Image source: Borrego
Client: New Leaf Energy, Inc.
Authors: Joshua R. Castigliego, Chirag Lala, and Liz Stanton, PhD
August 2022
On behalf of New Leaf Energy, Inc., Researchers Joshua Castigliego and Chirag Lala, and Senior Economist Liz Stanton, PhD conducted analysis estimating the net change in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions resulting from New Leaf Energy’s proposed battery storage facility located in Wendell, Massachusetts. AEC estimated net emission savings of this proposed battery storage project as the sum of “positive” CO2 emissions savings (i.e., reduced emissions) from the electric grid due to charging and discharging at specific times and “negative” CO2 emissions (i.e., increased emissions) due to land-use conversion from forestland to grassland. Combined these two effects result in substantial net emissions savings (i.e., reduced emissions) resulting from the proposed New Leaf Energy facility.
The proposed battery facility at the Wendell site would draw power from the grid during periods in which clean, renewable energy sources are a high share of total New England generation, and discharge energy at times when mostly fossil-fuel-powered generators are displaced by this added energy. By charging using low-emission generation and displacing fossil fuel generation while discharging power, new battery resources result in lower electric grid emissions.
This publication is an update to a study originally released in November 2021 (AEC-2021-11-WP-01).