Retiring 90% of our Coal Power Plants would Save Money - Michelle Solomon, Energy Innovation3/1/2023
Energy Innovations, a San Francisco energy think tank, has published recent reports that show that clean and renewable energy such as wind and solar is surprisingly cheaper than over 90 percent of the coal power plants that are operating today. Wind and solar have been dropping in price and the cost of producing this energy has also dropped but this report shows that these renewable energy sources make keeping most of the remaining coal power plants open not economically or environmentally sound. Michelle Solomon is a Senior Policy Analyst in the Electricity program at Energy Innovation, working to accelerate the transition to a clean, affordable, and equitable electricity sector in the United States. We’ve invited her to talk about their recent publication of the third edition of their report - Coal Cost Crossover – which argues that over 90% of coal-fired power plants in the U.S. could be replaced by renewable energy generation at a net cost savings. Prior to joining Energy Innovation, Michelle earned her Ph.D. in materials science and engineering at Stanford University, where she studied nanoparticles with applications in purifying chemicals for use in medicine and the environment. During graduate school, she also pursued an interest in energy policy and spent a summer working on electric vehicle policy at the California Energy Commission. After graduating, she transitioned full-time into policy as a Congressional Science and Engineering Fellow. As a fellow, she had the chance to work on energy and environment policy for Senator Ed Markey, focusing on a wide range of issues spanning environmental justice to electric vehicle charging. Michelle holds a Ph.D. and an M.S. from Stanford University in materials science and engineering. She also completed her B.S. in physics at Boston College. Further Reading: |
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March 2023
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