human actions, global climate change, global human solutions
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UPDATED: Sunday, September 6, 2026 19:38
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Biden’s $250 billion lure to clean up the dirty legacy of fossil fuels
The International Energy Agency expects the world to invest about a billion dollars a day into solar in 2023, marking the first time the renewable has surpassed global investment in oil production. It’s astonishing growth for an industry that was in its infancy just a decade ago. And Jigar Shah, the director of the Loan Programs Office at the US Department of Energy, thinks his office should get partial credit for kick-starting the solar revolution.
The technology for solar has been well established for years, but the business case for installing it on a mass scale hasn’t developed as quickly. Around 20 years ago, there wasn’t a single large utility solar project in the US, and it was risky business to be the first. But that’s what the Loan Programs Office was created to accomplish in 2005, before being given an expanded mandate in 2009. It filled a gap where the private sector wouldn’t, by providing loans for innovative clean technologies that were not yet implemented on a mass scale.
“When you think about all the dominoes that fell to get to a billion dollars a day, we started that process,” Shah said in an interview last month with Vox. “We’re the ones who hit the first domino.”
Shah pointed out that the first five large-scale — 100-megawatt or more — solar plants in the US were all funded by the Loan Programs Office early in the Obama administration. A similar story was true for the rise of electric cars: The DOE office gave a $465 million loan to Tesla in 2010 to produce the successful Model S.
The Loan Programs Office has been dormant for over a decade. The Inflation Reduction Act along with the bipartisan infrastructure law rescued the office from obscurity but gave it a new challenge to tackle. Now, the Loan Programs Office has an expanded mandate from Congress to distribute up to $250 billion in loans to “retool, repower, repurpose, or replace energy infrastructure” for the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment program (EIR).
The goals of the EIR are different than most of the Inflation Reduction Act’s spending. Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act a year ago to usher in a new era of clean technology and manufacturing aimed at slashing US climate pollution. Billions of dollars of the climate law focuses on what it will build through tax credits, grants, and direct investments, technologies like heat pumps, electric cars, solar fields, offshore wind, power lines, and modern nuclear power.
What happens on the other side of the equation — the fossil fuel infrastructure left behind — is less clear. With 370 coal-fired power plant retirements announced in the past decade and more to come, this transition is already underway.
The DOE’s EIR has far-reaching potential to transform what we think of as traditional energy infrastructure, including utilities, power lines, and pipelines, as well as things like gas stations and hospitals. Executed in its full vision, the loans could help to lower climate pollution in the near term, but even more importantly, prove there’s a market for retooling the infrastructure we already have.
Abandoned gas stations could be put to new use through the EIR. Old gas stations are notoriously hard to reclaim and put to better use, but with more financing and an interested developer, they could be converted to EV charging stations.
More at https://www.vox.com/climate/23771835/biden-ira-climate-fossil-fuel-ene
rgy-investment
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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South Korea emerges as key partner for America’s energy transition | July 24, 2023
Inside Climate News reports:
On June 22, the U.S. The Department of Energy announced that it will grant a $9.2 billion loan to BlueOval SK LLC (BOSK), a joint venture between Ford and SK On, a Korean battery manufacturer. The loan will be used to construct three manufacturing plants in Tennessee and Kentucky. Once operational, the facilities have the potential to displace 455 million gallons of gasoline annually by propelling the shift toward low-carbon transportation.
The loan, dubbed the “biggest government investment in the auto industry” since the 2009 recession, is evidence of the Biden administration’s efforts to strengthen the domestic supply chain for a clean energy transition. As the U.S. tries to kick off its renewable energy and battery manufacturing capabilities, it also needs help from overseas to quickly reach its net zero goals, and South Korea is emerging as a pivotal ally in America’s pursuit of an energy transition.
More at https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24072023/south-korea-emerges-as-key
-partner-for-americas-clean-energy-manufacturing/
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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And HOW will these batteries be charged? Bc if you're using coal-fired plants, all you'll have is a coal-fired car.
That's what I don' get about the whole EV thing... normally smart people treat the battery as if it's a source of energy, but in reality it's just temporary storage.
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"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger
Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM
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Quote:I have a 5-year contract with Shell Energy.
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
And HOW will these batteries be charged? Bc if you're using coal-fired plants, all you'll have is a coal-fired car.
That's what I don' get about the whole EV thing... normally smart people treat the battery as if it's a source of energy, but in reality it's just temporary storage.
Where does Shell get the electricity? The Sun. Not from Coal. Not from Natural Gas.
https://shellenergy.com/business/decarbonization
This is probably obvious, but the purpose of an electric vehicle is defeated if the electricity is purchased from a fossil-fueled power plant.
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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Modern ‘sixth mass extinction’ event will be worse than first predicted, says report
Tragically, the global mass extinction event that we find ourselves in the midst of will be even worse than originally predicted, according to a recent study ( https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/brv.12974 ). The international team of scientists came to their conclusion after analyzing population trends data for more than 71,000 animal species — including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and insects — from around the world to see how their numbers have changed since record-keeping first began.
Generally, scientists agree that an extinction event is occurring when species vanish much faster than they are replaced. A mass extinction event is usually defined as losing 75% of the world’s species in a short period of geological time — less than 2.8 million years, according to the Natural History Museum ( https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/what-is-mass-extinction-and-are-we-faci
ng-a-sixth-one.html ).
Previous research has established that the current rates of extinction are between 1000-10,000 times higher than “background” extinction rates, which has led some scientists to argue that life on Earth has entered its sixth mass extinction event. But uniquely, when compared to the planet’s previous five mass extinction events, this is the first mass extinction event that is the result of the actions of just one species — humans.
More at https://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscientist/2023/07/19/modern-sixth-mas
s-extinction-event-will-be-worse-than-first-predicted/
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:
Modern ‘sixth mass extinction’ event will be worse than first predicted, says report
Tragically, the global mass extinction event that we find ourselves in the midst of will be even worse than originally predicted, according to a recent study ( https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/brv.12974 ). The international team of scientists came to their conclusion after analyzing population trends data for more than 71,000 animal species — including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and insects — from around the world to see how their numbers have changed since record-keeping first began.
Generally, scientists agree that an extinction event is occurring when species vanish much faster than they are replaced. A mass extinction event is usually defined as losing 75% of the world’s species in a short period of geological time — less than 2.8 million years, according to the Natural History Museum ( https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/what-is-mass-extinction-and-are-we-faci
ng-a-sixth-one.html ).
Previous research has established that the current rates of extinction are between 1000-10,000 times higher than “background” extinction rates, which has led some scientists to argue that life on Earth has entered its sixth mass extinction event. But uniquely, when compared to the planet’s previous five mass extinction events, this is the first mass extinction event that is the result of the actions of just one species — humans.
More at https://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscientist/2023/07/19/modern-sixth-mas
s-extinction-event-will-be-worse-than-first-predicted/
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
Cool--------------------------------------------------
How you do anything is how you do everything.
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Quote:
Originally posted by second:Quote:I have a 5-year contract with Shell Energy.
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
And HOW will these batteries be charged? Bc if you're using coal-fired plants, all you'll have is a coal-fired car.
That's what I don' get about the whole EV thing... normally smart people treat the battery as if it's a source of energy, but in reality it's just temporary storage.
Where does Shell get the electricity? The Sun. Not from Coal. Not from Natural Gas.
https://shellenergy.com/business/decarbonization
Bullshit.
You have a coal powered car. Electricity isn't magic.
--------------------------------------------------
How you do anything is how you do everything.
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Quote:
'Heat Islands' Have City-Dwellers Swelter In A Concrete Jungle
Across all 44 cities, the total population living in census tracts with an UHI [urban heat index] index of 8°F or higher is 41 million—or about 55% of the 74 million people included in this analysis.
https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/urban-heat-islands-2023
Quote:
How to redesign cities to withstand heat waves
Trees, green roofs, and white paint
https://www.vox.com/22557563/how-to-redesign-cities-for-heat-waves-cli
mate-change
-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger
Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
And HOW will these batteries be charged? Bc if you're using coal-fired plants, all you'll have is a coal-fired car.
That's what I don' get about the whole EV thing... normally smart people treat the battery as if it's a source of energy, but in reality it's just temporary storage.
SECOND::I have a 5-year contract with Shell Energy.
Where does Shell get the electricity? The Sun. Not from Coal.
Bully for you.
So, OOC what is the greenhouse gas cost of making solar cells and all of those lithium batteries? Is that a net negative or positive?
You claim to have been an engineer? HA!
-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger
Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:Oh my goodness! The Cost! The Cost! Instead, let's plant a trillion trees, your favorite cost-free project to save the world, Signym. (President Trump Signs One Trillion Trees Executive Order https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/articles/president-trump-signs-on
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Bully for you.
So, OOC what is the greenhouse gas cost of making solar cells and all of those lithium batteries? Is that a net negative or positive?
You claim to have been an engineer? HA!
e-trillion-trees-executive-order-promoting-conservation-regeneration-nations-forests/ )
In real news that will save the world, unlike Trump's Trillion Trees:
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a major new rule Thursday to accelerate the connection of energy projects to the power grid, a move that could ease widespread delays stifling renewable energy.
There are over 2,000 gigawatts of proposed U.S. solar, wind and battery storage projects seeking to come online through what’s known as the interconnection process, according to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. That’s greater than the electric capacity of all of the power plants already on the nation’s grid today. Too bad about all the Republican-owned coal-burning power plants that will be forced into shutdown by the excess capacity of cheaper electricity.
The sheer volume of proposed projects has overwhelmed the longstanding grid connection process. It took an average of five years for new electricity projects that were built last year to be studied and approved for connection, compared to less than two years in 2008, Berkeley Lab has estimated.
Clean energy developers say the grid connection process has become a major impediment to meeting states’ renewable energy policies and realizing the goals of last year’s Inflation Reduction Act. "Every single Republican in Congress voted against the Inflation Reduction Act" because Climate Change Is A Chinese Hoax. Instead, Republicans wanted Trump's Trillion Trees. https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1582491715772071936?lang=en
Under the new FERC rule, grid operators and electric utilities will need to change how they study energy projects and will now be subject to firm deadlines and penalties if they fail to process connection requests on time. Proposed electricity projects will be studied in groups, rather than individually, and projects that are further along in the development process will be prioritized.
“The rule provides a strong baseline, based on best practices and lessons learned from around the country, to ensure all utilities are making strides towards breaking through their own interconnection logjams,” said Commissioner Allison Clements, a Democrat.
More at https://www.eenews.net/articles/ferc-approves-historic-rule-to-address
-renewables-backlog/
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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