tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post1859427926786227603..comments2024-03-19T03:14:04.172-04:00Comments on Rabett Run: PicoSolar: Better, Faster, CheaperEliRabetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07957002964638398767noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-62758263871949660362016-11-18T12:59:20.981-05:002016-11-18T12:59:20.981-05:00I'll take the fifth... in a weak wayveI'll take the fifth... in a weak wayveTomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12747117922597525042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-29165094499571684052016-11-18T11:49:08.826-05:002016-11-18T11:49:08.826-05:00I believe they're forces (or fields) called &#...I believe they're forces (or fields) called 'gravitation' and 'electromagnetism'. Deny them at your own risk.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-75064914867704655962016-11-18T11:44:17.565-05:002016-11-18T11:44:17.565-05:00What was the name? Eldred? Mildred? Alfred? Eric t...What was the name? Eldred? Mildred? Alfred? Eric the Red?Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12747117922597525042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-38553080272659184402016-11-18T10:25:01.500-05:002016-11-18T10:25:01.500-05:00Well Tom, over the last year or so I discovered th...Well Tom, over the last year or so I discovered three quarters of the missing mass of the universe, gave it a name and assigned to it some interesting and exploitable properties. What have you done lately?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-87382200898942605242016-11-18T09:21:04.013-05:002016-11-18T09:21:04.013-05:00Oh, Fergie, your suspicions are baseless, but as t...Oh, Fergie, your suspicions are baseless, but as they form the basis for so many accusations flung in hopes of continuing the present stasis I will simply inform you that both Lomborg (and I on a smaller scale) work to help people in the developing world, not because we wish to feed Moloch with healthy victims, but because we do want people to be around to enjoy the cooler climes we hope for.<br /><br />I don't have Lomborg's personal accounts at hand, but I do what I can for the developing world. Do you?<br /><br />There is a social cost of carbon. There is also a social cost of removing carbon. <br /><br />Ignoring the climate to focus only on aid to the poor is pointless.<br /><br />Working to eliminate CO2 without helping the developing world is cruelty. (Which I'm sure is part of its appeal to some in the activist community, some of whom are found within the confines of this blog.)<br /><br />I hear you activists all the time saying that we are highlighting a false dichotomy. But all the people I see you criticize in fact are doing a lot to help the developing world, while fighting for adoption of sane policies to address climate change.<br /><br />I hear you activists, but I never see you do much of anything. <br /><br /><br /><br />Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12747117922597525042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-28084664582648440142016-11-18T06:42:16.370-05:002016-11-18T06:42:16.370-05:00Dear Tommy, little poppet, Lomborg has lots to say...Dear Tommy, little poppet, Lomborg has lots to say and some of it is laudable. Yes, there is a whole lot of bad stuff in the world which needs sorting out urgently, and developed nations really, really should be more helpful. I'm with him on this. But he presents a false dichotomy - that we can either eliminate world hunger or tackle climate change - and fails to recognise that feeding someone up before throwing them into the fire is kinda pointless. But I suspect you don't care too much about the details, they get in the way of a good irrational rant.The Old Man is backhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06299949591915788184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-81318866061324025512016-11-18T04:37:45.340-05:002016-11-18T04:37:45.340-05:00One of the other issues that floated across my bra...One of the other issues that floated across my brain cell, was the issue of the skilled labour required to design and build any centralised electricity grid. There would be a shortage of qualified and skilled engineers, project managers and technicians in many developing world countries. So it is not just the financial capital required, but the human capital required. <br /><br />Of course by rolling out local renewables that allows the next generation to get to university and get the skills for future central grids.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-36530653072317616502016-11-18T00:34:32.600-05:002016-11-18T00:34:32.600-05:00In this edition of Movies From The 60s...
Mr. Rob...In this edition of Movies From The 60s...<br /><br />Mr. Roberts, throw that tree overboard. Ask me about climate and I will tell you that Arctic temperatures have risen twice as fast as lower latitudes over the past decade plus. Ask me about the second half of November, and I will tell you it's weather. Pay attention!<br /><br />Bernard, you wouldn't recognize logic if it bit you on the butt. But, oh, Nardo--at least you had Rita Moreno to dance with.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12747117922597525042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-83620246744878591792016-11-17T22:17:52.498-05:002016-11-17T22:17:52.498-05:00I see that Tom Fuller is still immersed in logical...I see that Tom Fuller is still immersed in logical fallacy.<br /><br />Some things never change.Bernard J.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16299073166371273808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-79623752812630591702016-11-17T22:11:31.127-05:002016-11-17T22:11:31.127-05:00What interests me is that none of the organization...What interests me is that none of the organizations promoting LED lighting for villages in Africa has any apparent interest in providing low- or no-blue emitters for evening use. Instead they're -- all the ones I've asked -- choosing the cheapest blue-white LEDs on the ground that they're brighter and cheaper.<br />http://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/blue-light-has-a-dark-side<br />http://www.ama-assn.org/resources/doc/csaph/a12-csaph4-lightpollution-summary.pdf<br /><br />http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-09/uoh-loi091112.php<br /><br />"emphasizing that it is the short wavelength illumination that we have come to know as "eco-friendly illumination" that is causing the most harm (primarily LED lighting)."<br /><br />and it's the bright blue-green emission -- below 500nm -- peak in the "white" LEDs that coincides with the sensitivity peak:<br /><br />High Sensitivity of Human Melatonin, Alertness, Thermoregulation ...<br />jcem.endojournals.org/content/90/3/1311.abstract<br />by C Cajochen - 2005 - Cited by 189<br /><br />Nonclassical ocular photoreceptors with peak sensitivity around 460 nm have been found to regulate circadian rhythm function as measured by melatonin ...<br /><br />Right at the peak emission for "white" LEDs:<br />http://electronicdesign.com/article/components/test-your-high-power-led-iq21021Hank Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07521410755553979665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-22127604070288697902016-11-17T21:36:23.533-05:002016-11-17T21:36:23.533-05:00Poor Tom; it was weather for a while, til the year...Poor Tom; it was weather for a while, til the years went by and the trend emerged.<br />http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/reportcard/air_temperature.html<br />"The global rate of temperature increase has slowed in the last decade (Kosaka and Xie 2013), but Arctic air temperatures have continued to increase. Currently, the Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of lower latitudes ...."<br /><br /><br />You can look this stuff up.Hank Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07521410755553979665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-90453570357313958012016-11-17T18:38:55.058-05:002016-11-17T18:38:55.058-05:00Ah, Fergie, you remind me of the Economist's p...Ah, Fergie, you remind me of the Economist's proudest moment, in defense of Bjorn Lomborg:<br /><br />"The fuss over Mr Lomborg highlights an attitude among some media-conscious scientists that militates not just against good policy but against the truth. Stephen Schneider, one of Scientific American's anti-Lomborgians, spoke we suspect not just for himself when he told Discover in 1989: “[We] are not just scientists but human beings as well. And like most people we'd like to see the world a better place...To do that we need to get some broad-based support, to capture the public's imagination. That, of course, entails getting loads of media coverage. So we have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic statements, and make little mention of any doubts we might have...Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest.” In other words, save science for other scientists, in peer-reviewed journals and other sanctified places. In public, strike a balance between telling the truth and telling necessary lies.<br /><br />Science needs no defending from Mr Lomborg. It may very well need defending from champions like Mr Schneider."Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12747117922597525042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-85965473564674698742016-11-17T18:36:48.327-05:002016-11-17T18:36:48.327-05:00Not even the end of the beginning, alphabet soup. ...Not even the end of the beginning, alphabet soup. <br /><br />Here's an explanation for November temperatures in the Arctic: Weather.<br /><br />So concludes today's lesson.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12747117922597525042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-9442687555577052942016-11-17T14:40:08.580-05:002016-11-17T14:40:08.580-05:00Maybe Tom can explain to us arctic temperatures in...Maybe Tom can explain to us arctic temperatures in the second half of November. Surely there must be some explanation. Here is my explanation, it's the beginning of the end of Tom's lukewarmisms.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-5282758962790830542016-11-17T11:08:29.519-05:002016-11-17T11:08:29.519-05:00Tom: Lomborg and Ridley don't need demonising,...Tom: Lomborg and Ridley don't need demonising, they can condemn themselves out of their own mouths, thank you very much. And anyway, the demons might object to the comparison.The Old Man is backhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06299949591915788184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-85529478242244695922016-11-17T10:01:52.337-05:002016-11-17T10:01:52.337-05:00Silly Rabett, even you should finally recognize th...Silly Rabett, even you should finally recognize the dramatic results of small and incremental improvements--as it was with computers, so it is with solar power. <br /><br />What you laud in green energy you decry or deny in all other fields of human endeavour. Which leads to the unfortunate demonization of people like Lomborg and Ridley. And leaves you always on the wrong side of history.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12747117922597525042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-20772180504851562372016-11-17T06:07:01.775-05:002016-11-17T06:07:01.775-05:00Some years ago, being a creative sort of critter, ...Some years ago, being a creative sort of critter, I designed a small wind turbine for battery charging which, given economy of scale, came out about $200 a pop including profit but excluding distribution costs. The materials are almost universal and accessible to many communities in developing countries. These might be expected to deliver 600+ KwH/yr, for up to 10 years, in an 'African' low wind climate. That's a bit more than 3 cents a KwH. A variant on the tech at greater cost can apply in developed countries.<br />These things are achievable in engineering terms, but it isn't the capability which is holding back progress, but more often institutional corruption, distribution problems and lack of investment.<br />The Old Man is backhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06299949591915788184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-35366144348323880872016-11-16T18:30:42.702-05:002016-11-16T18:30:42.702-05:00Solar has been around since before the Greeks, but...Solar has been around since before the Greeks, but it is only in the past decade or less that the cost per KW-hr has fallen through the floor, and while compact fluorescents are maybe two decades commercially available LEDs require a whole lot less power. So indeed, it is a new situation with the cost of small renewable electricity falling below that of fossil fuels<br /><br />Opportunity knocks. Bullship splatters.EliRabetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07957002964638398767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-24296132223365161792016-11-16T15:34:42.367-05:002016-11-16T15:34:42.367-05:00Solar for rural electrification has been around si...Solar for rural electrification has been around since the 80s. It's good to see that it is spreading more.<br /><br />The next area of focus should be community solar arrays.<br /><br />Then the tough one. Powering light industry/manufacturing. Suggestions welcomed.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12747117922597525042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-84385673830800223512016-11-16T13:10:10.392-05:002016-11-16T13:10:10.392-05:00Eli should rejoice on the battery front:
Contra...Eli should rejoice on the battery front: <br /><br /> Contrary to Matt Ridley's latest screed,<a href="https://vvattsupwiththat.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-irrational-pessimist.html" rel="nofollow"> the price of ordinary 5.8 ampere-hour three volt lithium ion cells has already fallen through the one dollar floor</a>, so a few bucks will keep you in light for a year of daily recharging.<br /><br />If E-bay prices are for real ( Chinese dumping caveat applies ) fifty buck's worth will give you an hour a day of kilowatt electric hot plate cooking.<br /><br /><br />Solar cells extra, but perovskite structure PV flims are coming on strong at 20& efficiency.<br />THE CLIMATE WARShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02578106673226403151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-58552872861211920332016-11-16T09:07:39.761-05:002016-11-16T09:07:39.761-05:00It's not any kind of joke, but a familiar patt...It's not any kind of joke, but a familiar pattern comes to mind:<br /><br />Knock knock! <br />Who's there? <br />Opportunity. <br />C'mon in! <br /><br />I'm hoping the same kind of story, on a larger scale, will keep Trump et al. from saving coal. I gather Mitch McConnell (darkness be upon him) is backing away from claims that the coal industry will be saved now that Republicans hold the reins. Brysonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09937984497196547802noreply@blogger.com