Category Archives: burn free generation

Air Bus Promises Zero Emissions By 2035 – Seems impossible right

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Seem to good to be true? Then it probably is. Interesting thought though. I think they are dreaming a little to late, myself. We shall see. Unfortunately.
(By the way, I have not said a single thing about this election. The first time since 2008. Want to know why? Because as my friend Nelson said, the Democrats could run a door knob for president and I would vote for it. The Cheeto Buritto’s energy policies suck.)
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Airbus reveals plans for zero-emission aircraft fueled by hydrogen

Aviation firm announces three different concepts with aim of taking to the skies by 2035

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Airbus has announced plans for the world’s first zero-emission commercial aircraft models that run on hydrogen and could take to the skies by 2035.

The European aersospace company revealed three different aircraft concepts that would be put through their paces to find the most efficient way to travel long distances by plane without producing the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global heating.

UK holidaymakers and business travellers could fly from London to the Canary Islands, Athens or eastern Europe without producing carbon emissions, should the plans become a commercial reality.

Guillaume Faury, the Airbus chief executive, said the “historic moment for the commercial aviation sector” marks the “most important transition this industry has ever seen”.

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Go there and read. More next week.

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The Kids May Save Us – The planet Earth that is

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This such a fun and upbeat story. I know you are saying – Doug doesn’t do upbeat or fun. I do not do exclamation marks, ever. So you will just have to take my word on this. This younger generation and these kids in particular could make the difference between human extinction or not.

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/09/9952945/gen-z-climate-change-anxiety?utm_source=digg

Gen Z’s Radical, Virtual Quest To Save The Planet

Molly Longman
Last Updated September 25, 2020, 9:00 AM
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It’s time to wake up. On Global Day of Climate Action, VICE Media Group is solely telling stories about our current climate crisis. Click here to meet young climate leaders from around the globe and learn how you can take action. 
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Many people first started paying attention to the youth climate movement in 2018, when now-17-year-old Greta Thunberg began protesting outside Swedish Parliament in her home country. Her small act of civil disobedience had a ripple effect. Students across the globe began striking by refusing to attend classes, which eventually turned into the “Fridays For Future” movement.
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It may sound like a ploy to get out of chemistry, but it’s not. Gen Z ranks climate change as the most important issue of our time, according to last year’s Amnesty International survey of more than 10,000 members of 18- to 25-year-olds. “Older generations were not out there protesting in the streets on this issue the way Gen Z is,” asserts Rebecca Bromley-Trujillo, PhD, who teaches political science and environmental policy at Christopher Newport University. These under-25 activists have formed organizations like Fridays For Future and Zero Hour, a movement that focuses on helping young people take action. Others have sued their state or even the United Nations. They’ve staged hunger strikes. They’ve performed spoken word poetry.
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These kids care. A lot.
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“Younger people see the total mess that Boomers and, to a lesser extent, millennials have left, and they have to figure out how to fix it,” says Jessica Green, PhD, an associate professor focused on climate governance at the University of Toronto.

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Go there and rejoice. Hallelujah Hallelujah  Hallelujah More hopefully next week.

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Solar Waste, What Shall We Do – I never dodge a bullet

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I say the same thing I have said about recycling all along. Store what you can’t recycle right now and recycle what you can now. The best examples is the large Wind Generator Blades (it used to be common batteries). Throwing stuff in the land fill that has no business there messes everything else up. So storing the Blades from the Wind Generators (turbines whatever) in one place…even if you bury them is critical, so that when you find a way to recycle them (and you will) you can go get them. Throwing common batteries in a land fill ( AAs, AAAs, etc) is essentially admitting you will never get them back. Better to store them in abandoned warehouses or something. Even burying them in a battery land fill so you can get them back is better than just throwing them away.

https://www.wired.com/story/solar-panels-are-starting-to-die-leaving-behind-toxic-trash/?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Maddie Stone

Science

Solar Panels Are Starting to Die, Leaving Behind Toxic Trash

Photovoltaic panels are a boon for clean energy but are tricky to recycle. As the oldest ones expire, get ready for a solar e-waste glut.

This story originally appeared on Grist and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

Solar panels are an increasingly important source of renewable power that will play an essential role in fighting climate change. They are also complex pieces of technology that become big, bulky sheets of electronic waste at the end of their lives—and right now, most of the world doesn’t have a plan for dealing with that.

But we’ll need to develop one soon, because the solar e-waste glut is coming. By 2050, the International Renewable Energy Agency projects that up to 78 million metric tons of solar panels will have reached the end of their life, and that the world will be generating about 6 million metric tons of new solar e-waste annually. While the latter number is a small fraction of the total e-waste humanity produces each year, standard electronics recycling methods don’t cut it for solar panels. Recovering the most valuable materials from one, including silver and silicon, requires bespoke recycling solutions. And if we fail to develop those solutions along with policies that support their widespread adoption, we already know what will happen.

“If we don’t mandate recycling, many of the modules will go to landfill,” said Arizona State University solar researcher Meng Tao, who recently authored a review paper on recycling silicon solar panels, which comprise 95 percent of the solar market.

Solar panels are composed of photovoltaic (PV) cells that convert sunlight to electricity. When these panels enter landfills, valuable resources go to waste. And because solar panels contain toxic materials like lead that can leach out as they break down, landfilling also creates new environmental hazards.

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Go there and read. Demand that your municipality pass a law that solar panels do not go in the land fill. More next week.

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How To Drive Fossil Fuels Out Of The Economy – The title is very deceptive

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While this article is not click bait per se, the first sentence talks about Roosevelt and WWII. You know, the Big One that he used to take over the economy for almost 10 years. Ask yourself, “Would any USA President use emergency powers OR The War Powers Act to purge the economy of fossil fuels”? The real answer is a resounding NO. Then he proceeds to discuss a “PLAN” that is more of a “thought experiment” or a model with some “results”.

None-the-less it is entertaining. And to be fair possible. But somebody has got to light a really really really large fire. Every pun intended.

https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/21349200/climate-change-fossil-fuels-rewiring-america-electrify

How to drive fossil fuels out of the US economy, quickly

The US has everything it needs to decarbonize by 2035.

By David Robertsdavid@vox.com

In the runup to World War II, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt enlisted the entire US economy in an effort to scale up production of war material. All of the country’s resources were bent to the task. In 1939, the US had 1,700 aircraft; in 1945, it had 300,000 military aircraft and 18,500 B–24 bombers.

By the time the war was won, the economy was up and humming with a massively expanded workforce (drawing in women and African Americans) and turbocharged productive capacity. Investments made during the war mobilization yielded a robust middle class and decades of sustained, broadly shared prosperity.

A similar mobilization will be necessary for the US to decarbonize its economy fast enough to avert the worst of climate change. To do its part in limiting global temperature rise to between 1.5° and 2° Celsius, the US must reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 at the latest. To achieve this, the full resources of the US economy must be bent toward manufacturing the needed clean-energy technology and infrastructure.

FDR began with two questions. First, he asked not what was politically feasible but what was necessary to win the war. He also asked not how much funding was available in the federal budget but how much productive capacity was available in the economy — what was possible.

Saul Griffith is trying to answer those same questions on climate change: what is necessary, given the trajectory of global warming, and what is possible, given the resources in the US economy.

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It is a Vox long read. So go there and read forever. More next week.

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Joe Biden For President – There I said it

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Trump doesn’t have a plan for the environment except to degrade it. Donald Trump doesn’t have a plan for energy consumption but to push coal usage and repeal regulation that encourage the switch to alternative energy sources. Joe Biden has a TRILLION dollar plan that is good for the environment and proposes to be carbon free at some point. We need sanity. We need Joe.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/14/joe-biden-unveils-green-jobs-and-infrastructure-plan-during-2020-election.html

https://joebiden.com/clean-energy/

Politics

Joe Biden unveils $2 trillion green infrastructure and jobs plan

Jacob Pramuk

Former Vice President Joe Biden released a sprawling plan Tuesday to revamp American infrastructure and energy to both curb climate change and spur economic growth.

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee’s proposal aims to achieve carbon-free power generation by 2035. As the coronavirus pandemic leaves the U.S. mired in an economic crisis, Biden said he will set out to create “millions” of union jobs that pay at least $15 per hour as the U.S. overhauls its roads, bridges, trains, auto industry and broadband system.

The plan, which comes days after a joint task force formed by the Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders campaigns outlined a climate change agenda, sets out a more ambitious approach to developing clean energy than the Biden campaign did during the Democratic primary. It calls for $2 trillion in spending over four years, more than the $1.7 trillion the campaign previously proposed to spend over a decade.

“Even if we weren’t facing a pandemic and an economic crisis, we should be making these investments anyway,” Biden said of the plan during remarks in Delaware. He called the investments “critical” for the economy and public health.

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Go there and read. Read alot. More next week.

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Singapore Solves A Serious Energy Issue – If only Bloomberg would get to it as well

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Now if the Bloombergs of the world would tackle their issues, maybe the Earth would make some progress.

Solving the Global Cooling Problem

As air-conditioning sucks up more and more energy, Singapore finds a greener way to keep cool.

By Faris Mokhtar

In Singapore, close to the Equator, temperatures regularly rise above 32 degrees Celsius (90 Fahrenheit) — but inside the soaring glass greenhouses of Gardens by the Bay, the country’s award-winning botanical park, it’s a pleasant 24 degrees.

The daffodils and tulips of the flower dome, along with two dozen nearby towers that are normally full of bankers, shoppers, residents, hotel guests and gamblers, are chilled by what is probably the world’s largest underground district cooling system. It’s a giant air conditioner that is attempting to solve one of the biggest problems of global warming: How to stay cool.

(moving right along)

That means a massive drain on power — more than a third of the world’s electricity could end up being used to cool buildings and vehicles — with an equivalent jump in carbon emissions if, as is the case now, most of that extra generating capacity relies on fossil fuels.

The rise of global cooling has prompted research and development into ways to make systems more efficient using heat pumps, solar-power, evaporative coolers and other technologies. One of the most effective is to build a system that uses a large central plant that can cool several city blocks.

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Go there and read a lot. More next week.

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Elon Musk Throws A Tempertantrum – NOone listens

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Really – wouldn’t that be cool? But you know, self absorbed rich young guys with big mouths, the press eats them up. More! More! More! Is he right well? Newsome is no fascist. He is just a little old Democrat. Could the car industry open up? Well probably, slowly. But Elon wants what Elon wants and Elon usually gets. Thus the outburst.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/29/tesla-tsla-earnings-q1-2020.html

Tesla rises as company ekes out a Q1 profit

Lauren Feiner@lauren_feiner
Lora Kolodny@lorakolodny
  • Tesla reported first-quarter results on Wednesday, including a $16 million profit.
  • A Covid-19 outbreak in China forced Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle maker to suspend manufacturing in Shanghai for more than a week in February and in the U.S. at the end of March.
  • Musk and Tesla CFO Zachary Kirkhorn are expected to update shareholders on the impact of the coronavirus on their business so far and their plans to bring production back online in the U.S.

Excerpt:

Musk slammed the Bay Area’s shelter-in-place orders as “unconstitutional” and “fascism” in a profanity-laced tirade on an earnings call Wednesday evening.

He said: “I think we are a bit worried about not being able to resume production in the Bay Area and that should be identified as a serious risk. We only have two car factories now, one in Shanghai and one in the Bay Area.”

And he continued sounding more and more incensed, at one point asking, “What the f–k?”

Musk also ranted about the health orders: “I think people are going to be very angry about this and are very angry. It’s like somebody wants to stay in the house? That’s great, they should be allowed to stay in the house, and they should not be compelled to leave. But to say that they cannot leave their house, and they will be arrested if they do, this is fascist. This is not democratic. This is not freedom. Give people back their goddamn freedom.”

(Leaving a place of residence is not a crime in California under Covid-19 health orders.)

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Go there and listen to loud shouting. More next week.

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HillTopper Wind Farm – It looked magnificent

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During this pandemic I have been getting rid of my housitis by driving around in my car. No touching. No talking. Just driving. At first it was close to Riverton, like to Williamsville or places in Springfield like Lincoln Land Community College or Washington Park. One day I thought, “Let’s drive to Mt. Pulaski” which is about 20 miles away maybe. I had forgotten that they had built a wind farm just shy of there. What a glorious sight. Right along the highway. I was amazed. I pulled off the road in wonder. My faith in humanity was renewed.

(I know this is a company site but it has wonderful Pictures. I can neither vouch for this company nor advise any sort of dealings with this company. I am simply reposting its website)

https://www.enelgreenpower.com/stories/a/2019/01/hilltopper-and-sustainable-future-of-energy-with-egp-ppas

HillTopper wind farm creates energy solutions for a sustainable future

Published on Thursday, 17 January 2019

excerpted:

A Wind Farm “Made in the USA”

Located in Illinois, the US state with the sixth highest installed wind capacity, HillTopper is an example of how our projects contribute to local socio-economic development.

By purchasing wind turbines produced from a local business, HillTopper contributed 50 million dollars directly to the local economy: a clear example of the care Enel Green Power has for the communities that welcome us. As Enel Green Power, we provide sustainable, clean, reliable and affordable energy to several companies, with the goal of creating new value in the heart of Illinois.

The 185-MW wind farm uses General Electric turbines manufactured in the United States and, through a collaboration with Trinity Structural Towers, located just a few kilometers from the site, we’re fostering the growth of the local economy.

The local manufacturer provided about half of HillTopper’s 74 turbines. At nearly 90 meters tall, they provide 570 GWh of energy every year. This power can cover the energy needs of more than 46,300 American households.

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Go there and read all their corporate speak. But look at the picture and imagine the possibilities. More next week.

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Alternative Energy Will Never Work – They said

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The wind doesn’t blow all the time.

The sun only shines during the day.

Geothermal can’t be done everywhere.

Heat Pumps only work in certain temperature ranges.

There will never be enough storage.

Storage will be too expensive.

You can’t power an industrial society like this.

Then there is the big LIE, Nuclear Power is carbon free.

So much CARBON goes into a Nuclear Power Plant the it would never be carbon free…Not in a hundred years.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1364032118303897?amp=1

The feasibility of 100% renewable electricity systems: A response to critics?

BenEllistonc

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Large-scale electricity systems based on 100% renewable energy can meet the key requirements of reliability, security and affordability.

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This is even true where the vast majority of generation comes from variable renewables such as wind and solar PV.

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Thus the principal myths of critics of 100% renewable electricity are refuted.

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Arguments that the transition to 100% renewable electricity will necessarily take as long or longer than historical energy transitions are also refuted.

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The principal barriers to 100% renewable electricity are neither technological nor economic, but instead are primarily political, institutional and cultural.

There is this as well:

100% renewable electricity is viable  

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Go there and read. One is a book. So you may have to check it out of the library. More next week.

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Americans Would Not Know Good Design If It Bit Them ON The Ass

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These people have been conserving massive amounts of energy for years. Americans, Russians and Chinese, NOt So MucH. You know – energy exuberance and all that poppycock.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/12/a-design-concept-is-transforming-the-energy-efficiency-of-buildings.html?utm_source=digg

IOT: Powering the digital economy

How a decades-old design concept is transforming the energy efficiency of buildings

 

Anmar Frangoul
Key Points
  • The buildings we live and work in have to meet a wide range of needs.
  • Could a shift in the way they are designed make them more energy efficient?
H/O - Goldsmith Street Norwich
Goldsmith Street, in the English city of Norwich, won the RIBA Stirling Prize for 2019.
Tim Crocker

The buildings we live and work in have to meet a wide range of needs, whether it’s an office block in the middle of the city or a small house in the suburbs.

Think of a building’s temperature: It can be regulated by radiators, fans and air conditioning systems, while basic actions such as opening and closing a window or door can also be effective. Today, smart technology allows many of these appliances to be controlled remotely using smartphones.

You only need to look at your monthly utility bill to know that living in a building — be it large or small — costs money.

The impact of buildings on the environment is also a concern. According to the IEA, final energy use in buildings hit approximately 3,060 million tons of oil equivalent (Mtoe) in 2018, up from 2,820 Mtoe in 2010.

Fossil fuels’ share in buildings’ energy use was at 36% in 2018, the IEA says, a small drop compared to 38% in 2010.

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Go there and read. Its all you’ve got to do, right? More next week.

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