfect solution that is working for renewable developers.

There continue to be delays in this new process at MISO, even with a high financial commitment. Some developers are quitting after 500 days in the queue once they see the network upgrade costs, which could be true even with PJM’s new process. Renewable developers need to know those upgrade costs sooner in order to determine the financial viability of their projects.

Technology companies did not present

PJM’s capacity market was in turmoil lately at FERC. Only recently did FERC approve a revised schedule for PJM’s capacity auction. Once initial results from PJM’s capacity auction start to roll out – renewable developers would see their zones’ capacity price. If past PJM capacity prices are any indication, future auctions could increase renewable project requests in certain regions.

Interestingly, technology companies with big renewable ambitions and large cash flow such as Google, Amazon, and Microsoft didn’t present at this PJM workshop but could still submit written comments to PJM by January 6th, 2021. Some of the commenters, given their MISO and SPP process experience, did bring up the cost allocation of network upgrades across the border. Only Earth Justice brought up small renewable developers’ perspective by mentioning the opportunities afforded under FERC Order 2222 on DER Aggregation.

Conclusion

As an RTO, PJM must follow the FERC tariff. Any tariff change takes time to collect stakeholder concerns, put together a PJM proposal, collect stakeholder concerns with the initial PJM proposal, and finally, a PJM FERC filing. All this takes time that some large capital renewable developers may have, but small renewable developers don’t. In this new yet to be defined process, perhaps PJM would take a more active engineering study role without sharing responsibilities with its TOs.

If PJM can strike a balance between small-scale renewable projects and continue to encourage distributed energy resources and provide a transparent queue process for utility-scale developers and PJM TOs – the PJM States would be proud of PJM’s queue reform.

Rao Konidena

Rao Konidena found Rakon Energy LLC because Rao is passionate about connecting clients to cost-effective solutions in energy consulting, storage, distributed energy resources, and electricity policy. Rao likes helping clients with his expertise in electricity policymaking, and US energy markets. Most recently, Rao was with Midcontinent ISO (MISO) as Principal Advisor for Policy Studies, working on energy storage and distributed energy resources.

View all posts by Rao Konidena

(Why?)

Hydrogen hype in the air –

Renewable Energy World — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 09:00:00 +0000

Here’s an energy quiz. Question: do you think this statement is true?

“Unlike fossil fuels, which emit planet-warming carbon dioxide when they’re burned, hydrogen mostly produces water.”

Answer: false.

That statement appeared in a Bloomberg Green articleⁱ a week or so ago. It reported on future European plans to use hydrogen (H₂) as a fuel “in modified gas turbines” to power airplanes. Similar reports have appeared in other reputable energy articles about how hydrogen is the optimal climate solution because its use will not create any air emissions.ⁱⁱ^,ⁱⁱⁱ^,^iv

What is true is that renewable power like solar or wind can split water into H₂ to produce what the reporters claimed – “emissions free” energy. But that requires a complicated and expensive electrolysis process to make H₂. That renewably generated “green hydrogen” would then be run through a fuel cell to make electricity. Fuel cells do not produce carbon dioxide (CO₂) or other harmful emissions. There are many smart applications for fuel cell-derived power, in cars and heavy vehicles, and in various industrial applications – which is what an intelligent hydrogen economy might look like in the years to come.

Clean Energy Group (CEG) has been a fervent supporter of green hydrogen and its use in fuel cells. We worked on hydrogen and fuel cells 15 years ago, when they were one of the few cleaner energy options. Then, we did not have the cheaper and more practical alternatives to fossil fuel plants such as renewables and battery storage that we have today.^v

Back in 2006, CEG wrote that “[h]ydrogen is most efficiently used in fuel cells where it is converted to electricity “electro-chemically” (i.e., without combustion), with only water and oxygen depleted air as exhaust products.”^vi

This is because combustion is where hydrogen goes from “emissions-free” to polluting, the critical distinction seemingly lost in this new debate about using H₂ to address climate change.

Burning H2 and the future of the gas industry.

Fast forward 15 years. Now, the gas and the utility industries in the US have decided that combustion is how they want to use hydrogen – even if it is renewably created with solar and wind. They want to take that renewably derived “green hydrogen” and burn it, like we have burned oil and gas and coal for centuries. Contrary to the reporting, that new combustible alchemy is anything but emissions free.

In the last several months, several gas developers have proposed blending H₂ and natural gas at Western power plants.^vii Two global finance giants recently proposed a hydrogen blending plant in Ohio, expected to begin operations in the coming months.^viii Some power plant owners in New York also have proposed blending H₂ with natural gas, to keep fossil-fuel power plants operating for years beyond when they should have been shut down and be replaced with renewables and battery storage.^ix

Oil and gas companies have also proposed injection of hydrogen into the existing natural gas infrastructure. NextEra Energy in Florida and Dominion in Virginia have released plans to begin inserting a 5% blend in some natural gas shipments beginning in 2021.^x Southern California Gas Co (SoCalGas) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) have also announced plans to begin demonstration projects injecting a 5% blend into the natural gas grid starting next year.^xi

These new “blending” proposals are all the rage in the fossil fuel industry. It has been difficult to pick up an energy trade publication in the last few months without finding a breathless piece about how H₂ is the next climate change silver bullet. It might not rival the “too cheap to meter” media campaigns by the nuclear industry in the 1950s, but the recent press push comes perilously close.^xii^,^xiii^,^xiv^,^xv This apparently coordinated, public relations effort does not seem to be accidental.^xvi

The thinking behind these proposals is that, in some undefined future, natural gas plants could be converted into 100% H₂ combustion plants, ending reliance on gas for power generation. Blending H₂ over time at increasingly higher levels into gas plants seems to be the industry’s plan to keep gas plants running and pipeline infrastructure in place for the next few decades, testing the impact of these experiments over time with the public.

It must be noted that burning H₂ for power production has never been done before in this country. It is a novel, untested and potentially problematic environmental experiment that could play out in American cities.

Why that is requires a chemistry lesson.

H₂ combustion and NO_x – The new air pollution threat

What happens when H₂ is combusted?

Burning H₂ does not produce carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. That is good news for the climate.

However, hydrogen combustion produces other air emissions. And that scientific fact is the untold story in this aggressive industry plan, one that could turn green H₂ into ghastly H₂.

The bad news is that H₂ combustion can produce dangerously high levels of nitrogen oxide (NO_x). Two European studies have found that burning hydrogen-enriched natural gas in an industrial setting can lead to NO_x emissions up to six times that of methane (the most common element in natural gas mixes).^xvii^,^xviii There are numerous other studies in the scientific literature about the difficulties of controlling NO_x emissions from H₂ combustion in various industrial applications.^xix^,^xx

Even the Trump Administration’s Department of Energy “Hydrogen Program Plan” identifies H₂ combustion as a significant problem. It states that additional research is needed on a host of emissions control issues around H₂ combustion. The point DOE makes is that at very low levels of H₂ blending, the NO_x emissions levels might be controllable. However, at higher levels, it is not only difficult to control NOx emissions but the currently developed technologies which attempt to control higher NOx levels remain unproven.^xxi That research is years off.

This emissions problem is not a secret but a longstanding industry problem. A recent industry report from the European Turbine Network regarding H₂ combustion states: “The higher adiabatic flame temperature of H₂ will result in higher NO_x emissions if no additional measures are undertaken…It will be particularly a challenge to achieve even stricter NO_x-limits foreseen in the future.”^xxii

This problem is only slowly emerging in public conversation. An article in The Economist just last week noted that combustion for aircraft propulsion carries new “risks increasing the pollution generated in the form of oxides of nitrogen, which would partially negate the environmental benefits of burning hydrogen.”^xxiii

Similarly, Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) last week also highlighted the combustion issue, along with many other concerns, when it noted that “when hydrogen is combusted (as opposed to used in a fuel cell), it can generate significant NOx emissions, commensurate with that of natural gas combustion—or worse.”^xxiv

Here are the technical reasons behind this new emissions problem. Most gas turbines today are dry low NO_x (DLN) combustion systems specifically designed to limit the amount of NO_x released by natural gas or methane burning. These turbines can handle a low amount of hydrogen, but due to the fundamental differences between hydrogen and methane, they are not designed to handle high concentrations of H₂.

The highest concentration of hydrogen a DLN system can handle is ~15%, although DOE is currently working with GE to produce a DLN system capable of handling 50%.^xxv

Most of these plants would require an upgraded DLN system to handle even a slightly higher concentration of hydrogen in the fuel mix, and no DLN system that currently exists can handle any significant levels of H₂ mix, let alone 100%.

Even the highly touted new H₂ blending plant in Utah concedes as much. That new project will combine 30% H₂ with 70% natural gas. The project, which will serve Los Angeles, if approved as advertised, will produce significant CO₂ and NO_xemissions. According to a report issued by the project’s own developer, Mitsubishi, this mixture of hydrogen and natural gas “will produce NO_x and CO₂ emissions equivalent to those from modern natural gas plants.”^xxvi 

That is, according to the industry’s own reports, this new H₂ combustion project that is praised as the future of the hydrogen economy will still produce the same levels of NO_x (and CO₂) emissions as a new natural gas power plant.

Despite these emissions issues, at least one gas peaker plant owner in New York City has embraced hydrogen as the justification to build new gas plants in the heart of the city. In its project filings, the owner proposed switching to 100% “GHG-free hydrogen” by 2040, without any detailed and verifiable information about how this feat this would be achieved over the next few decades, or whether there would be any public health impacts from doing so.^xxvii^,^xxviii

The bottom line with these proposals is this: this new approach to blended H₂ combustion does not appear to have the technology in hand to control those emissions at any but negligible levels.

Unless we have this wrong – and we are open to hearing from industry and other experts if we are – this seems like a serious unsolved problem. One that is not being addressed while these power plant owners seek government approvals – and in many cases are already receiving approvals – to operate these new blending operations.

We have checked with some public health experts about whether this combustion of H₂ and its emissions impacts – if done on ever larger scales – has been studied by independent scientists in the US. We’ve been told there is no serious, intensive investigation underway in the public health community.

The environmental justice impacts must be studied

These proposals come amidst the ongoing national problem nationwide with increased NO_x emissions from all sources, a significant public health threat that is not under control. Long-term exposure to NOx increases the risk of respiratory conditions and heightens sensitivity to allergens. NOx is also a precursor to the formation of fine particles and ground-level ozone, which are both associated with severe adverse health effects.

This problem is especially urgent with the proven link between COVID-19 and air pollution exposure. And as we now all painfully know, the COVID-19 crisis now exposes the environmental injustices facing urban and under-resourced communities.

Multiple studies have drawn a clear link between pollution – both fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5, and nitrogen dioxide – and coronavirus mortality rates.^xxix^,^xxx Urban communities of color are most burdened by these pollutants, which come from industry, transportation and power plants.^xxxi^,^xxxii

Given the lack of technology options to control NO_x in natural gas “blending” schemes, we now have a fundamental policy disconnect. These aggressive new industry proposals have outpaced the scientific community’s understanding of how a massive uptake of these new NO_x sources could adversely affect urban air pollution and public health.

Adding new sources of NOx emissions also conflicts with new air pollution policy measures issued by agencies such as the New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation (NYDEC) to control NOx in places like New York City. NYDEC recently enacted strict NOx emissions limits for the state’s peaker plants – these are some of the same New York City peaker plants now proposing H₂combustion that would create more NOx emissions.^xxxiii

That gap is made worse with how these new proposals are considered for approval. New proposals to blend H₂ and natural gas have come in the form of demonstration projects with low levels of blending. To the average person, without any information on the dangers of NO_x emissions (no published articles other than the recent Economist and UCS pieces about these H₂ combustion schemes has even mentioned the NO_x issue) the proposals might seem harmless enough.

However, we know that once established, these H₂ demonstration projects will expand and become the new “industry standard.” We likely will see H₂ combustion as the way to justify continued operation of natural gas plants and gas infrastructure; after all, a blended addition of 20% H₂ to a natural gas plant still means it continues to run on 80% fossil gas.

This could well lock-in H₂ combustion at gas plants for the next few decades despite competition from renewables and battery storage. It is a masterful and audacious survival plan.

The plan has not gone without protest. Environmental justice advocates have begun to raise objections to an H₂ natural gas blending project in Los Angeles, as they see it as a classic camel’s nose under the tent problem.^xxxiv

In the East, a coalition of environmental organizations and community advocates have called on New York state officials to require a comprehensive evaluation of environmental, climate, and public health issues related to the H₂ combustion in New York City neighborhoods.^xxxv

“Hydrogen as a fuel combustion source is far from the transformative, climate-saving alternative that fossil fuel companies are spending so much money to promote,” said Carlos Garcia, the energy planner for the New York Environmental Justice Alliance. “Apart from its enormous cost of new entry, its newly discovered byproduct of NO_x emissions would result in further health disparities in environmental justice communities.” ^xxxvi

The alarms raised by local community groups should be heeded.

There needs to be a broader public health conversation about whether we want to introduce entirely new forms of NO_x-emitting, combustion-based, power plants across the country, especially in communities of color. We need to better understand the public health ramifications of how well these new emission sources will control this troublesome pollutant.

A time out for H₂ combustion before it’s too late?

This industry rush to judgement around the use of H₂ blending raises a host of potentially problematic and apparently unstudied public health and environmental impacts.

In the face of this onslaught, it might be time to consider a pause for these proposals until we know more about their unintended public health and environmental consequences.

It might even be time to call for a moratorium on permitting of any H₂ project that proposes to blend and combust hydrogen with natural gas in any existing or new power plant. Such a moratorium could be enacted at the state level until there are adequate, independent public health studies done by US researchers of the NO_x emissions impacts generally and particularly on local environmental justice communities.

Minority communities closest to these power plants should not be guinea pigs once again in another power plant project gone bad. Over half of gas plants in California, for example, are in communities of color; the same unfortunately applies in most major cities.

That concern would not be alleviated by studies only done by project developers. They obviously would not have the needed credibility or objectivity to address collective concerns with this potentially significant new public health risk.

The industry should welcome these studies. If they believe these H₂ combustion technologies are essential to address climate over the long-term – and they have the pollution control technology in hand to reduce NO_x emissions – then they should be the first to argue for their thorough outside review. These studies should be done by independent air pollution and public health experts before this new use of H₂ becomes adopted in demonstration projects that would then create an industry template for future expansion. This would ensure that their consideration and broad adoption by policymakers is not undermined by biased and uninformed support or opposition.

The last thing serious climate proponents of hydrogen need is to trip over avoidable and potentially irreversible environmental problems with high profile, proof of concept demonstrations. That could tarnish and possibly hijack the more responsible, long-term hydrogen climate project, which is valuable and should be pursued.

We’ve been here before

At first blush, many of these proposals appear odd, if not bizarre. It is not sensible to take renewably derived “green hydrogen” and then burn it, turning it into a source of conventional air pollutants at levels worse than burning methane. This statement may be harsh, but these proposals have an Alice in Wonderland “through the looking glass” quality, such as an upside-down notion to separate recyclables and then burn the recycled materials in a polluting waste-to-energy incinerator to make electricity.

This “what are they thinking?” reaction also comes with a historical parallel.

A few decades ago (and this is an oversimplification), European governments pushed for diesel engines in cars. It was Europe’s key climate transportation strategy because diesel cars produce lower CO₂ emissions. However, diesel engines also produce copious levels of NOx. The NOx impacts of the CO₂ driven diesel strategy apparently were not factored into the initial EU climate policy trade-off.

In the last few years, European and US government agencies discovered that European car manufacturers trying to comply with the CO₂ policy secretly manipulated NO_x emissions data, because they lacked the technology to control NO_x emissions. The result? A sad scandal now infamously called “Diesel-gate” – the unfortunate but predicable result of ignoring at the outset how NO_x emissions can unpredictably rise in a CO₂ climate fight.^xxxvii

Let’s not rerun that failed experiment in the US. Future low-CO₂ technology promises about hydrogen – however hopeful and well intentioned – shouldn’t justify more NO_x pollution in our air now.

Governments that are asked to approve these blending proposals should be secure in knowing there is technology available to control these NO_xemissions at all levels first. Otherwise, it is a public health risk that is not worth taking.

As a last point, we should add that CEG did not plan to get involved with this issue. But our long history with fuel cells and hydrogen work, and the numerous accuracy problems with press and industry reports, left us little choice.

We have a serious public education problem when an excellent journal like Yale Environment 360, in a story that was published just a few days ago, simply quoted without qualification an industry spokesman saying that burning H2 in planes will be “zero emissions flying.”^xxxviii And again, in the last few days, this blatant error was repeated in an obscure online publication calling hydrogen combustion a climate “miracle fuel”: “Hydrogen is an abundant resource that gives off no emissions when it is burnt as fuel.” ^xxxix

We felt compelled to try to set the record straight for the public and for the many environmental justice groups who partner with us on pollution reduction and power plant issues. Again, as noted, we welcome criticism and comments from industry and others if we got anything wrong in this overview piece. We need to get this right because this country’s history of energy production is littered with hyperbolic marketing claims about revolutionary, free or harmless ways to make electricity.

With these hydrogen combustion schemes, let’s not have the more promising climate-fighting uses of hydrogen fall victim to that same disappointing fate.

***

[1] Ryan, Charlotte, and Will Mathis. “Airbus Bets on Hydrogen to Deliver Zero-Emission Jets.” Bloomberg, December 4, 2020. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-04/airbus-air-fp-bets-on-hydrogen-to-deliver-zero-emission-planes.

[2] IEA. Hydrogen. 2020. https://www.iea.org/reports/hydrogen.

[3] Penrod, Emma. “Hydrogen Is Having a Moment, and Power Generation Is Leading the Way.” Utility Dive, November 2, 2020. https://www.utilitydive.com/news/hydrogen-is-having-a-moment-and-power-generation-is-leading-the-way/587958/.

[4] Gronewold, Nathanial. “TECHNOLOGY: Future’s Bright for Clean Hydrogen, Top Energy Exec Says.” Climate Wire, October 28, 2020. https://www.eenews.net/stories/1063717193.

[5] Lipman, Timothy E., Jennifer L. Edwards, and Cameron Brooks. “Renewable Hydrogen: Technology Review and Policy Recommendations for State-Level Sustainable Energy Futures.” Clean Energy Group: University of California–Davis, May 2006. https://www.cleanegroup.org/wp-content/uploads/Renewable-Hydrogen-Technology-Review-and-Policy-Recommendations.pdf.

[6] Ibid, Lipman.

[7] St. John, Jeff. “How to Build a Green Hydrogen Economy for the US West.” Green Tech Media, November 17, 2020, sec. Grid Edge. https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/how-to-build-a-green-hydrogen-economy-for-the-u.s-west.

[8] Tomich, Jefferey. “Gas Plant Developer Bets Big on CO-2 Free Hydrogen.” E&E News, December 10, 2020. https://www.eenews.net/energywire/stories/1063720337.

[9] French, Marie J. “Downstate Gas Plants Make a Hydrogen Pitch in Bid to Stay Afloat.” Politico, September 30, 2020. https://politi.co/3l0JoWU.

[10] Blunt, Katharine. “Utilities Look to Green Hydrogen to Cut Carbon Emissions.” Wall Street Journal, September 5, 2020, sec. Business. https://www.wsj.com/articles/utilities-look-to-green-hydrogen-to-cut-carbon-emissions-11599298201.

[10] Reuters Staff. “Sempra Develops Plan to Inject Hydrogen into California Natgas Grid.” Reuters, November 23, 2020. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sempra-hydrogen-natgas-idUSKBN2832FF.

[12] Timperley, Jocelyn. “The Fuel That Could Transform Shipping.” BBC News, November 29, 2020. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20201127-how-hydrogen-fuel-could-decarbonise-shipping.

[13] Carbeck, Jeff. “Green Hydrogen Could Fill Big Gaps in Renewable Energy.” Scientific American, November 10, 2020. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/green-hydrogen-could-fill-big-gaps-in-renewable-energy/.

[14] Robbins, Jim. “Green Hydrogen: Could It Be Key to a Carbon-Free Economy?” Yale E360, November 5, 2020. https://e360.yale.edu/features/green-hydrogen-could-it-be-key-to-a-carbon-free-economy.

[15] Bleveans, Lincoln. “You Say Old Coal Plant, I Say New Green Hydrogen Facility.” Green Biz, November 24, 2020. https://www.greenbiz.com/article/you-say-old-coal-plant-i-say-new-green-hydrogen-facility.

[16] Mikulka, Justin. “Major Fossil Fuel PR Group Is behind Europe Pro-Hydrogen Push.” Nation of Change, December 12, 2020, sec. Environment. https://www.nationofchange.org/2020/12/12/major-fossil-fuel-pr-group-is-behind-europe-pro-hydrogen-push/.

[17] Cellek, Mehmet Salih, and Ali Pınarbaşı. “Investigations on Performance and Emission Characteristics of an Industrial Low Swirl Burner While Burning Natural Gas, Methane, Hydrogen-Enriched Natural Gas and Hydrogen as Fuels.” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 43, no. 2 (January 11, 2018): 1194–1207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2017.05.107.

[18] Sadler, Dan, et. al. H21 Leeds CityGate Project Report.” City of Leeds, 2017. https://www.h21.green/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/H21-Leeds-City-Gate-Report.pdf.

[19] Hawksworth, S.J., et al. “Safe Operation of Combined Cycle Gas Turbine and Gas Engine Systems using Hydrogen Rich Fuels”, EVI-GTI and PIWG Joint Conference on Gas Turbine Instrumentation. 2016. https://digital-library.theiet.org/content/conferences/cp693.

[20] “H2 Emission Potential Literature Review.” Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, April 2019. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/798243/H2_Emission_Potential_Report_BEIS_E4tech.pdf.

[21] McQueen et. al. “Department of Energy Hydrogen Program Plan.” U.S. Department of Energy, November 2020. https://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/pdfs/hydrogen-program-plan-2020.pdf.

[22] ETN Global. “Hydrogen Gas Turbines: The Path Towards a Zero-Carbon Future.” European Turbine Network, January 2020. https://etn.global/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ETN-Hydrogen-Gas-Turbines-report.pdf.

[23] The Economist. “Is the time now ripe for planes to run on hydrogen?” December 8, 2020. https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/12/08/is-the-time-now-ripe-for-planes-to-run-on-hydrogen.

[24] McNamara, Julie. “What’s the Role of Hydrogen in the Clean Energy Transition?” Union of Concerned Scientists, December 9, 2020. https://blog.ucsusa.org/julie-mcnamara/whats-the-role-of-hydrogen-in-the-clean-energy-transition.

[25] Goldmeer, Jeffrey, PhD. “Fuel Flexible Gas Turbines as Enablers for a Low or Reduced Carbon Energy Ecosystem.” GE Power, February 2019. https://www.ge.com/content/dam/gepower/global/en_US/documents/fuel-flexibility/GEA33861%20Power%20to%20Gas%20-%20Hydrogen%20for%20Power%20Generation.pdf.

[26] Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group. “Renewable Energy Storage: Combining Existing Dry Low NOx Combustion Technology with Proven Hydrogen Storage and Production Approaches.” 2020. https://t3gyi3u0g1p3gushif77uvpg-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Mitsubishi-Power_Advanced-Clean-Energy-Storage-Whitepaper.pdf.

[27] NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, SEQR Lead Agency. “State Environmental Quality Review Act Final Scoping Document: Astoria Replacement Project.” Astoria Gas Turbine Power LLC, September 2020. https://www.nrg.com/assets/documents/legal/astoria/09-18-20AstoriaFinalScope.pdf.

[28] UPROSE, THE POINT CDC, New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, Clean Energy Group, Chhaya CDC, Sierra Club, and Earthjustice. “RE: State Environmental Quality Review Act Final Scoping Document Astoria Replacement Project Astoria Gas Turbine Power LLC.” November 6, 2020. https://www.cleanegroup.org/ceg-resources/resource/peak-coalition-letter-astoria-replacement-project/.

[29] Wu, Xiao, Rachel Nethery, Benjamin Sabath, Danielle Braun, and Francesca Dominici. “Exposure to Air Pollution and COIVD-19 Mortality in the United States.” Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, April 5, 2020. https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/files/covid-pm/files/pm_and_covid_mortality.pdf.

[30] Ogen, Yaron. “Assessing Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) Levels as a Contributing Factor to Coronavirus (COVID-19) Fatality.” Science of The Total Environment 726 (July 15, 2020): 138605. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138605.

[31] Gordon, Serena. “Why Are Blacks, Other Minorities Hardest Hit By COVID-19?” US News & World Report, May 6, 2020. https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2020-05-06/why-are-blacks-other-minorities-hardest-hit-by-covid-19.

[32] Mullendore, Seth. “Why We Must Shut Down Polluting Urban Power Plants.” US News & World Report, May 27, 2020. https://www.usnews.com/news/cities/articles/2020-05-27/its-time-to-shut-down-polluting-urban-power-plants.

[33] Hodgson Russ LLP. “New York Adopts Nitrogen Oxide Emissions Rule Aimed at Mitigating Peaker Plant Emissions and Boosting Energy Storage.” JD Supra, January 23, 2020. https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/new-york-adopts-nitrogen-oxide-35163/.

[34] Iaconangelo, David. “TECHNOLOGY: Utilities Launch Groundbreaking ‘green’ Hydrogen-Gas Project.” E&E News, November 25, 2020. https://www.eenews.net/stories/1063719323.

[35] Ibid, French.

[36] Private conversation with authors, December 11, 2020.

[37] Amelang, Soren, and Benjamin Wehrmann. “‘Dieselgate’ – a Timeline of the Car Emissions Fraud Scandal in Germany.” Clean Energy Wire, May 25, 2020. https://www.cleanenergywire.org/factsheets/dieselgate-timeline-car-emissions-fraud-scandal-germany.

[38] Ibid, Robbins. [1] Hours, “Hydrogen: A Fuel Bursting with Climate Saving Potential,” Tech Xplore December 9, 2020. https://techxplore.com/news/2020-12-green-hydrogen-fuel-climate-saving-potential.html.

Lewis Milford

Lewis Milford is president and founder of Clean Energy Group (CEG) and Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA), two national nonprofit organizations that work with state, federal, and international organizations to promote clean energy technology, policy, finance, and innovation. He is also a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. He works with many public agencies and private investors in the United States and Europe that finance clean energy. He is frequently asked to appear as an expert panelist at energy conferences throughout the United States and Europe. His articles on clean energy have appeared in many print and online publications including The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The National Journal, The Huffington Post, and . Before founding these two organizations, he was Vice President of Conservation Law Foundation, New England’s leading environmental organization. Prior to that, he was a government prosecutor on the Love Canal hazardous waste case in New York and previously directed the Public Interest Law Clinic at American University Law School where he represented veterans on a range of legal issues, including gaining compensation for their harmful expose to Agent Orange and nuclear radiation. He has a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

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Seth Mullendore

Seth Mullendore is vice president and project director for Clean Energy Group, overseeing projects ranging from customer-sited solar and battery storage to the replacement of power plants with clean technologies. Seth works with policy makers, project developers, industry, advocates, and community and environmental justice groups to advance clean energy policies and projects, with a focus on achieving greater access to solar and battery storage technologies for disadvantaged communities. Much of his work pertains to the research and reporting of energy storage technologies, policies, and supporting market structures. Prior to joining Clean Energy Group, Seth served as a Sustainable Energy Fellow with Union of Concerned Scientists and worked with Maine Clean Communities to help advance clean transportation initiatives. Seth holds a M.S. in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Stanford University, and a B.S. in Geosciences from the University of Southern Maine.

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(Why?)

Roaring into 2021 with the energy policies that matter –

Renewable Energy World — Fri, 18 Dec 2020 11:00:00 +0000

For many, 2020 has been the worst year in living memory. But, amidst the doom and gloom, there have been positive news stories relating to energy and the environment.

Most of us saw the viral images of the unusually clear canals in Venice earlier this summer. The sight of fish and swans returning to the famous Italian waterways quickly became emblematic of the other side to the story of 2020 – the story which nature was able to flourish, given the mass pause on human activity.

Consequently, the pandemic has forced environmental issues into our collective immediate consciousness. Before this year, we could pretend that our actions didn’t really impact anything, but 2020 has shown us just how damaging human lifestyles really are.

There are two positives to this. Firstly, we’ve seen first-hand just how quickly nature can re-right herself if we all make better decisions, and secondly, it’s driven an appetite to be more respectful and balanced in our everyday lives.

This is having a knock-on effect across international climate policy as politicians respond to the public’s reluctance to go back to how things were before.

Just this week, a new analysis was released by the Climate Action Tracker that suggests that the goals of the UN Paris Climate Agreement are nearly ‘within reach’. This tantalizing claim has been calculated from the net actions of major global superpowers. China’s President Xi Jinping has committed to Chinese carbon neutrality by 2060, and America’s new President-elect, Joe Biden, has set out plans for the US to hit zero emissions by 2050. In addition to these heavyweight pledges, Japan, South Korea, South Africa and Canada have also announced their own net zero targets.

All of this adds up to a far more optimistic appraisal of the Climate Agreement goals. Climate Action Tracker claims that the world could stabilize at 2.1C by the end of this century, falling positively below the previously predicted 3C.

Clearly, China and America’s pledges are beyond significant and influence global pollution figures more than all other countries combined; however, the political activities of smaller nations are also contributing to the quickening of a cleaner world.

The UK’s Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, announced last week that petrol and diesel-powered cars and vans will not be sold in the UK from 2030. This dramatic deadline is part of Johnson’s determination to create a ‘green Britain’. His ongoing commitment to tackling climate change has so far seen him allocate £4bn ($4.8 Billion) towards the UK’s 10-point plan towards net zero in 2050.

Johnson also announced that his government intends to double the amount of renewable energy that it will subsidize via the CfD (Contracts for Difference) auctions next year. In the same speech, he also agreed to support onshore wind and solar power projects for the first time since 2015.

This is a critical about-turn for the UK government and one that offers genuine hope to many across the British renewables industry. Green technology providers have been hit hard over the past five years as the government has continually reduced support for renewables, but since the start of 2020, something of a renaissance has taken place. Many hope that the decision to include onshore apparatus (such as solar panels or wind turbines) in future subsidy contracts marks a defining turning point in British energy history.

In dropping its opposition to onshore renewables projects, the UK government aims to quadruple the number of windfarms across the British landscape, a move that would make the country ‘a world leader in clean energy’. Energy Minister Kwasi Kwarteng writes that the auction will put the UK ‘firmly on the path towards building a new, green industrial revolution.’

Analysts at the consultancy firm Cornwall Energy said earlier this year that there could be projects totaling 13GW ready to vie for a contract in the next energy auction. These include 5.5GW of onshore wind and solar farms, 6GW of offshore wind power and the balance made up of more embryonic renewable energy technologies.

Ruth Chapman, MD of Dulas, writes that, “There has been some really positive news this year regarding the environment. Given the abundance of resources this nation has, there’s no reason not to use clean energy. In fact, the cost of offshore wind has now fallen to a price of £40 ($48) per megawatt hour – less than the wholesale energy market. Renewable energy works for consumers, it works for the economy and it works for the planet.”

We’ll soon see if the government’s plans come to fruition. As always, time will tell. For now, let’s end this year on a confident note.

2020 made us stand still but, with multiple vaccines on the immediate horizon and a wealth of global environmental policies to radically alter our footprint on the planet, we can hopefully come roaring out of the gates by the spring.

Let’s do it!

Jemma King

Jemma L King began her career in renewables at the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales, before moving to Dulas – a green engineering firm operating globally.

She is now an independent writer focusing on her twin interests – the arts and cleantech. Jemma is the winner of the Terry Hetherington Young Welsh Writer of the Year Award and was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Wales Book of the Year Prize for her debut publication, ‘The Shape of a Forest’ (Parthian). Her following book, ‘The Undressed’ (Parthian) sold out on the first day of publication. She has read and published her work internationally and her work has been translated into 13 languages.

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(Why?)

Wind Power –

The wave of generator interconnection queue reforms hit PJM –

Renewable Developers want TOs to have a “skin in the game”

PJM Transmission Owners don’t want speculative projects

PJM Workshops Schedule

Evidence is mixed from queue reform at other ISOs because of upgrade costs

Technology companies did not present

Conclusion

Rao Konidena

Hydrogen hype in the air –

Burning H2 and the future of the gas industry.

H2 combustion and NOx – The new air pollution threat

The environmental justice impacts must be studied

A time out for H2 combustion before it’s too late?

We’ve been here before

Lewis Milford

Seth Mullendore

Roaring into 2021 with the energy policies that matter –

Jemma King

H₂ combustion and NO_x – The new air pollution threat

A time out for H₂ combustion before it’s too late?