Some 55-60% of power in the U.S. currently comes from coal and natural gas plants.
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Many energy company executives are skeptical that U.S. President Joe Biden can achieve his goal of disarming the country’s energy sector by 2035, according to a report this week from financial data provider S&P Market Intelligence.
Their doubts matter because Biden needs to get many of them on board to make his plan work, especially if he fails to get the votes needed in Congress to force states to accelerate their energy. their renewables.
“There’s a reason we chose 2050,” said Ben Fowke, CEO of Xcel Energy, a Minneapolis-based facility that provides electricity and gas to 5 million customers, in a company’s third-quarter earnings call this year. the report.
Xcel Energy is one of many facilities set on 2045 or 2050 as deadlines for realizing zero emissions from power generation. Some find that target difficult to achieve by some, as many facilities are now building new natural gas infrastructure.
We “welcome the opportunity … to work with the Biden administration and kind of let them know that 2035 is in the time frame of resources for the much-needed aggressive technologies,” he said. Fowke.
Nicholas Atkins, President of American Electric Power
AEP
The U.S. has a strong pipeline of about 230 gigawatts of wind and solar projects at various stages of development. But even that amount of renewable energy is falling far short of what is needed to transform the country’s energy grid into 100% low-carbon sources in 14 years.
Some 38% of power in the U.S. in 2019 came from wind, solar and nuclear power combined. However, that proportion is not expected to climb to 55% by 2035 with current renewable rate targets in place and wind and solar pipelines in development, the analysis found.
States are one major obstacle Biden has in making that pipeline bigger. Biden wants to invest billions in clean energy technology, such as green hydrogen, advanced nuclear plants and battery storage. But if states where coal and gas-fired power are abundant do not extend that technology at home, there may not be enough short-term effects.
Some groups of states in the U.S. have reluctantly loaded on wind and solar targets, running to dismantle each other. In the Northeast, up to seven states have legislation called Renewable Package Standards (RPS), the name for state targets to grow renewable energy potential. Led by New York, Maine and Massachusetts, this region is closest to being able to achieve full decarbonization by 2035, with renewables in addition to electricity and nuclear power expected to make up close on 80% of generation before that time, a separate study by Market Intelligence shows.
But areas like the Southeast have shown little crisis. The Southeast has “virtually no RPS legislation,” the study found. Coal and natural gas are expected to account for nearly two-thirds of the region’s power generation by 2035 on the current route, he said, using data from December 2020.
“There needs to be a complete overhaul of the energy sector,” the authors concluded. “Significant legislative action will be required and political support will require radical change. Looking for solar storage and battery attacks with self-tapping utility goals will be a great start. ”
It is not clear that President Biden will be able to blame the votes needed in Congress to persuade these and other states to change course. Democrats now have 50 out of 100 seats in the Senate, as well as an unbroken vote from Vice President Kamala Harris. But large pieces of legislation often require 60 votes. And damaging even one Democratic grandfather could wipe out even less legislation. Many moderate Democrat senators, most notably Joe Manchin of West Virginia, cannot afford to cross over to voters in the home states where many have built careers in coal, gas or mining. Manchin’s home state still has a large coal mining industry, and cannot easily move to manufacturing solar panels or wind turbines.
“Heavy policies such as a national carbon tax rate or renewable baggage status will be difficult for some seniors and Democrat representatives to support, given the energy landscape in their own states,” the report found this week. .
If Biden cannot collect such national legislation and states do not become stricter, it may be up to the utility companies that run power plants every day to take action. So far, however, they have largely stuck to their 2045 or 2050 targets.
However, others are optimistic. They point out that the required technology is already on the market and is only becoming cheaper and more efficient.
“It’s both optimistic, but entirely achievable,” Steven Geiger, president of Innova Partners, an advisory group that develops energy transition programs for companies and governments, said in an emailed comment. “Technologies are available and economics will largely accept.”
Geiger warned that the move would have to be accompanied by a “large ramp” of wind and solar manufacturing or risk being removed for security and commercial reasons. “Americans need to see a clear benefit from the pain.”
Corporate America is also expected to continue to put its trend behind the energy trend. The New York Times
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