Volume 10, Issue 1
September 14, 2020 – September 20, 2020
Neha Chauhan '21 | Sabrina Reguyal ‘22 | Joe Kawalec '21 | Rei Zhang ‘21 | Amy Amatya '21
Some Louisiana Residents Won’t Have Power for Weeks, If Not Months, After Hurricane Laura
August 31, 2020 | CNN | Holly Yan
Devastation has struck the environmentally precarious state of Louisiana on the 15th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina with the arrival of Hurricane Laura, the strongest storm to hit the region in over 150 years. The resulting damage to the power grid has left countless without electricity indefinitely. The echoes of this damage are felt in the state’s inability to transport and thus supply water, deaths linked to carbon monoxide poisoning from generator misuse, and inadequate recovery infrastructure. In the face of a future that only holds more frequent and intense natural disasters, Hurricane Laura stands as a reminder that environmental and energy justice are entwined pursuits, with material implications on the lives bound up in them. -AA
Solar Prices Sink In The Age Of COVID
September 8, 2020 | Forbes | Ariel Cohen
Due to the unique and unexpected nature of the COVID-19 lockdown, energy demand has decreased, sparking drastic price drops for solar energy systems. This is a global phenomenon and the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for solar energy has decreased to become competitive with thermal stations like coal-fired power plants. Specifically, installation costs for a rooftop solar panel can be as low as $0.40 per watt today compared to an average cost of $3.50 per watt fourteen years ago. In the United States, a new market study attributes continued growth in the solar energy market to a number of factors including expiring tax credits on renewables and a novel 30% tariff on solar panel imports. As the article says, “Global solar, it seems, is well positioned to weather the Covid storm.” -JK
Photograph: THE NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY (NREL)
First U.S. Small Nuclear Reactor Design Is Approved
September 9, 2020 | Scientific American | Dave Levitan
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved the first American small nuclear reactor design, which comes from the Portland-based company NuScale Power. The reactor design, known as a small modular reactors (SMR), is supposed to speed construction, lower cost, and improve safety as opposed to traditional nuclear reactors. This new development comes in line with similar research and construction in other countries, with SMRs reported to be in advanced stages of construction in China, Argentina, and Russia. However, skeptics have expressed some doubts about the safety and costs of the new design. In the meantime, NuScale’s first scheduled project is slated to deliver electricity to small, community-owned utilities in Utah and surrounding states, and is scheduled to be delivered in 2027 and operational in 2029. -SR
BP takes $1.1bn stake in offshore wind farms as it agrees to Equinor deal
September 10, 2020 | The Guardian | Jillian Ambrose
BP is expanding its involvement in renewable energy, investing in offshore wind for the first time ever. In this $1.1 billion dollar deal, BP purchased a 50% stake in two new offshore wind projects currently being developed by Equinox. The projects are located offshore Long Island and off the coast of Massachusetts, and form part of BP’s strategy to increase investments in low-carbon endeavors, cut fossil fuel emissions, and shift towards energy rather than oil. The two farms, once completed, are expected to provide energy for around 2 million homes. -RZ
Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters