Recycled Energy Blog

U.S. energy and environmental policy sucks

Sean Casten — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:41:12 +0000

That’s the bad news. The good news is we can fix it with a smart approach to clean energy:

“Output standards” for emissions, so that regulators look at how much pollution is released per unit of energy generated, rather than the current rule of basing it on how much fuel is used. This change would encourage efficiency rather than penalizing it.
A “clean energy standard offer” for federal electricity purchases, so the government gives preferential treatment to clean, efficient energy options.
A “regulatory modernization committee” to transform our energy system from a Hummer into a hybrid.

Check out more of my ideas for promoting energy efficiency through CHP and waste energy recovery.

Tom Casten at AAAS 2010: How to stave off climate change, increase income and improve quality of life

Dick Munson — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 06:00:45 +0000

Our own Tom Casten will lead a symposium on energy recycling at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Although conventional wisdom assumes that mitigating climate change will raise the cost of energy, this symposium will present a contrary view: that many proven technologies can substantially increase the efficiency of generating heat and power, cutting energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions simultaneously.

The event is entitled Gray Is the New Green: How Energy Recycling Curbs Both Global Warming and Power Costs. It will take place February 21 at 8:30am in San Diego.

The panelists include several renowned energy experts:

Tom, who will discuss the economics of clean energy by comparing the costs of 14 clean energy options such as wind, solar, nuclear, and cogeneration. Casten will argue that improving “generation efficiency” has the greatest potential to benefit the economy while reducing greenhouse gas pollution.
Lester Lave, professor at Carnegie Mellon University and co-director of the Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center. He will report on the work of a committee on energy efficiency that he recently chaired for the National Academy of Sciences. Among other things, Lave will report that the U.S. could bring total energy use back to mid-1980s levels simply through energy efficiency.
Marilyn Brown, professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and former leader at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She will discuss the many policy barriers to energy efficiency and present policy suggestions to help overcome these barriers. Her recommendations will be based on her own research and emphasize the imperative of serving current economic needs without blocking efficiency investments.
Lawrence Ambs, professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and co-director of the Northeast Regional Combined Heat & Power Application Center. He will serve as the symposium’s discussant, or moderator.

Those who are familiar with RED’s work know the basic contours of Tom’s argument, which is this. The U.S. energy system is grossly inefficient. The typical power plant throws away two-thirds of its energy, largely in the form of waste heat, when producing electricity. This abysmal rate, while tragic, presents an opportunity: increasing the efficiency of our energy system would help enable us to stave off the catastrophic effects of climate change while increasing national income and improving the quality of life.

Tom has never before presented to the AAAS, so this is an exciting opportunity.

The politics of energy

Dick Munson — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:12:46 +0000

Our CEO Sean Casten gets political in his latest Grist post. The issue: What political barriers are keeping the U.S. from reforming its energy system?

Here at RED, we like to come up with good policy proposals that would allow the nation to mitigate climate change while slashing energy costs. But politics can throw a monkey wrench into the most finely reasoned policy argument. Read Sean’s take on the policy fixes needed to unleash clean energy.

Recycled energy as the bridge to a carbon-free future

Dick Munson — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 01:12:28 +0000

Melissa Mullarkey, a public policy associate here at RED, argues in Trends that capturing waste energy would help the U.S. transition into a carbon-free future. Yes, we eventually need to wean ourselves off of fossil fuels entirely. But that can’t happen overnight.

In the meantime, we have to start making big reductions in our greenhouse gas emissions so we can avoid the worst effects of catastrophic climate change. Energy efficiency, Melissa says—especially through technologies like combined heat and power (aka cogeneration)—is the best way to get here.

What Bill Gates gets wrong

Dick Munson — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:05:43 +0000

Bill Gates enters the energy fray to make a case for innovation in the energy industry. That’s all well and good — we need more innovation in this country. After all, there has been no Bill Gates equivalent in the electric sector. The problem is that Gates doesn’t quite understand why.

Instead of pointing out the immense barriers to competition and recommending that we tear them down, he suggests that we throw more money at innovation while the current system, presumably, would remain in place. Wrong, wrong, wrong. That’s not going to work — Sean Casten explains why we need to change current energy regulations in a Grist blog.

The Nation: gray power is green

Dick Munson — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:15:35 +0000

In the latest issue of The Nation, Lisa Margonelli makes the case for increased use of “gray power” sources, especially waste heat, across the Midwest and South. Calling these regions “the Colossus of Carbon,” she cites a RED analysis revealing the immense amounts of electricity that could be generated from waste energy at manufacturing plants in places like Ohio. “All those smokestacks,” she says, “hold the potential for a lower-carbon renaissance.”

The nature of the magazine publishing this piece bears reflection. The Nation, the journalistic standard-bearer of American progressivism, is extolling the virtues of energy recycling about two weeks after Chief Executive, one of the country’s ultimate capitalist publications, has done the same. Two publications with very different views of the world are coming to similar conclusions on one issue, at least: that by generating energy more efficiently, we can fight global warming while bolstering the economy.

These two magazines aren’t the only unlikely pairs to point out the benefits of this work. The moderate-liberal New Republic has highlighted the potential of energy recycling, as has the business-friendly Forbes. So have the libertarian Lynne Kiesling and the environmental lion Al Gore. So, indeed, have apolitical science outlets ranging from Nature to Orion to American Scientist.

I recite this list not simply to advertise good writing about the issues near and dear to my heart, though there is that. My point is that energy recycling is an issue that could transcend our nation’s partisan divide and provide a path forward on finally tackling climate change. It’s not the only solution. But it’s a big one. It’s what makes the RED team get up in the morning. And I believe it’s an idea whose time has come.

Massive potential (and barriers) of energy recycling featured in Chief Executive

Dick Munson — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 03:51:12 +0000

Ron Bailey gets it. He’s a libertarian journalist who has written an excellent piece on energy recycling for the latest issue of Chief Executive magazine. From the very first paragraph, he captures a fundamental reality that now eludes most participants in the current energy debate:

Two-thirds of the energy people produce is wasted. It goes up power plant chimneys or dissipates into rivers and lakes through heat exchangers. Capturing this wasted heat would greatly reduce fuel costs and dramatically cut the emissions of carbon dioxide, which are thought to contribute to global warming. Cogeneration, or producing and using electricity and heat simultaneously, is the business opportunity being pursued by companies like Westmont, IL-based Recycled Energy Development (RED) and White Plains, NY-based Trigen Energy.

This is an idea that could change the world: simply by boosting the efficiency of the U.S. energy system, we could substantially reduce our global warming pollution while helping American businesses to become more profitable. Bailey’s piece examines this reality, with special attention to the work of RED Chairman Tom Casten. In commenting on why the current system of electric utilities is so inefficient, Casten says: “Utilities have traditionally made money on how much they invest, not how efficient they are. It’s the only industry that increases its profits when a company redecorates its president’s office.”

Read more of what Ron Bailey has to say about potential of energy recycling and the barriers it faces.

Tom Casten wins 2010 Inspiring Efficiency leadership award

Dick Munson — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:33:40 +0000

Our chairman Tom Casten has received another award, this time from the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (MEEA). The award, which honored Tom’s lifelong leadership on CHP and waste energy recovery, was given out at MEEA’s 6th annual Inspiring Efficiency Awards gala.

This award reflects the increasing awareness that energy recycling has been receiving in the U.S. The potential for a more efficient energy system has always been there, but change comes gradually. With each award, with each article, with each deal, with each piece of legislation, our country gets a little closer to where it needs to be.

DOE report states CHP can improve nation’s energy security and reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Dick Munson — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:44:40 +0000

The U.S. Department of Energy has released a report stating, “Combined heat and power (CHP) technology holds enormous potential to improve the nation’s energy security and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.” It notes that CHP systems in 2006 represented 9 percent of the nation’s total electricity capacity and 12 percent of total power generation.

CHP supports the nation’s move to a clean energy economy and the creation of clean jobs. By adopting policies to achieve 20 percent of electricity generation from CHP by 2030, the United States could save the equivalent of nearly half the total energy current consumed by U.S. households.

Traditional energy production is costly to your health

Dick Munson — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 15:40:52 +0000

The National Research Council in October released an important report that calculates the “hidden” costs — such as health injuries from air pollution — from the production of electricity and gasoline. Since these costs don’t show up in the price of power, generators continue to pollute, and you and I get stuck with the medical bills.

The Council estimated the 2005 damages at a whopping $120 billion, and that figure doesn’t include harm from climate change or mercury pollution.

Consider the burning of coal to make electricity. The scientists found that the annual damage from the resulting sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter totaled about $62 billion. If power generators “internalized” those costs, the average price of electricity would increase 3.2 cents per kilowatt-hour. The climate-related monetary damages could add another 10 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Clean power doesn’t have those costs, but it must compete against traditional energy production that doesn’t pay its fair share. That’s why we need to change the way we regulate energy.