Energy Discussion

[taxi1]

Space heating in new construction, and replacement heating systems in older commercial buildings. Water heating in hotels and apartments. That doesn't include anything involving cooking in any of the above, and also doesn't include anything in single-family residential homes.

If you space heat from natural gas, you can space heat from natural gas.

If you electric heat, then you can still space heat from natural gas. But also from hydro, solar, coal, oil, wind, geothermal, stored battery, and anything else you can convert into electricity.

I have a geothermal heat pump system which runs off of electricity, which is generated via a bunch of means. The thing is awesome.

As fuel cells come along, there's the potential to have them right at your site and convert to electricity in the back yard so you can run your own micro-grid.

If I was in charge of things, I'd put real effort into the grid technology. Ours is pretty fragile. The easier it is to convert and move energy to and fro, the more flexibility we will have to adapt to the latest energy technologies that pop up.

 

[Hair Warrior]

If you’ve ever cooked on a gas stovetop vs electric stovetop, you’ll never want to give up nat gas, no matter how your home is heated.

 

[Flash]

We're not going to replace every vehicle on the road with an eVehicle tomorrow, or even 14 years from now. What's wrong with trying to make existing vehicles more efficient? Also, how about more widespread adoption of diesel, particularly in consumer vehicles? The infrastructure already exists for consumer adoption, and it improves flexibility of fuel sources. Plus, I've been led to believe making gasoline is a net energy loss in that it takes more energy to produce a gallon of gasoline than you get from that gallon.

Because diesels usually pump out nitrous oxides, particularly nitrous dioxide, at higher levels than gas-powered cars and that includes even the current models and without cheating or tampering (both of which are actually pretty big issues). Europe went whole hog for diesels but has been pulling back the last few years because they found the biggest component of urban air pollution was due to that very issue.

 

[nittany03]

Becasue diesels usually pump out nitrous oxides, particularly nitrous dioxide, at higher levels than gas-powered cars and that includes even the current models and without cheating or tampering (both of which are actually pretty big issues). Europe went whole hog for diesels but has been pulling back the last few years because they found the biggest component of urban air pollution was due to that very issue.

Hence why Volkswagen suddenly got religion about electric cars. They previously went whole-hog on cheating their way into a diesel fleet and ended up utterly fooked. So if you have to pay an enormous fine and redesign all your cars anyway . . .

 

[scoolbubba]

They are torquey sumbitches and get great mileage. They also sound like a tank, so that's cool.

 

[Hair Warrior]

If I was in charge of things, I'd put real effort into the grid technology. Ours is pretty fragile. The easier it is to convert and move energy to and fro, the more flexibility we will have to adapt to the latest energy technologies that pop up.

FYI, if this is an issue of concern for you, POTUS 46 repealed an executive order by POTUS 45 aimed at preventing malign foreign influence/equipment in our national electric grid.

Biden pauses Trump order blocking Communist Chinese infiltration of US power grid

On President Joe Biden's first day in office, he signed an executive order that, among other things, suspended for 90 days a Trump-era order that blocked

americanmilitarynews.com

 

[Flash]

FYI, if this is an issue of concern for you, POTUS 46 repealed an executive order by POTUS 45 aimed at preventing malign foreign influence/equipment in our national electric grid.

Biden pauses Trump order blocking Communist Chinese infiltration of US power grid

On President Joe Biden's first day in office, he signed an executive order that, among other things, suspended for 90 days a Trump-era order that blocked

americanmilitarynews.com

President Biden's EO suspended it for 90 days, it wasn't 'repealed'. From the article:

“is hereby suspended for 90 days” and “the Secretary of Energy and the Director of [Office of Management and Budget] shall jointly consider whether to recommend that a replacement order be issued.”

 

[Notanaviator]

Thought this was an eye opening article, particularly some research done related to the Brits' planned shift to EVs that stated that in order to "replace all of the UK vehicle fleet with EVs, assuming they use the most resource-frugal next-generation batteries, we would need the following materials: about twice the annual global production of cobalt; three quarters of the world’s production lithium carbonate; nearly the entire world production of neodymium; and more than half the world’s production of copper in 2018." That's just for the UK.

The Dirty Secrets Of ‘Clean’ Electric Vehicles

The widespread view that fossil fuels are “dirty” and renewables such as wind and solar energy and electric vehicles are “clean” has become a fixture of mainstream media and policy makers of all persuasions. But, in the case of EVs, the dirty secrets of “clean energy” should seem apparent to all.

www.forbes.com

 

[nittany03]

If I was in charge of things, I'd put real effort into the grid technology. Ours is pretty fragile. The easier it is to convert and move energy to and fro, the more flexibility we will have to adapt to the latest energy technologies that pop up.

It should just be a free market. You generate X amount of electricity and use Y. If Y > X, you have to buy it from the power company. If X > Y, you can sell it to the power company. Tax appropriately for methods of generating electricity that generate greenhouse gases and/or give credits for ones that don't. Want to subsidize your vacation home by putting solar cells on the roof? Knock yourself out.

 

[Randy Daytona]

It should just be a free market. You generate X amount of electricity and use Y. If Y > X, you have to buy it from the power company. If X > Y, you can sell it to the power company. Tax appropriately for methods of generating electricity that generate greenhouse gases and/or give credits for ones that don't. Want to subsidize your vacation home by putting solar cells on the roof? Knock yourself out.

Happened to see this the other day, especially as politicians pass bills to mandate more and more non-baseload solar and wind power to the grid at the expense of reliable natural gas.

Households across Japan are likely to get hit by massive electric bills this month, after the price of wholesale electricity there spiked from about 13 cents per kilowatt-hour in December to an unprecedented peak of more than $1 on Jan. 7. (The average Japanese household uses about 250 kWh per month. In the US, prices are typically 3-4 cents per kWh). By Jan. 18, the price had fallen back to its previous level. What happened? The spike was partially a pandemic-related anomaly. But it was also an ominous sign of things to come for Asian countries working to curb their carbon footprints.

Japan’s surging electricity prices are a warning for Asian countries

How a cold snap in Japan caused a traffic jam in the Panama Canal, and what it means for the climate.

qz.com

 

[Flash]

Happened to see this the other day, especially as politicians pass bills to mandate more and more non-baseload solar and wind power to the grid at the expense of reliable natural gas.

How reliable is it when you have to import all of the natural gas you use and the price of it quadrupled due to supplier issues?

 

[taxi1]

It should just be a free market. You generate X amount of electricity and use Y. If Y > X, you have to buy it from the power company. If X > Y, you can sell it to the power company. Tax appropriately for methods of generating electricity that generate greenhouse gases and/or give credits for ones that don't. Want to subsidize your vacation home by putting solar cells on the roof? Knock yourself out.

Yup. With some kind of grid far better than what we have now, we should be able to easily do the things you talk about.

Can't remember where I saw the article, but it was about how the companies running the big fixed power sources (coal, nuke, natural gas) are asking for some kind of tax on the grid in order to be there as the rainy day source, since they have to pay to keep their facility ready to crank up and backfill when the sun doesn't shine and wind doesn't blow.

Interesting economics.

 

[robav8r]

While not purely energy related, this is a fascinating read . . . .

 

[taxi1]

It's all about the grid. Well, a good bit of it.

.The widespread failure in Texas and to a lesser extent Oklahoma in the face of a winter cold snap shines a light on what some see as the derelict state of America’s power infrastructure, a reflection of the chaos that struck California last summer.

 

[bubblehead]

Thought this was an eye opening article, particularly some research done related to the Brits' planned shift to EVs that stated that in order to "replace all of the UK vehicle fleet with EVs, assuming they use the most resource-frugal next-generation batteries, we would need the following materials: about twice the annual global production of cobalt; three quarters of the world’s production lithium carbonate; nearly the entire world production of neodymium; and more than half the world’s production of copper in 2018." That's just for the UK.

How dare you point out facts... ?