Emissions

SEI Op-Ed: More than one way to Decarbonize
SEI Op-Ed: More than one way to Decarbonize

By Rod Walton, Power Engineering content director

Editor’s Note: I was given the honor to write a short piece as introduction to this week’s edition of our sister publication Smart Energy International, based in South Africa. I focused on a few things I had observed regarding the wide world of decarbonization, which involves far more than just renewables.

A little excerpt here: “A former US energy regulator some time ago offered some clarification on how the nation’s utilities might reach a cleaner energy future.

“It’s not a race to renewables,” he said. “It’s a race to decarbonize.”

Recent events seem to prove his point. New Jersey-based utility PSEG sold off its fossil-fuel generation to a private equity firm for nearly $2 billion. Lest anyone believe the company is all in on only renewables, PSEG made it clear it was sticking by its nuclear fleet…\

“…The Middle East is also starting to embrace nuclear. Companies from all over Europe and Africa are looking at the prospects of both hydrogen and liquified natural gas.

“So there is more than one way to bake a cake, as long as that recipe brings the temperature down, not up.”

Click here to read the full thing in SEI. Also remember that next week I am hosting an exciting array of POWERGEN+ online sessions centered around Decentralization and the New Energy Mix. Those sessions will feature work on microgrids, automated intelligence, the impact of distributed generation and much more. Hope you can join us.