The GE Brief: April 22, 2021
A CLEANER FUTURE
Thursday, April 22, marks the 51st Earth Day and governments, companies and ordinary people concerned about the planet’s climate are taking part in events celebrating the birth of the modern environmental movement. The White House, for example, is hosting a Leaders Summit on Climate this week, bringing together representatives of 17 countries responsible for some 80% of global carbon emissions, as well as business and civic leaders, including Danielle Merfeld, vice president and chief technology officer at GE Renewable Energy. They will discuss ways to cut carbon emissions, new technologies that can drive decarbonization and how to help countries vulnerable to climate change, among other topics.
Charting the course: GE, whose technology supplies more than one-third of the world’s electricity, is taking on climate change by making sustainability a core part of its business and research. GE Renewable Energy, for instance, is working on huge wind power projects in Oklahoma and New Mexico that will each generate more than a gigawatt of power. Its offshore wind turbines and power transmission technology has been selected for projects in the North Sea and off the East Coast of the U.S. In Europe, Australia and other countries, it’s developing hydropower not only as a source of electricity but also as a powerful way to store renewable energy. In Asia, GE is working to replace coal-powered generators with its latest turbines that use natural gas, which can emit as much as 65% less carbon. And because the sun isn’t always shining nor the wind blowing, the company is also working to combine battery storage with renewables to help make wind and solar energy available on demand.
Click here to read more about GE’s global efforts to build a more sustainable energy future.
CARBON CUTTER
A passion for science was lit, literally, at an early age in Jeff Goldmeer. “In the winter, in New York, my dad would build a fire and I would just sit and be completely fascinated,” he says. “Later, as an undergrad, when I learned that combustion was a thing and that you could study it, it really set me down the path I’m on today.” That path has led him to become one of GE’s foremost experts on unlocking energy from natural gas, hydrogen and other fuels. Goldmeer’s technical job title is emergent technologies director for GE Gas Power, but he’s better known around the company as the "fuel guy” and for co-hosting with Brian Gutknecht a popular podcast called, fittingly, “Cutting Carbon.”
Voice for science: Helping reduce carbon emissions in the power generation industry, while meeting increasing energy demand, has become central to Goldmeer’s work and the primary focus of Gas Power's podcast. “Cutting Carbon,” which launched in December and is already entering season two with 12 episodes under its belt, serves as an informal and insightful discussion of the challenges related to decarbonization and the solutions for the planet’s energy future. Goldmeer says he’s a little surprised at how quickly the show has become a hit. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told I have a radio voice,” he laughs. “But no, I was not a deejay. I was not in musical theater or anything.”
Read more about Jeff Goldmeer and “Cutting Carbon” here.
THE BIG SWITCH
High-voltage electrical substations, those ubiquitous installations that adjust voltage up or down so that electrical power can travel over long distances, have for a half-century relied on a highly effective insulator and arc extinguisher that helps keep their size manageable. Trouble is, that insulator, a gas called sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), is also among the world’s most potent greenhouse gases — and it can linger in the atmosphere for millennia. Now for the good news: On Wednesday, the day before Earth Day, GE Renewable Energy’s Grid Solutions unit announced that it had signed a nonexclusive cross-licensing agreement with a competitor, Hitachi ABB Power Grids, to replace SF6 with more environmentally-friendly gas insulator alternatives, enabling utilities and industries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
Making an impact: One alternative to SF6 is GE’s g³ gas (pronounced “g-cubed”), an insulating and switching gas that reduces the global warming potential of SF6 by more than 99% while retaining the same insulating and switching qualities. It also allows electric substations to keep the same compact dimensions and performance as traditional SF6 equipment. The g³ gas is the result of more than a decade of research and development conducted by GE's Grid Solutions in collaboration with the 3M Company. “Utilities are becoming increasingly aware of their environmental footprint and the impact it has on their communities and the world around them,” says Heiner Markhoff, CEO of GE’s Grid Solutions. “Today’s landmark agreement reinforces our commitment to help our customers to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.”
To learn more about how g³ insulating and switching gas works, click here.
THE WAY FORWARD
In the five decades since the first Earth Day, the world has made much progress in understanding the perils posed by climate change and finding the solutions we need. But we are far from done. The switch to electric cars alone will require reimagining not only how we make electricity, but also how we distribute it. Renewables are clearly a big part of the future, but so are natural gas, energy storage, hydropower and the digital grid. Other industries, like aviation, must also decarbonize to help prevent the planet from warming.
Bringing ideas to life: How will we get to a low-carbon future? Scientists at GE Research have some ideas. One team, for example, is building a superconducting generator for wind turbines to boost their efficiency and help lower energy costs. Another group of researchers at LM Wind Power, a subsidiary of GE Renewable Energy, is using 3D-printing technology to make lighter and stronger turbine blade tips, while also seeking in the future to make those same blades fully recyclable at the end of their lifespan. Their colleagues also are 3D-printing parts of wind turbine towers. Elsewhere, GE scientists are using some of the world’s most powerful supercomputers to improve wind farm design and take gas turbines to the next level.
Take a look at GE Renewable Energy’s many new innovations here.
Engineers are squeezing even more clean energy from the world’s most powerful wind turbine built, bringing Dogger Bank wind farm plans to new heights.
— QUOTE OF THE DAY —
“We need to take action, and it doesn’t need to be massive steps. If everyone does their part, if everyone just does a little bit, it’s amazing what that can add up to.”
— Jeff Goldmeer, emergent technologies director for GE Gas Power and co-host of the podcast, “Cutting Carbon”
Quote: GE Reports. Images: GE Renewable Energy, GE Gas Power, Getty Images, GE Research.