News – The Rational Middle

NYT: Biden Administration Announces New Rules to Shift Electric Vehicle Manufacturing to United States

Chris Lyon — Fri, 01 Dec 2023 17:29:54 +0000

The Biden administration proposed new rules on Friday aimed at shifting more production of electric vehicle batteries and the materials that power them to the United States, in an attempt to build up a strategic industry now dominated by China.

The rules are meant to limit the role that Chinese firms can play in supplying materials for electric vehicles that qualify for federal tax credits. They will also discourage companies that seek federal funding to build battery factories in the United States from sourcing materials from Chinese partners.

The rules could cause some consternation among automakers, who continue to rely heavily on China for materials and components of electric vehicles. They are also facing intense cost pressures as they try to modify their factories to make electric cars, and China offers some of the most advanced and lowest-priced battery technology in the world.

Read the full story on The New York Times.

Elon Musk And Bill Gates Describe The Electric Grid Of The Future—But Is It Achievable?

Chris Lyon — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 19:40:40 +0000

The energy industry’s most influential electric companies gathered at the 2023 Edison Electric Institute (EEI) conference this June alongside industry analysts, government officials and technology innovators to navigate the path toward a carbon-free future.

Conversations were rooted in the need for advanced technologies to support a reliable and affordable electric grid—a topic I’ve written extensively about as it pertains to grid modernization, electric vehicle charging and utility digitalization.

Inspiring keynote speeches from Bill Gates and Elon Musk emphasized our obligation to build a stronger grid in the face of mass electrification, followed by an abounding consensus for the deployment of more clean energy projects. However, as I reflect on the most important conversations at EEI 2023, it was those that focused on how we can actually achieve a clean energy grid from the bottom up—and what that means for customers.

What happens after we reach net zero?

Chris Lyon — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 19:30:25 +0000

Many aspects of Earth’s system, including global temperatures, may feel the effects of warming even after net zero is achieved, according to a new study.

All businesses must play a part in the transition to a low carbon energy system required to reach net zero by 2050.

Moving away from the traditional fossil fuel systems that much of our society and businesses are built around means that we’ll need to think and act differently – and not just when it comes to how much electricity we use, but how and when we consume it.

We all need to become more engaged to deliver system that works for everyone.

Meeting the challenges of the clean energy transition might sound daunting. However, they are not only achievable, but they offer financial, social and environmental benefits to the businesses prepared to get involved now.

A more sustainable system

In a low carbon system, generation sources will be greener, but also more distributed, more intermittent and less dispatchable.

On the face of it, this creates a series of challenges. But through technology and behavioural change, we can be smarter and more responsible with our electricity use, by adjusting consumption in line with the system’s needs. This flexibility will keep our system balanced and drive a secure and affordable zero carbon future.

For businesses, this could mean optimising the electricity consumption of operations such as industrial machinery, refrigeration or HVAC to harmonise with the grid’s needs.

This could involve ramping up energy use during periods of high renewable generation and avoiding peak energy demand periods to reduce system strain, or becoming more efficient in the electricity used.

Ultimately, flexibility enables our businesses to do more with less – something that is absolutely essential for a net zero energy system.

Optimisation makes sound business sense

An ominous climate science report from the United Nations in 2021 offered one hopeful thread amid warnings of rising seas and strengthening storms. Once all countries nix greenhouse gas emissions, it noted, warming is likely to stop pretty quickly.

The finding provided extra motivation for the world’s net-zero campaign, suggesting as it did that the fruits of everyone’s labor could show up without much delay. But the encouraging conclusion was also fuzzy. While surface temperatures might stabilize quickly, other shifting parts of the climate are harder to slow once set in motion. Science needed a better crack at the question.

Coal industry faces 1 million job losses from global energy transition – research

Chris Lyon — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 12:18:42 +0000

The global coal industry may have to shed nearly 1 million jobs by 2050, even without any further pledges to phase out fossil fuels, with China and India facing the biggest losses, research showed on Tuesday.

Hundreds of labour-intensive mines are expected to close in the coming decades as they reach the end of their lifespans and countries replace coal with cleaner low-carbon energy sources.

But most of the mines likely to shut down “have no planning underway to extend the life of those operations or to manage a transition to a post-coal economy,” U.S.-based think tank Global Energy Monitor (GEM) warned.

Meet the Oil Man in Charge of Leading the World Away From Oil

Chris Lyon — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 18:35:13 +0000

On a craggy desert plateau in Uzbekistan, a renewable energy company from the United Arab Emirates is putting up more than 100 wind turbines.

And on the other side of this vast, landlocked Central Asian nation, the same company’s owners, Emirati fossil-fuel investors, are pouring billions of dollars into a gas plant expansion.

The Emirates, made wealthy by decades of oil exports, wants to be seen as a climate-friendly renewable energy superpower, even as it helps lock developing nations around the world into decades more fossil fuel use.

Your New Apple Watch Won’t Be Carbon Neutral

Chris Lyon — Sun, 01 Oct 2023 13:22:13 +0000

“Mother Nature” took this week’s fall Apple event by storm. She appeared in the form of actress and producer Octavia Spencer, playing the role of a sardonic inquisitor who cross-examines CEO Tim Cook on his company’s climate promises. Luckily, Cook knew how to win her over: with a new product. He presented the latest version of the Apple Watch, the company’s first offering that’s said to be completely “carbon neutral.”

The phrase “carbon neutral” is the rare bit of marketing speak that says exactly what it means: no extra carbon. No extra harm to our troubled planet. The label will be slapped onto a subset of 9th-generation Apple Watches with a particular combination of casing and wristbands. They will come in packaging emblazoned with a wreath of electric green leaves.
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Kudos to you, buyer-to-be. You get to show off your new gadget and occupy the green moral high ground too. The company says it intends to use the Apple Watch as a model for making its entire product lineup carbon neutral by 2030.

That approach is a little confounding, says David Ho, a climate scientist at the University of Hawaii, because more stuff always has an impact. “There is no such thing as a carbon-neutral product,” he says. “It’s kind of silly. It gives consumers the idea that there are ways out of these problems that don’t involve consuming less.” Unless the new Watch has been designed to suck CO2 directly from the atmosphere, he jokes, it’s not actually carbon neutral.

COP 28 president: ‘It’s time to transform climate finance–and bridge its $2.4 trillion gap’

Chris Lyon — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 18:44:39 +0000

If you want to understand the state of the world’s climate efforts, follow the money. Here’s the daunting reality: By 2030, the developing world will need more than $2.4 trillion to address climate change–not as a one-off, but every single year. Of this total, donor countries have committed to mobilize $100 billion annually, a small fraction of what is needed. They have repeatedly fallen short until this past summer at the Paris Summit after a lot of pressure was applied. Now the challenge is how best to mobilize committed finance to restore trust, while simultaneously building a new climate financial infrastructure.

This raises a fundamental question: Is the world capable of mobilizing the trillions of dollars necessary to fund the climate transition? I believe the answer is yes–but not without a concerted effort from governments, international financial institutions, and the private sector to reform the current financial architecture and better align global and domestic financial flows with the world’s climate goals.

Let’s be clear about the stakes. Without major reform of the current financial system, it will be impossible to adequately build new zero-carbon energy, food, and transport systems. We will not have the ability to invest in the resources and infrastructure that help developing countries–especially small island developing states and economies across the Global South–to cope with flooding, droughts, heatwaves, storms, and other climate shocks.

Inside PepsiCo’s Effort to Reach Net Zero Emissions

Chris Lyon — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 14:38:04 +0000

Setting a net-zero goal is just the start of a climate strategy. The pressure is now on to deliver substantive progress. For many companies, the vast bulk of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions lie outside the walls of their businesses in their supply chain – called “Scope 3” emissions. Having visibility to, quantifying, and ultimately managing these emissions is difficult. While these impacts lie outside of a company’s direct control, stakeholder expectations, reporting frameworks and business demands require large corporations to activate their partners and deliver progress.

Fossil Fuel Subsidies Surged to Record $7 Trillion

Chris Lyon — Sat, 26 Aug 2023 23:42:06 +0000

Fossil-fuel subsidies surged to a record $7 trillion last year as governments supported consumers and businesses during the global spike in energy prices caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the economic recovery from the pandemic.

As the world struggles to restrict global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and parts of Asia, Europe and the United States swelter in extreme heat, subsidies for oil, coal and natural gas are costing the equivalent of 7.1 percent of global gross domestic product. That’s more than governments spend annually on education (4.3 percent of global income) and about two thirds of what they spend on healthcare (10.9 percent).

Our findings come as the World Meteorological Organization says July was the hottest month on record, underscoring the urgent need to curb human-induced climate change.

How energy optimisation can help businesses reap the rewards of the net zero transition

Chris Lyon — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 16:00:52 +0000

INDUSTRY VOICE: Businesses that embrace energy efficiency and optimisation can reduce their overheads and drive progress towards net zero, writes Bryt Energy

All businesses must play a part in the transition to a low carbon energy system required to reach net zero by 2050.

We all need to become more engaged to deliver system that works for everyone.

A more sustainable system

In a low carbon system, generation sources will be greener, but also more distributed, more intermittent and less dispatchable.

For businesses, this could mean optimising the electricity consumption of operations such as industrial machinery, refrigeration or HVAC to harmonise with the grid’s needs.

Ultimately, flexibility enables our businesses to do more with less – something that is absolutely essential for a net zero energy system.

Optimisation makes sound business sense

For many firms, getting started on optimising electricity is easier than expected. Many businesses already have the technology in place to start making this transition. For example, organisations that have refrigeration, HVAC, energy storage, heat pumps or any other form of flexible load, already have the potential to optimise their usage, save money and access new revenue streams.

They also find that optimisation unlocks significant value from their operations. Flexibility helps businesses boost financial resilience, avoid high prices and maximise the value of their energy contracts. We have found that organisations that allow suppliers such as Bryt Energy to tweak consumption, within agreed limits, in line with system needs, can save up to 20 per cent of their energy spend.

Optimising electricity usage also enables businesses to play their part in helping ensure a reliable and affordable net zero grid for everyone.

It’s time for ‘good grid citizenship’

Achieving a net zero system is about mindsets as well as technology. In a net zero system, we’ll all need to be more responsible in our energy usage and see ourselves as engaged citizens, rather than simply energy consumers.

‘Good grid citizenship’ is about thinking of the grid as something that is shared, with users contributing to its reliable and affordable operation so that it works for everyone. It means only taking what’s needed, being more efficient and offering back surplus energy to meet the needs of the wider system.

Optimising existing assets can help businesses achieve this and could make a huge difference to our collective success in reducing carbon emissions and creating a more future-fit energy system.

The time to act is now

A better energy future is within our collective grasp. Through optimisation, your business can reap the rewards and make a difference.