Moving away from fossil fuels to renewable energy is crucial for minimizing the extent of global warming. Since renewable energy sources such as wind and solar are intermittent, a renewable energy system requires excess generation capacity coupled with energy storage, fossil-fueled "peakers" that supply a small fraction of the load, or both. The talk will describe how generation capacity and storage could work together to power the St Louis region reliably, and discuss the extent to which incorporating peakers makes economic and environmental sense.

This lecture will be in person and on Zoom. The Zoom link will be sent via email to everyone on our email list before each lecture. Those wishing to join the email list should email a request to physics@wustl.edu.