Cold Air Currents: Articles of interest
"...two nuclear plants produce one-third of the country's total power output, but the share is expected to grow to 50 per cent around 2025, with two new reactors at Temelin.
By 2060, nuclear power is expected to account for 80 per cent of the mix, according to a revamped energy strategy drafted by the Czech industry ministry and due to be submitted to the government by the end of the year."
'via Blog this'Population is the issue you blame if you can't admit to your own impacts: it's not us consuming, it's those brown people reproducing. It seems to be a reliable rule of environmental politics that the richer you are, the more likely you are to place population growth close to the top of the list of crimes against the planet.
The new report, inflated though its figures seem to be, will gravely disappoint the population obsessives. It cites Paul Murtaugh of Oregon State University, whose research shows that:
"An extra child born today in the United States, would, down the generations, produce an eventual carbon footprint seven times that of an extra child in China, 55 times that of an Indian child or 86 times that of a Nigerian child."
"The "real enemy here," Mr. Rowe continues, isn't the EPA. "It's what a whole lot of people who call themselves entrepreneurs, but really are living on their lobbyist, are doing getting legislators around the country to require utilities to buy power from stuff that has no connection with the economics at all.""
"Global warming is real, according to a major study released today. Despite issues raised by climate change skeptics, teh Berkeley Earth Sufrace Temperature study finds reliable evidence of a rise in the average world land temperature of approximately 1 degree C since the mid-1950's"
"The dirty little secret of clean energy in Ontario is that wind usually blows at the wrong time (dead of night), in the wrong season (winter); unfortunately, the province’s peak power demand is on hot summer days, not winter nights. Also, we have the wrong kind of hydro, because most of it is generated from run-of-river, which can’t be stored up in dams (as in Quebec) when it is needed most. Harnessing renewable energy in Ontario will be a perpetual problem, because we will always need standby power from gas turbines when the wind is blowing at the wrong times — or not at all."
"However, the new energy report said the markets have not materialized as predicted almost a decade ago.
"In particular, the competitive market has not developed in New Brunswick as anticipated, and given what has occurred in British Columbia, Ontario and elsewhere where competitive electricity markets have also failed to thrive, there is little likelihood that it will happen," the report said."
"The world faces two energy challenges: (1) the national security and economic challenge of dependence on foreign oil and (2) the need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels to avoid climate change. Nuclear energy as a low-carbon domestic source of energy can address both challenges. However, nuclear energy in the United States is only used for base-load electricity production—about a quarter of the total energy demand. To address the two energy challenges, we have initiated a series of studies to understand long-term nuclear renewable energy futures for a low-carbon world that can meet all energy demands. This includes liquid fossil fuel options with low greenhouse gas releases."
"Gorgeous property situated close to Lake Huron. Severed 1 acre with privacy and view. If you voted for the Liberals and are a fan of green energy and want to see your tax dollars at work you will be excited to see these Wind turbines with your view as a bonus,also situated for this area will be plenty more in the works for your great viewing .Also with this property M.O.E will personally guarantee that these turbines will not harm you with no health related problems in any way which is guaranteed by MOE and our Ontario Health minister. We will only take appointments to tour this beautiful home."Interesting approach.
"...in all but three grid regions in China, electric vehicles produce more CO2 per mile because of the coal source for the power than the equivalent gasoline-powered car:"
"But here’s a question: if we want to increase college completions over the longer term, is it more cost-effective to direct resources to college students or to preschoolers and kindergarteners?"..
The study found that kindergarteners randomly assigned to smaller classes through the Project Star experiment were 2.7 percentage points more likely to enroll in college and 1.6 percentage points more likely to complete a degree by age 30....
The 33 percent reduction in class size evaluated by the Project Star experiment was not cheap, and the authors estimate that it cost more than $400,000 per additional student induced to attend college as a result of program participation
Using impact estimates from other studies, the researchers calculate that programs aimed at individuals on the brink of college have the biggest bang for the buck — if the goal is college attainment....
An enormous caveat to this analysis is that good early childhood programs have been shown to improve a host of outcomes even for those who never attend college, including childhood health and mortality.... then the conclusion
"Based on both theory and evidence, it is hard to argue that we’re not underinvesting in early childhood education."Huh?
"The cost for wind’s little or no environmental benefit is high. The EIA’s latest estimates (Annual Energy Outlook 2011, April 2011) of the annualized cost of energy— inclusive of federal subsidies (2009$)—show how unaffordable renewable power is: solar thermal, $312/MWh; new nuclear, $114/MWh; wind, $96/MWh; and natural gas plants, $62/MWh. Given that the EIA report on renewable subsidies comes after the EIA’s AEO 2011 and that wind subsidies have risen substantially (more than $30/MWh) since these EIA estimates were released, it’s reasonable to estimate that the real market price of wind power is about $130/MWh without subsidies."It's always a little disconcerting to find out that, within the industry, all the deep dark secrets us amateurs uncover were known years ago:
The concerns expressed in its position paper also applied to investments in storage Statkraft points out, while underlining that the existing Norwegian hydro storage capacity could provide enormous flexibility for the German market if new cables between Norway and Germany respectively the continent were built.
"In periods of low demand on weekends and around noon, however, there is regularly more electricity generated by PV systems than consumed in Bavaria."--
All participants in the electricity market are responsible for its functioning, VBEW points out. Hence, PV systems operators had to be prepared that their installations are temporarily taken control of (in the sense that they cannot feed into the grid) to ensure system stability
"This is expensive energy to bring to market. While natural gas energy costs 6.3¢ per kilowatt-hour, offshore wind and solar thermal plants cost 24.3¢ and 31.2¢ per kilowatt-hour respectively. I would doubt that environmental considerations could justify such large outlays.
And it is questionable if these business subsidies really achieve their aims. As the recent head of the U.S. President’s Council of Economic Advisors, Austan Goolsbee, showed in a paper several years ago, capital subsidies force up input prices, such as wind turbines, thereby blunting their effectiveness in promoting the desired activity."
