Misc.
Articles
Power Bills Will Keep Rising, Even A\after the Fed Tames Inflation 0424 - adding new capacity (a surge in overall demand as more is electrified (by renewables, but serving added consumption), resiliency upgrades against climate change (e.g., burying power lines), building new tramnsmission lines, etc.
DoE’s Efficiency Standards for Refrigerators, Freezers, etc. to Save $1 Trillion 1223
Do We Have Enough Critical Minerals for the Energy Transition? 0223
How Pesticides Intensify Global Warming 0123
Hidden Emissions from Cloud Computing Pose Net-Zero Threat 1122
Pending Copper Shortfall Hurts Energy Transition, Reducing Greenhouse Gases 0722
Climate Groups Say a Coding Change Can Reduce Bitcoin Energy Use 99% 0322
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California’s Thirst for Water May Accelerate Global Warming 0921 - It requires energy to pump water from deep or far away, or to desalinate seawater.
A New Study Shows Getting to Net-Zero Emissions Is Doable. Here’s How. 0521 - Electrify everything, including industrial processes. Make electricity carbon-free.
Heliogen Is a Sustainable Alternative to Fossil Fuels for Industrial Heating 0820 - very hot fluid at focus of field of mirrors
How to Drive Fossil Fuels Out of the US Economy, Quickly 0820 - take 1, Carbon-free electricity runs everything
'Total Decarbonization' of US Economy Would Create 25 Million Jobs 0820 - take 2
To track savings from appliance and other energy standards, click here.
'Carbon Savings' from Covid-19 Lockdown Halve within Weeks 0720
Cloud Computing Is Not the Energy Hog That Had Been Feared 0220 - computing use increased several-fold, but energy use barely rose. Contrast with old table at the bottom of this section.
Would You Eat a Burger Made Out of CO2 Captured from the Air? 0719
Plastic Has a Big Carbon Footprint, but That Isn't the Whole Story 0719
How Streaming Video Contributes to Climate Change 0719
Chemists Work to Cut CO2 from Ammonia Production, #1 Industrial Emitter 0619
4 Ways to Cut Plastic’s Growing Greenhouse Gas Emissions 0419
Data Centers Gobble Energy. Could a ‘Fossil-Free’ Label Help? 0419
Renewable Energy Is Surging, but Not Fast Enough to Stop Warming 1118
Hydrogen Could Deliver 1/5 of World Carbon Cuts by 2050 - Industry Group 1117
Phasing Out Cookstoves a ‘Win-Win’ for Climate and Health 0217 - Substitute biogas & electricity for coal, wood, dung.
Will New England Electricity Consumption Continue to Stay Flat? 0816
World’s 200-Year Energy Demand Boom Seen Peaking by the 2050s - 0816
Vancouver Plans to Go 100% Renewable. What are the Challenges? 0716
Data Centers Finally Using Less Electricity 0716
Making Concrete Green - Re-inventing the World's Most Used Synthetic Material 0316
Data Centers to Use 3 Times as Much Energy in Next Decade, Experts Warn 0116
Save More than 4 Million Lives a Year by Harnessing the Sun to Cook 0116
Cheap Electricity when the Wind Blows, under Climate Change Plan 1215
India Sees Clean Cooking as Climate Action That Saves Lives 1115
Texas Utility Offers a Nighttime Special - Free Electricity 1115
How to Grow Bricks from Trillions of Bacteria 1015
These Clean Energy Investments Could Save the World’s Cities $ Trillions 0915
Forget about Saving Energy. This Is about Saving Lives. 0815
EPA's Carbon Rule Could Spur $2.5B in Power Line Investment 0315
Surprising Benefit of Electric Cars - Cooler Cities 0315
China Finds Waste Is a Terrible Thing to Waste 0115
Yak Dung Is Making Climate Change Worse 1214 - for cooking and heating. Soot. Indoor particulate pollution is bad too.
China Imports Danish Technology to Clean Coal-Choked City 1214
Western Diet's Spread Bad for Health, Climate? It Doesn't Have to Happen 1114
Vacuum Cleaner for the Web's Dusty Corners 1014
Could Desalination Solve California’s Water Problem? 1014
New Formula Could Cut Pollution from Concrete 0914
Switch to Natural Gas Won't Reduce Carbon Emissions Much, Study Finds 0914
4 Ways Your City Can Be Cooler Next Summer 0814
Can a Camp Stove (That Charges iPhones) Save Millions of Lives? 1113
World Bank Urges Better Cookstoves in Developing States to Curb Deaths 1113
B.C. Firm Looks at Sewers to Power Sustainable Energy Shift 1013
Cooker Reduces Black Carbon Problem 0913
Shouting Green Message from Rooftops 0913
No, your phone doesn't use as much electricity as a refrigerator. 0813 - no numbers, rebuttal
Data Centers Caught in War Between Fossil Fuels, Renewables 0813 - almost no numbers, rebuttal
Surprisingly Large Energy Footprint of the Digital Economy 0813 - based on Raghavan & Ma, below
Pressurized Water Pipes Are Full of Power We Waste 0313
Proposed DOE Transformer Standards Sacrifice Savings 0212
US Energy Use Fell 4.5% in 2009 0810
MA to Cut GHG 18% by 2020 - 0210
MA to Cut GHG 18.6% by 2020 - 0210 - PDF
US GHG Cuts - Executive Summary - McKinsey & Co 1107 - PDF This has a GHG abatement supply curve (using ~ 60 technologies, similar to one above "US" in Overviews). The US can reduce GHG emissions in 2030 by 3.0-4.5 GT of CO2 equivalent (50-70% of US GHG emissions), at marginal costs less than $50 per ton, much lower if much of the reduction comes from energy efficiency. Of this, 0.7-0.9 comes from buildings & appliances, 0.3-0.7 from transportation, 0.6-0.8 from industry, 0.5-0.6 from carbon sinks (certain agriculture practices), and 0.8-1.6 from power generation.
Tackling Climate Change in the U.S. - American Solar Energy Society 0107 - PDF, 204 pp - It relies on DSM and renewables.
Supreme Court Decision on EPA Regulating CO2 from Cars 0407 - PDF, 66 pp
Energy Use by the Internet - Raghavan & Ma 1111
These are worldwide figures. 750 million each of desktop and laptop computers, 1 billion smart phones, 100 million each of servers and WiFi/LAN, 50 million Cloud. Worldwide power supply is ~5,000 GW. This suggests the internet used 3-6% of grid power in 2010. Their analysis assumes that desktops are switched on 1/2 the time and laptops 3/4, while 1/2 their on-time is devoted to internet use. Embodied power is energy required to make a device, divided by its lifetime. Devices are replaced.
Section Map: Energy Use