An Electrifying Plan to Address the Global Climate Crisis

Stanford Researchers Have an Exciting Plan to Tackle The Climate Emergency Worldwide

TESSA KOUMOUNDOUROS  | 27 DEC 2019  |  SCIENCE ALERT

Things are pretty dire right now. Giant swaths of my country are burning as I write this, at a scale unlike anything we've ever seen. Countless animals, including koalas, are perishing along with our life-supporting greenery. People are losing homes and loved ones.

These catastrophes are being replicated around the globe ever more frequently, and we know exactly what is exacerbating them. We know we need to rapidly make some drastic changes - and Stanford researchers have come up with a plan.

Using the latest data available, they have outlined how 143 countries around the world can switch to 100 percent clean energy by the year 2050.

This plan could not only contribute towards stabilizing our dangerously increasing global temperatures, but also reduce the 7 million deaths caused by pollution every year and create millions more jobs than keeping our current systems.

The plan would require a hefty investment of around US$73 trillion. But the researchers' calculations show the jobs and savings it would earn would pay this back in as little as seven years.

"Based on previous calculations we have performed, we believe this will avoid 1.5 degree global warming," environmental engineer and lead author Mark Jacobson told ScienceAlert.

"The timeline is more aggressive than any IPCC scenario - we concluded in 2009 that a 100 percent transition by 2030 was technically and economically possible - but for social and political reasons, a 2050 date is more practical."

Here's how it would work. The plan involves transitioning all our energy sectors, including electricity, transport, industry, agriculture, fishing, forestry and the military to work entirely with renewable energy.

Jacobson believes we have 95 percent of the technology we need already, with only solutions for long distance and ocean travel still to be commercialized.

"By electrifying everything with clean, renewable energy, we reduce power demand by about 57 percent," Jacobson explained.

He and colleagues show it is possible to meet demand and maintain stable electricity grids using only wind, water, solar and storage, across all 143 countries.

These technologies are already available, reliable and respond much faster than natural gas, so they are already cheaper. There's also no need for nuclear which takes 10-19 years between planning and operation, biofuels that cause more air pollution, or the invention of new technologies.

"'Clean coal' just doesn't exist and never will," Jacobson says, "because the technology does not work and only increases mining and emissions of air pollutants while reducing little carbon, and there is no guarantee at all the carbon that is captured will stay captured."

The team found that electrifying all energy sectors makes the demand for energy more flexible and the combination of renewable energy and storage is better suited to meet this flexibility than our current system.

RENEWABLE ENERGY: Powering the World with Wind, Water and Sunlight

Mark Jacobson, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University, has published 18 peer-reviewed scientific papers (with 96 collaborators) dealing with electric power derived from three renewable energy sources: wind, water and sunlight.

His publications demonstrate that renewable energy will not only benefit the environment in terms of avoiding pollution and global climate change, but also will provide far more jobs than will be lost in the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. In addition to environmental and economic benefits, the transition to clean energy will provide significant health benefits to society.

In the video below, Jacobson delivers a short lecture to California high school students titled "Powering the World with Wind Water and Sunlight (WWS)."

Want to see how the Jacobson 100% WWS plan would apply to New York State?  

- Powerpoint Presentation (34 Mb) by Mark Jacobson titled "Powering New York State with Wind, Water and Sunlight"- Click here.

- Publication (2013) by Mark Jacobson and colleagues titled "Examining the feasibility of converting New York State’s all-purpose energy infrastructure to one using wind, water, and sunlight" -- Click Here to download the PDF. 

[Click image to enlarge]

The Jacobson 100% WWS plan applies to 53 Towns and Cities:
- Summary paper: Sustainable Cities and Society, 2018 - Click Here

The Jacobson 100% WWS plan applies to the 50 United States:

- Publication (2015) by Mark Jacobson and colleagues titled "100% clean and renewable wind, water, and sunlight (WWS) all-sector energy roadmaps for the 50 United States" - Click Here.

The Jacobson 100% WWS plan applies to the World:

- October 24, 2016: "100% Clean and Renewable Wind, Water, and Sunlight (WWS) All-Sector Energy Roadmaps for 139 Countries of the World" - Click Here.

NYS Assembly Passes Climate Bill Promoting Renewable Energy, Green Jobs, and Community/Worker Protections

THANK YOU New York State Assembly, Assemblyman Steve Englebright, Honorable Speaker of the New York State Assembly Carl E. Heastie, for passing the Climate and Community Protection Act by a huge margin!

Now we need the same climate leadership from Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York State Senate, so we can get this critical bill passed in 2018, fight climate change, protect frontline communities, and ensure green jobs are good jobs.

Big THANK YOU to Assembly Members who changed their votes from No in 2017 to YES in 2018! To see how Your Assembly Member voted, click here.

For a Summary of the Bill, click here.

MARCH & RALLY: Cuomo - Walk The Talk on CLIMATE! Get on the Bus to Albany

On April 23rd, we will march on the State Capitol to tell Governor Cuomo we don’t want more talk. We demand 3 bold actions to fight climate change, create good jobs, and ensure justice for all:

1. Stop all fracking infrastructure projects
2. Move to 100% renewable energy
3. Make corporate polluters pay

The day of action will have two major components:

- A march on the State Capitol in Albany on April 23 and rally.
 
- An opportunity to participate in civil disobedience/direct action in the afternoon.
 
You are welcome to join for both, or join us for the march & rally and cheer on our allies participating in direct action.

Join us for the March & Rally –  Starting at 12pm in Sheridan Hollow and marching to the East Park of the Capitol Building in Empire State Plaza in Albany (exact route details to be confirmed).


Buffalo Buses to Albany: If you want to join a bus from Buffalo to the event, email your RSVP to both John (johnarchiewashington@gmail.com) and Rahwa (rahwa@pushbuffalo.org) who are with PUSH Buffalo.

If you are interested in participating in civil disobedience, please RSVP here: bit.ly/A23Pledge - You will be given information about attending a two-day action camp to learn and prepare before the event, and you will also be joining us for the march & rally.

More info about the event and the difference between Governor Cuomo's talk and walk on climate at CuomoWalkTheTalk.org

Statewide Coalition Demands Cuomo make Polluters Pay for a Clean Energy Transition

NY RENEWS delivers symbolic $7Billion check at the State Capitol - 2.27.2018

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Coalition Calls for Polluter Fee to Fund Transition to Renewable Energy

February 28, 2018

ALBANY, N.Y. — Climate activists delivered a symbolic $7-billion check to Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday, saying that's what New York stands to gain through a corporate polluter fee. The activists had just attended the Environmental Conservation Committee's budget hearing.

According to Dan Sherrell, the campaign coordinator for New York Renews, the governor's budget doesn't go far enough to address the growing effects of climate change but imposing a polluter fee on greenhouse-gas emissions could pave the way to 100-percent renewable energy by 2050.

"We could be raising $7 billion in revenue a year that could be invested in environmental-justice communities to protect them from the worst effects of climate change and in renewable energy," he says.

The governor has called for a program to bring solar power to 10,000 low-income New Yorkers, the development of offshore wind, and the closure of all coal-fired power plants.

Cuomo also has called for expansion of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a multistate compact for reducing power-plant emissions. But Sherrell says a corporate polluter fee would be more effective.

"It will raise more revenue and it will be a more aggressive price," he notes. "And critically, it will be across the economy, so it will also tackle buildings and transportation which together make up almost 80 percent of the state's emissions."

He says the governor's office has indicated interest in creating a polluter fee but has made no commitment to pursue it.

New York has been a national leader in developing clean-energy strategies. But Sherrell notes other states are now considering corporate polluter fees as a way to advance their efforts, and they could soon leave New York behind.

"Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington state is making this his priority issue for this year," he adds. "Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey has spoken about it and has also committed to 100 percent renewable energy, which Gov. Cuomo has not."

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and New York Sen. Kristen Gillibrand have expressed support for carbon pricing as a way to boost investment in renewable energy.

Andrea Sears, Public News Service - NY

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NY RENEWS at Gov. Cuomo’s Exec. Budget Hearing on Environmental Conservation - 2.27.2018

Report: 100% Renewable Energy with Grid Stability is Possible and Economical

New Mark Z. Jacobson Study Draws A Roadmap To 100% Renewable Energy

February 8th, 2018 by Steve Hanley | CleanTechnica

Last August, Mark Jacobson, a renewable energy expert and senior fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy at Stanford University, was the leader of a study that identified how 139 countries around the world could obtain 100% of their energy from renewable sources by 2050. But that study got some pushback from people who questioned its assumptions. The naysayers said the study relied too heavily on energy storage solutions such as adding turbines to existing hydroelectric dams or storing excess energy in water, ice, and underground rocks.

A Response To Critics

Those criticisms stimulated another piece of work from Jacobson and his colleagues at the University of California at Berkeley and Aalborg University in Denmark. They are now back with a new report they believe thoroughly addresses the concerns brought up by skeptics of the first report. It begins by breaking those 139 counties into 20 regions and proposing energy storage solutions uniquely suited to each region.

Here’s how Jacobson summarized the work and the findings in an email to CleanTechnica:

The previous paper (in Joule) estimated the number of devices in each of 139 countries needed to provide power for each country in the annual average with 100% wind, water, and solar (WWS).

This new paper takes the next step, which is to divide the 139 countries into 20 world regions, then to see if the grid can stay stable in each region every 30 seconds for 5 years, and what is the resulting cost.

Utilities and policy makers alike are concerned that all the wind and solar we propose for the annual average numbers in the first paper won’t allow the grid to stay stable — that the lights will go out. This is the biggest barrier for the large-scale implementation of renewables.

This paper new shows that there is not only one solution but multiple solutions to the grid reliability problem — thus large penetrations of renewables can indeed keep the grid stable at low cost.

In addition, we find that the wind turbines needed would reduce global warming by ~3% and quickly. That is a new conclusion as well.

That sounds good. Will policy makers and utilities listen now? That’s the trillion-dollar question. Either way, it will certainly help fill out the CleanTechnica Answer Box.

“Based on these results, I can more confidently state that there is no technical or economic barrier to transitioning the entire world to 100 percent clean renewable energy with a stable electric grid at low cost,” Jacobson said for his university press team at Stanford.

“This solution would go a long way toward eliminating global warming and the 4–7 million air pollution-related deaths that occur worldwide each year, while also providing energy security. Our main result is that there are multiple solutions to the problem,” he says. “This is important because the greatest barrier to the large-scale implementation of clean renewable energy is people’s perception that it’s too hard to keep the lights on with random wind and solar output.”

Educational Presentation: Divest from Fossil Fuels? YES!

DIVEST FROM FOSSIL FUELS?

YES!!

Educational Presentation

by

Rev. Peter Cook, Executive Director

NYS Council of Churches

Monday, January 22, 2018    7:00 PM

St. Joseph’s University Church - Community Hall

3269 Main St, Buffalo  14214 [Map]

SAVE THE PLANET AND THE PEOPLE

Sponsored by the Interfaith Climate Justice Community of WNY

 

The NYS Council of Churches participates in the Divest NY campaign and Rev. Cook will help ICJC focus on ways that we might become involved.  The Council of Churches also advocates for the NYS Climate and Community Protection Act, legislation that would allow NYS to reach 100% renewables by 2050 or before.   

Please plan to attend this important meeting.

 Free & open to the public.

GOOD NEWS
•    Governor Cuomo recently announced that he supports divesting New York’s public pension funds from fossil fuel companies. 
•    New York City and the State together plan to #DivestNY’s $390 billion pensions from fossil fuels: “an undeniable victory for the global divestment movement”

 

Bill McKibben, 350.org co-founder, issued the following statement:
"The dam has broken: after years of great activism,  New York has taken a massive step towards divesting from fossil fuels. Coming from the capital of world finance, this will resonate loud and clear all over the planet. It’s a crucial sign of how fast the financial pendulum is swinging away from fossil fuels.”

Governor Cuomo's 2018 Climate Announcements Fall Short, says NY Renews Coalition

January 3, 2018  | NY Renews   

In his 2018 State of the State address, Governor Cuomo announced several significant climate-related initiatives – but fell short of supporting a comprehensive and equitable plan to hold polluters accountable and move New York State to 100% renewable energy on a timeline commensurate with the urgency of the crisis. 

“The Governor has moved New York from a walk to a jog on climate, but what we need is an all-out sprint,” said Rahwa Ghirmatzion, Deputy Director of PUSH Buffalo, a member of NY Renews.

The Governor’s support for congestion pricing, the augmented emphasis on offshore wind and energy efficiency, and the inclusion of equity concerns in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), all represent real progress and warrant sincere praise. But with an issue as grave as climate change, we do not have the luxury of mistaking positive steps for truly sufficient policies.

The Governor should have taken the opportunity to support a comprehensive legislation package that reorients all sectors of the economy and governance to creating a 100% renewable future and holding corporate polluters accountable for the damage they cause to New Yorkers’ health and well-being. The legislative platform proposed by the NY Renews coalition embodies those goals, through the Climate and Community Protection Act (S6617A/A8270A) and a soon-to-be-released proposal for massive investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy, underwritten by a corporate polluter fee.

“With climate change doing real damage to communities of color from Houston to Puerto Rico, this is a historic moment that requires more than incremental steps. Ultimately, Cuomo’s legacy will be judged in jobs created, disasters averted, and the urgency and equity of his climate vision,” said Eddie Bautista, Executive Director of NYC Environmental Justice Alliance, a member of NY Renews.

A study from the University of Massachusetts found that putting a modest $35/ton fee on corporate polluters’ emissions would generate over $7B and 150,000 new jobs for New York every year. That revenue could be invested in building clean energy infrastructure, improving mass transit, supporting fossil fuel industry workers, sustaining communities burdened by climate change, and more. It’s a simple, common sense approach to fighting the climate crisis: price pollution, and fund solutions. In his general embrace of congestion pricing for NYC, he’s already demonstrated a willingness to do just that, albeit on a small scale. To truly lead the just transition our communities so desperately need, he will need to think bigger in 2018 and enact a fee for all emissions from corporate polluters, not just those coming out of tailpipes in lower Manhattan.

Governor Cuomo still has an opportunity to include the Climate and Community Protection Act and a corporate polluter fee in his executive budget in the next few weeks, which would help ensure their passage into law.

NY Renews is a state-wide coalition of over 100 groups: labor unions, community groups, environmental organizations, faith communities, environmental justice advocates and more. We find inspiration in our diversity of perspectives, and strength in our breadth of expertise. 
Join us at NYRenews.org


UPDATES:
Jan. 9, 2018: Cuomo has to do more to tackle climate crisis. By Clarke Gocker, PUSH Buffalo, Director of Policy & Strategy. Letter in The Buffalo News

Jan. 10, 2018: State needs to expand clean, renewable energy. By Ellen Banks, Sierra Club Niagara Group, Chair of Climate & Energy Committee. Letter in The Buffalo News
 

CLIMATE ACTION: 'Call-the-Governor Day' Organized by Statewide Clean Energy Coalition - Tuesday Nov. 21

This Tuesday, November 21st, NY Renews is organizing a statewide Call-the-Governor Day. 

Our goal is to have over 1,000 New Yorkers call into the Governor’s office, and demand that he show visionary leadership in his 2018 State of the State. 

We need him to commit to 100% renewables, and make corporate polluters pay for the damage they're doing to our health and our climate. 

Tell Governor Cuomo to do 2 things in his State of the State Address:  

• Support the Climate and Community Protection Act; and
• Create thousands of jobs and support a just transition to renewable energy by making corporate polluters pay their fair share.

That's it!

Join us TODAY Tuesday, Nov.21 
from 9am-9pm!

 Go To: http://nyrenews.org/call

It’s time to ask Governor Cuomo to walk his talk. The Governor has pledged to meet and exceed the standards set by the Paris climate accords.

A new report by one of the most respected climate economists in the country shows exactly how Cuomo can live up to his promises: by increasing investment in the transition to 100% renewable energy and making corporate climate polluters pay for the damage they’re doing to our health and our climate.

Today, let’s call the Governor and ask him to live up to his promises to be a climate leader. Our goal? To have over 1,000 New Yorkers call into the Governor’s office, and demand that commit to visionary climate action in his 2018 State of the State address in January.

If you’re at your computer or smartphone, follow this link to call Governor Cuomo’s office. You'll hear a brief recorded message with tips and instructions, then you'll be patched through to Gov Cuomo's office.

If you're not at a computer, you can reach the instructions & Governor Cuomo by dialing 518-241-4793.

Dr. Robert Pollin’s report from the University of Massachusetts shows a just transition to clean energy in New York means making corporate polluters pay for the true cost of their emissions, and then investing that money in the New York we want to build: a state with good jobs, clean air, and healthy communities safe from climate disaster.

So join hundreds of other New Yorkers calling the Governor today by clicking this link.

Governor Cuomo will not commit to truly ambitious climate action without hearing thousands of his constituents demand it. It’s up to us to make that happen.

Thanks for calling, and spread the word!

URGENT: Support NYS Senate Passage of Important Climate Bill

IMPORTANT - TAKE ACTION TODAY!

The NY State Climate and Community Protection Act [1] passed the State Assembly, and it now has Bipartisan support of a Majority in the State Senate. 

We need to move this important bill to the floor for a vote [2].   

ACT NOW to show your support!  It's Easy! 

To send a form letter to your Senator or write your own, CLICK HERE.

New Yorkers deserve good jobs and healthy communities powered by clean, renewable energy!

1. NY State Climate and Community Protection Act(A.10342/S.8005) 
2. EDITORIAL: Senate Must Act on Climate - Albany TimesUnion - June 15, 2016

 Sponsors: Climate Justice Coalition of WNY, Sierra Club Niagara Group, and NY Renews

RENEWABLE ENERGY NEWS: No Fossil Fuels? A Renewable World?

Where in the world have we achieved 100% renewable power?

In a few places around the world, humans have achieved a feat that seemed impossible just a few years ago, and still seems inconceivable nearly everywhere else: They’ve stopped burning fossil fuels for electricity.

Throughout 2015, several nations, states and cities announced they had either managed the switch to renewables, or to a massive increase in non-polluting energy production. It’s a big shift from a time when, after the financial crash of 2008, many dismissed renewable energy as unscalable, niche, or too expensive to consider.

So who is producing the most power from renewable sources, and how are they doing it? The areas that go 100% renewable tend to combine two factors: great natural resources (like the terrain needed for hydropower) and small populations (getting power to everyone is easier when there are only a few million of them). Others might not be quite at 100% yet—but are taking impressive steps towards it. 

Read more at Quartz


Video: Mark Jacobson on a Renewable World

Mark Z. Jacobson, PhD, of Stanford University, has modeled a transition to 100% renewable, carbon free energy, for 138 countries and all 50 US states. He was interviewed in December 2015.

Rooftop solar and energy efficiency just saved Californians $192 million in transmission costs

In regulatory proceedings across the country, we have long made the case that consumer investment in solar and other clean energy options can be a real cost-saver as it reduces the need for expensive new and upgraded utility infrastructure. Now, with solar on the rise, we’re seeing that promise turn into reality.

The governing board of the Golden State’s grid operator, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), recently approved its 2015-2016 Transmission Plan which … wait for it … calls for canceling THIRTEEN sub-transmission projects that had been planned for PG&E’s service territory.

Read more at Vote Solar


Renewables Are Leaving Natural Gas In The Dust This Year

The U.S. electric grid added more than 70 times as much renewable energy capacity as natural gas capacity from January to March.

In the first three months of 2016, the U.S. grid added 18 megawatts of new natural gas generating capacity. It added a whopping 1,291 megawatts (MW) of new renewables.

The renewables were primarily wind (707 MW) and solar (522 MW). We also added some biomass (33 MW) and hydropower (29 MW). The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) latest monthly “Energy Infrastructure Update” reports that no new capacity of coal, oil, or nuclear power were added in the first quarter of the year.
Continue reading at ThinkProgress