Congratulations, you've been named as the climate czar for the next incoming Democratic administration. Sorry but it's not optional. The good news is that the administration is totally behind the Volts vision and you've been given the green light to bring in anyone you want in whatever capacity you choose (climate policy fantasy draft?!?) and are able to dictate priorities and broad brush policy goals. So who are you bringing on board and what do you want them to work on?
In a recent episode (mentioning Balcony Solar I believe), David bemoaned the paucity of content creators extolling the virtues of green technologies. If you haven't already gotten into them, I'd suggest checking out the UK Heat Geeks (very UK focused, so lots of comments about comparisons to "Combi Boilers" and less of the air-source heat pumps that are more common in the US, where we absolutely love our air conditioning). The US-based Technology Connections (who talks about heat pumps, load shifting and EVs) is absolutely wonderful. Would I like there to be more? Absolutely. Am I grateful for what they do now? 100%.
I'm in Seattle and recently got some quotes for rooftop solar. I was surprised that they didn't seem to pencil out, even with the 30% tax credit. My roof isn't ideal for it but isn't terrible either. A couple proposals looked OK at first, but if I account for the opportunity cost at all they quickly fall apart (from a purely financial perspective, at least).
In terms of environmental impact, I'm not really sure how to think about it. SCL has a very clean energy mix already, so at first I thought this decision wouldn't have much direct environmental impact. But, if I produce some solar would that result in less dirty energy being used in some neighboring region? And does the increased demand expected in coming years mean SCL's energy is going to be getting less clean?
Wondering what y 'all think of this. Hard for me to imagine anything good about bitcoin from a climate perspective, but this has a couple of intriguing ideas:
Bitcoin mining rescuing stranded power generation in developing world, plus funding new green energy production:
I'm hoping this is the right place to put a Mailbag question (the image in David's email of Aug 18 shows an image that says "MAILBAG QUESTIONS" with a big arrow labeled "Reply here!"). Anyway, here is my question: What's the story on the Spanish blackout? Not-entirely-friendly audiences may well raise this as a gotcha, esp. as we extol the cost declines in solar+battery... (that was an especially great episode, by the way).
This job at the Colorado PUC is a great opportunity to help Colorado navigate the challenge of reducing emissions while keeping energy rates affordable and making sure the lights stay on. Please share with anyone who might be interested. Deadline is September 4. https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/colorado/jobs/newprint/5038010
Fellow Volts fans: A small team of us just launched a statewide campaign in Oregon that you might find of interest. It’s called EVmath.org, and it’s designed to close the rural/urban divide on EVs.
We’re telling the stories of 10 EV early adopters from rural communities who are saving a significant sum of money thanks to their EVs. They’re donating their time to the campaign because they believe in the cause. Here’s a quote from Tim Nesbitt, who lives on a small farm in the town of Independence:
“I was drawn to this effort for its facts-based focus on sharing the benefits of EVs. We need more understanding of the merits of EVs, divorced from politics.”
Our goal is to invite as many people to EVmath.org as possible, so they can hear their neighbors’ stories and crunch the numbers for themselves. We’ve built the most simple, user-friendly EV cost savings calculator out there.
If you’re interested in learning more, or see an opportunity to collaborate, please reach out: https://www.evmath.org/
Hello, I'm first year law student interested in one day working in renewable energy development. Is there anyone out there who works on the legal side of development (maybe in-house or at a firm that has energy clients) that would be willing to talk to me about what that looks like? I haven't worked in this area before law school but have been interested in a long time. Also interested in anyone else in the industry who'd be willing to talk with me even if you're not an attorney. Thanks!
I just emailed this message to the general mailbox of Rewiring America and thought that I'd post here as well to see if anyone has any ideas of who I should contact next for help or to see if anyone is able to help me directly. Please comment or message me if so. Thanks!
Hello,
I'm a letter carrier who works out of the Lynnwood Post Office just north of Seattle. Our HVAC system is broken and our roof is leaking, so both are getting replaced. The project is going out to bid next month.
I've been talking to anyone who will listen to me that we should switch to heat pumps, and use the bidding process to include an alternate bid item to install solar panels and battery storage at the same time. After several false starts, I have finally found the person coordinating this project at the local level in direct contact with the people at the regional and federal levels who are in charge of the budget for it, and I think that if you are able to help me calculate cost savings and federal tax credits that I can have this project receive serious attention and possible approval.
Also, I'm not sure when we will get them, but we are switching the fleet over to electric vehicles at some point, which will require charging infrastructure to be put in and which would benefit immensely from solar plus storage.
We have a flat roof in full sunlight. Project Sunroof says we have 1,229 hours of usable sunlight per year and 22,446 sq feet available for solar panels.
I would appreciate any help you can give me in calculating costs, savings, and which tax credits we can take advantage of.
The address of the post office is:
6817 208th St SW, Lynnwood, WA 98036
Please let me know what questions you have and I will try to get you all the information that I can.
Have y'all heard of the mechanical or artificial trees for decarbonization? They seem like an actual promising technologies. They are passive and thus use very little energy. Could make for a good episode. I think there are designs out of Columbia University and Arizona State (at least). I know we are all fans of mitigation more. But it's good to know there are good options coming to fruition to address already emitted ghgs.
I suggest that David should interview Edward Cazalet about the merits of dynamic pricing vs VPPs. States & cities really need to lean on local development of widely distributed community generation, storage & peak demand dispatch.
Hope I’m doing this right. David you should definitely have Environmental Voter Project on. Their latest presentation was the most interesting and inspiring and mindset-changing presentation I’ve heard in a long time: (and I’ve seen lots! 😊)
Takeaways:
A majority of Americans do think about climate change pretty often (actually they think about CC more often than they think about gun control, abortion, and
A majority of those Americans rank “Reduce/Reuse/Recycling” as the number one solution (!)
Other top solutions they pick are all individual action type solutions (oh no)
Yet when Americans are polled about solutions to gun control, abortion, and education, the top solutions are changing laws and other political solutions.
Majorities of these folks do believe big corporations are at fault for CC
Why do Americans think of political solutions for other issues important to them but only individual behavior-related solutions for climate change, even though they do recognize that corporations and financial interests are mostly to blame
Maybe it’s easier to get these CC-aware folks to understand there are good political solutions to fight CC and they are way more impactful than haranguing individuals to recycle, buy EVs, stop air travel, etc.
I hope David might be interested in reaching out to a friend of mine, Dr Dan Ludois at the University of Madison, he's doing very cutting-edge work in electrification, the kind of stuff we hear about on Volts a lot, but that I as a layman I'm not able to summarize here.
I was excited by the recent episode on Thermal Energy Networks ("Thermal energy networks are the next big thing"; Jan 1 2025). It reminded me of a long-ago analysis by Jesse Jenkins' team covered by Volts ("Long-duration storage can help clean up the electricity grid, but only if it's super cheap"). That analysis suggested that New England would have MUCH higher long-duration energy storage demands than Texas because of heating demand during long cold winters.
So... I wonder if anyone is working on long-duration thermal storage? Maybe, if we get widespread deployment of thermal energy networks, some form of seasonal thermal storage could supplant the need for seasonal electricity storage?
I publish Energy (and Other) Events Monthly as a listserv and webpage at http://hubevents.blogspot.com which covers energy/climate/environment mostly academic and technical events first in the Boston area but now global with online conferencing.
I find the short piece on the megawatts supplied by batteries highly misleading. The batteries eat their guts, are only available for a short time and need to be replenished. Both a hydroelectric dam and a nuclear plant can run continually to run full out. Batteries may be able to fill a short gap, but are not a long-term solution to constant electricity production.
Isn’t the point that the batteries meet the typical 2 hour peak and in so doing eliminate the need for entire hydroelectric and nuclear builds (at a much lower cost)?
It's about time that we demand green hydrogen to replace methane in electricity generation. Climate change is real. Just step outside! In addition we have a rare occurrence of a potential cat 4 hurricane in the Atlantic. Enough talk! Action!
Hydrogen is the most plentiful gas on the planet. As for being able to power the data centers, yes is the answer. Data centers for AI need to be off grid and the operators to provide their own power supply instead of making rate payers subsidize their for profit business.
Safe nuclear power, is by estimates, 25 years away. There are other was to produce hydrogen then electrolysis, which requires electricity. It has been proposed but the present administration is deeply invested in fossil fuels production. The rest of the planet is moving toward renewable green energy with hydrogen as the output. Let me mention the simple fact there are no more dinosaurs being produced.
"Hydrogen is the most plentiful gas on the planet" this is false. You are remembering a quote you heard somewhere where Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. Hydrogen on earth is usually tied to other elements / molecules to form other substances which requires energy to transform (Water, Methane, etc). Gaseous Hydrogen reserves are very rare. Converting water to hydrogen requires massive amount of energy. Transporting and storing hydrogen does as well.
Safe nuclear power already exists. Next generation nuclear will be better. 25 years is probably a bit of a stretch and nearing the high end. Unless you are explicitly talking about Fusion. There are many other types of nuclear that will come before that.
"The rest of the planet is moving toward renewable green energy with hydrogen as the output." That seems like a bold statement without much data to back it up. There are places that do it, but it is still rare. And usually only done with excess energy from renewables. Hydrogen has plenty of problems. There are episodes of Volts that explain them.
Did the nuclear industry say the same things before every nuclear disaster? No fuel that produces energy is 100% safe. Hydrogen is bound to other elements. When Hydrogen is used as a fuel source, the combustion produces water, which can be used to make more hydrogen fuel. It is truly renewable.
--- QUESTIONS ---
David,
Congratulations, you've been named as the climate czar for the next incoming Democratic administration. Sorry but it's not optional. The good news is that the administration is totally behind the Volts vision and you've been given the green light to bring in anyone you want in whatever capacity you choose (climate policy fantasy draft?!?) and are able to dictate priorities and broad brush policy goals. So who are you bringing on board and what do you want them to work on?
In a recent episode (mentioning Balcony Solar I believe), David bemoaned the paucity of content creators extolling the virtues of green technologies. If you haven't already gotten into them, I'd suggest checking out the UK Heat Geeks (very UK focused, so lots of comments about comparisons to "Combi Boilers" and less of the air-source heat pumps that are more common in the US, where we absolutely love our air conditioning). The US-based Technology Connections (who talks about heat pumps, load shifting and EVs) is absolutely wonderful. Would I like there to be more? Absolutely. Am I grateful for what they do now? 100%.
I'm in Seattle and recently got some quotes for rooftop solar. I was surprised that they didn't seem to pencil out, even with the 30% tax credit. My roof isn't ideal for it but isn't terrible either. A couple proposals looked OK at first, but if I account for the opportunity cost at all they quickly fall apart (from a purely financial perspective, at least).
In terms of environmental impact, I'm not really sure how to think about it. SCL has a very clean energy mix already, so at first I thought this decision wouldn't have much direct environmental impact. But, if I produce some solar would that result in less dirty energy being used in some neighboring region? And does the increased demand expected in coming years mean SCL's energy is going to be getting less clean?
Wondering what y 'all think of this. Hard for me to imagine anything good about bitcoin from a climate perspective, but this has a couple of intriguing ideas:
Bitcoin mining rescuing stranded power generation in developing world, plus funding new green energy production:
https://proto.xyz/blog/posts/possible-futures-002-gridless/
I'm hoping this is the right place to put a Mailbag question (the image in David's email of Aug 18 shows an image that says "MAILBAG QUESTIONS" with a big arrow labeled "Reply here!"). Anyway, here is my question: What's the story on the Spanish blackout? Not-entirely-friendly audiences may well raise this as a gotcha, esp. as we extol the cost declines in solar+battery... (that was an especially great episode, by the way).
--- CLIMATE JOBS & OPPORTUNITIES ---
This job at the Colorado PUC is a great opportunity to help Colorado navigate the challenge of reducing emissions while keeping energy rates affordable and making sure the lights stay on. Please share with anyone who might be interested. Deadline is September 4. https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/colorado/jobs/newprint/5038010
Just the messenger, no relation to this org: BrightAction Communities – Community Engagement & Program Manager
https://docs.google.com/document/d/14rgA05o96xwabpm3u-eE9VIevomelmmDYmfrfK68pYY/edit?ref=edscleanenergysustainabilityjobs.com&tab=t.0
--- SHARE WORK, ASK FOR HELP, FIND COLLABORATORS ---
Fellow Volts fans: A small team of us just launched a statewide campaign in Oregon that you might find of interest. It’s called EVmath.org, and it’s designed to close the rural/urban divide on EVs.
We’re telling the stories of 10 EV early adopters from rural communities who are saving a significant sum of money thanks to their EVs. They’re donating their time to the campaign because they believe in the cause. Here’s a quote from Tim Nesbitt, who lives on a small farm in the town of Independence:
“I was drawn to this effort for its facts-based focus on sharing the benefits of EVs. We need more understanding of the merits of EVs, divorced from politics.”
Our goal is to invite as many people to EVmath.org as possible, so they can hear their neighbors’ stories and crunch the numbers for themselves. We’ve built the most simple, user-friendly EV cost savings calculator out there.
If you’re interested in learning more, or see an opportunity to collaborate, please reach out: https://www.evmath.org/
Hello, I'm first year law student interested in one day working in renewable energy development. Is there anyone out there who works on the legal side of development (maybe in-house or at a firm that has energy clients) that would be willing to talk to me about what that looks like? I haven't worked in this area before law school but have been interested in a long time. Also interested in anyone else in the industry who'd be willing to talk with me even if you're not an attorney. Thanks!
I just emailed this message to the general mailbox of Rewiring America and thought that I'd post here as well to see if anyone has any ideas of who I should contact next for help or to see if anyone is able to help me directly. Please comment or message me if so. Thanks!
Hello,
I'm a letter carrier who works out of the Lynnwood Post Office just north of Seattle. Our HVAC system is broken and our roof is leaking, so both are getting replaced. The project is going out to bid next month.
I've been talking to anyone who will listen to me that we should switch to heat pumps, and use the bidding process to include an alternate bid item to install solar panels and battery storage at the same time. After several false starts, I have finally found the person coordinating this project at the local level in direct contact with the people at the regional and federal levels who are in charge of the budget for it, and I think that if you are able to help me calculate cost savings and federal tax credits that I can have this project receive serious attention and possible approval.
Also, I'm not sure when we will get them, but we are switching the fleet over to electric vehicles at some point, which will require charging infrastructure to be put in and which would benefit immensely from solar plus storage.
We have a flat roof in full sunlight. Project Sunroof says we have 1,229 hours of usable sunlight per year and 22,446 sq feet available for solar panels.
I would appreciate any help you can give me in calculating costs, savings, and which tax credits we can take advantage of.
The address of the post office is:
6817 208th St SW, Lynnwood, WA 98036
Please let me know what questions you have and I will try to get you all the information that I can.
I can help! Will DM you
I got your message. Thank you!
--- EVERYTHING ELSE ---
Have y'all heard of the mechanical or artificial trees for decarbonization? They seem like an actual promising technologies. They are passive and thus use very little energy. Could make for a good episode. I think there are designs out of Columbia University and Arizona State (at least). I know we are all fans of mitigation more. But it's good to know there are good options coming to fruition to address already emitted ghgs.
I suggest that David should interview Edward Cazalet about the merits of dynamic pricing vs VPPs. States & cities really need to lean on local development of widely distributed community generation, storage & peak demand dispatch.
Hope I’m doing this right. David you should definitely have Environmental Voter Project on. Their latest presentation was the most interesting and inspiring and mindset-changing presentation I’ve heard in a long time: (and I’ve seen lots! 😊)
Takeaways:
A majority of Americans do think about climate change pretty often (actually they think about CC more often than they think about gun control, abortion, and
A majority of those Americans rank “Reduce/Reuse/Recycling” as the number one solution (!)
Other top solutions they pick are all individual action type solutions (oh no)
Yet when Americans are polled about solutions to gun control, abortion, and education, the top solutions are changing laws and other political solutions.
Majorities of these folks do believe big corporations are at fault for CC
Why do Americans think of political solutions for other issues important to them but only individual behavior-related solutions for climate change, even though they do recognize that corporations and financial interests are mostly to blame
Maybe it’s easier to get these CC-aware folks to understand there are good political solutions to fight CC and they are way more impactful than haranguing individuals to recycle, buy EVs, stop air travel, etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPpckaUPWrY
I hope David might be interested in reaching out to a friend of mine, Dr Dan Ludois at the University of Madison, he's doing very cutting-edge work in electrification, the kind of stuff we hear about on Volts a lot, but that I as a layman I'm not able to summarize here.
https://youtu.be/e7Y9L0vq_U0?si=PVX_bTFW9TVqcYgg
--- CLIMATE EVENTS & MEETUPS ---
Re:#2
I noticed. I hope everyone at Volts is having a great month, you deserve it.
I was excited by the recent episode on Thermal Energy Networks ("Thermal energy networks are the next big thing"; Jan 1 2025). It reminded me of a long-ago analysis by Jesse Jenkins' team covered by Volts ("Long-duration storage can help clean up the electricity grid, but only if it's super cheap"). That analysis suggested that New England would have MUCH higher long-duration energy storage demands than Texas because of heating demand during long cold winters.
So... I wonder if anyone is working on long-duration thermal storage? Maybe, if we get widespread deployment of thermal energy networks, some form of seasonal thermal storage could supplant the need for seasonal electricity storage?
I publish Energy (and Other) Events Monthly as a listserv and webpage at http://hubevents.blogspot.com which covers energy/climate/environment mostly academic and technical events first in the Boston area but now global with online conferencing.
Please use it.
I find the short piece on the megawatts supplied by batteries highly misleading. The batteries eat their guts, are only available for a short time and need to be replenished. Both a hydroelectric dam and a nuclear plant can run continually to run full out. Batteries may be able to fill a short gap, but are not a long-term solution to constant electricity production.
You’re missing the point in that it can take the cap off peaks and smooth out generation, preventing great cost expenditures.
Isn’t the point that the batteries meet the typical 2 hour peak and in so doing eliminate the need for entire hydroelectric and nuclear builds (at a much lower cost)?
It's about time that we demand green hydrogen to replace methane in electricity generation. Climate change is real. Just step outside! In addition we have a rare occurrence of a potential cat 4 hurricane in the Atlantic. Enough talk! Action!
Is there enough green energy to do that? Especially with electricity supply being sucked up by data centers (my god I'm done hearing that term)
Hydrogen is the most plentiful gas on the planet. As for being able to power the data centers, yes is the answer. Data centers for AI need to be off grid and the operators to provide their own power supply instead of making rate payers subsidize their for profit business.
Safe nuclear power, is by estimates, 25 years away. There are other was to produce hydrogen then electrolysis, which requires electricity. It has been proposed but the present administration is deeply invested in fossil fuels production. The rest of the planet is moving toward renewable green energy with hydrogen as the output. Let me mention the simple fact there are no more dinosaurs being produced.
"Hydrogen is the most plentiful gas on the planet" this is false. You are remembering a quote you heard somewhere where Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. Hydrogen on earth is usually tied to other elements / molecules to form other substances which requires energy to transform (Water, Methane, etc). Gaseous Hydrogen reserves are very rare. Converting water to hydrogen requires massive amount of energy. Transporting and storing hydrogen does as well.
Safe nuclear power already exists. Next generation nuclear will be better. 25 years is probably a bit of a stretch and nearing the high end. Unless you are explicitly talking about Fusion. There are many other types of nuclear that will come before that.
"The rest of the planet is moving toward renewable green energy with hydrogen as the output." That seems like a bold statement without much data to back it up. There are places that do it, but it is still rare. And usually only done with excess energy from renewables. Hydrogen has plenty of problems. There are episodes of Volts that explain them.
Did the nuclear industry say the same things before every nuclear disaster? No fuel that produces energy is 100% safe. Hydrogen is bound to other elements. When Hydrogen is used as a fuel source, the combustion produces water, which can be used to make more hydrogen fuel. It is truly renewable.