California’s electric grid nexus with the environment

Abstract

Abstract California’s electric grid has established and allowed for a large swathe of land with varying topography, geology, and biota to become inhabited and maintained at a level of modernization that most Americans have become accustomed to in the 21st century. However, while the residents, commerce, and overall populations of both have increased and progressed, the energy infrastructure that supports them has not. Instead, in some instances, the transmission infrastructure has ignited fires in the state’s wildlands – some with devastating effects – the point sources of power production have aged and not necessarily kept up with a shifting climate or demanded load, and new sources of power generation and energy storage have not penetrated the energy marketplace fast enough or to great effect. This paper delineates just a portion of some of California’s trials in the coming years as it transitions to a decarbonized electric grid and light-duty fleet. Most calculations were carried out using data prior to December 31, 2019 and generically treats succeeding data (2020–2021) as unrepresentative of former years or unlikely to be accurate of the years succeeding the Corona Virus Outbreak of 2020.