Abstract

States are creating renewable portfolio standards (RPSs) that require utilities to run off a certain percentage of renewables. With the new RPSs and current emission standards the dynamic of the grids energy and reliability needs are changing. Because RPSs and emission standards, utilities are procuring the cheapest renewable resources, which tend to be solar and wind. As RPSs increase over time this causes higher procurements of solar and wind. Higher procurement and increasing penetration levels of solar and wind is causing their energy values to decrease as well as some reliability concerns. While geothermal energy value will continue to stay relatively constant and maintain reliability. Looking toward the future, market participants should be looking at how geothermal energy can be utilized to meet RPSs and maintain grid reliability. This poster will be discussing how increasing levels of solar and wind can start causing issues with the functionality of the grid and how geothermal can possibly combat these issues.

Disciplines

Environmental Education | Natural Resource Economics | Oil, Gas, and Energy | Sustainability

Mentor

Katherine Young

Lab site

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

Funding Acknowledgement

The 2018 STEM Teacher and Researcher Program and this project have been made possible through support from Chevron (www.chevron.com), the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation (www.marinesanctuary.org),the National Science Foundation through the Robert Noyce Program under Grant #1836335 and #1340110, the California State University Office of the Chancellor, and California Polytechnic State University in partnership with NREL. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funders. In addition, I would like to thank my mentor, Katherine R. Young, for her support and guidance throughout this research project, and others who have provided feedback including Jacquelin Cochran, who has provided feedback throughout this project.

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URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/star/537

 

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