Mike Lau
@mikel08.bsky.social
Studying energy modelling, decarbonization, and policy at the ZERO Lab. Developing next generation participatory energy modelling tools.
Reposted by Mike Lau
Excited to share a new paper I got to help out with!
How much emissions do EVs cause through the electricity they consume? How do we know?
Our paper shows that frequently used metrics *over*-estimate EV emissions.
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1... by Riti Bhandarkar, Qian Luo, @jessedjenkins.com
How much emissions do EVs cause through the electricity they consume? How do we know?
Our paper shows that frequently used metrics *over*-estimate EV emissions.
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1... by Riti Bhandarkar, Qian Luo, @jessedjenkins.com
September 16, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Excited to share a new paper I got to help out with!
How much emissions do EVs cause through the electricity they consume? How do we know?
Our paper shows that frequently used metrics *over*-estimate EV emissions.
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1... by Riti Bhandarkar, Qian Luo, @jessedjenkins.com
How much emissions do EVs cause through the electricity they consume? How do we know?
Our paper shows that frequently used metrics *over*-estimate EV emissions.
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1... by Riti Bhandarkar, Qian Luo, @jessedjenkins.com
Reposted by Mike Lau
I am happy to announce that the final piece of my doctoral work on next-generation geothermal technologies has been accepted for publication as a research article in 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘦, with an open-access manuscript available at doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
May 28, 2025 at 3:39 PM
I am happy to announce that the final piece of my doctoral work on next-generation geothermal technologies has been accepted for publication as a research article in 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘦, with an open-access manuscript available at doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
Reposted by Mike Lau
"The populist right is powered by scarcity. When there is not enough to go around, we look with suspicion on anyone who might take what we have. That suspicion is the fuel of Trump’s politics. (...)
The answer to a politics of scarcity is a politics of abundance."
The answer to a politics of scarcity is a politics of abundance."
March 9, 2025 at 8:39 PM
"The populist right is powered by scarcity. When there is not enough to go around, we look with suspicion on anyone who might take what we have. That suspicion is the fuel of Trump’s politics. (...)
The answer to a politics of scarcity is a politics of abundance."
The answer to a politics of scarcity is a politics of abundance."
Reposted by Mike Lau
Very simple, non-ironic, non-judgemental, practical 🧵 for all Dems to start TODAY-
Contact your local Emergency Managers.
Congresspeople- all of the EMs in your district.
Senators- your state EMs
Any states with wildland firefighters- contact them.
Ask them what is being cut
1/🧵
Contact your local Emergency Managers.
Congresspeople- all of the EMs in your district.
Senators- your state EMs
Any states with wildland firefighters- contact them.
Ask them what is being cut
1/🧵
February 12, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Very simple, non-ironic, non-judgemental, practical 🧵 for all Dems to start TODAY-
Contact your local Emergency Managers.
Congresspeople- all of the EMs in your district.
Senators- your state EMs
Any states with wildland firefighters- contact them.
Ask them what is being cut
1/🧵
Contact your local Emergency Managers.
Congresspeople- all of the EMs in your district.
Senators- your state EMs
Any states with wildland firefighters- contact them.
Ask them what is being cut
1/🧵
Reposted by Mike Lau
Everyone seems to be framing Trump's freeze on federal grants as a Constitutional fight over powers of the purse & whether presidents can disregard Congressional appropriations. It is that. But also at stake is the fundamental validity of government contracts! I see much less discussion on this... 🧵
January 31, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Everyone seems to be framing Trump's freeze on federal grants as a Constitutional fight over powers of the purse & whether presidents can disregard Congressional appropriations. It is that. But also at stake is the fundamental validity of government contracts! I see much less discussion on this... 🧵
Reposted by Mike Lau
The reality of this hasn't sunk in for Americans yet. It needs to: "The White House budget office ordered a pause on all federal grants & loans Monday potentially impacting trillions in government spending and halting public programs that affect millions of Americans." www.cnn.com/2025/01/27/p... 🔌💡
All federal grants and loan disbursement paused by White House | CNN Politics
The White House budget office has ordered a pause on all federal grants and loans, according to an internal memorandum sent Monday.
www.cnn.com
January 28, 2025 at 1:00 PM
The reality of this hasn't sunk in for Americans yet. It needs to: "The White House budget office ordered a pause on all federal grants & loans Monday potentially impacting trillions in government spending and halting public programs that affect millions of Americans." www.cnn.com/2025/01/27/p... 🔌💡
Reposted by Mike Lau
"This really is an opportunity to utilize data in a really great way” said Elizabeth Marx, executive director of the PA Utility Law Project “And I hope more utilities will take advantage of the same kind of tactics to make sure that we're reaching underserved populations” www.wesa.fm/environment-...
Peoples Gas uses algorithms to identify Allegheny County customers in need
Pittsburgh-based utility Peoples Natural Gas is partnering with a local startup to identify customers who need aid and sign them up for available assistance programs.
www.wesa.fm
January 8, 2025 at 4:40 PM
"This really is an opportunity to utilize data in a really great way” said Elizabeth Marx, executive director of the PA Utility Law Project “And I hope more utilities will take advantage of the same kind of tactics to make sure that we're reaching underserved populations” www.wesa.fm/environment-...
Reposted by Mike Lau
New research shows that electrifying US appliances would dramatically improve *outdoor* air quality, to the tune of about $40 billion in health benefits per year. www.rewiringamerica.org/research/hom...
Breathe easy | Rewiring America
Household electrification as a public health intervention to improve outdoor air quality.
www.rewiringamerica.org
December 10, 2024 at 6:21 PM
New research shows that electrifying US appliances would dramatically improve *outdoor* air quality, to the tune of about $40 billion in health benefits per year. www.rewiringamerica.org/research/hom...
New Preprint!
@jessedjenkins.com, Xin Wang, Neha Patankar, and I share new methods to allow anyone to design and share visions of energy systems that match their needs and desires. Imagine being able to show your utility a modelled grid that you want! 🧵 🔌💡
Preprint: arxiv.org/abs/2411.16887
@jessedjenkins.com, Xin Wang, Neha Patankar, and I share new methods to allow anyone to design and share visions of energy systems that match their needs and desires. Imagine being able to show your utility a modelled grid that you want! 🧵 🔌💡
Preprint: arxiv.org/abs/2411.16887
Modelling to Generate Continuous Alternatives: Enabling Real-Time Feasible Portfolio Generation in Convex Planning Models
Decarbonization provides new opportunities to plan energy systems for improved health, resilience, equity, and environmental outcomes, but challenges in siting and social acceptance of transition goal...
arxiv.org
December 5, 2024 at 9:42 PM
New Preprint!
@jessedjenkins.com, Xin Wang, Neha Patankar, and I share new methods to allow anyone to design and share visions of energy systems that match their needs and desires. Imagine being able to show your utility a modelled grid that you want! 🧵 🔌💡
Preprint: arxiv.org/abs/2411.16887
@jessedjenkins.com, Xin Wang, Neha Patankar, and I share new methods to allow anyone to design and share visions of energy systems that match their needs and desires. Imagine being able to show your utility a modelled grid that you want! 🧵 🔌💡
Preprint: arxiv.org/abs/2411.16887
Reposted by Mike Lau
A bit late on the announcement, but I'm happy to say that I successfully defended my doctoral dissertation, "Hot Rocks and H2: Modeling the Role of Emerging Technologies in the Electricity Sector," last month!
November 29, 2024 at 7:19 PM
A bit late on the announcement, but I'm happy to say that I successfully defended my doctoral dissertation, "Hot Rocks and H2: Modeling the Role of Emerging Technologies in the Electricity Sector," last month!
Reposted by Mike Lau
We're so proud of Dr. Ricks! Our first ZERO Lab doctorate. And an outstanding set of research on the potential of enhanced geothermal energy and rules to guide clean electricity procurement by hydrogen producers, data centers are more. See below for links to @wilsonar.bsky.social's excellent work...
A bit late on the announcement, but I'm happy to say that I successfully defended my doctoral dissertation, "Hot Rocks and H2: Modeling the Role of Emerging Technologies in the Electricity Sector," last month!
November 29, 2024 at 10:03 PM
We're so proud of Dr. Ricks! Our first ZERO Lab doctorate. And an outstanding set of research on the potential of enhanced geothermal energy and rules to guide clean electricity procurement by hydrogen producers, data centers are more. See below for links to @wilsonar.bsky.social's excellent work...
Reposted by Mike Lau
Oh hold on, wait. It's open source. We offer **everyone** a free licence for PyPSA. That's the point. Everyone, regardless of background and means, should be able to model the transformation of their energy systems, see what the code is doing, and modify it if need be.
github.com/pypsa/pypsa
github.com/pypsa/pypsa
November 22, 2024 at 9:19 AM
Oh hold on, wait. It's open source. We offer **everyone** a free licence for PyPSA. That's the point. Everyone, regardless of background and means, should be able to model the transformation of their energy systems, see what the code is doing, and modify it if need be.
github.com/pypsa/pypsa
github.com/pypsa/pypsa
Worth remembering the incentive structure here: many IOUs, like Georgia Power, have a cost-plus remuneration structure. Cost-plus gives utilities return guarantees based on the size of their “rate base”, of “used and useful” investments! For these utilities projecting lots of load = greater returns
Reminder: utilities should be treating load interconnection requests with the same lack of certainty as generator interconnection requests. These are not all real. Building infrastructure as if all of them are real carries huge costs for ratepayers if the large new loads don't materialize. Caution
New Georgia Power load forecasts just dropped. Your jaw will, too.
DATA CENTERS: 31 GW
MFG'ING: 1.2 GW
OTHER: 1.2 GW
CLEAN TECH: 1 GW
DATA CENTERS: 31 GW
MFG'ING: 1.2 GW
OTHER: 1.2 GW
CLEAN TECH: 1 GW
November 21, 2024 at 6:37 PM
Worth remembering the incentive structure here: many IOUs, like Georgia Power, have a cost-plus remuneration structure. Cost-plus gives utilities return guarantees based on the size of their “rate base”, of “used and useful” investments! For these utilities projecting lots of load = greater returns
Reposted by Mike Lau
What if you want to procure clean electricity to meet your demand, hour-by-hour, but you don't know precisely what your demand profile is? Can it still work? A new ZERO Lab report on 24/7 carbon-free electricityu procurment led by @wilsonar.bsky.social finds out... 🔌💡
November 19, 2024 at 10:10 PM
What if you want to procure clean electricity to meet your demand, hour-by-hour, but you don't know precisely what your demand profile is? Can it still work? A new ZERO Lab report on 24/7 carbon-free electricityu procurment led by @wilsonar.bsky.social finds out... 🔌💡
Reposted by Mike Lau
Now more than ever, it is worth emphasizing that fighting climate change is an opportunity for the U.S. and nations around the world, contrary to how it is often framed in both academia and government. 🧵1/10
medium.com/@EmilDimanch...
medium.com/@EmilDimanch...
A wake-up call theory of climate change
A low-carbon future is preferable with or without climate change.
medium.com
November 14, 2024 at 1:35 PM
Now more than ever, it is worth emphasizing that fighting climate change is an opportunity for the U.S. and nations around the world, contrary to how it is often framed in both academia and government. 🧵1/10
medium.com/@EmilDimanch...
medium.com/@EmilDimanch...
Reposted by Mike Lau
We've got the #s to back up @leahstokes.bsky.social on this one!
Our tracking and analysis at The Big Green Machine show that 78% of $126.3 billion in post-IRA investments in batteries, EVs, wind, and solar supply chains have gone to Republican districts. 1/3
www.the-big-green-machine.com
Our tracking and analysis at The Big Green Machine show that 78% of $126.3 billion in post-IRA investments in batteries, EVs, wind, and solar supply chains have gone to Republican districts. 1/3
www.the-big-green-machine.com
November 14, 2024 at 12:23 PM
We've got the #s to back up @leahstokes.bsky.social on this one!
Our tracking and analysis at The Big Green Machine show that 78% of $126.3 billion in post-IRA investments in batteries, EVs, wind, and solar supply chains have gone to Republican districts. 1/3
www.the-big-green-machine.com
Our tracking and analysis at The Big Green Machine show that 78% of $126.3 billion in post-IRA investments in batteries, EVs, wind, and solar supply chains have gone to Republican districts. 1/3
www.the-big-green-machine.com
Reposted by Mike Lau
The impending damage Trump 2.0 will do to the public services is one of the most disturbing and potentially long lasting threats. (Alongside a set of truly frightening possibilities for changes in US foreign policy.)
All federal employees who can are going to leave. Trump will appoint incompetents to replace them, and claim the resulting chaos justifies his evisceration of the government. It's a neat trick. fuhttps://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/08/us/politics/trump-federal-bureaucracy.html?smid=url-share
Inside the Federal Work Force That Trump Has Promised to Eviscerate
President-elect Donald J. Trump and his allies have pledged to strike fear in the heart of what they term “the deep state.” They have already succeeded.
www.nytimes.com
November 10, 2024 at 3:50 PM
The impending damage Trump 2.0 will do to the public services is one of the most disturbing and potentially long lasting threats. (Alongside a set of truly frightening possibilities for changes in US foreign policy.)
Reposted by Mike Lau
Here’s a take I haven’t seen: a US carbon tax is not in the cards for a decade, and maybe ever. That’s OK, good even.
November 8, 2024 at 12:48 PM
Here’s a take I haven’t seen: a US carbon tax is not in the cards for a decade, and maybe ever. That’s OK, good even.
Reposted by Mike Lau
The election of Donald Trump is a gutting defeat for those working to accelerate the shift to clean energy. But it isn't "game over" in the climate fight. The next battle begins today. As we all process what happens now, here's my personal reflections @heatmap.news: heatmap.news/ideas/trump-...
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Trump Is Not the End of the Climate Fight
The next battle begins today.
heatmap.news
November 8, 2024 at 9:24 PM
The election of Donald Trump is a gutting defeat for those working to accelerate the shift to clean energy. But it isn't "game over" in the climate fight. The next battle begins today. As we all process what happens now, here's my personal reflections @heatmap.news: heatmap.news/ideas/trump-...
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Reposted by Mike Lau
My last PhD work is now a preprint! Feedback welcome!
How should governments choose climate policies in second-best power markets with incomplete long-term contracting?
We see some surprises: wind & solar subsidies can be more cost-effective than CO2 pricing...
ceepr.mit.edu/workingpaper... 🔌💡
How should governments choose climate policies in second-best power markets with incomplete long-term contracting?
We see some surprises: wind & solar subsidies can be more cost-effective than CO2 pricing...
ceepr.mit.edu/workingpaper... 🔌💡
October 2, 2024 at 5:19 PM
My last PhD work is now a preprint! Feedback welcome!
How should governments choose climate policies in second-best power markets with incomplete long-term contracting?
We see some surprises: wind & solar subsidies can be more cost-effective than CO2 pricing...
ceepr.mit.edu/workingpaper... 🔌💡
How should governments choose climate policies in second-best power markets with incomplete long-term contracting?
We see some surprises: wind & solar subsidies can be more cost-effective than CO2 pricing...
ceepr.mit.edu/workingpaper... 🔌💡
Reposted by Mike Lau
What does a 2024 Trump or Harris victory mean for legislative fights in the next Congress? How might the future president use their powers over trade, foreign policy & executive agencies to reshape America's climate trajectory. We game it all out on this week's Shift Key heatmap.news/podcast/shif...
How 2025 Could Reshape Climate Policy — Whoever Wins the Election
Inside season 2, episode 3 of Shift Key.
heatmap.news
August 28, 2024 at 3:40 PM
What does a 2024 Trump or Harris victory mean for legislative fights in the next Congress? How might the future president use their powers over trade, foreign policy & executive agencies to reshape America's climate trajectory. We game it all out on this week's Shift Key heatmap.news/podcast/shif...
Reposted by Mike Lau
Some incorrect conclusions are being drawn from this recent paper on the effectiveness of climate policies around the world.
What does the paper actually show?
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... EnergySky GreenSky Climatesky
What does the paper actually show?
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... EnergySky GreenSky Climatesky
Climate policies that achieved major emission reductions: Global evidence from two decades
Meeting the Paris Agreement’s climate targets necessitates better knowledge about which climate policies work in reducing emissions at the necessary scale. We provide a global, systematic ex post eval...
www.science.org
August 25, 2024 at 7:13 PM
Some incorrect conclusions are being drawn from this recent paper on the effectiveness of climate policies around the world.
What does the paper actually show?
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... EnergySky GreenSky Climatesky
What does the paper actually show?
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... EnergySky GreenSky Climatesky
Reposted by Mike Lau
Biden-Harris climate policies saved a lot of greenhouse gas emissions and launched a clean energy revolution. Let’s do more, every year, forever.
REPEAT Project estimates that federal legislation & regulations enacted since January 2021 have accelerated US emissions reductions by 500-600 million tons/year in 2030 and about a billion tons in 2035. That's 5.4-6.8 billion tons of cumulative emissions avoided from 2022-2035.
August 16, 2024 at 7:59 PM
Biden-Harris climate policies saved a lot of greenhouse gas emissions and launched a clean energy revolution. Let’s do more, every year, forever.
Reposted by Mike Lau
Two years ago today, President Biden signed into the law the landmark Inflation Reducation Act, supercharging the clean energy transition.
Today, REPEAT Project releases 'Climate Progress 2024,' our annual update and analysis of US progress on the path to net-zero emissions repeatproject.org/reports
Today, REPEAT Project releases 'Climate Progress 2024,' our annual update and analysis of US progress on the path to net-zero emissions repeatproject.org/reports
August 16, 2024 at 5:44 PM
Two years ago today, President Biden signed into the law the landmark Inflation Reducation Act, supercharging the clean energy transition.
Today, REPEAT Project releases 'Climate Progress 2024,' our annual update and analysis of US progress on the path to net-zero emissions repeatproject.org/reports
Today, REPEAT Project releases 'Climate Progress 2024,' our annual update and analysis of US progress on the path to net-zero emissions repeatproject.org/reports