Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS April Meeting 2023
Volume 68, Number 6
Minneapolis, Minnesota (Apr 15-18)
Virtual (Apr 24-26); Time Zone: Central Time
Session C06: Renewable Energy ProductionInvited Undergrad Friendly
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Sponsoring Units: FPS Chair: Cherrill Spencer, SLAC - Natl Accelerator Lab Room: MG Salon F - 3rd Floor |
Saturday, April 15, 2023 1:30PM - 2:06PM |
C06.00001: Opportunities and Barriers to the Widespread Deployment of Renewable Energy in the U.S. Invited Speaker: Joseph Rand Wind and solar power currently account for about 11% and 5% of total US electricity generation, respectively, but those rates are poised to surge in coming years. The cost of generating power from wind and solar has declined precipitously in recent years, to the point that those resources are now the cheapest form of generating power in many regions across the U.S. Indeed, recently signed 20-year contracts for wind and solar power are typically priced lower than the expected cost of burning fuel in existing natural gas plants. These cost declines, coupled with policy and market drivers such as the Inflation Reduction Act, state- and utility-level decarbonization targets, and corporate procurement of renewables, have driven a surge in demand for clean power from wind, solar, and batteries. In fact, as of the end of 2021, there was more proposed clean energy capacity applying for transmission grid interconnection across the US than the generating capacity of the entire existing US power plant fleet. Yet, despite this unprecedented opportunity to decarbonize our electric sector, many bottlenecks and barriers are slowing the energy transition. Our aging and inadequate transmission infrastructure is too congested and constrained to transmit all this new power, and does not reach to the geographic regions where wind and solar is best suited. Grid operators are overwhelmed by the number of new generator requests, and current interconnection procedures have led to multi-year delays and backlogs for wind, solar, and battery plants seeking approval to connect. Finally, wind and solar plants increasingly face public opposition due to local concerns around aesthetic, economic, and other concerns. Today, many of the foremost challenges to the US energy transition are no longer technical or economic in nature, but are instead procedural, institutional, and social. |
Saturday, April 15, 2023 2:06PM - 2:42PM |
C06.00002: Critical Materials: The Building Blocks of Renewable Energy Technologies Invited Speaker: Helena Khazdozian The U.S. White House has set a target to achieve 50% to 52% reduction of greenhouse gas pollution by 2030 relative to 2005 levels. This puts the United States on a path to achieve a 100% clean energy economy with net-zero emissions by 2050. To achieve this target, the U.S. Department of Energy is accelerating efforts to decarbonize our energy, manufacturing, and transportation economics – with renewable energy technologies playing a key role in the transition. In particular, the U.S. has put forward goals to deploy 30 GW of offshore wind power capacity and enable 50% adoption of electric vehicles by 2030. Critical materials are the building blocks of the renewable energy technologies needed to achieve net-zero emissions economy wide in the U.S. by 2050. Such critical materials include, but are not limited to, neodymium – a rare earth element in neodymium-iron-boron magnets that enable high density conversion of energy in permanent magnet machines in electric vehicle and direct drive offshore wind turbine drivetrains – and cobalt – which provides thermal stability in lithium battery cathodes for electric vehicle and stationary energy storage. According to the International Energy Agency, the demand for these critical materials is expected to rise by at least four times by 2040 to meet global climate goals. This talk will examine the role critical materials play in renewable energy technologies, the supply chains challenges being faced, and the role research is playing to address these challenges in the near- and long-term time horizons. |
Saturday, April 15, 2023 2:42PM - 3:18PM |
C06.00003: On the road to 100% renewables. States can lead an equitable energy transition Invited Speaker: Paula Garcia Renewable energy can provide leading states with 100 percent of the electricity they consume by 2035 even as electrifying transportation and heating increases demand, according to an analysis by COPAL, GreenRoots, the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, and the Union of Concerned Scientists. Replacing electricity generated by coal and gas plants with renewables decreases emissions of air pollutants, leading to 6,000 to 13,000 fewer premature deaths and 700,000 fewer lost workdays between 2022 and 2040. It also creates jobs, reduces household energy burdens, and significantly reduces heat-trapping emissions. Key recommendations of the analysis address rapidly moving away from fossil fuels and increasing investment in renewables, and ensuring that the benefits of the transition go to communities most affected by environmental racism and pollution as well as to workers and communities that depend on fossil fuels. While state action cannot substitute for national leadership, it, too, is crucial to a clean and equitable energy future. |
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