tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post5646086805104979311..comments2024-03-19T03:14:04.172-04:00Comments on Rabett Run: Divestment and Dilberto siEliRabetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07957002964638398767noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-65817823712226126642015-06-30T20:34:43.947-04:002015-06-30T20:34:43.947-04:00Brian , I have spent my entire life waiting with b...Brian , I have spent my entire life waiting with bated breath in Cambridge for my ten cubic foot , ten kwh ten thousand dollar antimony trichloride/ bromide cycle/ sodium-sulfur/ air-zinc / superionic liquid battery. <br /><br />Now you tell me the future will emerge from Al's lead-zinc lease in Tennessee?<br /><br />Oh the humanity !THE CLIMATE WARShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02578106673226403151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-28612777761800124622015-06-30T01:54:47.578-04:002015-06-30T01:54:47.578-04:00Russell - yes to lead acid batteries in rural vill...Russell - yes to lead acid batteries in rural villages, for now. Watch that space though. And you don't need many to run lights for part of the night.Brianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09301230860904555513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-44225508176161081692015-06-29T22:01:16.570-04:002015-06-29T22:01:16.570-04:00+Russell Seitz A very recent MIT study found stori...+Russell Seitz A very recent MIT study found storing solar energy as heat, either in molten salt of some kind, or in inverted kilns which give up heat to generate electricity over long periods, based upon ceramics, could be among the most efficient. These could be combined with, say, specially designed wind turbines to trap the highest wind energy for long term use. <br /><br />No doubt some kind of storage would make the problem of intermittency easier. However, I think we are thinking too one dimensionally about this. In particular, we know that wind tends to be anti-correlated with solar, as a power source. Also, if collection is done over a greater spatial extent, especially combining both onshore and offshore sources, it is unlikely all collection points in a region are going to be down all the time and at once. Thus, if a different kind of grid were used, one with lateral distribution, and smart controls (see http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=5165411), especially ones which use deep statistical models of local conditions to <i>anticipate</i> wind and weather as some can, all it would take is sufficient overbuilding of collectors to suit the typical power needs of a region. The cost per kilowatt-hour of land wind turbines is among the lowest, competing favorably with the cheapest and dirtiest of natural gas.<br /><br />I can't price in NIMBY factors. Natural gas energy plants and pipelines seem to have the right henchmen to overcome those kinds of things. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-35223870447087942892015-06-29T19:19:18.760-04:002015-06-29T19:19:18.760-04:00Energy can also be stored by pumping water uphill ...Energy can also be stored by pumping water uphill and letting it run down through turbines--such "pumped hydro" is already a decades-old, multi-billion dollar industry. Then there are flywheels, compressed air, etc. Solar thermal plants store excess heat from the day in molten salts, then use that heat to run the turbines at night and in cloudy weather. Some STEC plants have already achieved better on-line time than neighboring coal-fired plants.Barton Paul Levensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07630802738456749652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-82269661362619447692015-06-29T18:32:38.607-04:002015-06-29T18:32:38.607-04:00Is Brian looking to revive lead mining ? The rea...Is Brian looking to revive lead mining ? The reality of Alt Energy is that lead auto batteries are the cheapest storage medium for wind and PV electricity-- lithium or nickel are out of reach for a billion people.<br /><br />The sort of artesanal frakking that lit parts of ancient China with natural gas could be in for a revival too-- not good for the CH4 flux!THE CLIMATE WARShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02578106673226403151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-12463492164492100972015-06-29T15:25:04.410-04:002015-06-29T15:25:04.410-04:00+Russell Seitz
Regarding "... and rates of c...+Russell Seitz <br />Regarding "... and rates of capital formation too low to support alternative energy", <i>surely</i>, if the rates of capital formation are too low for alternatives, it is too low for fossil fuels. That is because fossil fuels rely on extensive and elaborate networks to import, and distribute them, and these networks demand capital to build and (often) defend as well as simply burning the fossil fuels. These are often neglected in assessments of how inexpensive fossil fuels are. In contrast, <i>local</i> wind and <i>local</i> solar need no such networks, since these people and countries don't have the expectation of uninterrupted power as do OECD peoples. I think imposing such models upon poor, developing nations is another example of what used to be called "colonialist thinking". All that they actually need is to leapfrog the mistakes of historical OECD development in the same way they did with cell phones. Ontogeny need not recapitulate phylogeny. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-29387543945458006332015-06-29T15:18:14.339-04:002015-06-29T15:18:14.339-04:00"Russel - I don't hear you denying what t..."Russel - I don't hear you denying what the Pope is saying. And as for whether they can afford renewables, they have trouble affording any energy, but renewables are becoming a very good deal, especially if you're just trying to get some lighting and power cell phones."<br /><br />Affording energy? It's remarkable how much of their unbelievably small incomes poor people spend on stuff like kerosene. <br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/25/science/earth/25fossil.html?_r=0<br /><br />"Since Ms. Ruto hooked up the system, her teenagers’ grades have improved because they have light for studying. The toddlers no longer risk burns from the smoky kerosene lamp. And each month, she saves $15 in kerosene and battery costs — and the $20 she used to spend on travel." <br /><br />I know plenty of reasonably well off people who'd be quite happy with a $35 per month or $100+ per quarter reduction on their power costs. <br />Let alone when that reduction in cost is accompanied by such important benefits to families - safety for the littlies, better education for the students, more time at home for a parent and cash in your pocket. What's not to like? <br /><br />Most importantly, people are getting the small amount of power they need and can afford - right now - without having to wait for governments or businesses to set up centralised generation nor for poles and wires to get to their rural or remote locations nor for additional income to afford any power that might be supplied by such an arrangement. The great advantage, of course, is that no one can be disconnected from a service because of inability to pay accounts. Once the panels are set up and working, they're paid off. In this arrangement it's within 3 or 4 months, other arrangements elsewhere it might be a year or more. Whatever, once in and paid for, it's free power forever. <br /><br />MinniesMum adeladyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02019930864931919369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-2868437144839959992015-06-28T04:25:57.102-04:002015-06-28T04:25:57.102-04:00BPL--6-26:
RS: Wishful thinking : The actuarial s...BPL--6-26: <br />RS: Wishful thinking : The actuarial stats are a real time body count.<br /><br />BPL: Show your work. There's no reason to think solar and wind development in Africa wouldn't save a lot more lives than coal and oil.<br /><br /><br />I posted the stats in question a week ago :<br /><a rel="nofollow">http://vvattsupwiththat.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-green-banner-of-islam.html</a>THE CLIMATE WARShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02578106673226403151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-47852590120923380602015-06-27T09:48:07.331-04:002015-06-27T09:48:07.331-04:00FL: "most activist environmentalists are pret...FL: "most activist environmentalists are pretty good watermelons."<br /><br />Is this something you've confirmed empirically? Have you submitted your thesis to, say, <a href="http://pss.sagepub.com/" rel="nofollow">Psychological Science</a>?<br /><br />It's hardly worth the trouble to mock you anymore, Fernando.Mal Adaptedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06123525780458234978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-4016226873944220742015-06-26T20:45:13.711-04:002015-06-26T20:45:13.711-04:00Ezekiel 16:49-50:
"Now this was the sin of yo...Ezekiel 16:49-50:<br />"Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy."Hank Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07521410755553979665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-4968273453821397392015-06-26T20:30:06.798-04:002015-06-26T20:30:06.798-04:00> all the major oil and gas companies divested ...> all the major oil and gas companies divested <br />> their considerable coal operations in the 1990s. <br />> “It was a perfectly rational decision.”<br /><br />http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/04/former-shell-chairman-advocates-fossil-fuel-divestment<br /><br />Thank you Nigel.Hank Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07521410755553979665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-43902937930419641682015-06-26T20:27:41.696-04:002015-06-26T20:27:41.696-04:00> CocaCola
Remember, we have the boycott of Cu...> CocaCola<br /><br />Remember, we have the boycott of Cuba's sugar to thank for our corn-sweetened Coke, and the price supports to thank for our corn sugar aristocrats. Or do I mean commissars?<br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/29/opinion/america-s-sugar-daddies.htmlHank Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07521410755553979665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-20415333125606951732015-06-26T20:15:54.661-04:002015-06-26T20:15:54.661-04:00Thanks, Jim. I should know better by now, I guess...Thanks, Jim. I should know better by now, I guess.Barton Paul Levensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07630802738456749652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-24636020674850486282015-06-26T17:01:27.337-04:002015-06-26T17:01:27.337-04:00Cor Blimey, do us a favour guv, that Ferdi Leanme,...Cor Blimey, do us a favour guv, that Ferdi Leanme, eh? Eh?<br />'E's like a little one-man Heartland Institute, in't'e, eh?<br />Coca-Cola - symbol of Free West! <br />Eh, Ferdi?chekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09076463055055404580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-11392626788576126772015-06-26T16:58:03.429-04:002015-06-26T16:58:03.429-04:00Barton, don't let FL pull your chain so easily...Barton, don't let FL pull your chain so easily. Just click on "said."Jim Eagerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10448459024892788259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-50592481884328110552015-06-26T14:20:15.508-04:002015-06-26T14:20:15.508-04:00FL: most activist environmentalists" are pr...FL: most activist environmentalists" are pretty good watermelons.<br /><br />BPL: Most anti-Communist fanatics like you are pretty good crypto-Nazis.<br /><br />There, how do you like it?Barton Paul Levensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07630802738456749652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-37152925749027025692015-06-26T14:19:29.939-04:002015-06-26T14:19:29.939-04:00T: BPL, I am happy to see renewables take over th...T: BPL, I am happy to see renewables take over the planet. But I am not content to leave people energy starved until it happens. . . . There is a natural pace to energy transformation. It is 50 to 75 years. Let the poor burn coal until it is time to change.<br /><br />BPL: If we go on burning coal for another 50 years, civilization as we know it will collapse, gone, dead.<br /><br />T: To do otherwise is monstrous.<br /><br />BPL: Fallacy of bifurcation. The world needs fossil fuels to run present infrastructure. There is no need to build more when all new infrastructure can be renewable. It is NOT harmless to burn more fossil fuel, it is devastatingly harmful. It will kill a lot of people. THAT would be monstrous.Barton Paul Levensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07630802738456749652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-40053938214587742302015-06-26T14:17:14.919-04:002015-06-26T14:17:14.919-04:00FL: I don't wish a life under communism for ...FL: I don't wish a life under communism for anybody, except for the deeply religious who wish to follow the Red Pope. <br /><br />BPL: He's not "Red" in any meaningful way. A genuine anti-Communist, like myself, fights Communism, which is a bad thing. A crackpot anti-Communist fanatic, like you, fights everything he dislikes and calls it all "Communism" with no knowledge of what the term really means.Barton Paul Levensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07630802738456749652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-56181710978021610222015-06-26T14:00:34.196-04:002015-06-26T14:00:34.196-04:00> there is a natural pace to energy transformat...> there is a natural pace to energy transformation (50-75yr).<br /><br />Is not recognising externalities what you mean by "natural"?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13637756483122031663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-82389985079049953632015-06-26T12:00:12.174-04:002015-06-26T12:00:12.174-04:00BPL, I am happy to see renewables take over the pl...BPL, I am happy to see renewables take over the planet. But I am not content to leave people energy starved until it happens.<br /><br />There is a natural pace to energy transformation. It is 50 to 75 years. Let the poor burn coal until it is time to change. Let us help them transition. Let us give them scrubbers for their coal plants. Let's use solar for rural electrification programs where villages are beyond the reach of the grid. Let's follow the example of Bangladesh where they have more than a million solar water heaters and are putting up more every day. Let's help China build the 180 hydroelectric facilities throughout the developing world that they have contracted to build. Let's build modular nuclear power plants and ship them where they will do the most good.<br /><br />To do otherwise is monstrous.<br /><br />Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12747117922597525042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-82431713114095257662015-06-26T11:22:11.904-04:002015-06-26T11:22:11.904-04:00Mal adapted: I am observing committed Marxists des...Mal adapted: I am observing committed Marxists destroy Venezuela, with significant help from the Castro family dictatorship. I live in Spain, where a party led by committed Marxists has reached significant power in recent times. This party's leadership has ties to Syriza, a party led by committed Marxists which seems to be destroying the Greek economy. The Spanish Marxists are partially financed by the Venezuelan regime. I see a clear and present danger that Marxism will emerge as a dominant force in countries they proceed to abuse and destroy. I'm a refugee from a communist dictatorship, and I don't wish a life under communism for anybody, except for the deeply religious who wish to follow the Red Pope. <br /><br />When you have my background and experience and observe committed leftists selectively attacking private enterprise it's fairly easy to see the attack has a dual purpose. Face it, most activist environmentalists" are pretty good watermelons. Fernando Leanmehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-32680341657343712982015-06-26T08:55:53.707-04:002015-06-26T08:55:53.707-04:00RS: lLfe [sic] expectancy in the Least Carbon Emit...RS: lLfe [sic] expectancy in the Least Carbon Emitting Nations remains decades shorter than in those of ordinary energy intensity today, and approximates the lifespan of Americans circa 1875.<br />Is that a price you are willing to pay ?<br /><br />BPL: "Fallacy of bifurcation. The Third World can achieve a high standard of living with other energy sources than fossil fuels"<br /><br />Tom: When?<br /><br />We could start now. The richer nations could help subsidise clean energy for the poor, but it doesn't seem like the "what about the poor ppl" mitigation skeptics consider this a price they are willing to pay. As one of these skeptics said when asked how should we help the poor - "status quo, baby".<br /><br />Tom, I do think the poorer nations will be worse of in the short term by restricting their choice of energy<br />supply. I doubt anyone will disagree (hmmm....). But I think in the long term, the net effect of not internalising the externalities will prove to be worse. By a considerable margin if we are talking global BAU.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13637756483122031663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-55100753005674378562015-06-26T07:46:47.211-04:002015-06-26T07:46:47.211-04:00RS: Wishful thinking : The actuarial stats are a ...RS: Wishful thinking : The actuarial stats are a real time body count.<br /><br />BPL: Show your work. There's no reason to think solar and wind development in Africa wouldn't save a lot more lives than coal and oil.Barton Paul Levensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07630802738456749652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-61038129359507809592015-06-26T00:38:23.543-04:002015-06-26T00:38:23.543-04:00BPL:
Wishful thinking : The actuarial stats are a...BPL:<br /><br />Wishful thinking : The actuarial stats are a real time body count.<br /><br />RIP, <i>Laudatio Si</i> from the folks who brought you <i>Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius.</i>THE CLIMATE WARShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02578106673226403151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-44215889603462796452015-06-25T23:51:44.414-04:002015-06-25T23:51:44.414-04:00BPL: "Fallacy of bifurcation. The Third World...BPL: "Fallacy of bifurcation. The Third World can achieve a high standard of living with other energy sources than fossil fuels"<br /><br />When?Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12747117922597525042noreply@blogger.com