Distributed Energy Resources, Energy Efficiency, Energy Storage, GHG Emissions, Solar, Sourcing Renewables  -  September 28, 2024

Weekend Reads: Researchers Examine EV Charging Resiliency; Nuclear Power's Resurrection

It's the weekend! Kick back and catch up with these must-read articles from around the web:

Researchers working to keep electric vehicles charging, even when the lights go out (Iowa State University)  It’s stormy and the power just went out. With no electricity flowing to your electric vehicle, you’re stranded for the night. “It’s a double problem,” said Zhaoyu Wang, an Iowa State University professor of electrical and computer engineering. “There’s no electricity. And you can’t go anywhere.” The federal government’s Joint Office of Energy and Transportation is asking Wang and his research collaborators to study potential solutions. The work will be supported by a two-year, $1.2 million grant. Research partners will also contribute $300,000 of cost-share funding.

Ukraine is decentralizing energy production to protect itself from Russia (Wired)  The Energy Act for Ukraine Foundation is equipping schools and hospitals with solar panels and energy storage systems to nullify Russian attacks on the country's power plants.

Youngkin joins “energy choice” coalition with other Republican governors (Virginia Mercury)  Gov. Glenn Youngkin has joined a group of nine other Republican governors who are advocating for “energy choice,” intending to “minimize permitting and other regulatory barriers” and “limit expensive energy mandates,” among other goals. Some clean energy advocates said the term is a euphemism for the continued use of natural gas that pollutes the planet and drives climate change.

Achieving building decarbonization through building performance standards (National Caucus of Environmental Legislators)  High-performance buildings can reduce energy use, save money, improve health, and help meet ambitious climate goals. Currently, less than 2% of workplaces and schools, and only 0.2% of homes, receive energy renovations or upgrades each year. To meet climate commitments, the rate of building improvements must accelerate dramatically.

Rising electricity demand could bring Three Mile Island and other prematurely shuttered nuclear plants back to life (The Conversation)  Three Mile Island was the site in 1979 of a partial meltdown at the plant’s Unit 2 reactor. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission calls this event “the most serious accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history,” although only small amounts of radiation were released, and no health effects on plant workers or the public were detected. Unit 1 was not affected by the accident. University of Michigan nuclear engineering professor Todd Allen explains what restarting Unit 1 will involve, and why some other shuttered nuclear plants may also get new leases on life.

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