Energy Tradeoffs Podcast #31 – Yael Lifshitz

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Today’s EnergyTradeoffs.com podcast episode features Yael Lifshitz, from King’s College London, talking with me about her research on “Private Energy, Private Law, & the Green Transition.”

Yael describes her research on how private law interacts with our public policy goals for an energy transition. As one example, she describes how private leases for housing often are roadblocks to installing rooftop solar on rental units. As more people rely on rentals, this can seriously limit rooftop solar. Yael proposes private law solutions that could remove these roadblocks.

Yael also explains her research on conflicts between neighboring landowners over wind power. She describes how extraction of wind power by one landowner can have both local and area-wide impacts. Yael suggests how policymakers can look to water law and oil and gas law for possible solutions to these conflicts.

The discussion builds on two of Yael’s recent articles: “Private Energy,” which was published in the Stanford Environmental Law Journal, and “Winds of Change: Drawing on Water Doctrines to Establish Wind Law,” which was published in the NYU Environmental Law Journal.

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Energy Tradeoffs Podcast #30 – Rhodes & Meehan

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This week’s EnergyTradeoffs.com podcast episode features David Spence interviewing Joshua Rhodes & Colin Meehan about their research on “Keeping the Lights on in a High Renewables Grid.”

Josh & Colin explain the concept of grid “inertia” and why it is so important for grid stability. The grid must always maintain the same frequency and inertia steadies this frequency when a power plant suddenly goes offline. They explain that wind and solar power do not provide the same inertia as conventional plants but describe ways of making the grid flexible to accommodate high levels of renewable power nevertheless.

Josh & Colin also describes how renewable power sources can provide “fast frequency response” as a substitute for inertia. But they explain that doing so would require reducing power output from these sources, which might require modifying markets to pay for ancillary services that maintain the grid’s frequency.

The discussion builds on one of Josh’s recent articles: “Evaluating rotational inertia as a component of grid reliability with high penetrations of variable renewable energy,” which was published last year in the journal Energy.

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Energy Tradeoffs Podcast #29 – Monika Ehrman

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Today’s EnergyTradeoffs.com podcast episode has me interviewing the University of Oklahoma’s Monika Ehrman about her research on “Energy Realism & Fossil Fuels.”

Monika describes and criticizes the “keep it in the ground” movement–a coalition that is looking to stop production of oil and gas on federal lands and has now gained support from all of the remaining Democratic candidates for President. She argues that the keep-it-in-the-ground movement is ignoring the economic and geopolitical impacts of cutting off oil and gas production and lays out her theory of energy realism: she argues that the energy industry and the keep-it-in-the ground movement could both benefit from more careful assessment of the science and math supporting both the economic necessity and climate risks of fossil fuel production. My recent op-ed supporting sustainable oil development rather than simple bans also supports this vision of energy policy.

The discussion builds on Monika’s recent article, “A Call for Energy Realism:  When Immanual Kant Met the ‘Keep It In the Ground’ Movement,” which was published last year in the Utah Law Review, and Monika described earlier in a guest blog here at EnergyLawProf.com.

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Energy Tradeoffs Podcast #28 – Sanya Carley

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In this week’s EnergyTradeoffs.com podcast episode, the University of Colorado’s Sharon Jacobs interviews Sanya Carley of Indiana University about Sanya’s work on Alternatives talks with about Sanya’s work on “Energy Justice.”

Sanya explains her efforts to identify communities that are particularly likely to be harmed as the country moves to cleaner energy sources. She describes steps that the government can take to address these disparate impacts and how to allow affected communities to participate in developing solutions.

This conversation relates to a number of Sanya’s recent publications, including a paper titled “A framework for evaluating geographic disparities in energy transition vulnerability,” that was published in Nature Energy in 2018.

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Energy Tradeoffs Podcast #27 – Kristen van de Biezenbos

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This Thursday’s EnergyTradeoffs.com podcast episode features me talking with the University of Calgary Faculty of Law’s Kristen van de Biezenbos about her research on “Social License & Fossil Fuels.”

Kristen describes how the term “social license” has become so important in Canadian energy policy and shows the different ways it has been used and misused by provincial and federal politicians. Kristen explains the origins of the term and explains what she thinks it should mean: she argues that local communities should not have a veto over linear infrastructure such as pipelines and power-lines, but that they should have some buy-in through consultation and a share in some of the benefits of these projects.

This discussion explores Kristen’s recent paper, which was published in the McGill Journal of Sustainable Development Law and is titled, “Rebirth of Social License.” 

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Energy Tradeoffs Podcast #26 – Michael Gerrard

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This week’s EnergyTradeoffs.com podcast episode features Columbia’s Mike Gerrard talking with Shelley Welton about his research on “Deep Decarbonization: Legal Impediments to a Massive Renewables Build-Out.”

In the interview, Mike explains why dramatic cutting U.S. greenhouse gas emissions will require a massive build out of new zero-carbon power sources to 1) replace coal and gas power plants and 2) electrify the other parts of the energy system that currently depend on fossil fuels, such as gasoline for cars and natural gas for heating. Mike and Shelley explore how federal environmental statutes, especially the National Environmental Policy Act, are holding up new investment in renewable energy.

The discussion relates to a larger project, known as “Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonizaton” and Mike’s 2017 article in the Environmental Law Reporter, “Legal Pathways for a Massive Increase in Utility-Scale Renewable Generation Capacity.”

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Energy Tradeoffs Podcast #25 – Victoria Mandell

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Another week, another EnergyTradeoffs.com podcast episode. This week, Victoria Mandell of GRID Alternatives talks with the University of Colorado’s  Sharon Jacobs about Victoria’s work on “Energy Poverty, Energy Burden and Rooftop Solar.”

Victoria and Sharon talk about why some policies that favor rooftop solar are regressive: “You have low income customers paying for high income customers to have solar on their roofs.” Victoria explains the complex interactions between equity, efficiency, and environmental goals in adding more solar energy to the grid.

Victoria has published some of her thoughts on energy poverty, rooftop solar, and the Colorado Public Utility Commission in this brief post: “Environmental and Economic Justice in Distributed Solar Energy Investment.”

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Energy Tradeoffs Podcast #24 – Arne Olson (Part II)

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This week’s EnergyTradeoffs.com podcast episode is Part II of Arne Olson‘s discussion with David Spence on “Modeling Decarbonization in the West.” This two-part series covers Arne’s research on achieving a reliable transition to low-carbon energy on the West Coast. Today’s 15-minute podcast episode starts where the last one left off, focusing on California.

Arne describes why California may need to maintain some natural gas power to address wintertime shortages, unless it is able to develop significant nuclear power or long-term energy storage.

The interview builds on another of Arne’s recent papers, “Long-Run Resource Adequacy under Deep Decarbonization Pathways for California.”

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Energy Tradeoffs Podcast #23 – Arne Olson

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This Thursday’s EnergyTradeoffs.com podcast episode features Arne Olson talking with David Spence about his research on achieving a reliable transition to low-carbon energy on the West Coast. This week’s 18-minute podcast is the first part of a two-part series on “Modeling Decarbonization in the West,” and it focuses on the Pacific Northwest.

Arne and David’s discussion focuses on the reasons that natural gas may play a continuing useful role in the grid as it moves to lower and lower carbon emissions. Arne explains why the grid can decarbonize while maintaining natural gas power to ensure reliability during emergencies.

The interview builds on Arne’s recent paper, “Resource Adequacy in the Pacific Northwest.”

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Energy Tradeoffs Podcast #22 – Leah Stokes

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Happy new year! For this week’s EnergyTradeoffs.com podcast interview, we have David Spence interviewing Leah Stokes, from the University of California – Santa Barbara about her research on “The Politics of Technology Transitions.”

Leah and David discuss politically sustainable methods of accomplishing an energy transition, focusing on Leah’s research on the history of policies supporting renewable and zero-carbon technologies. She traces a trajectory for transition that begins with subsidies to nurture new technologies until they are politically potent enough to take on incumbent industries. Leah and David also discuss Texas’s support for solar and wind power.

The discussion builds on three papers that Leah has recently published with co-authors: “The political logics of clean energy transitions,” “Politics in the U.S. energy transition: Case studies of solar, wind biofuels and electric vehicles policy,” and “Renewable Energy Policy Design and Framing Influence Public Support in the United States.”

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