Brian Tarroja

If we speak of political realities as if they are immovable *they will remain immovable* and I think it's high time that we start speaking of possibilities more than impediments.

As a reminder why this all matters--the 2020s is when storage was supposed to scale up to provide RA otherwsie providedby thermal gen. In CAISO, ERCOT, ISONE interconnection queues, storage topping all other resources, with WECC close to the same. #EnergySky

Can U.S. energy storage deployments keep up the post-IRA pace? These 3… | Jason Burwen Ever since the 2024 election, I've been meaning to revisit my 2022 article outlining 3 key factors determining the pace of U.S. #EnergyStorage deployments…

The 3 major headwinds to #EnergyStorage deployment in the US -- trade/supply chain, interconnection/permitting, & system planning -- are blowing harder than ever. In the 10 years I've been at it, it's the most challenging policy landscape I've ever had to navigate www.linkedin.com/posts/jburwe... 🔌💡

How DOGE Cuts Threatens Science That Could Save the Planet • The Revelator Politicians have mocked and cut federally funded research for decades, but funding basic science has a history of lifesaving discoveries.

"Just because you don’t understand why or how federal funds are being spent doesn’t mean they’re waste or fraud — especially if you’re too lazy or ideologically focused to ask questions about the nature of the spending in the first place." therevelator.org/doge-cuts-fe...

Thanks Isaac!

I think it's more than that. They want all regulatory agencies, plus any agency that provides benefits to ordinary people, to fail. That way, there will (in their minds) be less pushback when they eliminate them completely. Total elimination is the goal.

Assessing how non-carbon co-priorities affect zero-carbon electricity system development in California under current policies While many electricity resource mixes can facilitate a zero-carbon electricity system, different pathways can vary significantly in their contribution…

5/ This was a cool collaboration with @gruberte.bsky.social, @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social, & Rebecca Peer!

This follows after our previous work on what clean energy systems would look like under objectives of minimizing land/water/materials footprints:

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

4/ This emphasizes the importance of not only deploying clean energy technologies - but really investing in cleaning up their supply chains.

We also find that we can account for life cycle GHG impacts in minimum cost modeling by applying a carbon price to life cycle GHG emissions.

3/ We find that aiming for minimum life cycle GHG emissions reduces this metric by 1.6-2% from minimum cost, but at a cost penalty of ~5.1-6.9%.

But if we also aim to clean up emissions from the supply chain of clean energy technologies - the life cycle GHG reductions improve to 5.0-16%

2/ There are multiple ways of composing a decarbonized electricity system that complies with a given target for reducing / eliminating GHG emissions in operation.

But these can differ quite a bit in terms of embodied / life cycle GHG emissions!

Evaluating the effectiveness of cost-minimal planning of decarbonized electricity systems in reducing life cycle greenhouse gas emissions - IOPscienceSearch Evaluating the effectiveness of cost-minimal planning of decarbonized electricity systems in reducing life cycle greenhouse gas emissions, Tarroja, Brian, Mulvaney, Dustin, Peer, Rebecca, Grubert, Emily

1/ Been holding back re: research since everything is on fire, but that's not changing anytime soon so might as well post:

We plan decarbonized electricity systems to minimize monetary cost. How different would they look if we minimized life cycle GHG instead?

iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...

This is why I roll my eyes when some say "the govt. is inefficient and DOGE is going to increase efficiency!". Efficiency isn't their goal.

Those deciding on cuts have a goal of "make spending number go down" at any cost and don't care about what damage is caused to the public interest. 3/

You can't have a real talk about "govt. efficiency" w/o the boundary condition of adequately providing the benefits of each agency's mission.

Efficiency is providing similar or more benefits w/less resources. Deciding to not let agencies be able to provide services is sabotage, not efficiency. 2/

🧵The goal of withdrawing govt. agencies from being able to provide critical services that benefit people is distinctly different from the goal having these agencies be more efficient in how they operate.

It's maddening how the former is being marketed as the latter. 1/

Trump Says He’s Authorizing Administration to Produce Coal Power US President Donald Trump said he would look to counter China’s economic advantage from coal-based electricity by authorizing his administration to ramp up production of energy from the fossil fuel.

Hi, US coal has largely declined because the plants have well outlived their design life. Not because of climate policy, largely not because of other policy either. It’s old tech and the plants cost a lot to keep running.

People might think that whatever destruction is done to science in the US, we can undo in 4 years with a Democratic president and Congress.

The problem is that many areas require specialized knowledge and skills built up over years, and once that's lost, it's hard to get back.

Our dams provide multiple critical functions & need expertise that can deal with that complexity - which will be even more important as climate variability increases.

Yet another example that the admin either doesn't understand what they're cutting or likely that they do & they don't care.

these guys are kind of an object lesson in how the ruling class has ideological commitments that come before profit: namely, maintaining their position atop an economic system which provides the ability to produce profit, and the racial and gender hierarchy they approve of. wild to see in practice!

Trump and Musk are basically trying to deskill America:
1) kill all white-collar jobs and replace them with AI
2) kill universities
3) use tariffs to turn the U.S. into an economic island manufacturing, oil and ag hub
4) empty the cities
5) push men into manual labor & women back into the kitchen

All of this is true. I also think Americans who voted for the concept of "American greatness" are unprepared for the downstream impacts of dismantling most of the institutions of American prestige and soft power, while also burning alliances and geopolitical trust.

The irony is that between DOGE and Trumps tariffs they’re endangering the anchor of a lot of American prosperity, which is centuries of political stability and rule of law which makes a place people want to put capital. None of these dweebs grasp that.

In case anyone needed a reminder:

Since Trump's inauguration, his EPA had announced no major step to address water or air pollution.

That changed today. Trump's EPA BOASTED it plans the biggest rollback of safeguards for health, land, water & air quality in US history. To INCREASE harmful pollution to water, air, to your community.

A screenshot of the app Strava showing statistics for a 6.32 mile electric bike ride

A picture of shrimp ramen and a bike helmet in a restaurant.

Update: was able to bike to eat lunch. Slowly starting to increase the distance I can e-bike. Still a long way from recovering enough to ride my regular bike though!

Also it looks weird when I roll up on my e-bike then get out my cane to walk. E-biking is easier on my foot than walking though!

My e-bike (which I've started to be able to ride a little recently!) is pedal assist only and I leave it on middle setting, which is 60% power assist. Meaning if I put in 100 W, it adds 60 W and scales accordingly.

So it's food+electricity mix fueled 😁

Imagine DOGE opens your mail and finds your household electric bill. To eliminate this cost, they burn your house down without warning. Then they total up the bills that, as a homeless person, you will never again pay. On its website, DOGE boasts about the money it has saved you.

Weather forecasts aren't just for helping you figure out what clothes to wear. They're critically important for early warning against extreme events that can damage people & infrastructure and for helping communities prepare for them.

Gutting NWS capability directly puts lives at risk.