Posted on 02/19/2020 8:18:34 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Two green-dream fantasies are heading for a massive and costly collision.
Firstly, they dream of generating all grid power from wind and solar propped up by battery storage (such as lots of giant Tesla batteries and pumped hydro).
Secondly, they dream of replacing all petrol, diesel, and gas cars, trucks, and buses with electric vehicles, powered by more batteries.
But wind farms do well if they can average about 35% of their rated capacity, with low predictability, while solar panels average just 25% of their capacity, produced intermittently. To generate zero emissions energy for Australia, we would need hills covered with turbines, flats covered with solar panels, the countryside spider-webbed with access roads and transmission lines, and much more hydro.
To stabilize a green energy system without using hydrocarbons will require an eye-watering quantity of batteries, costing as much as 200 times the cost of any wind or solar facility needing backup. Every home will need a battery in the basement (and sensible ones will also have a diesel in the shed).
Add to this battery bonanza: millions of batteries will be needed to electrify and replace our fleet of gas and diesel vehicles.
No wonder cynical mining companies like BHP are going green — they smell a jackpot from the coming green boom in demand for steel, aluminum, lithium, copper, nickel, graphite, cobalt, rare earths, and nuclear fuels. And no wonder Tesla supports green energy — the total annual output of the world's biggest battery factory in Nevada would store less than five minutes of annual U.S. electricity demand. They also see booming demand for electric vehicle batteries. No wonder Tesla shares have gone ballistic (the boom before the crash?).
The carbon dioxide emitted by all the extra mining, transport, manufacture, and disposal of green energy generators and batteries
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
All this ‘Green’ crap is about ONE THING AND ONE THING ONLY:
CONTROLLING THE MASSES.................
Just ask them where they think their electricity comes from and how is owning an electric car and adding extra load to the grid helping to do anything meaningful for the environment?
I think it’s more about companies milking rubes for all they’ve got — under government mandates to go “green.”
Someday, people will finally believe today’s analyses that show “green” is 1) very expensive, 2) never going to be reliable, 3) environmentally destructive when you factor in all the land and resources required to build and run it, and 4) extremely destructive to wildlife.
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The carbon dioxide emitted by all the extra mining, transport, manufacture, and disposal of green energy generators and batteries would far exceed the CO2 allegedly saved by the threatened green upheaval.
The good news is that electricity grows on trees!
(That seems to be the implicit view of the “green” crowd...)
They need to come up with some sort of energy source with the following attrubutes:
1. Liquefied for easy transport.
2. Large amounts of BTU’s per pound of material.
3. Inexpensive to produce.
4. Minimal geographic footprint.
5. Small environmental impact footprint.
6. Easily expandable and as close to unlimited as possible in capacity.
The two winners:
1. Nuclear - not liquid but wins on all other fronts.
2. Fossil fuels
Solar and wind are toys. I love solar and win for situations like living in the middle of nowhere, where it’s solar/wind or nothing. But that and SHTF scenarios are the only place it’s practical and justifiable.
I think all Teslas in Kentucky should have a bumper sticker that says, “Powered by coal”.
Where’s the beef?
This article is one supposition after another.
Look at the big truck! It needs 4wd!!!
Yes, coal by wire is difficult.
NB: India is producing solar for about the same price as coal and not much above the USA price for coal.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/solar-power-is-beginning-to-eclipse-fossil-fuels-11581964338
Built in 2018 by India’s Acme Solar Holdings Ltd., it can generate 200 megawatts of electricity, enough to power all the homes in a middle-size U.S. town. Acme sells the electricity to distributors for 2.44 rupees (3.4 cents) a kilowatt-hour, a record low for solar power in India, a country that data trackers say has the world’s cheapest solar energy.
More remarkable, the power costs less to generate in India than the cheapest competing fossil fuel—coal—even with subsidies removed and the cost of construction and financing figured in, according to the Indian government and industry trackers.
RE: India is producing solar for about the same price as coal and not much above the USA price for coal.
What kind of energy and materials does India use to produce these solar panels?
Where do they mine the materials? What kind of energy is used for the mining industry?
Where do they mine the materials? What kind of energy is used for the mining industry?
Sorry, something went wrong, this link is more to your profile:
‘Green News Report’ - February 18, 2020
https://www.bradblog.com/?cat=407
We already saw a collision in California. The solar roofs built to maximize ROI had a direct connection to the grid ... no connection to the house to deliver power if the grid is down, and no energy storage to let you run lights at night.
Let’s throw in Magnesium metal as an energy storage medium, without first getting into-the-weeds on where to obtain the large supply needed to compete with petroleum fuels.
The metallic oxide of Magnesium sourced from sea water can be converted to pure metal by intense light energy at appropriate density. The Japanese process found laser light at tight focus suitable for this purpose. Obtaining the laser light to drive a large commercial scale process is the economics question needing an answer.
Water and magnesium react to produce hydrogen gas, magnesium oxide, steam, and provide an intense source of heat. A number of possibilities exists for the use of the H2 gas—combustion for additional heat or steam, fuel cell reactant for direct electrical energy production, hydrogen source for organic chemistry, or a motor fuel for IC engines.
Now for a dive into the weeds. Recently SpaceX announced the intended production of two Starship units per week. The question space pundits are bouncing about is “What to do with the launch capability that represents?” We are speaking of the potential to place 150 metric tons to low orbit for each launch, and rapid turnaround for reuse of the launch vehicles on a daily basis.
One possibility is to establish a laser system based upon pumping the solar corona plasma to generate an optical power beam directed to a receiving station, possibly at one of Earth’s Lagrange Points. From there the energy could be suitably modified for distribution within the Earth operations zone, whether needed upon the surface or in orbit.
One might even operate a laser light driven metals refining process on the shore of an ocean—make use of the concentrated brine cast off from a desalination plant supplying your fresh water. Solar energy indeed!
A few EV and hybrid cars out there are fine. But take away coal and combustion turbine plants out there that are producing the steady power, combined with huge amounts of EV’s, you aint going anywhere.
“I do love getting into discussions with Prius”
Priuses are 100% gasoline-driven cars ... they are NOT plugins ...
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