Energy Systems Consulting Perspectives

Policies that Promote Clean Energy from Fossil Fuels

Posted by OnLocation on Nov 13, 2020 2:36:32 PM

OnLocation presents the third and final blog in a series that identifies the top environmental and energy policy challenges for 2021 and beyond. This blog focuses on policies aimed at expanding the use of clean fossil-fueled technologies in the power and industrial sectors with the goal of reducing pollution while preserving fuel diversity, improving grid reliability, and utilizing low-cost domestic sources of coal and natural gas.

Arguably the biggest overarching challenge today is to mitigate the greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. All energy-using sectors, including the power and industrial sectors, use a mix of energy sources that include fossil fuels (coal, oil and/or natural gas) that release energy-related carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in the atmosphere. But what if these fossil-fueled technologies could capture and store CO₂ instead of emitting it? These technologies exist today but in most cases are too expensive to implement without policy incentives.

This series of blogs provides policymakers, especially state energy offices and non-governmental organizations, with a clear vision of the benefits of each approach to reducing CO₂ emissions, how different policy options can enable them, and considerations to make when choosing a path forward. Finally, we recommend integrated energy modeling for analyzing the various policy options.

Topics: Energy, NEMS, Energy Modeling, Environmental Regulation, Energy Policy, Integrated Modeling, Oil and Gas Production

Multiple U.S. Energy Models Highlight the Importance of Incentives for CO2 Capture Technologies

Posted by OnLocation on Oct 29, 2020 4:45:17 PM

Frances Wood and Sharon Showalter at OnLocation co-authored a paper that was recently published in the journal Energy Policy titled “Could congressionally mandated incentives lead to deployment of large-scale CO₂ capture facilities for enhanced oil recovery CO₂ markets and geologic CO₂ storage?” The paper describes the results of a joint study performed in coordination with the Stanford University Energy Modeling Forum, an organization that promotes the use of energy policy models to improve the understanding of important energy and environmental issues. Other organizations involved in the study include the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the National Energy Technology Laboratory, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Electric Power Research Institute. The study was performed using five energy models, including a customized version of the National Energy Modeling System created by OnLocation and referred to here as the CTUS-NEMS model.

Topics: Energy, NEMS, Energy Modeling, Environmental Regulation, Energy Policy, Integrated Modeling, Oil and Gas Production, carbon capture, ccs

Negative Consequences Expected from Proposed Restrictions on Oil and Natural Gas Production

Posted by OnLocation on Oct 5, 2020 1:34:37 PM

A compelling new report released by the American Petroleum Institute (API) in early September highlights the negative consequences expected from recent proposals that would ban federal leasing of public lands and waters for natural gas and oil development in the United States. The API report, “The Consequences of a Leasing and Development Ban on Federal Lands and Waters,” concludes that such a ban would result in significant negative impacts on U.S. energy security, the economy, and the environment.

Topics: Energy, NEMS, Energy Modeling, Environmental Regulation, Energy Policy, Integrated Modeling, Oil and Gas Production, Fracking

Transportation and Climate Initiative Webinar on September 16; OnLocation Modeling Supports This Process

Posted by OnLocation on Sep 14, 2020 1:38:08 PM

On Wednesday September 16, 2020, the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) will host a webinar to present updates on program design, modeling, and the implications of COVID-19. The goal of the initiative is to establish a regional policy to encourage the use of low-carbon transportation fuels and investment in transportation projects to achieve additional environmental benefits. The program would cover more than 40 percent of greenhouse gas emissions from twelve TCI states and the District of Columbia.

Topics: Energy, Environmental Compliance, NEMS, Energy Modeling, Environmental Regulation, Energy Policy, Integrated Modeling, Transportation Technologies, Electric Vehicles, climate change, transportation climate initiative

Opportunities and Challenges Presented by High Deployment of Renewables on the Grid

Posted by OnLocation on Aug 28, 2020 3:49:05 PM

OnLocation presents a series of blogs that identifies the top environmental and energy policy challenges for 2020 and beyond. The second blog in the series (#2 of 3), presented here, focuses on policies aimed at expanding the grid electricity storage market as a way to address electric capacity dispatch challenges created by the recent explosion of new variable renewable generation. Electricity storage is one key technology that is helping address these challenges.

Topics: Energy Modeling, Environmental Regulation, Energy Policy, Integrated Modeling, NEMS Model, Renewable Energy, Advanced Technologies, electricity grid, Electricity Storage, Battery Storage