Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-25wd4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T04:48:47.479Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The pathway to 100% renewable must include changes in regulation, focus on operations, and promotion of innovation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2020

Rao Konidena*
Affiliation:
CEO, Rakon Energy LLC, Saint Paul, MN, USA
Vivek Bhandari
Affiliation:
Principal Architect, Siemens Ltd., Melbourne, Australia
*
Address all correspondence to Rao Konidena at rkonidena76@gmail.com
Get access

Abstract

The electric industry is transitioning to higher penetrations of renewables. Hundred per cent renewable penetration is no longer a pipe dream. Rather than by doubling down on existing renewable technologies, we can achieve it by cohesively focusing on the ‘needs’ and working on regulation (regulation should focus on holistic grid needs), operations (e.g., markets and balancing authority products), and innovation (e.g., newer technologies like hydrogen).

Type
Perspective
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society, 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Australian National University website. Available at: http://re100.eng.anu.edu.au/news/2018-09-10c.php (accessed March 27, 2020).Google Scholar
Ritchie, H., and Roser, M.: Renewable energy (2020). Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Available at: https://ourworldindata.org/renewable-energy (accessed May 6, 2020).Google Scholar
Victoria's renewable energy targets – updated April 2020. Available at: https://www.energy.vic.gov.au/renewable-energy/victorias-renewable-energy-targets (accessed April 4, 2020).Google Scholar
Renewable energy target legislation and reporting 100% Renewable Energy Target. Available at: https://www.environment.act.gov.au/energy/cleaner-energy/renewable-energy-target-legislation-reporting (accessed April 4, 2020).Google Scholar
Tasmania sets world-leading target of 200% renewables by 2040 (March 2020). Available at: https://reneweconomy.com.au/tasmania-sets-world-leading-target-of-200-per-cent-renewables-by-2040/ (accessed April 4, 2020).Google Scholar
California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) Renewable Portfolio Standards website. Available at: https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/rps/ (accessed March 31, 2020).Google Scholar
Sierra Club website for 100% commitments in Cities, Counties and States. Available at: https://www.sierraclub.org/ready-for-100/commitments (accessed March 26, 2020).Google Scholar
Google: Achieving Our 100% Renewable Energy Purchasing Goal and Going Beyond (December 2016). Available at: https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en//green/pdf/achieving-100-renewable-energy-purchasing-goal.pdf (accessed March 31, 2020).Google Scholar
Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) Utility Carbon Reduction Tracker. Available at: https://sepapower.org/utility-carbon-reduction-tracker/ (accessed March 26, 2020).Google Scholar
State of New York, Senate Bill S6599 (June 18, 2019). Available at: https://www.dropbox.com/s/tk7yekriw6xod01/S6995.pdf?dl=0 (accessed April 5, 2020).Google Scholar
Platte River Power Authority, Integrated Resource Plan. Available at: https://www.prpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/02.27.2020-Board-of-directors-combined-presentations.pdf (IRP starts on slide 68, and the IRP results summary is slide 93) (accessed May 6, 2020).Google Scholar
Department of Energy website for Advanced Small Modular Reactors. Available at: https://www.energy.gov/ne/nuclear-reactor-technologies/small-modular-nuclear-reactors (accessed March 26, 2020).Google Scholar
McCullum, R.: New fuels could make nuclear reactors safer and more efficient. Sci. Am. (2019). Available at: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-fuels-could-make-nuclear-reactors-safer-and-more-efficient/ (accessed May 9, 2020).Google Scholar
World Nuclear Association website on Fukushima incident. Available at: https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/fukushima-daiichi-accident.aspx (accessed March 26, 2020).Google Scholar
Locatelli, G., Boarin, S., Pellegrino, F., and Ricotti, M.E.: Load following with small modular reactors (SMR): A real options analysis. Energy 80, 4154 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2014.11.040 (accessed March 26, 2020).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cho, A.: Smaller, safer, cheaper: One company aims to reinvent the nuclear reactor and save a warming planet. Sci. Mag. (2019). Available at: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/02/smaller-safer-cheaper-one-company-aims-reinvent-nuclear-reactor-and-save-warming-planet (accessed March 26, 2020)Google Scholar
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) website for offshore wind. Available at: https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/Programs/Offshore-Wind (accessed March 26, 2020)Google Scholar
Vorrath, S.: Australia's first offshore wind project heads to “next phase” with new CEO (2019). Available at: https://reneweconomy.com.au/australias-first-offshore-wind-project-heads-to-next-phase-with-new-ceo-26094/ (accessed April 4, 2020).Google Scholar
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) report: Offshore innovation widens renewable energy options (2018). Available at: https://www.irena.org/-/media/Files/IRENA/Agency/Publication/2018/Sep/IRENA_offshore_wind_brief_G7_2018.pdf (accessed March 29, 2020).Google Scholar