The Energy Show

Copyright 2022 - The Energy Show, Barry Cinnamon

This week’s Energy Show podcast is about the IRA. Even if you’re retired or Irish, the inaptly-named Inflation Reduction Act is the most important legislation for clean tech ever. We’ll talk about the big picture of U.S. energy generation and use, and then delve into how much homeowners can save with the incentives in the IRA.

I downloaded all 755 pages of this bill so I could check the legal details in the fine print (DeVinne 18 pt). Congress threw the entire clean tech kitchen sink into the IRA, along with some much-needed social programs. There is no doubt in my mind that the IRA will accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels – particularly as homeowners electrify their homes and stop using gasoline and natural gas.

The IRA has the potential to reduce U.S. emissions by 42% by 2030. Nevertheless, ten years from now the climate will still be hotter. Moreover, accelerated utility investments in electric generation infrastructure will likely double electric rates, accentuated by utility efforts to recapture losses from stranded fossil fuel assets. It will take an all-hands-on-deck effort -- on a worldwide basis -- to deploy the necessary technologies to reverse global warming. The IRA is just a start for the U.S.

To hear a summary of the key homeowner provisions of the IRA, please listen to this week's Energy Show.

Copyright 2022 - The Energy Show, Barry Cinnamon

When it comes to global warming – we’re screwed. I’m telling it like it is so we don’t continue misleading ourselves that we are on a path to reduce global warming.

We have had 20+ years of climate activism; many Inconvenient Truths; wildfires, floods, droughts, blackouts; and now energy wars. Still, the economic interests from fossil fuels and related industries continue to suppress the necessary actions. Which is no surprise since the solution to global warming effectively means the end of the fossil fuel industry.

The ostensible cause of this slow-motion humanity train wreck is that the politicians of our world cannot agree on either the problem or the solution. But the root cause of this political indecision is due to very effective fossil fuel industry lobbying. They mislead the public and effectively bribe politicians.

How do we change this trajectory? Simple: in the short term do not support climate change-denying politicians in any way. Vote against politicians who support the existing fossil fuel industry. And vote for politicians who favor practical clean energy technologies and a carbon tax.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) whitewashed what really needs to be done, and instead recommended the following:

1) The world should stop using fossil fuels (easy to say)

2) Find a way to remove CO2 from the atmosphere (consumes dramatically more energy than carbon capture at the source, which itself is not economical)

3) Curb demand of energy (which will reduce overall economic well-being)

4) Spend more money on clean energy (I agree)

5) Tell rich people to use less energy (good luck).

In my humble opinion, these IPCC recommendations are either naïve or impractical … except for investing more in clean energy.

Instead, here are my four realistic recommendations that you personally can implement right now, all of which are practical and will have a direct impact on your quality of life:

1) Make your home carbon negative with electrification, solar and batteries. You’ll save money and have a healthier and more comfortable home. Plus, it’s the best way to get back at greedy utilities.

2) Buy renewable energy and electrification stocks for you and your children. In general these will be long-term winners. Sell your fossil fuel company stocks for moral reasons even though over the short and medium term they may do OK.

3) Do not get a 30 year mortgage on coastal property. If you like the beach, buy a block inland or just rent.

4) Eat less meat and more locally grown fruits and vegetables. I’m not sure how much impact this will have on global warming. But a good diet will help you live long enough to see that Al Gore was right.

There is one shred of good news: the economic benefits of renewables — solar and wind — mean that these clean energy sources will indeed replace fossil fuels. Eventually. So we shouldn’t give up. For more about the cause of our political indecision – and practical global warming solutions, please tune into this week’s Energy Show podcast.

Copyright 2022 - The Energy Show, Barry Cinnamon

There are two types of solar customers: people with sunny roofs and people without sunny roofs. Just as every home had a chimney (before heat pumps), there is no doubt in my mind that every home will eventually have solar.

But what about the people without sunny rooftops, such as apartment dwellers and homes in heavily forested areas? Or people who cannot afford the up-front cost of a solar system? How can these people avoid expensive utility electricity and benefit from the superior economics of their own solar systems?

Community Solar is the answer for these sunny roof-challenged people. Basically, it is a way for people to share the power output from a large local solar array, and also contribute to the cost of the solar array. Community Solar customers benefit from lower electricity prices because they avoid the high markups, overhead and transmission costs of traditional utility power.

There are no technical, logistical or economic barriers to Community Solar — except for the determined efforts of incumbent utilities to prevent installations in their territory. Utilities use every dirty trick in the book to frustrate installations that would benefit apartment dwellers and low income customers.

According to NREL, 74% of installations are concentrated in Florida, Minnesota, New York and Massachusetts. California, the state with the most rooftop solar installations, ranks near the bottom when it comes to Community Solar. Which comes as no surprise since California’s utilities focus more on maximizing their profits rather than providing electricity that is safe (wildfires?), reliable (blackouts?), ethical (criminally negligent?) and affordable (tax rooftop solar?).

To find out what can be done to accelerate the adoption of Community Solar, my guest on this week’s show is Crystal Huang. Crystal is the CEO of People Power Solar Cooperative. Please tune in to this week’s Energy Show for Crystal’s unique and in the trenches perspective on the barriers that utilities put in place to prevent competition from Community Solar — and the policies that can be implemented to make affordable solar power available to all homeowners.

Copyright 2022 - The Energy Show, Barry Cinnamon

Buying an EV is complicated. The market is dynamic, so brand loyalty doesn’t mean much yet. There are huge differences in mileage, range, charging and price. Often the EVs that are in the highest demand are backordered — sometimes for a year or more (just try buying a Ford F-150 Lightning). Heck, just understanding the meaning of MPGe and Level 1/2/3 chargers is enough to delay an EV buying decision and keep pumping gas into that old hydrocarbon heap.

Fortunately, there is an abundance of EV information on the web. Almost too much. Comparing the capabilities and specifications for EVs is a daunting task for buyers. To simplify the process there are several EV ratings sites that compare EVs based on standard criteria.

The EV comparison site that I have found most useful is the Bloomberg Green EV Rating site. Their Green Rating metric is a weighted score that accounts for every vehicle’s range, weight and battery size. In addition, they include three other critical factors that many other comparison sites ignore: price, range and charging speed. The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy has their Greenercar ratings — which includes all “green” vehicles of various shades (including hybrids and very low emission vehicles). The official source for vehicle fuel economy (MPG and MPGe) is at fueleconomy.gov, sponsored by the DOE and EPA.

Would you believe it is TEN TIMES more expensive to fill up your tank with gas than it is to charge your EV with rooftop solar? For an analysis of the charging costs of EVs, as well as more details about the above-referenced EV comparison sites, please tune in to this week’s Energy Show.

Copyright 2022 - The Energy Show, Barry Cinnamon

If you’re like me you installed a battery storage system to preserve in solid form all that Ben and Jerry’s ice cream in your freezer during a blackout. My wife, on the other hand, just wanted to save money. Her financial priority is ultimately what is driving the demand for battery backup installations.

A battery backup system can save your a thousand dollars or more on your annual electric bill — in addition to keeping your lights on during the next blackout. These battery storage savings result from time-shifting your electricity usage: you can draw power from the grid when rates are inexpensive (generally at night) and sell power back when rates are expensive (generally in the late afternoon and evening). Or as my stockbroker says, buy low and sell high.

Ordinary rooftop solar systems are automatic and passive. The sun comes up, the solar panels generate power, and you sell your excess power back to the grid. With solar, there are no settings to change to maximize your savings.

Battery systems require a bit more active management. The savings from your battery backup system depend on your electric rates, weather, time of the year, your peak power consumption, and when you run your appliances. Consider the operation of your battery like a game: playing to win means you can get your utility bill as low as possible — even negative!

Here are five ways you can maximize the savings from your battery backup system:

1. Program large appliances to run only during off-peak electric rate times

2. Try to get your battery fully charged at the start of peak electric rate times

3. Vary your backup reserve based on the seasons and weather

4. Shed large loads during a blackout

5. Consider alternate electric rates

For maximum savings it's important to understand the distinctions between the energy stored in your battery (measured in kilowatt-hours), and the maximum power your system can deliver during a blackout (measured in watts). Please tune into this week’s Energy Show for a deep dive into the best ways to operate and manage your battery storage system.

Copyright 2022 - The Energy Show, Barry Cinnamon

At the start of the Industrial Age the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere was 280 parts per million (ppm). Now the concentration is over 420 ppm. This increase in CO2 levels was caused by burning fossil fuels -- coal, oil, gasoline and natural gas. High concentrations of atmospheric CO2 are the primary cause of global warming.

We need to reduce the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere in order to slow and eventually reverse global warming, Obviously, reducing the use of fossil fuels will slow the buildup of CO2. And natural processes, such as photosynthesis, gradually reduce CO2 concentrations. Unfortunately, we don’t have time to wait for these relatively slow processes. One obvious way to accelerate CO2 removal is to use Direct Air Capture, or DAC.

DAC technology has been used for years to remove CO2 from the waste streams (flue gas) from power plants. The CO2 is absorbed in a liquid or solid media — and is then compressed for use in industrial processes or sequestered in underground wells. But there are two fundamental problems that we need to overcome in order to make DAC practical.

First, it takes a lot of heat to recycle the solid or liquid media in which the CO2 is absorbed. This heat now comes from burning more fossil fuels. So without large-scale renewable sources of heat for the DAC process, the net amount of CO2 removed is small. As a result, DAC deployment is expensive in terms of both capital equipment and thermal energy.

Second, there are limited uses for all the CO2 that would be removed using DAC. By far the biggest current use of this CO2 is for enhanced oil recovery; basically, compressed CO2 is injected into oil and gas wells to force more fossil fuels to the surface. If the CO2 stays underground forever (permanently sequestered), then the net effect on CO2 in the atmosphere is about zero. If the CO2 eventually burps out of these wells we would be increasing the net CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. One step forward and two steps back.

Cost effective and rapid deployment of DAC technology could indeed be a panacea to global warming. However, some people think that going down the DAC path with current technology is more of a Pandora’s Box: if DAC does not scale rapidly and efficiently it could lead to even more CO2 emissions released into the atmosphere. Especially if we continue to burn fossil fuels at the current rate.

As a write this podcast summary the temperature here in San Jose is projected to be over 100 degrees, potentially another record high. We need an “all hands on deck” approach to reduce global warming, and perhaps DAC technology will be a scalable solution. For more about the practical aspects of Direct Air Capture, please tune in to this week’s Energy Show.

Copyright 2022 - The Energy Show, Barry Cinnamon

Rob Black has been a popular TV, radio, and podcast personality for more than twenty-five years. Not only do I love his daily radio show on KDOW and and Bay Area TV, he also recently installed a rooftop solar and battery storage system on his home.

I had the pleasure of joining Rob on one of his recent shows — which is the subject of today’s Energy Show. Rob has a knack for explaining complicated financial and technical issues in a very down to earth way.

We covered a lot of ground on this show, including considerations for selecting a solar contractor, financial benefits, the trend towards electrification, and EV charging. Most interesting to me was Rob’s engagement in the energy flows in his house. He charges his car directly from the sun during the day — keeps his storage battery charged enough to get him through peak electricity times in the late afternoon and evening.

Rob has discovered that the biggest challenge is encouraging his family to watch when they consumer energy. Funny how we no longer care that much about turning the lights off in a room; LEDs use a fraction of what old-fashioned incandescent lights consume. But we have to be very careful when we use large electrical appliances such as EV chargers and dryers.

For example, if you fully charge your EV from the sun the cost can be $10; if you charge from your utility at off-peak times the cost can be $30; and if you charge at peak times the cost can be $50. Still, regardless of when you charge your car it is a heck of a lot cheaper than filling up your tank with $5/gallon gas.

So…if you want to hear about a financial expert’s experience installing and operating a solar and battery system, please listen to this week’s Energy Show.

Copyright 2022 - The Energy Show, Barry Cinnamon

Clean energy has come a long way since the first water wheel, windmill and solar cell. Solar, wind and battery systems are steadily replacing fossil fuels because they are both cleaner AND cheaper. For simple business reasons, the superior economics of wind and solar generation are steadily supplanting coal and methane for power generation. And electric vehicles are on track to replace 90% of new gasoline-powered vehicles within the next 20 years.

But the fossil fuel industry is not going away without a fight. Since economics are no longer on the side of “drill baby drill,” fossil fuel companies and their supporters promote a variety of myths that clean energy is simply more expensive than good old gas and coal.

I hate to break it to you, but candidly most of these clean energy myths have a kernel of truth. Yes, it is true that clean energy used to be expensive. Nevertheless, as a result of mass production and widespread deployment of solar, wind and batteries, clean energy systems are without a doubt cheaper than fossil fuels. Basically, facts have changed in favor of clean energy.

Here is my list of Ten Clean Energy Myths that are easily dispelled with current facts:

- Solar panels take more energy to make than they generate

- EVs are more expensive than gas vehicles

- Utility solar power is cheaper than rooftop solar power

- Clean energy is a job killer

- Heat pumps don’t work in cold climates

- Hydrogen is the clean fuel of the future

- We need new nuclear reactors to generate base load power

- Fossil fuels are OK since we will use carbon capture and sequestration to remove the CO2

- You should re-insulate your house and install new windows before installing solar

- Rooftop solar is too expensive

Please tune into this week’s Energy Show for the reasons why these ten clean energy myths are easily dispelled by redirecting obsolete beliefs with current economic and scientific data.

Copyright 2022 - The Energy Show, Barry Cinnamon

This week’s Energy Show is a special Public Service Announcement for the “Don’t Tax the Sun Rally” in SF and LA on June 2nd.

It’s a Call to Arms — with solar panels and screw guns. All solar customers — and anyone interested in solar — should attend. As well as the 68,000 solar workers in California.

If you haven’t heard, California’s utilities are intent on stopping customer-owned rooftop solar and battery systems. This tax only benefits big utilities — making them even more profitable at your expense. We need your help on June 2nd to stop the tax in new and expanded systems.

Dave Rosenfeld, Executive Director of the Solar Rights Alliance, is our guest on this week’s Energy Show. Dave will explain what the utilities are trying to do to your solar panel system.

A big public turnout in San Francisco or Los Angeles is the best way for us to steer the state towards clean and affordable energy. California should not tax the sun, period. We need more solar, not less. Gov. Newsom must show leadership, right now.

Please make plans to be at one of these rallies. Go to https://secure.everyaction.com/p/KQXTFGbRp0-dqQzvUtqq2g2 to RSVP for one of these rallies. And pass on this e-mail to anyone else you know that doesn’t want a tax on sunlight.

Copyright 2022 - The Energy Show, Barry Cinnamon

How much heat could a heat pump heat if a heat pump could pump heat? Technically, the answer is about 3.

“Heat pump.” What a dumb, geeky name for what is arguably the most important climate modification device known to man. Heat pumps are really just refrigerators operating in reverse. Spelling-wise that would be a rotaregirfer. OK, “heat pump” is comparatively a better name.

Almost every building in the U.S. has one or more heat pumps — usually in the form of air conditioners or refrigerators. Air conditioning has been tremendously important to society. Could you imagine working in a high rise in Miami, Dallas, Phoenix or Atlanta on a hot summer day without air conditioning? Now this established technology for cooling is now being deployed throughout the world for clean and efficient heating.

So why is there so much excitement about heat pumps? Because they generate three times more heat than the electrical energy it takes to run the heat pump. Essentially, they are three times more efficient than an electric heating system or electric hot water heater — and almost always cheaper to operate than a gas furnace or gas hot water heater when the power source is from solar.

Most air-to-air heat pumps have an efficiency (actually a coefficient of performance) of 300%. Heat pumps achieve this high efficiency — without getting arrested for breaking the first law of thermodynamics — by moving heat from outdoors on a cool or cold day, to indoors to heat a building or water. Heat is removed from the outdoor air (making the outdoor air even colder), and then transferred to the indoor air (or water).

For example, a 2200 sf home in San Jose uses 520 therms of methane (AKA natural gas) for heating. At current PG&E rates heating the home would cost about $1,100. Converting to a heat pump would reduce annual heating costs (under the electric heating rate) to about $1,000. If the home had rooftop solar, heating the home would drop to about $300 per year! Many cities have rebates of up to $4,000 for the installation of a heat pump HVAC system.

The hottest type of heat pumps now, figuratively speaking, are heat pump water heaters (HPWH). These HPWH systems are a direct replacement for traditional methane or electric tank water heaters. For example, a 65 gallon methane hot water heater would use about 120 therms or $264 per year. Converting to a HPWH, energy consumption would drop to about 870 kwh or $250 per year. If the home had rooftop solar, heating water would drop to about $70 per year. Many cities have rebates of up to $2,000 for the installation of a heat pump water heater.

It is very likely that you will be electrifying your home in the future. EVs, heat pump water heaters and HVAC systems and induction cooktops are better, cleaner, safer and often cheaper than their polluting fossil fuel ancestors. For more practical information about heat pumps, please tune in to this week’s Energy Show.