Whitepapers | ACP https://cleanpower.org Mon, 04 Dec 2023 18:44:23 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 Green Hydrogen Deployment Brief https://cleanpower.org/resources/green-hydrogen-deployment-brief/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=green-hydrogen-deployment-brief Wed, 15 Nov 2023 19:39:04 +0000 https://cleanpower.org/?post_type=resource&p=47140 According to industry analysis done by ACP, developers of green hydrogen believe that annual matching through 2032 will deliver enough projects to achieve economies of scale. Hourly matching will fail to deliver the deployment levels necessary to achieve scale.

Learn more in ACP’s Green Hydrogen Deployment Brief.

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Oceanographic Effects of Offshore Wind Structures and Their Potential Impacts on the North Atlantic Right Whale and Their Prey https://cleanpower.org/resources/oceanographic-effects-of-osw-structures-and-potential-impacts-on-the-north-atlantic-right-whale/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=oceanographic-effects-of-osw-structures-and-potential-impacts-on-the-north-atlantic-right-whale Wed, 25 Oct 2023 13:55:54 +0000 https://cleanpower.org/?post_type=resource&p=46376 The Oceanographic Effects of Offshore Wind Structures and Their Potential Impacts on the North Atlantic Right Whale and Their Prey Report from the American Clean Power Association (ACP) presents a comprehensive and objective summary of the current state of knowledge on the effects of offshore wind structures on ocean circulation and stratification and their relationship to the distribution and density of copepods and the suitability of foraging habitat for the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale (NARW).

Some key takeaways include:

  • The Western North Atlantic Ocean where the North Atlantic Right Whale (NARW) occurs is a highly dynamic physical environment consisting of three main oceanographic regions, each with a distinct oceanography: the Gulf of Maine, Mid- Atlantic Bight, and South Atlantic Bight.
  • Recent shifts in NARW distribution and foraging habitat utilization within the Western North Atlantic have been observed and are believed to be associated with shifts in copepod prey distributions caused by warming sea surface temperatures related to climate change.
  • Local or regional scale fragmentation of copepod aggregations has been observed and is projected to continue with subsequent declines in copepod abundance under future climate scenarios.
  • Current foraging habitats may not support sufficient prey populations to allow growth of the NARW population based on the relatively low reproductive rate presently observed for NARW. As waters continue to warm due to climate change, current foraging areas may once again be abandoned as NARWs continue to shift their distribution in search of prey.
  • Offshore wind farms can impact hydrodynamics in the surrounding ocean in two principal ways: 1) through an atmospheric wake effect that reduces wind speeds behind wind turbines that can reach the ocean surface, reducing surface wind stress and wind-induced currents, and 2) through subsurface mixing induced by the presence of the turbine substructure within the water column.
  • Hydrodynamics and wind wake effects around offshore wind turbines are driven by physical ocean processes including tides, stratification, water depth, and wind-driven currents; and atmospheric processes such as turbulence and stability, all of which have significant natural variation.

Read the report to learn more.

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Decommissioned Wind Turbine Blade Management Strategies https://cleanpower.org/resources/decommissioned-wind-turbine-blade-management-strategies/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=decommissioned-wind-turbine-blade-management-strategies Mon, 30 Jan 2023 18:23:55 +0000 https://cleanpower.org/?post_type=resource&p=38633

As wind turbines near the end of their lives, how do we recycle them responsibly?

Currently, up to 94% of a wind turbine can be recycled.

However, the rotor blades are made of composite materials (e.g., Fiber-Reinforced Plastics, mostly fiberglass and carbon fiber) and pose a more significant recycling challenge to the wind industry and the composite materials sector. As Fiber-Reinforced Plastics (FRPs) are complex to recycle, the majority of rotor blades are currently going to either landfills or incineration facilities.

While blade materials are non-toxic, concerns have been raised about space in landfills and the industry has been investigating options to make disposal more sustainable. Several European countries have banned the landfilling of turbine blades a few years in the future to allow for the validation and scaling up of alternatives, and many U.S states have introduced (but not yet passed) legislation requiring turbine manufactures to take back turbine blades, or outright ban landfilling of blades.

As blade waste continues to grow with other composite waste streams, effective alternatives are needed for End-of-Life (EoL) blade management. The current recycling technology landscape, cost constraints, logistics, and alternative EoL concepts to consider are presented within this whitepaper.

Download this ACP whitepaper using the button above.

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Environmental, Health, and Safety Guidance for COVID-19 https://cleanpower.org/resources/environmental-health-and-safety-guidance-for-pandemic-covid-19/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=environmental-health-and-safety-guidance-for-pandemic-covid-19 Tue, 02 Feb 2021 19:10:43 +0000 https://a112.cleanpower.org/?post_type=resource&p=22906 The purpose of this document is to provide an enhanced health and safety guidance procedure for the development of wind energy employers during pandemics, specifically COVID-19. This guidance provides general preparation and outlines background information on pandemics, common business impacts and planning assumptions, monitoring processes and general response guidelines.

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The Consumer and Societal Benefits of Wind Energy in Texas https://cleanpower.org/resources/consumer-and-societal-benefits-of-wind-energy-in-texas/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=consumer-and-societal-benefits-of-wind-energy-in-texas Sat, 30 Jan 2021 15:29:17 +0000 https://a112.cleanpower.org/?post_type=resource&p=22617 Texas wind energy provides the state with $3.3 billion in societal benefits per year.

These benefits include reducing the cost of producing electricity, protecting consumers from increases in the price of other fuels, and reducing public health costs by eliminating harmful pollution.

By protecting against electricity and fuel price increases and reducing the need to operate the most expensive power plants, wind energy provides Texas consumers with $1.2 billion per year in gross benefits.

These benefits are in addition to the thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic development wind energy brings to Texas.

This report explores the benefits of wind power both on Texas consumers, and the Texas community – plus a look at wind’s benefits on an hourly basis.

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The Economic Benefits of Wind Energy in the Southwest Power Pool https://cleanpower.org/resources/the-economic-benefits-of-wind-energy-in-the-southwest-power-pool/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-economic-benefits-of-wind-energy-in-the-southwest-power-pool Sat, 30 Jan 2021 15:24:36 +0000 https://a112.cleanpower.org/?post_type=resource&p=22614 Wind energy provides the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) region with $2.8 billion in societal benefits per year. These benefits include reducing the cost of producing electricity, protecting consumers from increases in the price of other fuels, and reducing public health costs by eliminating harmful pollution.

By protecting against electricity and fuel price increases and reducing the need to operate the most expensive power plants, wind energy provides the region’s consumers with $1.2 billion per year in gross benefits.

These benefits are in addition to the thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic development wind energy brings to the SPP region.

This report outlines societal and consumer benefits of wind energy on the SPP, as well as provides an hourly look at wind benefits.

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The Clean Air Benefits of Wind Energy https://cleanpower.org/resources/the-clean-air-benefits-of-wind-energy/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-clean-air-benefits-of-wind-energy Sat, 30 Jan 2021 15:13:45 +0000 https://a112.cleanpower.org/?post_type=resource&p=22610 U.S. wind turbines are already reducing carbon emissions by over 100 million tons per year

Wind energy is a widely available, affordable, and reliable electric generation method for significantly reducing air pollution. As detailed in this whitepaper, wind energy plays a significant role in reducing emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and sulfur dioxide (SO2) in nearly every state. And wind energy can play an even greater role in reducing emissions reductions going forward, with evidence from more than a dozen utility and independent grid operator studies confirming that wind can reliably provide an even larger share of our electricity needs, in turn producing even larger emissions reductions.

Key findings include:

  • The 167.7 million megawatt-hours (MWh) of wind energy produced in the U.S. in 2013 reduced CO2 emissions by 126.8 million tons, the equivalent of reducing power sector emissions by more than 5 percent, or taking 20 million cars off the road.
  • The top 10 states by volume of carbon reductions from wind energy are: Texas, Illinois, California, Colorado, Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Wyoming.
  • States achieving a reduction in carbon emissions of 10 percent or more from wind energy alone include California, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, and Washington State, with Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Wyoming coming in just under 10%.
  • One MWh of wind energy avoids .75 tons, or 1,500 pounds, of carbon dioxide emissions on average. A typical 2 MW wind turbine avoids around 4,000-4,500 tons of carbon emissions annually, equivalent to the annual carbon emissions of more than 700 cars.
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Wind Energy Saves Consumers Money during the Polar Vortex https://cleanpower.org/resources/wind-energy-saves-consumers-money-during-the-polar-vortex/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wind-energy-saves-consumers-money-during-the-polar-vortex Sat, 30 Jan 2021 15:10:27 +0000 https://a112.cleanpower.org/?post_type=resource&p=22606 Wind energy protected Mid-Atlantic and Great Lakes consumers from extreme price spikes during the Polar Vortex event in early January 2014, saving consumers over $1 billion on their electric bills. There and in other regions, wind energy provided large quantities of critical electricity supply when it was needed most.

This report details how wind energy improves electric reliability and protects consumers from energy price spikes, particularly when the electric grid is stressed, explaining key consumer benefits of wind energy:

  1. Wind reduces the cost of producing electricity
  2. Wind energy protects consumers by reducing the impact of electricity price spikes
  3. Wind energy reduces pollution
  4. Wind energy hedges against fuel price volatility
  5. Fixed-price wind energy becomes an even better deal as other fuels increase in price over time
  6. Wind reduces consumer natural gas prices
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Wind Energy Helps Build a More Reliable and Balanced Electricity Portfolio https://cleanpower.org/resources/wind-energy-helps-build-a-more-reliable-and-balanced-electricity-portfolio/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wind-energy-helps-build-a-more-reliable-and-balanced-electricity-portfolio Sat, 30 Jan 2021 15:05:21 +0000 https://a112.cleanpower.org/?post_type=resource&p=22602 Distilling tens of thousands of pages of analysis by grid operators and other experts

Some of the most common questions about wind energy focus on how it can be reliably integrated into the power system. This report answers the most frequently asked questions, with lessons learned from grid operators’ experiences reliably integrating large amounts of wind.

Whitepaper topics:

  1. How much wind energy is on the power system now?
  2. How do grid operators accommodate such large amounts of wind energy?
  3. How much does it cost integrate wind?
  4. How much more wind energy can we reliably integrate?
  5. Don’t grid operators need to add backup to integrate wind?
  6. What happens wen the wind doesn’t blow?
  7. Don’t we need baseload power?
  8. hat about the reliability services provided by conventional generation?
  9. What has been Europe’s experience with renewable energy?
  10. What is needed to reliably accommodate higher levels of wind?
  11. Isn’t energy storage necessary to integrate wind?
  12. Why is some wind power curtailed? How does time of production affect the value of wind energy?
  13. How does the renewable energy Production Tax Credit affect electricity markets and reliability?
  14. What is wind’s net impact on emissions?
  15. Can wind reliably reach the level of output EPA assumed in its Clean Power Plan?

Concise answers are provided in the executive summary, with citations and supporting analysis included in the full report.

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