Disconcerting Disconnect

Good morning and happy Friday,

It’s an election year, and a new survey says Americans will be prompted to look at 37% more surveys in 2024 than they were last year ;-) Here’s one to add to the list: Yale’s climate opinion survey finds large numbers believe climate change is happening, but – surprise! – it’s still a partisan issue.

Add to that the fact that although there’s ample evidence the IRA is driving massive investment in manufacturing, a surge in red state, blue collar jobs may not manifest in time to boost Biden in the polls.

In other news, RMI has released The Great Reallocation, a report that challenges “misleading” assumptions previously put forth by the likes of McKinsey and the IEA about the cost of transitioning to renewables. Inside Climate’s Dan Gearino does a nice job of describing the differences among these viewpoints. We can expect to hear more on this topic, as the world’s economists sharpen their focus on it.

Read on for more.

Disconcerting Disconnect

Americans say they support expanding the use of solar energy, but project developers are increasingly facing local opposition and restrictive ordinances. A new journal article explores this disconnect with the goal of identifying strategies that can help overcome it. Here’s the Cliffs Notes version:

• Conducted under Berkeley Lab’s Community-Centered Solar Development research project, the study looked at seven commercial scale solar projects and interviewed 54 stakeholders.
• The two main research questions were 1) what are residents’ most common concerns, and 2) what can developers and officials do to secure better outcomes and alignment in terms of community needs and acceptance?
• Key findings were that residents don’t feel sufficiently involved in the development process and discussion of local impacts and would like changes in how information is shared, community influence over project design, and “consideration of economic, environmental, visual, and landscape impacts.”

??The Takeaway

Talk to me. Strategies proposed to address these concerns include increasing in-person engagement, transparent discussions about project benefits and burdens, third-party intermediaries as community liaisons, and enhancing local economic benefits – in other words, shifting towards a more "community-centered" approach. Stay tuned for future research from the same group based on analysis and findings from a national survey of nearly 1,000 solar project neighbors.

Good Money After Bad

This week’s head scratcher comes from Wyoming, where ratepayers are being hit with millions annually in “low-carbon” surcharges – costs that could balloon to billions – to keep coal plants running. Yes, you read that correctly – here’s what creative math looks like in the Cowboy State:

• Regulators have given two utilities, Black Hill Energy and Rocky Mountain Power, approval to charge customers millions if the utilities retrofit smokestacks on coal-fired power plants with scrubbers to capture carbon dioxide under a state-imposed mandate.
• To be clear, the funds collected under the surcharge are just to analyze the feasibility of implementing scrubbers. For Black Hills alone, the cost of scrubbers themselves could top $500 million per plant – “price tag[s that] far exceed the original costs of the plants.”
• And these estimates don’t include the cost of replacement power to make up for the 15-36% loss of generation output caused by the scrubbers, nor the “second phase of engineering analysis” which could ring in at an additional $8-12 million.

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??The Takeaway

Running investors out of town. Wyoming’s Office of Consumer Advocate (OCA) is pushing back on the plans and charges, noting that the viability of carbon capture technology isn’t exactly a slam-dunk yet. So too is Microsoft, which has an expanding data center in Cheyenne and says its power supply comes mostly from renewables. OCA’s administrator has warned that hitting ratepayers with big charges related to carbon capture could discourage climate-conscience companies like Microsoft from investing in Wyoming.

• Gopher Swap: A MN utility is swapping coal for solar taking 780,000 cars off the road
• Oversight Struggle: State bill would remove county control of solar projects in Virginia
• Comeback: U.S. wind power is slowly making a comeback after hitting rock bottom
• Apples to Sinkholes: Yes, wind turbines kill birds. Yes, fracking is much worse
• BLM Confusion: No, the U.S. is not going to cover 22 million acres with solar panels

• The largest US solar + storage project in California is complete
• Wind power helps this Kansas cattle ranch survive
• New Jersey OKs two new offshore wind farms that would be farther from shore and beachgoers’ view
• Entergy Louisiana receives approval for additional renewable power facilities
• McHenry County Illinois repeals solar farm restrictions
• Plains zoning board approves solar farm project in PE

Look Ma, No Cobalt!

Researchers at MIT have developed a new organic cathode material that can replace cobalt or nickel in lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. This innovation addresses the myriad downsides of using cobalt, the extraction of which is associated with serious environmental and social concerns. Making matters worse, many of the raw materials used in batteries are subject to price fluctuations and supply issues.

MIT’s new material features layers of bis-tetraaminobenzoquinone, or TAQ for short. TAQ can go toe-to-toe with cobalt in terms of electricity conduction rates and storage capacity, and it actually charges faster than traditional cobalt batteries. Lamborghini funded the research and has licensed the patent on the technology.

Producing the organic cathode is potentially less expensive than cobalt batteries, with material costs estimated to be one-third to one-half of current cobalt battery costs. Its structure, similar to graphite, includes materials that enhance stability and insolubility, allowing over 2,000 charge cycles with minimal degradation.

The MIT research team plans to continue developing alternative battery materials. Notably, they’re exploring replacements for lithium, such as sodium or magnesium, which are cheaper and more abundant. This breakthrough could significantly impact the EV market, offering a more sustainable, cost-effective battery alternative. Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines!