The OurEnergyLibrary aggregates and indexes publicly available fact sheets, journal articles, reports, studies, and other publications on U.S. energy topics. It is updated every week to include the most recent energy resources from academia, government, industry, non-profits, think tanks, and trade associations. Suggest a resource by emailing us at info@ourenergypolicy.org.
Resource Library
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Recent events in New England and elsewhere in the U.S. have demonstrated that policies which hurt the U.S. coal fleet are placing the reliability, affordability, and security of America’s electric supply system at risk:
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These policies will significantly increase wholesale electric rates – and could increase them by as much as 80 percent – according to Dr. Julio Friedmann, Assistant Secretary for Clean Coal at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).1
The increases will be especially harmful in certain states – such as Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, West Virginia, and Wyoming (Figure EX-1).
Severe economic hardship will be imposed
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), along with partners from the Electric Power Research Institute and University of Colorado and collaboration from a large international industry stakeholder group, embarked on a comprehensive study to understand the ways in which wind power technology can assist the power system by providing control of its active power output being injected onto the grid. The study includes a number of different power system simulations, control simulations, and actual field tests using turbines at NREL’s National Wind Technology Center (NWTC). The study sought to understand how wind power providing APC can benefit numerous parties by …
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In this report, the Commission provides information regarding Geomagnetic Disturbances (GMD) and Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) as requested in Resolves 2013, ch. 45. The Report does not make any recommendations regarding mitigation of GMD and EMP.…
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In this report, we examine the future of gas and renewable power in Texas analytically through the simulation of several future grid expansion scenarios. Using a state-of-the-art modeling system we simulate the ERCOT system through 2032 under the six scenarios.
In each scenario, our modeling system simulated both the market-driven additions and retirements of capacity by power generators and the operation of the system by ERCOT, down to the intra-hour time frame, once these additions are installed. By combining the long- and short-term time frames, our approach ensures that the resource additions selected by the market result in a system …
View Full ResourceOptimizing high-value energy efficiency and renewable energy in multi-scale systems that include buildings provides energy savings, energy reliability, indoor health and power quality, among other benefits. These benefits are not easily accounted for in traditional energy budget analysis, and their monetization is not included in typical cost-benefit calculations. Popular belief is that higher use of energy efficiency reduces return on investment (ROI) and that inclusion of renewable energy further reduces ROI. In fact, optimization of higher degrees of energy efficiency with on-site renewable has significantly greater positive economics. This is due to several factors including the aging electric grid—statistically having …
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LD 131, “Directing the Public Utilities Commission To Examine Measures To Mitigate the Effects of Geomagnetic Disturbances and Electromagnetic Pulse on the State’s Transmission System,” passed unanimously in the House and 32-3 in the Senate. LD 131 requires that the Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) examine the vulnerabilities of the State’s transmission infrastructure to the potential negative impacts of a geomagnetic disturbance or electromagnetic pulse capable of disabling, disrupting or destroying a transmission and distribution system, identify potential mitigation measures, and report back to the legislature. The bill also directs the PUC to actively monitor efforts by the Federal Energy …
View Full ResourceEnvironmentalists advocate wind power as one of the main alternatives to fossil fuels, claiming that it is both cost effective and low in carbon emissions. This study seeks to evaluate these claims.
Existing estimates of the life-cycle emissions from wind turbines range from 5 to 100 grams of CO2 equivalent per kilowatt hour of electricity produced. This very wide range is explained by differences in what was included in each analysis, and the proportion of electricity generated by wind. The low CO2 emissions estimates are only possible at low levels of installed wind capacity, and even then they typically ignore …
View Full ResourceThis report examines the present and evolving capabilities of advanced inverter technologies for both primary and secondary distribution applications. Inverters are power electronics-based devices which convert direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC), a function which is fundamental to the integration of power from many sources into the distribution system. Inverters are widely used in conjunction with a range of Distributed Energy Resources (DER), particularly photovoltaic and wind turbine generators and energy storage resources. In these applications, inverters convert a generated or stored DC to a precisely modulated and grid- synchronized AC waveform. This waveform’s frequency is to be identical …
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