Energiewende, German for “energy transition,” was the theme of the “Texas-Germany Bilateral Dialogue on Challenges and Opportunities in the Electricity Market” conference held in Austin in late February. The conference was organized by the German American Chambers of Commerce and supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, in cooperation with ERCOT.
As is well-known, Germany has invested significantly in low-carbon technologies, and their efforts have arguably led to reduction in the cost of production of solar photovoltaics worldwide. Talking at the conference about the transition to a low-carbon energy system were representatives from the German federal government and ERCOT, as well as several companies and consultancies.
I asked about the levels of carbon dioxide emissions in electricity production in Germany and ERCOT. Somewhat remarkably, given the emphasis on carbon dioxide in the Energiewende, there was no direct information about carbon dioxide emissions in any of the presentations. There was information about the shares of renewables, but different speakers had different numbers relating to the total electrical energy and the contributions from various resources.
So I did some calculations. I found about 0.52 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per MWh of electricity production in ERCOT and between 0.33 and 0.43 metric tons of emissions per MWh in Germany — assuming 1 metric ton of emissions per MWh of coal generation, 0.5 metric tons per MWh of gas generation, and negligible emissions from renewables and nuclear, and using the energy contributions presented by Falk Bomeke, PhD (German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy), Bill Magness (President and CEO, ERCOT) and Arne Genz (German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy).
ERCOT per capita consumption of electricity is about double that of Germany, and the emissions calculations indicate that electricity generation in ERCOT emits more carbon dioxide per MWh, resulting in significantly more emissions of carbon dioxide per capita in ERCOT compared to Germany. Clearly, Germany has worked toward reducing its carbon dioxide emissions and has done so without an abundant endowment of low carbon resources.
In contrast, Texas has an astonishing endowment of natural gas and renewables. Although cities such as Austin and San Antonio have set targets for renewable integration, Texas policy has, largely speaking, been indifferent to carbon dioxide emissions. Imagine how much lower emissions would be if Texas policy was re-oriented toward a low carbon future.
Click here to download all of the presentations.
Great work. Here is a link to emissions in every state in the US: https://www.eia.gov/environment/emissions/state/analysis/pdf/stateanalysis.pdf
I’d like to point out the significance of an efficient electrical grid. AEP, for instance, replaced 240 circuit miles of an ACSR 345 kV line with ACCC conductor. The reduction in line losses saved 300,000 MWh, the equivalent of reducing CO2 by 200,000 metric tons (per year). That is the equivalent of removing 34,000 cars from the road