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SOLAR: A study finds California’s 17,000 MW of rooftop solar capacity saved residents about $2.3 billion on their utility bills this year, casting doubt on “cost-shift” arguments used to support net-metering rate cuts. (Canary Media)
ALSO:
WIND:
STORAGE: Arizona Public Service agrees to purchase power from a proposed 250 MW battery energy storage system in central Arizona. (Solar Quarter)
TRANSITION: Arizona utilities award three communities a total of $125,000 to help them weather coal plant retirements. (Independent)
ELECTRIFICATION: Climate advocates say California and Washington state election losses for initiatives aimed at phasing out natural gas do not accurately reflect public sentiment on electrification. (Heatmap)
CLIMATE: New documents reveal California’s oil and gas lobby pioneered strategies in the 1950s aimed at obscuring fossil fuel-burning’s contributions to pollution and climate change and downplaying the risks. (DeSmog)
PUBLIC LANDS:
BIOFUELS: An Oregon city proposes a recycling facility that would produce pipeline-grade methane fuel from diverted organic waste. (OPB)
MINING: Arizona advocates challenge the state land board’s approval of a pipeline right-of-way for a proposed copper mine in the southern part of the state. (AZ Mirror)
EMISSIONS: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul intends to revive plans for congestion pricing in parts of New York City, dropping the toll to $9 from $15, before the new Trump administration can squash the plan. (New York Times)
ALSO:
TRANSMISSION: The developers behind a 145-mile transmission line intended to import Canadian hydropower to Massachusetts sue NextEra Energy, alleging the electric utility purposely misled voters and physically blocked progress to protect its turf and stop the project. (MassLive, subscription)
SOLAR:
NUCLEAR: Small modular nuclear reactors could be the key to providing onsite energy for power-hungry big tech companies and convincing them to set up shop in New York, says Gov. Hochul. (Times Union)
EFFICIENCY: Burlington, Vermont’s plan to weatherize more than 700 rental properties is seriously behind schedule because of a shortage of workers trained to do the upgrades. (Seven Days)
CLIMATE: As New York falls behind on its climate goals, the state needs to ramp up its procurement of renewable energy, advocates say. (Canary Media)
OFFSHORE WIND: Seven Cape Cod towns vote against supporting offshore wind development on a ballot question that is nonbinding but raises questions about the region’s appetite for wind. (Cape Cod Times)
STORAGE: New Jersey utilities regulators modify their proposed incentive plan for grid-scale battery storage projects, as the state aims to reach 2,000 MW of capacity by 2030. (RTO Insider, subscription)
GRID:
COMMENTARY: Grid operator PJM should look to battery storage and other creative solutions to meet high demand rather than leaning on existing coal plants that hurt nearby communities, an Appalachian equity advocate says. (Utility Dive)
STORAGE: A Tennessee company announces it will build a $1.3 billion battery separator manufacturing facility in Virginia at the same site Gov. Glenn Youngkin previously said a Ford battery factory couldn’t use. (Virginia Business, Cardinal News)
RENEWABLES: A growing number of Mississippi farmers are leasing their land for wind and solar energy projects as they look for new revenue sources. (Mississippi Today)
PIPELINES: Virginia officials order the Mountain Valley Pipeline to pay $17,500 for erosion and sediment control violations over a three-month period. (Cardinal News)
OVERSIGHT: North Carolina regulators approve a new version of North Carolina’s energy plan that calls for more solar, batteries and wind, but critics attack the board for allowing Duke Energy to continue to rely on fossil fuels and miss an emissions reduction deadline. (Wilmington StarNews)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
OIL & GAS: The U.S. EPA finalizes a rule levying an excess methane emissions fee on oil and gas facilities, but West Virginia U.S. Shelley Moore Capito pledges to work with Donald Trump to repeal it. (Associated Press, West Virginia Public Broadcasting)
EFFICIENCY:
GRID:
COMMENTARY:
Reliable hot water is critical for restaurants for preparing food and washing dishes and equipment, as well as hand washing.
However, water heating is one of the biggest energy users in restaurants. Heating water for restaurant use accounts for 16% of all commercial gas usage in California. Food service buildings are among the highest intensive energy users on a per-square-foot basis, largely because of their hot water usage. Foodservice operations may soon feel the pressure to electrify. The California Air Resources Board is analyzing proposed zero-emission GHG standards for new space and water heaters. It is currently planned for consideration in 2025 with any implementation beginning in 2030, and would only be applicable to the purchase of new equipment
Doing so will be difficult, particularly for existing restaurants. Many food service operations, especially small and independent businesses, do not have the space for the size of a storage tank that would be required for a heat pump water heater. Restaurants in California, as with most states, are legally required to have sufficient hot water to meet all these demands under peak conditions.
In response to these challenges, an emerging technology, the heat pump-assisted water heater, is gaining traction. It is designed to meet this existing gap between what the market needs and the cost and challenges of installing available heat pump water heaters. It is geared to meet the needs of existing food service businesses that want to be able to transition to a heat pump while still retaining the benefits of their current water heating system.
With funding from CalNEXT — California’s statewide emerging technology initiative — the TRC Advanced Energy team recently published a report, “Market Potential for Heat Pump Assisted Hot Water Systems in Foodservice Facilities.” This report, which TRC Advanced Energy developed with research support from Frontier Energy and Energy Solutions, assesses the benefits and challenges of adopting heat pump-assisted water heater technology for a range of food service establishments.
“Heat pump-assisted water heaters are a solution that we have available today,” said Amin Delagah, Associate Director of Research and Consulting for TRC Advanced Energy, an environmental services provider. “Heat pump water heater adoption rates in restaurants are still very low due to a lack of familiarity, space and electrical capacity requirements and primarily, the health department water heater sizing regulatory barrier, but the heat pump assist concept is a solution that we can move forward today to overcome these barriers.”
The heat pump-assisted water heater, as its name suggests, is designed to operate in series with an existing water heater, which makes it attractive for restaurants that do not want to overhaul their current system completely. During down times for the business, the existing heater would maintain the recirculation temperature of already heated water in its system. During off hours, the heat pump-assisted water heater would produce sufficient hot water to restock the system. Because the existing heater is already large enough to meet food service needs during business hours, the heat pump-assisted water heater system can be built to fit the available space, even if it is undersized.
The benefits of using a heat pump-assisted water heater are similar to those of a heat pump: improved energy efficiency and possibly lower long-term energy costs, although cost issues largely depend on the type of system being replaced. Natural gas fuel, which is used by 90 percent of food service operations for water heating, is currently cheaper than electricity in most of California.
Heat pump systems also provide cooling as a byproduct, which could be useful to counteract kitchen heat.
Heat pump-assisted water heaters are designed to address the big disadvantage of heat pump water heaters for restaurants — the longer time needed to heat the water from cold. One workaround is a much larger tank, but floor space is typically at a premium in restaurants, making this workaround unappealing for many food service operations. For a heat pump water heater to meet health department requirements, it would need a much bigger tank than its gas-fired counterpart (because the gas-fired water heater can heat water faster).
Heat pump-assisted water heaters may also be cheaper to install than a conventional, retrofitted heat pump water heater system, and the heat pump-assisted water heater does not need to meet these sizing regulations because the legacy water heater still functions as a backup system. At this point, the technology is still emerging and has not been installed commercially, but the authors estimate that initial costs for the heat pump water heater that acts as the assist, including installation, could range between $6,000 to $20,000. This amount, while significant, is still much cheaper than what it could cost a full-service restaurant to install a heat pump water heater capable of meeting water demands, which could well exceed $100,000.
“The costs for heat pump assisted heat pumps are largely driven by the electrical work and the space required, and there may be incentives available to offset these,” Delagah said.
Another benefit is that because the heat pump-assisted water heater is a backup system, it does not require health department approval, making the process simpler.
Both heat pump water heaters and heat pump-assisted water heaters also have the additional operational benefit of being able to benefit from time-of-use rates and the additional cooling they could provide for kitchens.
“This year in October, it was 95 degrees in the Bay Area,” Delagah said. “There are new California OSHA rules on the books for indoor temperatures — if your facilities are over an 82°F temperature indoors, you have to provide cooling centers for employees. That’s becoming an emerging concern for restaurants to meet a new heat illness standard.”
On the downside, the higher upfront costs will likely still be a significant barrier to the adoption of heat pump-assisted water heaters, even if they are relatively less expensive than heat pump water heaters.
One big hurdle is that health departments, by and large, are not familiar with the technology — and may be more resistant to its approval. The relatively high price of electricity in California, compared with gas, may be another barrier.
Yet regulations and the need to decarbonize are moving closer, with California’s 2030 deadlines for reducing its overall greenhouse gas emissions by 40%, in comparison with 1990 levels. Restaurants are well positioned to be the public face of doing their part.
“This is great equipment for restaurants that are thinking about positioning themselves for where things are going in terms of air quality regulations,” Delagah said. “If you’re a chain restaurant, you should probably be trying this out, kicking the tires a bit, and preparing for what your solution is going to be when there is a mandate.”
To learn more about this project, read the report on the CalNEXT website, calnext.com
About CalNEXT: CalNEXT is a statewide initiative to identify, test, and grow electric technologies and delivery methods to support California’s decarbonized future. CalNEXT is funded by the ratepayers of California investor-owned utilities and provides a means for studying emerging technologies and energy-efficiency innovations that have the potential to save energy via utility programs and/or market support.
Article written by Emily Pickrell, Energy Solutions
A Massachusetts university is developing technology that aims to use lasers to drastically cut emissions and energy use from Maine’s paper and pulp industry.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute recently received a $2.75 million U.S. Department of Energy grant to help ready the industrial drying technology for commercial use.
“We are all excited about this — this is potentially a groundbreaking technology,” said Jamal Yagoobi, founding director of the institute’s Center for Advanced Research in Drying.
In Maine, the paper and pulp business generates about 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year, roughly half of the state’s industrial emissions. Much of these emissions come from the process of drying mashed, pressed, and rolled wood pulp to yield paper products. The emissions come mainly from three major operations across the state; three additional facilities contribute smaller amounts.
These plants’ emissions will need to be addressed if Maine is to reach its goal of going carbon neutral by 2045. Furthermore, each of these plants is located in an area with an above-average population of low-income residents, according to data assembled by Industrious Labs, an environmental organization focused on the impact of industry. And two are located in areas with a higher-than-average risk of cancer from air toxins, suggesting a correlation between their operations and the incidence of cancer in the area.
At the same, the paper and pulp industry remains economically important to Maine, said Matt Cannon, state conservation and energy director for the Maine chapter of the Sierra Club.
“It’s got real union jobs — the paper industry is still very important to our community,” he said.
Worcester Polytechnic’s drying research center has been working on ways to dry paper, pulp, and other materials using the concentrated energy found in lasers. The lasers Yagoobi’s team is using are not the lasers of the public imagination, like a red beam zapping at alien enemies. Though the lasers are quite strong — they can melt metal, Yagoobi says — they are dispersed over a larger area, spreading out the energy to evenly and gently dry the target material.
Testing on food products has shown that the technology can work. Now, researchers need to learn more about how the laser energy affects different materials to make sure the product quality is not compromised during the drying process.
“For paper, it’s important to make sure the tensile strength is not degrading,” Yagoobi said. “For food products, you want to make sure the color and sensory qualities do not degrade.”
Therefore, before the system is ready for a commercial pilot, the team has to gather a lot more data about how much laser energy is incident on different parts of the surface and how deeply the energy penetrates different materials. Once gathered, this data will be used to determine what system sizes and operating conditions are best for different materials, and to design laser modules for each intended use.
Once these details are worked out, the laser technology can be installed in new commercial-scale drying equipment or existing systems. “This particular technology will be easy to retrofit,” Yagoobi said.
Industrial sources were responsible for about 1.3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States in 2023, about 28% of the country’s overall emissions, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Heating processes, often powered by natural gas or other fossil fuels, are responsible for about half of those emissions, said Evan Gillespie, one of the co-founders of Industrious Labs. Many industrial drying processes require high temperatures that have traditionally been hard to reach without fossil fuels, giving the sector a reputation as hard to decarbonize, Gillespie said.
“The key challenge here is: How do you remove natural gas as a heating source inside industrial facilities?” said Richard Hart, industry director at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. “The scale of what is happening in industry is enormous, and the potential for change is very powerful.”
To make the new technology effective, industry leaders and policymakers will need to commit to reinvesting in old facilities, Gillespie noted. And doing so will be well worth it by strengthening an economically important industry, keeping jobs in place, and creating important environmental benefits, he added.
“There’s often this old story of tensions between climate and jobs,” Gillespie said. “But what we’re trying to do is modernize these facilities and stabilize them so they’ll be around for decades to come.”
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Rivian and Volkswagen finalize their $5.8 billion joint venture to develop electric vehicle software that will be used in models made at Rivian’s planned Georgia plant and Volkswagen’s Tennessee factory. (New York Times; Atlanta Journal-Constitution, subscription; Chattanooga Times Free Press)
ALSO:
OIL & GAS:
POLITICS: South Carolina lawmakers consider a proposed Dominion Energy and Santee Cooper gas-fired plant and a previous failed plan to build a nuclear plant as they determine how to boost energy generation to meet growing power demand. (South Carolina Public Radio)
HYDROGEN: Appalachian residents worry a planned hub to use primarily natural gas to create hydrogen will increase fracking activity, produce pollution and degrade quality of life — part of a pattern of criticism that’s emerged against hydrogen hubs around the country. (Environmental Health News)
OVERSIGHT: Largely in response to criticism of a lack of transparency, Virginia regulators publish a database of data centers’ air permits, which allow them to run diesel generators during outages. (Virginia Mercury)
GRID: Georgia residents react against Georgia Power’s plan to build a transmission line through one of metro Atlanta’s oldest neighborhoods. (WANF)
EFFICIENCY: Two companies partner on a plan to distribute thousands of smart thermostats across Texas in hopes of developing a nearly 1 GW residential virtual power plant by 2035. (Utility Dive)
BIOFUELS:
CLIMATE:
UTILITIES: Tampa Electric files federal documents indicating it could file with Florida regulators to recover roughly $400 million from customers for damage caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. (News Service of Florida)
ENVIRONMENT: A study ranks West Virginia as the country’s least environmentally sustainable state, based on factors that include high carbon dioxide emissions, low renewable energy use, and limited electric vehicle adoption. (WV News)
NUCLEAR: Worker training is ramping up at a shuttered Michigan nuclear plant that within the next year aims to become the first U.S. reactor to restart after being closed. (Michigan Advance)
CLEAN ENERGY: Midwest clean energy experts say the incoming Trump administration will no doubt usher in a renewed commitment to domestic oil and gas production, but remain hopeful that clean energy investments will continue. (MPR News)
RENEWABLES: Dozens of Michigan communities band together to file a legal appeal of the state’s new renewable energy siting regulations that give final authority over projects to state regulators. (MLive, subscription)
FOSSIL FUELS: The Sierra Club criticizes Wisconsin regulators’ recent approval of We Energies’ rate increases that they say are driven by previous bad investments in fossil fuels. (Wisconsin Examiner)
GRID: The president of grid operator MISO says natural gas plants could be built to meet data centers’ short-term power needs and transition to backup power sources as clean energy plays a bigger role on the grid. (Utility Dive)
UTILITIES:
EMISSIONS: The U.S. oil industry makes five policy requests to the incoming Trump administration, including repealing tailpipe and fuel economy standards that would be key for reducing transportation emissions. (Inside Climate News)
BATTERIES:
SOLAR: A developer reaches an agreement to build two commercial solar projects in Wisconsin before handing over ownership to Wisconsin Public Service Corp. and Madison Gas and Electric. (Solar Industry)
BIOFUELS: A Michigan fuel supplier aims to increase biofuel sales by 2.5 million gallons per year by installing new fuel dispensers with help from a $4.2 million federal grant. (County Press)
HYDROGEN: Advocates say developers are not listening to their environmental justice concerns as the process of building federally supported hydrogen hubs ramps up in Pennsylvania and other targeted areas. (The Daily Climate)
CLIMATE: As a second Trump term threatens climate action, Democrat-led state governments like Maryland’s are expected to be essential to progress on climate and energy issues. (Inside Climate News)
SOLAR:
RENEWABLES: As one of 67 federal sites receiving a total of $150 million in federal funding for clean energy and energy conservation projects, a U.S. Coast Guard yard in Baltimore will install a geothermal heat pump and a solar-powered microgrid. (Utility Dive)
STORAGE: The University of New Hampshire introduces a 1.4-million-gallon water tank “battery” that stores chilled liquid at off-peak hours for use in the campus cooling systems during periods of higher demand. (Concord Monitor)
UTILITIES: A Maine utility comes under scrutiny for the way it accounts for costs shared with affiliates as advocates suggest the practices might inflate costs for ratepayers. (Portland Press-Herald, subscription)
GRID: ISO New England uses a new tool to predict that, even in the case of extreme weather events, the grid would likely only experience limited, manageable shortfalls this winter. (RTO Insider, subscription)
EMISSIONS: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul considers reviving a plan for congestion pricing in New York City before a new Trump administration can block the program. (Associated Press)
OFFSHORE WIND: A coalition of East Coast states moves ahead with plans for a compensation fund to mitigate the financial impact offshore wind could have on commercial fishermen. (SeafoodSource)
TRANSIT: A New York ferry company announces plans to use renewable diesel in its fleet, complementing its ongoing plans to move to hybrid vessels. (Hudson County View)
COMMENTARY: Maryland conservatives should rise above politics and support adoption of electric school buses for environmental and fiscal reasons, former Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele says. (Maryland Matters)
SOLAR: A new study finds local governments in southern Virginia have approved 13 GW of solar generation in the last decade, but roughly a quarter of those projects still need state permits and a growing number of localities are now blocking solar farms. (Cardinal News)
ALSO:
STORAGE:
WIND: A Texas anti-abortion group urges the state Supreme Court to give standing to residents who want to challenge a wind farm’s tax breaks, in hopes a ruling would also allow it to challenge public funding for abortion access. (Bloomberg, subscription)
CLEAN ENERGY: Researchers say $4.5 billion of planned clean energy investment in Texas and more than 22,000 jobs could be threatened if President-elect Trump rolls back Joe Biden’s landmark climate legislation. (Houston Chronicle)
OIL & GAS:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: “We’re not there”: West Virginia’s transportation secretary tells state lawmakers the electric vehicle transition is moving slowly because of a lack of charging stations as well as lagging battery technology. (WV Metro News)
NUCLEAR: Texas A&M University invites developers to build nuclear power generators on one of its campuses, after previously offering up land for construction of gas-fired power plants. (Houston Chronicle)
GRID:
UTILITIES: San Antonio, Texas’ municipal utility far exceeds its projections to produce $200 million in wholesale revenue over the summer, even as crews move to repair power plants that broke down ahead of the winter. (Houston Chronicle)
COMMENTARY: Energy developers and farmers should work together to pair more solar farms with honeybees and other agricultural projects to benefit Virginia, writes an editorial board. (Virginian-Pilot)
NUCLEAR: The Biden administration today plans to release a blueprint for an additional 200 GW of nuclear power by 2050, a proposal that has bipartisan support and is likely to survive the incoming Trump administration. (Bloomberg)
OVERSIGHT:
CLIMATE: White House climate advisor John Podesta tells attendees at the COP 29 summit that “the work to contain climate change is going to continue in the United States” and calls on the private sector and state and local governments to lead the way. (The Hill)
CLEAN ENERGY:
GRID: A company working to cut roughly a year off the grid interconnection process receives a $49.5 million federal grant to roll out its software in eight states. (Canary Media)
OIL & GAS: The EPA finalizes a Biden administration rule to charge fees for venting or flaring natural gas, which, because it is linked to the Inflation Reduction Act, will require congressional approval to overturn. (CNN)
HYDROGEN: Advocates say developers are not listening to their environmental justice concerns as the process of building federally supported hydrogen hubs ramps up in Pennsylvania and other targeted areas. (The Daily Climate)
OFFSHORE WIND: A coalition of East Coast states moves ahead with plans for a compensation fund to mitigate the financial impact offshore wind could have on commercial fishermen. (SeafoodSource)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: While some analysts predict a “U.S. battery boom” as Trump removes restrictions on mining, others note that policy support across the entire supply chain will be necessary to grow the electric vehicle industry. (E&E News)
POLITICS: As Tesla CEO Elon Musk continues to enjoy outsized influence over the Trump transition, a source reveals he spent nearly $200 million supporting the former president’s reelection. (Al Jazeera, Associated Press)
COMMENTARY: The executive director of the Sierra Club says “we will not go backward” on clean energy, predicting market forces and state opposition will thwart some of Trump’s efforts to roll back climate policy. (Chicago Sun-Times)
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