Contrary to what the 2017 Update states, SB1547 does not require that coal plants be phased out by 2035. It also does not require any phasing out of coal-fired electricity from helping to serve our demand for electricity. While it does increase the Renewable Performance Standards (RPS) in the out years, reaching 50% by 2050, this applies only to two utilities: PGE and PacifiCorp. Even then, the requirement may be met through the purchase of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) from across the United States. As a result, the electricity entering homes and businesses in Portland will continue to include carbon-based generation, including coal. There is a second reason why carbon-based fuels, including coal, will continue to be delivered to Portland’s homes and businesses since coal will remain a significant component of the West Coast power system of which PGE and PacifiCorp are a part. If you are interested in this issue, here are seve...
The often cited study by Mark Jacobson et. al. that asserts it's economic to replace every fossil fuel use with either electricity from wind, water, and sun (WWS-only) or hydrogen produced using WWS-only in 139 countries over the next 33 years implies a massive construction program the likes of which we may not have ever seen. I find it useful to compare the implied construction program to what we have experienced in the recent past. Click here to see his paper on the 50 U.S. states. Over the next 33 years, even under his extraordinary drop in total electric load, he envisions approximately 5.8 million MW of new generation are needed (plus an additional 600GW for peaking and system stability). He reports that as of 2013, 2.71% (of 5.8 million MW) is currently installed, or approximately1.6 million MW. Such quantities indicate an extraordinary construction program, especially since the U.S. installed capacity rose by only about 177,400MWs over the eight year pe...
Climate Interactive has a mode l they use to assess the impact of various climate change proposals. They're analysis is quite sobering, indicating that the 'agreement' reached at the recent Climate Change conference, the earth's temperature would increase 7 degrees F (4 degrees C) by the year 2100. This is substantially higher than the goal for temperature rise this century is 2.7 degrees F (1.5 degrees C). This link will take you to Climate Interactive's blog. That blog provides some additional background to the agreed goals for temperature rise, and current efforts to limit it. The New York Times had a fairly good overview article on the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference agreement. A CBS news report contains the following chilling news: " Reducing carbon dioxide levels to 350 would mean reversing the trend of the past couple of centuries. Carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for as long as 100 years. And the emissions cuts currently being ple...
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