Pique Behind the Curtain Vol. 38

A newsletter for those who are interested in climate solutions, media and film production

July 13, 2022

New Jersey Waves Hello to Ocean Energy

Welcome back to our weekly newsletter, Pique Behind the Curtain. If you’ve come in search of climate content, new film features, and all-around positive vibes, then you’ve come to the right place. If you’re enjoying this, don’t just keep it all for yourself. Please share it with a friend!

A Climate Success Story That’s Right as Rain

Decades ago, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide pollution primarily caused by car emissions and industrial facilities was causing acid rain and snow, harming aquatic life and terrestrial ecosystems. When combined with water and oxygen in the atmosphere, these air pollutants convert into sulphuric and nitric acids that have detrimental effects on trees, freshwaters and soils, destroy insects and aquatic life-forms, cause paint to peel, corrode steel structures like bridges, and weathers stone buildings and sculptures. Oh, and it negatively impacts human health.

And so the age-old debate began. To regulate, or not to regulate? Policy would direct all industrial plant owners to cut pollution to a targeted level, but some argued that enacting such a rule would be costly and ignore the needs of local operators.

It ended up being economics that really solved the acid rain problem. By devising a cap-and-trade approach written into the 1990 Clean Air Act, a new commodities market was formed to incentivize businesses to cut down on their pollution output. The Clean Air Act dictated a 50% decrease in overall sulfur emissions, but let each business decide how to meet the standard. Power plants that lowered their pollution more than the set amount could sell those extra allowances to other plants. (Wait, did capitalism… help us?)

Sulfur emissions fell far faster than expected and at ¼ of the predicted cost. Wet sulfate deposition - a common indicator of acid rain - dropped by 68% between 1989-1991 and 2017-2019. The creative solution is widely regarded as a success - so much so that it’s inspired an up-and-coming tool in the fight against climate change: carbon markets. But more on that later.

Watch our TikTok on acid rain here!

Good Climate News!

This week in good climate news 🌍:

New Jersey is Riding the Wave Energy Wave.

(Keep reading... it'll make sense.)

The tides are turning for the inclusion of renewable energy in the U.S. power grid. In the last decade, solar has undergone the largest percentage growth of any other source in the nation. In 2008, solar was responsible for just over 2 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity. Ten years later, it generated 46x more at 93 billion kilowatt-hours. Wind in the U.S. has seen similar scale-ups in recent years, with offshore wind energy projects experiencing a 24% increase from 2020 to 2021.

Solar and wind have been on the clean energy scene for a while, but there’s a newcomer offering an accessible alternative to clean power sources. Wave and tidal power avoid the emission of harmful gases, is renewable, reliable, and incredibly dense in energy. In fact, the theorized annual energy potential of waves off the coasts of the U.S. is as much as 2.64 trillion kilowatt-hours. No idea what that means? Cool, we didn’t either… so we looked it up.

2.64 trillion kilowatt-hours is equivalent to about 66% of U.S. electricity generation in 2020. That’s a lot of lightbulbs.

Harnessing the energy of the sea is still in its early stages, but the industry is poised to scale with the right legislative support and investment - which leads us to the good news!

A New Jersey bill introduced earlier this month would make the state the first in the country to put bureaucratic support behind wave energy. The bill involves an initiative to support ocean energy pilot projects while dedicating the state’s utility board to analyzing the power and potential of ocean power generation along its 130 miles of Atlantic Ocean coastline.

And as we know, no project flies without funding. Jersey knows it too - it’s why their 2023 budget includes $500,000 dedicated to a feasibility study and pilot program for wave energy. The New Jersey legislation provides a path to include the evolving energy option into the renewable mix and help the state reach its 2050 net-zero goal.

Renewable energy plays a crucial role in U.S. energy security and in its ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to a tolerable level. States like New Jersey leading by example and adopting novel technologies like wave energy will help us power a sustainable future!

You’ve heard of the domesticated cow, but what about domesticated bacteria?

It’s a process already used in agriculture for the benefit of our tastebuds (we’re talking your favorite cheese, vinegar - even a plain ol’ pickle). What if we could use this process for the benefit of our planet?

One company is imaging a future where no biomass rots into methane. A future where your compost, wastewater, and even the grass clippings from your backyard have value because they can be consumed by bacteria and transformed into everything from life-saving medicines to the chemicals used to make your cell phone. MicroByre replaces chemicals typically reliant on petroleum by domesticating bacteria to do those jobs. They help bacteria do what they already can do but better, faster, and at scale.

Want to learn more? Check in next week for the micro-doc on MicroByre.

What We’re Watching, Reading, and Listening to

Searching for more positive climate content? Look no further!