By Llewellyn King It has been an annus horribilis for the nation’s electric utility companies. Deadly storms and wildfires have left hundreds of thousands — and for short periods millions — of electricity customers without power, sometimes for days and weeks. These destructive weather events have come at a time when utilities are being squeezed from all directions: By customer needs, by activists’ demands, by state regulators, and by the zero-carbon urgency of the Biden administration as expressed in its bill, the Build Back Better Act, to upgrade and overhaul the nation’s infrastructure. The utilities themselves have set ambitious carbon-emission-reduction goals, but in some cases, they still can’t meet the demands of the government. They are caught between the clear need to harden their infrastructure against severe weather and shuttering their reliable but polluting coal plants and mothballing their dependable gas turbines. This predicament caused Jim Matheson, president of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, which represents hundreds of utilities, mostly small, in rural areas, to ask Congress to make exceptions, or at least to understand that things can’t be changed overnight. In a letter to House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Palone (D-N.J.) and ranking minority member Cathy McMorris Rogers (Wash.), Matheson said there was concern with the Clean Electricity Performance Program (CEPP) part of the bill.“The CEPP’s very narrow, 10-year program implementation window is unrealistic. The electric co-ops have existing contractual obligations and resource development plans that extend for several years, if not decades. Many of those plans continued deployment of a diverse set of affordable, clean electricity sources, but not all those plans align with the CEPP. …. The narrow implementation window also limits our ability to take advantage of technologies like energy storage, carbon capture, or advanced nuclear, which are unlikely to be deployable in the near term,” Matheson said. The predicament of utilities is that there is no reliable storage and that the two principal sources of renewable power, wind and solar, are subject to the vagaries of weather. During Winter Storm Uri, which hit Texas last February, solar, along with all other sources of energy, froze under sheets of snow and ice. The result was disaster and heavy loss of life. In that instance, gas didn’t save the day: Lines and instruments froze, and what gas was available was sold at astronomical prices. The lesson was clear: Prepare for the worst. That lesson was repeated in a series of hurricanes, including devastating Ida which plunged parts of Louisiana into the dark for more than a week. If the lesson hasn’t been grasped in the United States, it is being repeated in Europe right now. A unique wind drought that lasted six weeks has left the European grid reeling and has thrown Britain into a full energy crisis. The issue is not that alternative energy — wind and solar for now — isn’t the way to go to reduce the amount of carbon spewing into the atmosphere. Instead, it is not to destabilize what you have by prematurely taking gas offline.Gas has certain useful qualities not the least of which is that it can be stored. Storage is the bugaboo of alternative energy. Batteries are good for a few hours at best and the other main way of storing energy, pumped storage, requires large expenditures, substantial engineering, and a usable site. It requires the creation of a big water impoundment, which will provide hydro when extra power is needed. It works, it is efficient, and it isn’t something that you build in a jiffy.I have spent half a century writing about the electricity industry and when it comes to decarbonization, I can say that while many in the industry were doubtful about global warming at one time, the industry now is committed to eliminating carbon emissions by 2050. The joker is storage or some other way of backing up the alternatives. That may be hydrogen, but a lot of research and engineering must take place before it flows through the pipes which now carry natural gas. Likewise, for small modular reactors. The Economist, pointing to Europe, says that the Europeans have destabilized their grid by failing to prepare for the transition to alternatives, triggering a global natural gas shortage. Gas should be used sparingly and treasured. The trick is to throw out the bath water and save the baby.  On Twitter: @llewellynking2 Llewellyn King is executive producer and host of “White House Chronicle” on PBS.Read this column on: White House Chronicle Inside SourcesWatch the latest White House Chronicle: The challenges of the unbanked and underbanked in America

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With the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP26 less than a month away, global headlines continue to reflect the impacts and risks of a changing climate. The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) makes it clear that climate change is caused by human activity, and it is changing more quickly than previously thought. However, the report also highlights that it isn’t too late for world leaders to act. So how will science serve world leaders as they gather for COP 26?  Join the Global Council for Science and the Environment (GCSE) and the Security and Sustainability Forum (SSF) for a cross-cutting discussion exploring the science informing the IPCC report and COP26.  Featuring:     Saleemul Huq, Director, International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) in Bangladesh David Victor, Professor of Innovation and Public Policy, School of Global Policy and Strategy, University of California San Diego in the United States Discussion led by Michelle Wyman, Executive Director, Global Council for Science and the Environment.

REGISTER AT https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/8733680762317419024

The post Leading With Science on the Road to COP26 with Saleemul Huq and David Victor appeared first on Security & Sustainability Forum.

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Farms consume energy directly in gasoline, diesel, electricity, and natural gas and indirectly in energy-intensive inputs such as fertilizer and pesticides. In addition, some farms produce renewable energy or lease out land for wind turbines, oil, or gas development. Roughly 9 percent of the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions come from the agriculture sector. So, transitioning farms from fossil fuel to clean electricity can have a significant impact on climate change.  Electrification opportunities span the range of farming activities and are driven by technological advances, including real-time crop monitoring by drones, robotic milking and weeding machines, and autonomous tractors. In addition, electrification of farm equipment will aid in advancing precision agriculture since many of the protocols used in these technologies are better suited to interface with systems optimized to run on electricity versus fossil fuels.  However, scaling that energy transition is not challenge-free. Some barriers are resistance to change entrenched practices and share data, proof of profitability, and just transitions. Join Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability (SOS) and The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) in a 90-minute discussion of opportunities and challenges to the intelligent, electrified farm of the future.  Meet the panel:

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The post Sixty Minutes with Fiona Hill and András Simonyi appeared first on Security & Sustainability Forum.

Ethical Markets highly recommends this discussion on Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) , which underlies the current Congressional debate over the  Biden :
“Build Back Better “ plans to invest in our US future!
 
Most politicians are still ignorant on the basic politics of money-creation, credit-allocation and the difference between sovereign issuers of money and others who must use it.
( see our TV special “THE MONEY FIX” , distributed to most PBS stations and free on demand at www.ethicalmarkets.tv  and all our reviews of recent books on all these issues on our Books & Reviews page at www.ethicalmarkets.com

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Register here at https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/7323689039467941134

Join SSF and the Global Electronics Council to delve deeper into the role of sustainable purchasing at COP26 and how to engage in a new GEC Global Campaign to coalesce individual and country initiatives into global demand for sustainable and circular technology products & services that mitigate climate change and create jobs. Participants in the series will learn about the power of institutional sustainable purchasing and learn procurement and human resource tools and approach to transform their organizations

Why SDG Goal 12 is so Critical! Responsible Production and Consumption (SDG Goal 12) is a direct pathway to achieving the other SDG goals. Goal 12 is an action, and the other goals, like improved health and clean water, are outcomes. And, the efforts to reduce material consumption and manage wastes safely are within everyone’s grasp through sustainable purchasing practices. That is why SDG 12 is a critical enabler for planetary health.

Nancy Gillis, Chief Executive Officer, Global Electronics Council, will moderate the webinar Karim Ahmed, Secretary-Treasurer, Global Council for Science and the Environment (GCSE) Board of Directors. Adjunct Professor, Occupational & Environmental Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center

Gaya Herrington has joined the panel for the October 26th webinar about SDG Goal 12 and COP26 imperatives. Gaya’s widely acclaimed publication “Update to Limits to Growth” is a 2021 check on the 1972 best-selling book (Limits to Growth). Using updated scenarios, she applies current models that show either we end up with an unmanaged social and environmental decline, which would be catastrophic, or a managed leveling out of our economies, shaped by a shift in social values and expectations.

Register here at https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/7323689039467941134

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Why they want your data.

Governments and businesses are proposing smart systems using sensors and digital technologies to collect data about business operations and citizens and their activities to meet the challenges of climate change and other complex social issues. This requires collecting and storing large public and private data sets.

Why should I give you my data, and what do I get?

Privacy, ownership, rights to use the data, and other issues have made smart cities, smart agriculture, and other technology applications controversial. If we expect to have smart systems for cities that are equitable and carbon offsets that are trustworthy, the mechanisms that contribute data must also protect it from misuse and harmful outcomes.

How to bridge the data integrity divide.

Practitioners at Arizona State University and their partners have developed several approaches to infuse trust into sharing private data that include: ·

changing the nature of the relationships

using trusted models such as public libraries

incentives for sharing protected information

Join LightWorks at ASU and SSF in a 90-minute discussion about data, trust, and reducing industry’s carbon footprint by exploring the concepts of a “Library for Carbon Data” and other methods to make data sharing attractive to those who own it and those who need it to make climate-smart decisions.

Meet the panel:

Bill Brandt, ModeratorDirector of Strategic Integration, ASU LightWorks Bill Brandt connects ASU’s LightWorks research with partners to support the discovering and inventing of energy solutions to the world’s fuel, electric and social challenges. He has a background in governance and delegations, mergers and acquisitions and renewable energy. Timothy Slaper Research Director, IU Kelley School of Business’ Indiana Business Research Center Dr. Slaper leads a team engaged in national industry and workforce analysis as the principal investigator for a U.S. Department of Commerce project on regional economic development. The team is building a data set and web tool for practitioners, policymakers and researchers to assess a region’s innovative capacity, resilience and economic performance.

Shade Shutters Research Scientist, School of Complex Adaptive Systems, College of Global Futures, ASU. Dr. Shutters directs the laboratory for regional dynamics and development. His work fuses data science, complexity theory, and network analysis in an effort to help regional planners better understand how their regions function and evolve.

Michael Simeone Director for Data Science and Analytics, ASU Libraries. Assistant Research Professor, Biosocial Complexity Initiative, ASU  Dr. Simeone’s research explores interdisciplinary applications of data science. He is also a Senior Sustainability Scientist with the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability at ASU.

Pavan Turaga Director, ASU School of Arts, Media and Engineering, Director, Geometric Media Lab, ASU. Pavan Turaga’s expertise is in machine learning and data-driven methods, with wide interdisciplinary applications. Their work has been funded by major federal sponsors including the NSF, NIH, ARO, DoE as well as Intel, Adobe, Raytheon, and others.

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The latest report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change gives humanity a simple directive: Get a grip on greenhouse gas emissions or the dear old planet won’t be the dear old planet we have known and loved down through the millennia. Sounds simple, huh? Like wearing a face mask or getting a COVID-19 vaccine shot. That is the trouble. Everyone will have their own science and won’t hesitate to inflict it on anyone who disagrees, whether it is verified or not. Social nagging is about to become a national pastime. I can hear it now: “Why do you drive a gasoline car? You know, your fire pit is a carbon source.” Or “Did you think about the carbon consequences when you booked your vacation in Europe?”How ghastly the moral superiority of the anti-carbon warriors will be! I can imagine them saying “I can’t imagine why people don’t buy electric cars. We have had one for three years.” Or “Your oil-heated house is a pollution source. We have installed solar rooftop panels. Passive solar houses should be mandated by the government.”Remember the anti-smoking crusaders? I am afraid you haven’t seen anything yet. The very real climate threat is going to unleash a whole new tribe of social scolds. Electric utilities are in the crosshairs and there will be no end to their vilification. Watch out for the environmental experts, who once urged the use of coal over nuclear, to take charge of the future with some other counterproductive policy nostrum. All that said, I believe if we don’t get on top of the greenhouse gas emissions problem, we soon will be wondering, as Robert Frost wrote, “Some say the world will end in fire,/ Some say in ice.” The way it is going, I say the world will end in devastating floods and heatwaves, worsening droughts, and accelerating sea-level rise. The UN’s climate change panel has declared a clear and present danger. It is a threat that has been growing and largely laughed off over 50 years. I, for one, first heard of the idea of global warming in 1970, when it seemed very remote and a little crazy. It is neither remote nor crazy now. It is at hand, and it should affect a lot of thinking. In the near term, common sense would have us ship our natural gas abroad so that China, India, and many other countries stop burning coal; not as the anti-carbon warrior would have us close down our production. The best longer-term hope is more science on carbon capture and nuclear power. It is foolish to worry about nuclear waste lasting 10,000 years when, if we keep on the current climate trajectory, life won’t exist in the nearer future on planet Earth. The fact is that while the science of climate change is well understood, the solutions aren’t. For example, those who would denounce natural gas, which is far less polluting than coal, don’t know the lifecycle costs of the two advocated alternatives, wind and solar. To build a windmill, you need a large concrete base and a steel tower, both of which are manufactured through carbon-intensive processes. At the end of the life of a turbine, about 25 years, the giant blades, which are mostly made of carbon fiber-reinforced fiberglass, will be disposed of in landfills. The blades can’t be recycled, unlike the steel towers and other components. Both the manufacture and disposal of solar cells have a considerable environmental impact. The impact in making them is known, but the impact of their disposal in landfills isn’t known.Going forward, the need is to know the science, encourage innovation, and not bow to culture activists who would wish their solutions on the rest of us. When I was a boy, asbestos was the miracle substance, recommended for inclusion in everything because it was fire-resistant. If you didn’t use asbestos, the fire alarmists came down on you. The moral? Beware of simple solutions to complex problems.

The post The Social Scolds Are Set To Take Up Global Warming appeared first on Security & Sustainability Forum.

Danish Minister of Climate, Energy, and Utilities Dan Jørgensen will join Ambassador András Simonyi in a 60-minute policy discussion. Topics include European Commission’s 2021 “Fit for 55” legal framework to achieve climate goals, Denmark’s pioneering role in energy transitions, transatlantic climate, and energy cooperation and preparation for COP26.

The post From Vikings to Wind Turbines – Denmark’s journey toward sustainability appeared first on Security & Sustainability Forum.

Episode 1: The inaugural series episode features the futurist Hazel Henderson, President of Ethical Markets. Hazel has been critiquing the limitations of economics and its statistics in steering complex industrial societies for 50 years. She is a pioneer in social indicators and quality-of-life research.

The post Episode 1: Time to Rethink Our Technology Choices appeared first on Security & Sustainability Forum.