Fordham Environmental Law Review
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FORDHAM ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REVIEW THE YOGA ANALOGY: SCALING-UP THE U.S.’S RENEWABLE ENERGY SECTOR MINDFULLY WITH NEW TECHNOLOGIES, EVOLVING STANDARDS, PUBLIC BUY-IN, DATA SHARING, AND INNOVATION CLUSTERS Kimberly E. Diamond VOLUME XXXII SYMPOSIUM-SPRING 2021 NUMBER 3 THE YOGA ANALOGY: SCALING-UP THE U.S.’S RENEWABLE ENERGY SECTOR MINDFULLY WITH NEW TECHNOLOGIES, EVOLVING STANDARDS, PUBLIC BUY-IN, DATA SHARING, AND INNOVATION CLUSTERS Kimberly E. Diamond1 ABSTRACT This paper focuses on innovative renewable energy devices, exploring how scientifically-based industry standards that continuously evolve with engineering design technology, the public’s buy-in and feeling of connectedness with groundbreaking devices, and innovation clusters that accelerate device development through data sharing and public-private partnerships can all help advance the U.S.’s domestic renewable energy industry. Part I analyzes challenges inherent to scaling- up novel renewable energy technologies while simultaneously developing the industry standards regulating them. Part II uses the Block Island Wind Farm, an offshore wind demonstration project, and Pavegen’s globally-deployed arrays of piezoelectric smart flooring tiles as examples illustrating the importance connectedness and engagement play in garnering public buy-in during a cutting-edge renewable energy device’s roll-out. Part III discusses private investors’ critical role in bearing financial risks associated with backing experimental technologies, promoting aesthetically unusual device designs, and integrating novel devices into the built environment. Part IV explores the advantages that data anonymization and data sharing within a data trust construct can produce for constituents in an innovation 1 Kimberly E. Diamond is an Adjunct Professor of Energy Law at Fordham University, School of Law in New York City. She can be reached at [email protected]. Professor Diamond gratefully acknowledges Robert Alexander McKenzie for his assistance with this paper. 381 382 FORDHAM ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REVIEW [Vol. XXXII cluster, particularly those functioning together within a public-private partnership. Part V explores the benefits of introducing a renewable energy device prototype in an innovation cluster, where the government, academia, and industry collaborate and share data through public-private partnerships in an engaged, supportive, and technologically savvy community focused on accelerating the development of a particular industry. This paper concludes that by setting industry standards that continuously evolve in tandem with technologies they aim to regulate, having businesses’ investment-backed expectations remain a key driving force in renewable energy device development, and deploying government funding through innovation clusters that support data sharing and public-private partnerships in a particular industry, the U.S. can strike a desired balance and mindfully scale-up its nascent renewable energy industry. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ 386 I. CHALLENGES TO SCALING UP RENEWABLE ENERGY PROTOTYPES FOR UTILITY-SCALE USAGE ....................................... 389 A. Difficulties with Setting Industry Standards for Evolving Technologies ............................................................................... 389 B. The Dangers of Defective Standards: Lessons Learned from Litigation Involving the UK’s Robin Rigg Offshore Wind Farm 391 1. Atmospheric and Oceanic Anomalies, the J101 Standard, and Impacts on Robin Rigg .................................................... 392 2. Significance of the Robin Rigg Wind Farm to the UK’s Offshore Wind Industry .......................................................... 396 3. MT HØjgaard: A Case Illustrating the Dangers that Occur When Real-World Factors Misalign with a New Industry Standard ................................................................................. 397 a. Case Factual Background ...................................... 397 b. Whether a “Fit for Purpose” Contractual Provision Requires Going Above and Beyond the Industry Standard 402 c. Contract Sanctity vs. Encouraging, Not Deterring, Developers and Engineering Firms from Industry Participation ...................................................................... 403 2021] SCALING UP THE U.S.’S RENEWABLE ENERGY SECTOR 383 C. Black Sawn Events: Are They Inevitable When It Comes to Standards for a New Industry? ................................................... 405 1. A Defective Standard Can Trigger a Black Swan Event 405 2. Black Swans in Other Energy Sectors: The Fukushima Daiichi Example ..................................................................... 406 3. Unleash a Flock of Black Swans on the World? ........... 408 II. THE IMPORTANCE OF A RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGY GAINING PUBLIC BUY-IN THROUGH CONNECTEDNESS AND HUMAN ENGAGEMENT .................................................................................. 411 A. The Block Island Wind Farm: Rolling Out the First US Offshore Wind Project Mindfully ............................................... 411 1. Unparalleled Expertise – Selection of “Varsity” Players 412 2. Fascination with Futuristic Devices Creates Excitement about the Technology Being Showcased ................................ 413 3. Physically Engaging with the Innovative “Tourist Attraction” Device Builds a Sense of Connectedness with the Technology ............................................................................. 416 4. Using Tourists’ Social Media Posts to Generate Positive Publicity ................................................................................. 418 B. Pavegen Piezoelectric Flooring Arrays Take Public Engagement to the Next Level .................................................... 419 1. Unparalleled Expertise: Going Above and Beyond to Gain Credibility for Both the Technology and the Device Deploying It 420 a. Recent History of Newcomers in the Piezoelectric Flooring Sector .................................................................. 420 b. Steps Pavegen Took to Distinguish Itself from Others 423 (i) Highly Visible Demonstration Projects Providing Functional Credibility .................................................... 423 (ii) Partnering with Global Giants in the Energy Industry .......................................................................... 425 2. Refining the Technology Spurs Product Efficiency, Lower Cost, and Big-Name Confidence ............................................ 426 3. Positive Subliminal Associations ................................... 429 4. Ability to Participate Physically in the Energy-Generation Process Creates Intrigue, Excitement, and a Unique Way to Connect with the Technology and People’s Egos .................. 430 384 FORDHAM ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REVIEW [Vol. XXXII 5. Beyond Selfies: Using Next Generation Smartphone Technology as a Disruptive Force for Engagement and Economic Decisions ............................................................... 432 C. Ivanpah Concentrated Solar Power Facility and What Happens in the Absence of Public Engagement ......................... 434 III. HANDLING TECHNOLOGY AND FINANCIAL RISKS: THE PRIVATE SECTOR’S ROLE IN SHAPING THE ROUTE TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS TAKE .................................................................... 438 A. Future Shock: Determining Where to Draw the Line ........ 439 1. Skeuomorphic Design .................................................... 439 a. Pavegen Piezoelectric Flooring Tiles Combine the Familiar with the Unfamiliar ............................................. 440 b. The “Strawscraper”: The Risk of Leapfrogging Over the Familiar to Purely Futuristic Design .......................... 440 (i) Design Advantages Futuristic Piezoelectric Straws Offer 440 (ii) Regulatory Risk of Analogizing to the Familiar .. 441 (iii) Public Receptiveness Risk in the Absence of a Familiar, Awe-Inspiring Name ...................................... 443 2. Exclusivity and Climate Consciousness May Outweigh Pure Aesthetics ....................................................................... 444 B. Accelerated Roll-Out and Scaling-Up of Experimental Technologies and Devices Can Pose Financial Risks ............... 445 1. Vortex Induced Vibration (“VIV”) Technology and the Vortex Bladeless Wind Devices .............................................. 446 a. Description of Vortex Shedding Technology for Wind Energy Conversion ............................................................ 446 b. How Vortex Bladeless Wind Devices Function, Appear, and Operate .......................................................... 448 c. Non-Turbine Wind Energy Conversion Devices: Creation of a New Wind Device “Family” and Design Advantages vs. Performance Risk ...................................... 450 d. Damages Risk – Mitigating Against Reasonably Foreseeable Outcomes and Black Swan Events ................ 453 (i) VIV-Induced 1965 Collapse at UK’s Ferrybridge C Power Station ................................................................. 453 (ii) VIV-Induced Collapse of Washington’s Tacoma Narrows Bridge ............................................................. 454 (iii) Resilience Considerations for Potentially Remote but Foreseeable Risks .................................................... 455 2021] SCALING UP THE U.S.’S RENEWABLE ENERGY SECTOR 385 2. Looking Far into the Future: Experimenting with Repowerings and Integration into New or Existing Wind Turbine