human actions, global climate change, global human solutions
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OK. Do something about it.
And by something, I mean something pragmatic.
SPOILER ALERT: Knocking down nuclear plants, banning gas ovens and trying to force coal burning cars on everyone is not pragmatic.
What else you got?
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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.
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Quote:Got this book:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
OK. Do something about it.
And by something, I mean something pragmatic.
SPOILER ALERT: Knocking down nuclear plants, banning gas ovens and trying to force coal burning cars on everyone is not pragmatic.
What else you got?
How wind, sun and water can power the world
“Combustion is the problem – when you’re continuing to burn something, that’s not solving the problem,” says Prof Mark Jacobson.
The Stanford University academic has a compelling pitch: the world can rapidly get 100% of its energy from renewable sources with, as the title of his new book (February 2, 2023) says, “No Miracles Needed”.
Wind, water and solar can provide plentiful and cheap power, he argues, ending the carbon emissions driving the climate crisis, slashing deadly air pollution and ensuring energy security. In stark contrast, carbon capture and storage, biofuels, new nuclear and other technologies are expensive wastes of time, he argues.
“Bill Gates said we have to put a lot of money into miracle technologies,” Jacobson says. “But we don’t – we have the technologies that we need. We have wind, solar, geothermal, hydro, electric cars. We have batteries, heat pumps, energy efficiency. We have 95% of the technologies right now that we need to solve the problem.” The missing 5% is for long-distance aircraft and ships, he says, for which hydrogen-powered fuel cells can be developed.
Jacobson’s claim is a big one. He is not just talking about a shift to 100% renewable electricity, but all energy – and fossil fuels still provide about 80% of that today. Jacobson has scores of academic papers to his name and his work has been influential in policies passed by cities, states and countries around the world targeting 100% green power.
Jacobson divides approaches to the energy transition into two camps: “One says we should just try everything – they’re the ‘all-of-the-above camp’ – and keep investing huge amounts of money in technologies that may or may not be available to work in 10 years. But 10 years is too late.” Carbon emissions must fall by 45% by 2030, scientists agree, to keep on track for no more than 1.5C of global heating.
His camp takes a different approach, Jacobson says: “Let’s focus on what we have and deploy as fast as possible. And we will improve those technologies just by deploying, bringing better solar panels, batteries, electric vehicles and so on. Some people just don’t realise the speed that we need to solve these problems, especially air pollution – 7 million people die every year. We can’t wait.”
However, there are major barriers to a rapid rollout of a 100% renewable energy system, he says: “The No 1 barrier is that most people are not aware that it’s possible. My job is trying to educate the public about it. If people are actually comfortable that it’s possible to do, then they might actually do it.”
He adds: “The policy of all-of-the-above is also a big barrier to a transition. In the US, for example, in the recent [climate legislation], a lot of money was spent on carbon capture, small modular nuclear reactors, biofuels, blue hydrogen. These are all what I consider almost useless, or very low-use, technologies in terms of solving the problems. And yet, a lot of money is spent on them. Why? Because there are big lobby groups.”
More at https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/23/no-miracles-needed
-prof-mark-jacobson-on-how-wind-sun-and-water-can-power-the-world
Download Mark Z Jacobson’s books for free from mirrors at https://libgen.unblockit.ink/search.php?req=Mark+Z+Jacobson
For now, “No Miracles Needed” is not a free book because it hasn't been published, but it will be available soon enough (February 2, 2023) as an ebook or on paper for your purchase. Try these places:
1) https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/no-miracles-needed/8D183E65462B8D
C43397C19D7B6518E3
2) https://www.amazon.com/No-Miracles-Needed-Technology-Climate/dp/100924
9541
3
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Texas Republicans introduce tax hikes, burdensome regulations in an assault on clean energy
Texas lawmakers are launching attacks on clean energy.
Jacksonville’s Sen. Robert Nichols wants to punish consumers who buy electric vehicles by raising the registration fees. SB 505 would add $400 to the cost of new electric-only cars and small trucks.
State Sen. Drew Springer, R-Muenster, thinks Texas should impose a tax “on each electric generator in this state that generates electricity using an energy source other than natural gas.” The target of SB 488 is the clean energy industry. This bill takes the amount of taxes collected on natural gas extraction and divides that number by the total cubic feet of gas produced in the previous year. The total is then multiplied by the number of cubic feet needed to generate a kilowatt of electricity to establish a tax rate. The state comptroller then imposes the tax on every kilowatt of electricity not produced by burning natural gas.
SB 154 would limit where companies can build wind projects and grant county commissioners extraordinary powers to block them. The state allows natural gas drilling in residential neighborhoods, but wind facilities would need to be set back “3,000 feet measured from the property line of each property.” The fine print defines a wind facility not just as the turbines on top of tall towers but includes ground-level batteries, transformers and transmission lines.
State Rep. Shelby Slawson, R-Stephenville, is so worried about aircraft navigating around wind turbines that her HB 1443 would ban them within 65 nautical miles of any airport where military aircraft might land. Start drawing 65-mile circles around the state’s airports, and soon most of the state is off-limits.
Solar energy is also under threat. State Sen. Mayes Middleton, a Galveston Republican, introduced SB 433 to strike a state law provision requiring a country appraiser to value solar facilities based on a 10-year depreciation. Removing the requirement would make solar energy much more expensive by raising property taxes.
https://web.archive.org/web/20230125175652/https://www.houstonchronicl
e.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/texas-republicans-hate-clean-energy-17736911.php
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Texas Republicans introduce tax hikes, burdensome regulations in an assault on clean energy
Texas lawmakers are launching attacks on clean energy.
Jacksonville’s Sen. Robert Nichols wants to punish consumers who buy electric vehicles by raising the registration fees. SB 505 would add $400 to the cost of new electric-only cars and small trucks.
Good.
It's keeping down electricity costs for all the sensible people.
Raise that yearly registration to $1,000 per year.
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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.
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Quote:You are unaware of it, but you are super-stupid about engines and motors and all things engineering: http://fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?bid=18&tid=65350&mid=11684
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Texas Republicans introduce tax hikes, burdensome regulations in an assault on clean energy
Texas lawmakers are launching attacks on clean energy.
Jacksonville’s Sen. Robert Nichols wants to punish consumers who buy electric vehicles by raising the registration fees. SB 505 would add $400 to the cost of new electric-only cars and small trucks.
Good.
It's keeping down electricity costs for all the sensible people.
Raise that yearly registration to $1,000 per year.
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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.
84#1168484
You think that fixing your car was a personal triumph. All you really showed is that you are not knowledgeable and you misunderstand most of the technology your life depends upon. But I have never known a stupid person to be aware of just how much trouble their stupidity causes for everybody around them, especially at work, so your behavior is not unexpected.
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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UK scientists discover method to reduce steelmaking’s CO2 emissions by 90%
Decarbonising the steel industry is an imperative
January 27, 2023 - 11:46 am
Researchers from the University of Birmingham have developed an innovative method for existing furnaces that could reduce steelmaking’s CO2 emission by nearly 90%.
The iron and steel industry is a major cause of greenhouse gasses, accounting for 9% of global emissions. That’s because of the inherent carbon-intensive nature of steel production in blast furnaces, which currently represent the most-widely used practice.
In blast furnace steel manufacturing, coke (a type of coal) is used to produce metallic iron from ore obtained from mining — which releases large quantities of carbon dioxide in the process. According to Dr Harriet Kildahl, who co-devised the method with Professor Yulong Ding, their technology aims to convert this carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide that can be reused in the iron ore reaction.
This is realised using a thermochemical cycle which performs chemical reactions through changes in temperature. That way, the typically damaging CO2 is turned into a useful part of the reaction, forming “an almost perfect closed carbon loop.” This drastically reduces emission by the amount of coke needed and, subsequently, lowers steelmaking’s emissions by up to 88%.
As per the researchers, if this method was implemented in the remaining two blast furnaces in the UK, it could save £1.28 billion in 5 years, all while reducing the country’s overall emissions by 2.9%.
“Current proposals for decarbonising the steel sector rely on phasing out existing plants and introducing electric arc furnaces powered by renewable electricity. However, an electric arc furnace plant can cost over £1 billion to build, which makes this switch economically unfeasible in the time remaining to meet the Paris Climate Agreement,” Professor Ding said. “The system we are proposing can be retrofitted to existing plants, which reduces the risk of stranded assets, and both the reduction in CO2, and the cost savings, are seen immediately.”
University of Birmingham Enterprise has filed a patent application covering the system and its use in metal production. It’s currently looking for partners to take part in pilot studies and deliver this technology to existing infrastructure, or collaborate on further research to develop the process.
https://thenextweb.com/news/uk-scientists-discover-method-reduce-steel
makings-co2-emissions
You can read the full study, “Cost effective decarbonisation of blast furnace”, here:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095965262300121X?vi
a%3Dihub#bbib13
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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How California’s ambitious new climate plan could help speed energy transformation around the world
Published: January 26, 2023 8.24am EST
California is embarking on an audacious new climate plan that aims to eliminate the state’s greenhouse gas footprint by 2045, and in the process, slash emissions far beyond its borders.
What happens in California has global reach. What California does matters far beyond state lines.
California is close to overtaking Germany as the world’s fourth-largest economy and has a history of adopting environmental requirements that are imitated across the United States and the world. California has the most ambitious zero-emission requirements in the world for cars, trucks and buses; the most ambitious low-carbon fuel requirements; one of the largest carbon cap-and-trade programs; and the most aggressive requirements for renewable electricity.
In the U.S., through peculiarities in national air pollution law, other states have replicated many of California’s regulations and programs so they can race ahead of national policies. States can either follow federal vehicle emissions standards or California’s stricter rules. There is no third option. An increasing number of states now follow California.
More at https://theconversation.com/how-californias-ambitious-new-climate-plan
-could-help-speed-energy-transformation-around-the-world-197094
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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Quote:
Originally posted by second:
How California’s ambitious new climate plan could help speed energy transformation around the world
And nobody can afford it.
Natural Gas in California is now $3.45 per Therm.
Why natural gas prices — and bills — are soaring in Southern California
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2023-01-09/why-natural-gas-pric
es-and-bills-are-soaring-in-southern-california
Archive link to avoid paywall: https://archive.ph/U59KM
Quote:
The price for what’s called “core procurement” that goes to residential and small commercial customers is set at the start of each month. The price soared to $3.45 per therm (a unit of natural gas) on Jan. 1 from $1.05 in December. In January 2022, it was 84 cents.
And let's not forget right after their announcement to ban any cars that aren't coal burning, they had to tell Californians to turn their A/C down and not charge their coal burning cars because the infrastructure was overloaded.
Get fucked, Second.
California is a model of failure under any metric one could conceive.
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States Reimagine Power Grids for Wind and Solar Future
STATELINE ARTICLE January 25, 2023
A 2019 analysis by global consulting group Wood Mackenzie found that reaching 100% renewable electricity would require adding 200,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines — doubling the existing total — at a cost of $700 billion. A complex web of independent system operators, state regulators and utility companies oversee the planning and construction of new grid infrastructure, with frequent disagreements about who should bear the cost.
Streamlining Projects
In Washington state, leaders are working to connect wind and solar projects in the state’s arid eastern region with population centers west of the Cascade Mountains. Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, is proposing a bill that would speed up permitting for high-capacity transmission projects, placing them under the oversight of the state’s Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council.
More at https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/202
3/01/25/states-reimagine-power-grids-for-wind-and-solar-future
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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The Price of a Fully Renewable US Grid: $4.5 Trillion
Shifting to 100 percent renewables in the U.S. is an attainable goal, Wood Mackenzie analysts say. Three major hurdles must be overcome.
CHLOE HOLDEN JUNE 28, 2019
The cost of shifting the U.S. power grid to 100 percent renewable energy over the next 10 years is an estimated $4.5 trillion, according to a new Wood Mackenzie analysis.
This estimated price tag is associated with transitioning entirely to renewables: replacing nuclear and fossil fuels with renewable energy, while keeping hydro, biomass and geothermal, consistent with a 1 00 percent renewables vision. If nuclear were to remain in the energy mix, the total price tag would drop to $4 trillion.
According to the analysis, $4.5 trillion covers everything needed to reliably produce and deliver clean energy to consumers. That runs the gamut from constructing and operating new generation facilities, making capacity payments, investing in transmission and distribution infrastructure, delivering customer-facing grid edge technology and more.
The model used for the estimate is based on today's technology and does not factor in potential future innovations. However, WoodMac's model does take into account the cost inflation in materials and labor that would be likely to occur in an "accelerated build" scenario.
"Markets can reach 25 percent wind and solar market penetration with relative ease, assuming fundamental natural resource and grid infrastructure prerequisites. Beyond that point, operational and cost complexities progressively multiply, in large part due to the intermittent nature of renewables," the authors state.
No large and complex power system in the world operates with an average annual penetration of greater than 30 percent wind and solar, the report says.
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/renewable-us-grid-for-4-5
-trillion
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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