Sustainability - - A Focus On Carbon

As   this   paper explains, RECs - bundled with the electricity or unbundled from it - transfers ownership of the   attributes  (not electricity if unbundled)  of the renewable to the REC purchaser.  Earlier in the same paper, the authors note that the Superior Court of New Jersey has ruled, " One Renewable Energy Certificate represents the   environmental benefits   or attributes   of one megawatt-hour of generated renewable energy."[Emphasis added] One cheap way to achieve that goal is for Portland to buy RECs.   Let's figure out how many REC's Portland needs to purchase to reduce its carbon footprint 100%.  Keep in mind that all the vehicles, industrial processes, commercial processes, how electricity is generated, and other uses for fossil fuels from lawn mowers, Vespas, gas grills, and on and on would still be in use.   We need four pieces of information: (1) where the renable project assocaited with one REC i...

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...