Energy
Key Points:
- Energy-related emissions (burning fossil fuel for electricity, transportation, heat, steam, and fertilizer production) are Nebraska's leading causes of greenhouse gas emissions
- Nebraskans consume energy directly (fuel and energy purchases) and indirectly (in products and services)
- Reducing emissions can have a positive financial impact (reduced energy and fertilizer costs)
- Nebraskans will need to consider where the most significant impacts from energy efficiency and fuel switching can be made at all levels. This includes residential (heating and cooling), commercial (heating and cooling), transportation (vehicles), business-level policy, local policy, state-level policy, and national policy.
- Emissions reduction goals should be compatible with reliability goals.
Energy is often overlooked in day-to-day interactions. In the context of food alone, it is used to grow, transport, and store countless products that we rely on around the state, across states, and even internationally. Once the food arrives in stores, energy is used to cool and heat the buildings. Ideally, we strive for low-cost and reliable sources of energy. Every time we generate energy, byproducts like greenhouse gases (GHGs), such as carbon dioxide, and air pollution enter the environment. Fossil fuels account for more than half of the energy sources utilized in Nebraska. It is also the lead source of emissions in the United States. Along with carbon dioxide, agriculture also produces methane from livestock operations and nitrous oxides from fertilizer applications to the soil.
It is best to be cautious when comparing different energy sources. Certain energy sources cannot directly replace others, and there is a difference in efficiency and the quantity of emissions produced. Indirect emissions are also crucial to consider. Renewable energy sources like wind and solar are typically shown as producing zero emissions, but factors like installation and total life cycle emissions still have some level of emissions produced.
Energy sources are generally divided into two categories. Dispatchable generation sources like coal and natural gas allow for when and how much to use. These sources are not very flexible in how often they can be adjusted. Non-dispatchable generation sources like wind, sunlight, and water only allow usage during certain times when they are available. This has been worked through the innovation of energy storage and smart grids. For a continuous energy supply, there must be a mix of both dispatchable and non-dispatchable sources. The percentage of energy sources being utilized ultimately depends on various factors like what is physically available, costs, public policy, geopolitics, etc. Future mixes have been predicted to increasingly retire older coal and nuclear power plants with the addition of natural gas, wind, solar, and energy storage.
People indirectly produce emissions through the use of services and purchases of products. For example, Nebraskans pay for electricity and natural gas in their homes for heating and cooling. Moreover, people pay for fuel in day-to-day transportation.
The economic sectors that produce the most emissions in the state are:
- 41.7% agriculture,
- 24.2% electricity production,
- 15.2% transportation,
- 11.4% industry
Although the agricultural sector specifically produces the most emissions, the industrial sector, which includes manufacturing, mining, construction, and agriculture, uses the largest amount of energy. By quantity, the industrial sector is number one, but based on total cost, the transportation sector is in the lead. Although only 23.6% of total energy is consumed, fuel is more expensive in this sector than in the industrial sector, which leads to higher costs. In the commercial sector, there has been an increasing trend in energy consumption, following economic growth. The increasing presence of data centers and data mining also requires energy for electrical cooling.
Renewable energy consumption in the state consists of 11.5% biofuels, 8.9% wind, 1.35% hydroelectric, and less than 1% other. Total energy consumption is expected to grow by 15% between 2022 to 2050. Electrification is on the rise in the energy sector with cheaper technologies and lower costs of generation. In the state, coal and nuclear energy are exclusively used in electrical generation. Natural gas usage falls into 54% industrial use, 22% residential heating and water heating, 18% commercial heating and water heating, and 6% electricity production.
Water is a crucial resource that generates electricity but is also used in power plants to cool things down. With recent climate trends, there has been reduced summer precipitation and mountain snow. The duration and frequency of drought are increasing. The greater frequency of weather extremes means there are more possibilities of utility outages from weather damage, which can spell disaster for industrial processes. Not only can the reduced quantity of water from drought be bad, but the average water temperature is also increasing, which makes the cooling process less efficient. Also, the inverse, flooding can create problems for both cooling and electricity generation.
