Tag Archive for: energypolicy

October is annually designated as National Energy Awareness Month. The U.S. Department of Energy (US DOE) participates annually with the intent to draw attention to our nation’s electrical grid system and “to highlight the importance of energy to our national prosperity and security.” As the US DOE states, “Energy, our most critical infrastructure, is all but invisible to most, but our focus on continued innovation protects American lives today and ensures better lives tomorrow.”

This year, Metropolitan Energy Center (MEC) will use this truth to draw attention to energy efficiency and how it relates to our infrastructure, including our transportation systems and the built environment. There is indeed innovation happening on a national scale, and it’s occurring quickly. MEC is either hosting, co-hosting, or cross-promoting a number of in-person and virtual events this October to highlight all the ways our nation can modernize the way it uses energy to create a prosperous future for our youth and future generations. Click the links below to learn more about each event and how to participate (more links to come as the suite of events is finalized).

Whether an industry professional or policy maker or technician or a member of the general public, we have at least one event for you. Join us and our members, volunteers and friends during Energy Awareness Month. We’ll celebrate recent achievements and foster accelerated adoptions of energy conservation, renewables and cleaner fuels.

Energy Awareness 2021 Event List:

Native Plant Sale & Drive Electric Week Event at Project Living Proof with Master Gardeners of Greater Kansas City Sept. 25
National Drive Electric Week: South Park in Lawrence Sept 25
Lion Electric School Bus Ride and Drive: Lee’s Summit Schools Sept 28
National Drive Electric Week: Driving Electric: Black & Veatch EV Drivers Tell All (Virtual) Sept 29
National Drive Electric Week: Prairie Village Presbyterian Church Sept 29
National Drive Electric Week: Independence Chamber of Commerce    CANCELED Oct. 2
National Drive Electric Week: ICT (Wichita Towne East Square) Oct. 2
National Energy Efficiency Day (Ask Emily for a model Proclamation for your city, business or organization) Oct. 6
Marquee Event: Our Best Buildings Yet: A Forum on Energy Efficiency in the Kansas City Region and Beyond Oct. 7
Virtual Workshop on Diesel Emissions Reduction Funding Opportunities: Midwest Clean Diesel Initiative Oct. 12-14
Webinar: EV Fleet Trends: Advice from the Experts (hosted by Louisiana Clean Fuels Coalition) Oct. 13
Marquee Event Day of EVs (In-Person): Exploring EVs in Municipal Fleets with City of Olathe, Indian Creek Library in Olathe, KS Oct. 19
Marquee Event Day of EVs (Virtual): Electrifying Terminal Trucks: Best Practices and Lessons Learned from Deployments in the Kansas City Region and Beyond Oct. 19
Our Energy Horizon: A Solar, Storage, Electric Vehicle & Transmission Event, Thompson Barn in Lenexa, KS (hosted by Clean Energy Business Council) Oct. 25
Weatherization Day 2021 Oct. 30

Starting early April 2021, university and high school students across the planet, along with civil society, faith organizations and businesses, will tune into 100 events in fifty countries to discuss regional climate solutions, energy justice, and a Green Recovery. This global event is organized by Bard College and its many partners.

On Wednesday, April 7 at 6 pm CT, join professionals from Kansas State University, MEC, Climate + Energy Project, and other individuals and organizations for the Kansas event. MEC staff members Kelly Gilbert and Justice Horn are scheduled to participate as panelists. During the online program we’ll discuss how together, we can solve climate change by 2030.

Climate change may have contributed to the cold spell last February when the supply of electric power was not sufficient to meet demand. This occurrence prompted many to call for Kansas to develop a climate and energy plan that includes resilience and proper preparation for cold weather. The online event, Solve Climate by 2030 by Developing a Kansas Climate and Energy Plan, will feature presentations followed by a panel discussion addressing this issue.

The event is free and open to the public.

So where, as COVID redefines economies and politics, is the renewable energy sector?  What happens over the next few years – to technologies, investments, deployments and incentives – will determine multiple trajectories.  These include the jobs of millions of people, how quickly carbon accumulates in the atmosphere and oceans, and the possibility of stranded assets hampering any rapid, substantive switch from old to new.

If you’re thinking purely in terms of dollars and cents, the latest issue of Forbes has a fascinating article.  A joint study by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and Imperial College London reviewed returns on energy investments starting in 2009.  Combining German and French stock market data, the past five years showed returns of 178% for renewables and -20.7% for fossil energy.  UK renewable stocks returned over 75%, legacy energy 8.8%.  Here at home, where utility-scale renewable buildouts began later than in Europe, renewable returns were north of 200%, while oil, gas and coal stocks didn’t quite double.  Renewable investments proved more stable over the same periods measured.  But the same article notes that the biggest fossil energy shareholders – pension funds – are reluctant to disinvest from dividend-rich stocks.

Beyond that, an ostensible renewable energy transition is up against multiple countervailing factors – for starters $900 billion or more in potential “stranded assets” of global fossil energy companies.  The oil majors have talked a good game for years now, but the numbers don’t bear out their proclaimed commitments to renewables.  Exxon is now in court for, among other things, bragging on its green energy tech while spending less than ½ of 1% of revenues on renewable energy.  In 2019, BP projected spending between 3% and 8% (at best) of capex on renewables, and in February the company dumped an advertising campaign highlighting renewables.  And so on.

American utilities face the same kinds of stranded asset risks, though only 18% of utility employees view sunk costs in infrastructure as a top worry.  But power plants can be ferociously expensive to build.  Evergy’s Iatan 2 project, which went online nearly 10 years ago, came in at nearly $2 billion, with state-of-the-art environmental retrofits of the Iatan 1 plant adding to costs.  It can take large projects like this decades to pay for themselves; securitizing early retirement of fossil fuel plants can blunt risks to utilities, but so far has only been tried in three states.

Even bigger picture – there’s a substantial inertia built into an energy economy created more than 100 years ago – a vast, complex system that works remarkably well to meet the needs of its customers.  To date, renewables are still a small slice of total US electricity output.  In 2018, natural gas generated about 35% of our electricity, coal about 27%, nuclear a bit over 19% and all renewables, including hydroelectric, not quite 17%, with niche sources making up the rest.

To be clear, renewable energy’s recent eclipse of coal in the US has been remarkable.  In fact, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced the very day this was written that in 2019 consumption of energy produced from renewables passed that produced by coal, the first time per EIA that this has happened since before 1885.  But a decarbonized energy economy is still decades away.  The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) estimates that to even approach climate goals, renewables must increase to around 65% of global Total Primary Energy Supply by 2050 – and we’re nowhere close to that yet.  More on all of the above, COVID impacts and the state of play in our next renewable installment.

Join members of the Clean Energy Business Council, legislators, and clean energy experts for an in-depth afternoon discussing the state’s energy future, how neighboring states compare to Kansas, and ways we can ensure fair electricity rates and access to energy efficiency programs and emerging technologies.

 

 

 

Check out this conference focused on advancing renewable energy in Missouri!  The purpose of the “Advancing Renewables in the Midwest” conference is to identify, display, and promote programs, policies, and projects that enhance the use of renewable energy resources in the Midwest for the economic benefit of the region. The focus of speaker topics and agendas are large scale projects, either through direct installation or through amalgamation of small scale projects.
Come together to discuss programs, projects, and policies that are advancing the use of energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Tag Archive for: energypolicy

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