Climate Solutions for Michigan Webinar Select Q&A

See below for select questions and answers from the Solve Climate by 2030: Climate Solutions for Michigan webinar. Note that some questions and responses may have been edited for clarity and length.

• What are the upcoming fields of studies and/or career paths that students might consider to be on the frontlines of developing and working on solutions to climate change?
  The answer to this question deserves a one-hour webinar of its own. Yes, there are the obvious science and engineering jobs to discover and improve new ways of generating and storing renewable energy. One example from MSU: Prof. Lund's lab is working on transparent solar penels, which can be used on windows. We also need analysts and technicians to think about the integration of the new generation into the existing grid. We need economists and policy experts to figure out incentive structures to ensure equitable distribution of the new assets. And we need many different jobs on the installation and maintenance side of industrial and consumer renewable assets.
• What efforts do you think are necessary to get our communities more involved in being more green and care more about global warming?
  Show up for meetings and ask questions. Bring examples of positive things that can be done, that can save money and reduce emissions as well. Run for office!
• What role do efficiency measures play in solving climate? How can citizens help push for greater efficiency in transportation & energy systems?
  Improving energy efficiency is THE most important ingredient in solving climate. LED lamps, higher efficiency furnaces, better insulation, occupancy sensors, variable speed fans in HVAC systems, waste heat recycling, the list goes on and on. Again, the greenest energy is the energy we do not consume.
• In the southwest portion of Michigan, our electricity comes from nuclear power. Does adding solar to the grid here make much difference in reducing carbon emissions?
  Yes, it does. Every kilo-Watt-hour of renewable electricity displaces one generated by fossil fuels and saves at least one pound of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere. The nuclear reactors still keep producing at the same rate, no matter what.
• The presentations talked a lot about renewable solutions for the electric grid. What do the panelists think about solutions for heating in Michigan that is currently supplied mostly by natural gas and propane?
  Two thirds of the overall energy consumed by MSU goes into heating our campus buildings. (And cooling in the summer, too!). We are studying geothermal approaches and might well implement a large-scale installation on our campus. If you drill down about 500 feet below the surface, the temperature is always 55 F, no matter what season. You can cycle water in a concentric two-layer pipe to this depth and then use that water for cooling in the summer and via heat pump for heating in the winter.
• Are we “down-stater” renewable energy advocates paying attention to the stored hydro project studies being done by Michigan Tech mining experts, to use potential abandonded deep-mine (copper) shafts in the U.P.? This is an area that can use the jobs, expanded tax base and cheaper electricity.
  Yes, we are. The princles of pumped hydro are exactly the same in an abandoned mine as they are at the Ludington facility that Dr. Bauer showed. Location matters. It is better for the energy storage facility to be in closer proximity to where the electricity is generated and/or consumed. So UP locations may not be the best.
• Can you speak to the effective lifespan of advanced battery technology, decreases in capacity, and how this plays into cost parity with fossil fuel cars? Is it taken into account in cost parity studies?
  Batteries for light-duty cars should have no problem lasting for the life of the vehicle. In fact, many are looking for ways to repurpose those batteries for other uses when the car is retired. Some high-mileage vehicles, like transit buses, may need upgrades mid-life, however, and is usually factored into cost analyses.
• How effective would electrifying transportation be if we are still working on switching to renewable energy? We still heavily depend on coal for energy, right?
  EVs are already better from a climate perspective than gasoline vehicles in most parts of the world based on their more efficient use of energy. This will only get better as coal continues to be retired and renewables are ramped up. In other words, an EV you buy today gets even cleaner the longer you drive it.
• Considering local policy/action to address transportation energy use/emissions, and the challenge of higher costs for EVs in medium and heavy duty trucks for fleets being a real barrier to adoption, please discuss the role of local truck routing policies to incentivize EVs to operate where fossil fuel trucks could be restricted. Universities and local governments can also lead by procuring EV medium and heavy duty trucks to replace diesel.
  Areas hardest hit by pollution should certainly consider policies that force cleaner transportation alternatives such as electric trucks and buses. And yes, Universities and local governments should show leadership by procuring those cleaner vehicles as well.
• What is an example of a plausible reason for implementing an EV fee policy? Since road maintenance is paid for with fuel taxes and EVs do not use motor fuel, do you have thoughts on how to adjust paying for roads as EV use increases, if not with a registration fee for EVs?
  The reason given has been to make up for gas taxes not collected that help pay for road maintenance. But in Michigan and elsewhere, EV owners already pay higher registration fees that go to fund roads, because the vehicles cost more. Additional surcharges are therefore not really needed, and also tend to be based on “average” vehicles rather similar fuel-efficient vehicles, which is also punitive. Fees may be needed at some point when the price of EVs declines, but they should be based on similar sized vehicles, and take into account the total fees and taxes these vehicles pay.
• Regarding Electric Vehicles: I just purchased a vehicle and I'm wondering if I would would have qualified for an incentive based on income to choose an EV. Will there be any plan to offer incentives to buy back vehicles for the purchase of trade-ins?
  Some states offer incentives for used EVs, and there is some discussion federally about a potential "cash for clunkers" program to incentivize the purchase of newer, more efficient vehicles.
• Electrifying transportation requires the use of lithium. 75% of the known lithium reserves are in the lithium triangle along the Andes. This is an environmentally sensitive area. In addition, indiginous people in the area have suffered greatly from extraction of minerials in the past. How do you plan to deal with these issues?
  Large lithium deposits also exist in China, Australia, Finland, and the Czech Republic. As the world's lithium demand increases more mining locations will become profitable to explore.
• How can we reward automakers that want to stick with the California Mileage/Emission Standards and penalize those that are supporting the Trump Administration's legal challenge to the standard? And why isn't Michigan among the states adopting the California Standards?
  The primary fight is now in the courts, and in the upcoming election. Beyond that, more states can take action to join the California standards. The auto industry has a lot of sway in Michigan, however, so it may difficult to get policymakers to do here.
• Would switching from a gas tax to a tax based on miles driven annually make more sense for Michigan?
  Not necessarily, because a "VMT" tax still charges an efficient vehicle the same amount as a less efficient one. At least gas taxes provide a proxy for efficiency. We are suggesting that electric vehicles be charged based on their MPG "equivalent" or MPG(e). The EPA labels all new electric vehicles with an mpg(e) rating.
• Since you seem to have had success at MSU, have other universities started to follow that example?
  Yes, absolutely. And there are other universities, most notably Stanford, who are ahead of us, too. We are all sharing results and methods with each other and pushing each other forward. The US EPA even runs a renewable energy competition between college football conferences.The B1G is winning each year.
• Is MSU divesting from fossil fuels?
  We are working on it. Direct investments in fossil fuels are easy to terminate. But there are a lot of funds which invest indirectly and which are harder to disentangle. Our Chief Investment Officer is working on this, with very active engagement from our students.
• I had a class tour at the MSU power plant and someone who worked with the solar panels told us that they do not make enough energy most of the year to be worth the cost. Will this change when more are added?
  Simply stated, that MSU employee was dead wrong. MSU has a power purchase agreement for these solar arrays, and we only pay for the electricity that they generate. The price will stay the same for the next 25 years. Right now that price we pay is about the same as what we would have to pay to Consumers Energy. But electricity prices rise in time, whereas our rate will stay constant. Assuming a 2.1% annual inflation (which is low relative to the last 3 decades!), MSU will save more than $10 million in electricity costs during the coming 25 years.