Home insulation and efficient appliances. Efficiency technology. CFL and LED. Smaller (and cheaper!) clean energy needs.
Residential payback (middle 50%): 8-12 years New construction – little to no cost
Large farm/simple commercial: 6 years (with tax benefits but no rebates) Motivations Investment Tax sheltering Self sufficiency Green benefits PR
Buy vs Lease 8.5 kW, Mazeppa, MN
Whenever there’s a huge spill of solar energy, it’s just called a nice day.
It is part of a system of sustainable energy The first step is energy efficiency Negawatts (Amory Lovins, Rocky Mountain Inst.) Home insulation and efficient appliances Efficiency technology CFL and LED
Smaller (and cheaper!) clean energy needs Belkin Conserve Socket courtesy of Amazon.com
CEE Neighborhood Energy Challenge Home energy audit MN Department of Commerce energy pages Energy.gov (US Dept of Energy) Cascade Meadows, Rochester Utility rebate and efficiency programs
Dying flowers…and 6.24 kW, Rochester, MN
Spending money smarter Political Utility rate structure
12.5 kW, Whitehall, WI
$100 electric bill with 4% elec. price inflation
4% is conservative for MN according to US Energy Information Administration (www.eia.gov)
The money will be spent on one fuel or another Renewable prices falling fast enough that they can be justified on a purely investment basis But still a large up front cost Efficiency has almost become a no-brainer But still takes time and effort, and up front cost
How do we get people to think long term? Carrots – Energy Star rebates 3rd party ownership, PPA’s Changes in policies – Utility, Government PACE
Property Assessed Clean Energy Financing mechanism with state oversight (safe) Low interest loan, repaid with a special assessment on the property (property taxes) Same structure that governments use to build roads and other infrastructure
Up to 20 years Limited to 25% of the property’s assessed value Little to no change in yearly cash flow, but gain PR benefits
Source: Environmental Law Institute
Wind has lowered rates overall in MN Large scale wind is currently the cheapest form of electricity
Source: Utility compliance reports – MN PUC Docket 11-852
Solar will soon lower rates as well, studies show: It reduces the need for expensive new power plants and transmission lines Less energy is lost in transmission because the power is used where it’s generated It requires no fuel and so provides a hedge against future fossil fuel price increases It offsets expensive daytime or peak power
For every dollar of solar cost to Arizona utilities, it provides $1.54 in long term benefits Source: Tom Beach, CrossBorder Energy in a non-partisan study. Crossborder Energy in California provides expert testimony, strategic advice, market intelligence, and economic consulting services on market and regulatory issues in the natural gas and electric industries.
Residential electric bill - $0.12/kWh Commercial electric bill - $0.05/kWh plus demand charge Demand charge based on highest 15 minutes of use per month, plus adder based on highest 15 min of year Unintended barrier to efficiency and renewables 21 kW, Rochester, MN
250
9/20/13 14:30 9/21/13 2:15 9/21/13 14:00 9/22/13 1:45 9/22/13 13:30 9/23/13 1:15 9/23/13 13:00 9/24/13 0:45 9/24/13 12:30 9/25/13 0:15 9/25/13 12:00 9/25/13 23:45 9/26/13 11:30 9/26/13 23:15 9/27/13 11:00 9/27/13 22:45 9/28/13 10:30 9/28/13 22:15 9/29/13 10:00 9/29/13 21:45 9/30/13 9:30 9/30/13 21:15 10/1/13 9:00 10/1/13 20:45 10/2/13 8:30 10/2/13 20:15 10/3/13 8:00 10/3/13 19:45 10/4/13 7:30 10/4/13 19:15 10/5/13 7:00 10/5/13 18:45 10/6/13 6:30 10/6/13 18:15 10/7/13 6:00 10/7/13 17:45 10/8/13 5:30 10/8/13 17:15 10/9/13 5:00
300
Energy Production During Time of Greatest Demand Profile of a Local Manufacturing Facility
200
150 Sum of 15 minute demand
Sum of KWh2
100
50
0
Cascade Meadow large wind tower: 10 kW turbine Produces 16,000-18,000 kWh/year Cost before rebates and credits: about $74,000 Moving parts = maintenance
What about putting the solar on the ground? (13 kW) Cost before rebates and credits: $48,750 (17,160 kWh/year) Courtesy of Cascade Meadow, Rochester, MN
Equivalent producing PV system on barn roof: 13.5 kW solar array Produces 16,984 kWh/year Solar prices are not Cost before rebates and credits: $42,000 representative of No moving parts = very little maintenance Cascade Meadows solar arrays
Battery back up – critical loads or fully off grid? Batteries are a service, not an investment Off-grid is a lifestyle
Home the Land Built Off-grid home, Altura, MN http://mnrenewables.org/node/1314
Project Licht ‘n Stein $100 yearly utility bills Lanesboro, MN http://www.lichtnstein.org/
Generator?
All Earth's water, liquid fresh water, and water in lakes and rivers Spheres showing: (1) All water (sphere over western U.S., 860 miles in diameter) (2) Fresh liquid water in the ground, lakes, swamps, and rivers (sphere over Kentucky, 169.5 miles in diameter), and (3) Fresh-water lakes and rivers (sphere over Georgia, 34.9 miles in diameter). Credit: Howard Perlman, USGS; globe illustration by Jack Cook, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (©); Adam Nieman.
Around 700 million people in 43 countries suffer today from water scarcity. By 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world's population could be living under water stressed conditions. --United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/scarcity.shtml)
With the existing climate change scenario, almost half the world's population will be living in areas of high water stress by 2030. In addition, water scarcity in some arid and semi-arid places will displace between 24 million and 700 million people. --United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/scarcity.shtml)
The most well known study is the Global Assessment of Soil Degradation from 1991 that estimated soil degradation based on expert opinion. It reported that 20% of the drylands (excluding hyper-arid areas) were suffering from human-induced soil degradation. (Dryland systems are ecosystems characterised by a lack of water. They include cultivated lands, scrublands, shrublands, grasslands, savannas, semi-deserts and true deserts.) --Desertification Synthesis Report by Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005)
Centralized generation
