It's time California cleared the air of dirty diesel fuel
The vast majority of the Bay Area's backup power generators — those low buzzing boxes known as BUGs located at internet server farms, hospitals, police stations and other facilities — are powered by diesel. Why is California, a state that is investing billions of dollars in renewable energy, also steadily building and expanding a fossil-fuel powered shadow grid?
In addition to carbon dioxide emissions, diesel releases significant amounts of particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, nitrous oxides and sulfur dioxide. These pollutants create smog and exacerbate respiratory illnesses, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer, especially in children and older adults.
Diesel generators are often located close to where people live, work and attend school. They're frequently sited in underserved and working-class neighborhoods that have long histories of environmental racism.
As the state deals with rapidly escalating electricity rates and energy reliability issues, California businesses and residents are increasingly turning to backup power generators to keep their lights on and servers running. According to a study by M.Cubed that relies on data collected from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, the deployment of backup generators rose by 34% in only one year.
Currently, there are 8,722 backup generators operating in the air district's boundaries. Collectively, these generators have an estimated capacity of 4.84 gigawatts. Ninety percent of these generators are powered by diesel.
Based on conservative use assumptions, this fleet has the potential to emit an estimated 35,350 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year. Further, the generators produce other criteria air pollutants on the order of 6 metric tons of fine particulate matter, 24 metric tons of volatile organic compounds and 321 metric tons of nitrous oxides.
And nearly 20% of BUGs within the district are located in environmentally vulnerable communities, where residents already deal with bad air quality and inferior environmental conditions. Jurisdictions elsewhere in the country are beginning to pay attention: New York City recently released its first comprehensive environmental justice study, and backup generators are specifically identified as an “infrastructure of concern” for environmental justice communities.
Absent new policy directions, the role diesel generation plays in Northern California's energy mix will only increase. Looking for low-cost and expedient ways to ensure reliability, regulators have greenlit virtually unrestricted use of diesel generators in the near future to support our aging energy grid.
How can a state that prides itself on being a leader in innovation, clean energy and electric vehicle adoption ignore the fast proliferation of an old and dirty technology, one with a disproportionate adverse impact on our most vulnerable residents? We consistently boast that California is leading the way, but do we really know what direction we are headed?
Fortunately, there are ways to reduce our reliance on diesel generation. Investments are already being made in battery storage, steadily driving down its costs, so that we can rely on wind and solar even at night. New technologies and programs are available to help decrease our energy usage, especially during peak periods, so that the energy grid doesn't get overloaded.
Microgrids are being deployed to allow more communities to move safely “off the grid” when there's wildfire danger or a risk of a power outage. Efforts are being made to adopt new policies to enable dispersed, clean, generation to add value to the grid, thereby making them more cost-effective. And, we can move more of our energy generation to non-combustion technologies like fuel cells, which can provide clean and reliable power to communities.
What happens in California often reverberates throughout the rest of the country. Are we going to export a clean future, or a diesel-dominated one?
It's time we cleared the air on dirty diesel.