Advanced Energy Perspectives

Last week’s elections mean changes in Congressional leadership and a possible policy shift for advanced energy. Read on for AEE’s analysis of what the elections could mean for advanced energy policy, both in the short and long term.

 When the 114^th Congress convenes in January, newly Republican leadership in the Senate will likely entail a priority shift towards fossil fuels for the next Congress. Prior to winning a hard-fought election battle in coal-rich Kentucky, incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed to roll back the carbon pollution standards issued by the EPA. Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, who will chair the Senate on Committee Energy and Natural Resources, is expected to push for movement on the Keystone XL pipeline, natural gas and oil exports and onshore and offshore oil drilling. Other newly appointed chairs include Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Utah Senator Orrin Hatch of the Senate Finance Committee and Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran of the Senate Appropriations Committee. In the House, Rep. Paul Ryan will likely replace retiring Rep. Dave Camp as the new Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) plan to regulate carbon emissions is just the latest challenge facing the U.S. electric power system. Technological innovation is disrupting old ways of doing business and accelerating grid modernization. Earlier this year, AEE released Advanced Energy Technologies for Greenhouse Gas Reduction, a report detailing the use, application, and benefits of 40 specific advanced energy technologies and services. This post is one in a series drawn from the technology profiles within that report.

Solid biomass has been used as fuel in power plants for many decades. The dominant technology is direct combustion in which biomass is burned in a boiler to generate high-pressure steam, which is used to turn a steam turbine-generator set. Other technologies also exist, such as gasification, in which the biomass is first converted to a synthesis gas that can be burned in boilers, reciprocating engines and gas turbines. Solid biomass resources include logging and agriculture residues, forest products residues such as sawdust, bark and spent pulping liquors, as well as dedicated energy crops, both woody and herbaceous.

This week we saw news of a new “electric power superhighway” in Kansas, a bumper crop of energy storage in California, and the small matter of the 2014 Midterm Elections. Kansas cut the ribbon on a 100-mile-long transmission line, SoCal Edison procured more storage than expected, and Republicans took control of the U.S. Senate. Think of it this way: Power Lines, Power Storage, and Power Shift.

On October 22, the New York Green Bank announced its first round of transactions. When Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the $1 billion bank last year, it was touted as an innovative way to combine the goals and resources of the state’s public and private sectors.

“We will leverage public dollars to attract private sector investment into building a new clean energy economy that will help make our state greener and create jobs,” Cuomo said in a statement. The bank will use “limited state resources to drive investment into critical areas of the economy.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) plan to regulate carbon emissions is just the latest challenge facing the U.S. electric power system. Technological innovation is disrupting old ways of doing business and accelerating grid modernization. Earlier this year, AEE released Advanced Energy Technologies for Greenhouse Gas Reduction, a report detailing the use, application, and benefits of 40 specific advanced energy technologies and services. This post is one in a series drawn from the technology profiles within that report.

Water heating technology spans a range of options, from conventional technologies to renewable systems. Conventional storage water heaters typically run on natural gas or electricity and keep water hot in an insulated tank and ready for use at all times. They have a simple design and are relatively low cost, but they also have standby losses associated with storing hot water for long periods of time. High-efficiency models are available that increase the heat transfer efficiency and reduce the standby losses with more insulation. Tankless (instantaneous) water heaters eliminate standby losses by heating water on demand, creating a continuous supply, though there may be a limit on simultaneous use of hot water devices. Heat pump water heaters are electric water heaters that use heat pump technology to increase efficiency over conventional electric resistance units. Solar hot water systems harness the sun’s energy using solar thermal collectors. They typically require a larger storage tank and a backup fuel (such as electricity or natural gas) for times when the sun cannot produce enough hot water.