Research

Google Gemini generated. Showing how grid conditions evolve across the transition stages.

Big Loads, Small Loads, & A Changing Grid: A Better Path for Scope 2 Accounting?

An advocacy piece published by WattTime and REsurety was brought to my attention because it reflects the tension building around the proposed revisions to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s Scope 2 accounting rules. These rules are not American regulations. They are global and voluntary, governed by the World Resources Institute and … [continued]

Rivian SUV supercharging. Tesla (NACS) Supercharger. Beaver, Utah. January, 1, 2024. Photo by Fritz Hasler

A New Billing Architecture To Transform EV Charging Economics

TL;DR — Public charging is expensive and messy because the business model is wrong. Instead of selling electricity, charging operators should just provide infrastructure — and utilities should bill drivers directly at their home rate. A single API can make this happen and unlock the kind of seamless experience Tesla … [continued]

"decorated plastic water bottles" by hams37 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Your Single-Use Plastic Bottles Are Killing Endangered Sea Turtles

Those plastic bottles that are so readily available at convenience stores, groceries, conferences, and sports venues are a real problem: they kill marine creatures. A recent study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences concludes that plastic ingestion has been documented in nearly 1,300 marine species, including every … [continued]

Google Gemini generated this detailed cutaway illustration of a futuristic expedition cruise ship, visualizing a complex hybrid energy system that includes solid sails, Bloom Energy SOFCs, hydrogen fuel cells, and an onboard carbon capture and storage facility

Why Simple Fuels Win at Sea: Assessing LNG SOFCs, Hydrogen, Sails, and CCS Against Practical…

I was recently asked by someone in the maritime industry whether Bloom Energy’s solid oxide fuel cells could play a real role in maritime propulsion. The question was prompted by the announcement from Ponant, GTT, and Bloom describing a concept cruise vessel for 200 passengers that would combine hard wing … [continued]

Google Gemini generated this scientific infographic titled "What Actually Damages Roads," which visually breaks down the factors contributing to pavement deterioration across three distinct zones covering axle count, road roughness, and vehicle type

How Outdated Engineering Models Distort Today’s EV & Road Charges Debate

The debate about vehicle weight and road damage shows how quickly a simple idea can gain traction even when the underlying evidence is thin. Commenters often reach for a familiar claim that heavier vehicles must be responsible for increased road wear. The argument sounds reasonable at first glance and it … [continued]

ChatGPT generated scene showing the gap between AUV fleet concepts and real world deepwater constraints, with defunct AUVs on the seafloor under operational ones.

Seabed Mining Meets Reality: What the Technoeconomic Evidence Shows

I was pleased to be asked to complete the technoeconomic assessment of seabed mining by the National Ocean Protection Coalition and to join the webinar discussing its results. It is not often that I have the opportunity to bring together decades of work in complex systems analysis, technology readiness, and … [continued]

ChatGPT generated panoramic scene of an early-morning research intersection with bike lanes, crosswalks, sensor-equipped signal poles, and a minor fender-bender between a Waymo vehicle and a New York taxi

Why Autonomous Vehicles Need Billions of Miles Before We Can Trust the Trend Lines

Jonathan Slotkin’s recent analysis of Waymo’s safety results in an oped in the New York Times has sparked a new round of discussion about how society should think about autonomous vehicles. His framing is direct. He argues that the data looks like the kind of early clinical trial result that … [continued]