Willem Post's Blog (689)

This article shows the following:

- Gross state product growth was 13.08% faster than state budget growth, a desirable condition, during the Douglas years,

- GSP growth was 45.5% slower than state budget growth, an undesirable condition, during the Shumlin years.

- The state government needs to decrease the burden of taxes, fees and surcharges on the anemic private sector.

See attached spreadsheet with sources of…

TransCanada, TC, purchased 13 hydro power plants, total capacity 560 MW, on the Connecticut and Deerfield Rivers from bankrupt USGen New England for $505 million in 2005. Almost all of the plants are located in New Hampshire. All plants and their drainage areas are shown on an enlarged map. See URL.

The current Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC, licenses of the Wilder, Bellows Falls and Vernon Plants expire in 2018. The renewal process takes about 5…

The original SPEED program, started in July 2010, was repealed and replaced by Act 56 of 2015, the Renewable Portfolio Standard, RPS, act, which requires 55% of utility retail electricity sales to be from renewable sources by 2017; 75% by 2032. The SPEED program replacement is called Standard Offer, SO, as described in 30 VSA 8005b.

SO projects, 2.2 MW or less:

Those projects have a cap of 127.5 MW by 2022; about 60,850 kW, all energy sources, has been…

The US faces two major simultaneous challenges: 

- Reduce the impact of rising prices of energy and other natural resources on US global competitiveness. In 1973 the US was using about 60% more energy per dollar of GDP than other industrialized nations. After 36 years that percentage remains unchanged. The US needs to rapidly reduce that percentage by greatly improving the energy efficiency of buildings, transportation and industries. 

- Stop the increase of…

Vermont has set a voluntary goal to have 90% RE of all primary energy by 2050, not just electrical energy, which is only 35% of all primary energy, as described in the Comprehensive Energy Plan, CEP, of 2016.

Vermont’s goal of attaining 90% of its energy from renewables by 2050 would require capital investments of at least $33.3 billion during the 2017-2050 period, or about $1 billion per year, according to Vermont Energy Action Network’s …

US natural gas production has been steadily increasing from about 20,256 billion cubic feet in 2008 (consumption 23,277 bcf, less imports 3,021 bcf) to about 23,986 bcf in 2012 (consumption 25,502 bcf, less imports 1,516 bcf). In 2012, production was about 40% from shale, and the rest from tight gas, and other sources. The shale share is projected to grow to 43% and 60% by 2015 and 2035, respectively.

Natural gas is good for the US economy because it:

- Is…

The $3.67 million demonstration, low-income housing project, with 7 pre-fabricated duplex units for 14 tenants, $262,000/unit, is located in Waltham, Vermont. Various government and quasi-government entities made cash grants or other donations to the project, totaling about $550,000, to make it a success. 

TESLA POWERWALL 2.0 FOR STABILIZING DISTRIBUTION GRIDS

Tesla markets a wall-hung, 14 kWh Powerwall 2.0 battery unit, with lithium-ion cells made by Panasonic, either in Japan or Nevada. The unit is designed for daily charging and discharging.

The turnkey cost of the unit = $6,200, factory FOB + S & H + Contractor markup of about 10 percent + Misc. hardware + Installation by 2 electricians, say 16 hours @ $60/h = $8,200, or $586/kWh of battery…

The turnkey capital cost of battery systems has been decreasing the past few years. The below table has turnkey capital costs/kWh of some 2016 and 2017 projects. Subsidies, such as cash grants, discounts, investment tax credit, ITC, and 5-year accelerated depreciation, which serve to reduce the cost/kWh, were ignored.

Tesla markets a wall-hung, nominal 14 kWh, available 13.5 kWh, Powerwall 2.0 battery unit, with lithium-ion cells made by Panasonic, either in Japan or Nevada. The unit is designed for daily charging and discharging.

Battery system turnkey capital cost = $6,200, factory FOB + S & H + Contractor markup of about 10 percent + Misc. hardware + Installation by 2 electricians, say 16 hours @ $60/h = $8,200, or $586/kWh. 

This is a Tesla estimate, which…

The EU and US have declared, “Burning wood is CO2-neutral”. East Europe and the US Southeast still have significant areas with forests. Starting about 2005, major parts of these forests have been harvested by means of clear-cutting. In 2016, about 6.5 million metric ton of wood pellets will be shipped from the US Southeast to Europe for co-firing in coal-fired power plants. The EU authorities in Brussels have declared these coal plants in compliance with EU CO2/kWh standards, because biomass…

World Electricity Sector

Worldwide investments in electricity generating plants and grid systems were about $10 trillion, of which about $6.52 trillion for electricity generating plants and about $3.46 trillion for grid system upgrades during the 2000 - 2016 period.

Worldwide investments in renewables electricity generating plants were about $4.2 trillion, of which about $3 trillion for electricity generating plants (wind, solar, hydro, bio, etc.) and…

Vermont Senator Bray is being pressured by the starry-eyed, "90% RE by 2050" folks (the latest trend is 100% RE, a nice round number). Many of those RE folks, a.k.a. "stakeholders" are looking to cash in as much federal and state subsidy money as possible, as quickly as possible. They use the mantra of fighting climate change, global warming and job creation. Other RE folks likely have near-zero experience in the analysis of energy systems.

Accordingly, Senator Bray, eager to…

For the past 200 years, we have multiplied from 1.0 billion in 1800 to 7.4 billion in 2016, and will multiply to a likely 9.5 billion by 2050.

Most of them have lived the good life, courtesy of our fossil fuel inheritance. Transitioning to biofuels is like having to get a real job and work for the annual yield, year after year; a yield subject to the vagaries of the weather.

No more freebees from nature that were just lying around for millions of years waiting…

Vermont’s proposed carbon tax is as described in this URL. Proponents claim the carbon tax would be 90% “revenue neutral”, i.e., mostly returned to the economy likely in convoluted ways, via inefficient, ponderous, government programs in the form of “targeted” tax credits, subsidies, rebates, grants, etc. There would be taxpayer and employer tax rebates, but amounts and eligibility were not specified.…

This article has two purposes:

- A review the “100% RE by 2050 Plan for the US”, which is based on wind, solar and miscellaneous. for ALL of US primary energy, as presented in the Jacobson Group Report, issued in May 2015

- A presentation of two alternatives, which include wind, solar, hydro, nuclear and bio energy.

In the past, the Jacobson Group has published similar reports regarding for New York State, California, and the Whole…

It is 7 pm, 29 June 2017 in New England.

Nuclear 29%, gas 56%, hydro 5%, coal <1%, renewables 9%, of which wind 2.3%, solar 0%.

It is 6 am, 30 June 2017.

Nuclear 38%, gas 49%, hydro 4%, coal <1%, renewables 9%, of which wind 0.8%, solar 0%.

https://www.iso-ne.com/isoexpress/

It is overcast, i.e., there is not sufficient sunshine to produce any solar power.

There…

In this article it is shown, the direct emissions of methane and CO2 of the world’s 3.6 billion ruminants is 6.939 billion metric ton of CO2 equivalent per year, and of the world’s 1.0 billion light duty vehicles is 4.830 billion Mt CO2 eq./y; ruminant emissions are about 43.7% greater than LDVs.

Additional ruminant related emissions are due to pasturing, feeding, processing, packaging, selling, etc. of meat and dairy products. For example, in the US, the life cycle CO2 eq.…

National Energy Systems are Wasteful: About 75% of the fossil energy taken out of the ground to generate electricity never reaches the end user as electricity due to various losses from mine or well to user’s meter, and due to changes in embedded energy due to repairs, replacements, enhancements, expansion, etc., of the various systems, from mine or well to meter, plus, for a more inclusive approach, the energy required for the various other activities of the power industry-government…

The purpose of this article is to present major topics relevant to COP21. Independent articles represent most of the topics. The independent articles should be read in sequence.

The entire article and the independent articles are updated/revised as new information becomes available. In that manner, the articles continue as living, real-time documents, instead of remaining a dated, stationary slice of time, a major benefit for the readership made possible by Internet…