I’m working on doing – at least monthly, maybe more – Climate Solution posts. I have some ideas of what I would like to begin with:
New battery technology
Innovations in and expectations of solar panels, wind power, geothermal, and heat pumps (those would probably be 2-3 separate posts).
I guess we should really address the gas stove vs. induction vs. electric stovetops topic. I have several good resources on that controversy.
EV, PHEVs – what’s available now, what’s coming down the pike, including what’s new in national network of charging stations capabilities.
With a bit more research, an update on the Inflation Reduction Act and how it’s influencing smarter energy choices
And we may have someone coming on board to outline the hows and whys of climate activism.
===============
I have three folks I follow pretty closely and feel like they provide solid information: David Roberts’ Volts podcast, Matt Ferrell’s Undecided videos, who is in the process of building a net-zero house, and Ricky “Two-bit Da Vinci” videos, who is retrofitting an old house to be net-zero. I also follow Al Gore and Climate Reality for the latest news. And, I’m taking a workshop in April on climate solution innovations.
===============
Here’s what I’d like to know from you – what other topics would you be interested in? I don’t promise I have the resources to find answers to every topic, but I will do my best.
Also, do we have any experts out there who want to contribute, either through guest posts, Q&As, or helping find answers to various questions?
And finally, anyone you think I should be following on social media for climate solution information?
Thanks in advance.
I’ll leave you with David Roberts’ list of podcasts/transcripts on the Inflation Reduction Act here.
Marmot
Great! I’d love to hear about net zero-carbon cement, or replacements therefor.
Edit: I mean cement manufacturing, just to be clear. It’s terrible CO2-wise.
TaMara
@Marmot: Oh, good one. And I have seen some good videos on that, including using alternate materials that create lighter, more durable concrete (and asphalt).
TaMara
I am up to my elbows in low VOC paint. I will stop back and make notes of any suggestions. Thanks in advance.
Fake Irishman
@marmot
Roberts had been great for years both at Vox and on his own. ( And he just put up a really informative podcast on carbon capture and concrete.)
Geminid
I am interested in all the topics you mention. The potential role for hydrogen in the clean energy transition might be a good one too.I know the EU has big plans in that area.
One really good resource I would recommend to anyone is British climate scientist Myles Allen’s article “The Green New Deal: a view from across the Atlantic,” published February, 2019 in The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Allen contributed to the UN’s IPCC report of October, 2018 that called for a carbon-neutral world economy by 2050. His article gives a good overview of the challenges to achieving this goal.
CaseyL
I’d love to hear about solar solutions for people who live in townhouses and can’t put panels on their roof.
The only idea I can come up with is portable panels feeding into a portable power station, but you can’t run a whole house on that.
(I realize none of the state or federal programs would be of any help subsidizing any of this, but would like the info anyway.)
Marmot
@Fake Irishman: Nice. I’ll check it out. He’d been a bit of a doomer recently, so I’ve steered clear for a while.
This idea’s obvious, but why not: storing solar electricity versus selling back to the grid. Oh, and non-battery solar energy storage.
Fake Irishman
Maybe a good practice one would be to invite folks who are electrifying to share their experiences so we can help get some input on things like where to get a heat pump water heater, replace a gas furnace etc.
another great practical one would be inviting folks to contribute with their experiences putting solar panels on their home/accessing renewable energy as a renter. Dave Anderson and Ms. Bianca face a different set of state policies surrounding solar installation in NC and Colorado than I do in Texas, for example.
(pretty good experience here so far)
bbleh
I would expand/supplement the battery discussion with ways of efficiently storing energy in general, eg pumping water up during low demand and using it for hydropower during high demand, in order to “even out” the generation capacity of fluctuating means like solar and wind. (Yeah what Marmot said.)
I would also suggest discussion of any ideas for more efficient long-distance transmission of power, to enable areas that don’t have capacity nearby for generation by means like solar and wind nevertheless to benefit from it.
A more abstruse topic, though maybe one the NatSec front pagers might be interested in, is assuring the availability of “rare earth” materials necessary for some components of renewable energy generation, and/or ideas about reducing or eliminating that necessity.
Marmot
Yeah, this post just caught me at the right time.
Why don’t we use more solar water heaters in the US? It’s all over Costa Rica, but the most you’ll see in the States is this lame solar booster for your interior water heater.
CCL
I don’t have suggestion, but am definitely interested in ideas around retro fitting old – over 100 year old – houses.
Marmot
I understand there’s a ton of rebate money and other enticements available through the Inflation Reduction Act and elsewhere.
What’re the best deals immediately, and when you do the math out 10 or 20 years?
What’s not worth bothering with? (I suspect tankless gas heaters fit here.)
Suzanne
Bird-friendly glass.
Fake Irishman
@CaseyL:
Depends on your state. There are some things out there for community solar where you and your neighbors can go in together.
Policymakers have known about this for a while, and are working on it.
dmsilev
@Marmot: I just went through the IRA rebates for central HVAC systems. For the particular sort of units I was looking at (package units, so AC/heat/blower in one unit), the $600 tax credit for AC units at SEER2 15.2 or greater was worthwhile, but getting heat pumps that hit the efficiency threshold needed to qualify for the $2000 credit …cost about $2k more than less-efficient units. And the operational cost of the less efficient unit, here in Southern California where heat isn’t needed all that much, was on the order of tens of dollars per year more than the less efficient.
So, efficient AC and less-efficient heat pump is what we went with.
Marmot
Is there anybody trying to sell biogases for filling propane containers, like for my bbq or RV?
BSR
How about topics related to places and areas that will be more climate-change resistant than others? I’m sometimes shocked that people (my sister-in-law, for example) seem unaware that moving to Phoenix right now may not be a sustainable choice and might be a really bad idea. If that exceeds the scope of what you wanted to discuss, no problem – just something I think about a lot. I’m in Denver and don’t plan on staying much longer (2-3 years, tops).
Fake Irishman
@TaMara:
Also feel free to crowd source some of this here. I suspect some of us would be happy to pick up a guest post or two so you don’t have to hoist this project all on your shoulders. I don’t know how Ann Laurie survived COVID-19 with that 200-post series…
TomV
Bi-directional EV charging and using the EV battery as the home backup battery.
Pete Downunder
Distribution is a huge issue. For example the Sahara could provide enough solar energy for most of Europe but there is no practical way of getting it there yet. Here in Australia we have a similar problem on a smaller scale, our grids just aren’t up to it.
Marmot
@dmsilev: Interesting. You still went with a heat pump, though.
I’m in Central TX, so colder winters. I’m sidling toward the big AC/Furnace upgrade myself.
dmsilev
IRS FAQ sheet on the tax credits
Qualifying HVAC units described here (download the PDF). The short version is that central AC units of all types must be rated at SEER2 (not SEER) of 15.2 or greater to qualify for the $600 tax credit. For heat pumps and the $2k credit, it depends on the type of system (ducted, ductless, package) and also whether you’re in the northern or southern parts of the country; you’ll need a minimum HSPF2 of anywhere between 7.2 and 8.5 to qualify.
Fake Irishman
@Marmot:
Go for his sub stack. Some doom posts (but not helpless doom) but generally a bunch of practical stuff about about people making important and very practical progress in technical areas that can be game changers that no one has heard of. Like one was an electrolyzer producer; another one made digital circuit breakers. Really a great mix of big picture and small details.
dmsilev
@Marmot: Yes. Purchase cost for the heat pump and for gas was identical, and my guess is that electricity will long-term cost less than gas as usage of the latter starts to diminish. Especially combined with residential solar (not an option for me; condo living has its upsides, but one downside is that the amount of roof area per apartment is pretty small…).
Fake Irishman
@dmsilev:
Agreed.
Fake Irishman
Anyone know where I can get a good heat pump water heater near Houston TX? I’ve got a 15-year old gas one it’s going to be time to replace and I’d like to start pulling back from gas (already been caught flat footed on a stove and HVAC, want to be ahead of the game in this one…)
Starfish
I think that your idea is fantastic. Are you signed up for The Climate Reality Project? I am going to try to attend those in a few weeks.
I have a friend who participates in Citizens’ Climate Lobby.
In the discussions about the future of the mail delivery trucks, there were several people who were really excellent about environmental concerns and environmental justice concerns. I started following one of them on LinkedIn, but I can’t remember his name right now.
Cheryl from Maryland
EV car battery chargers in HOA, Condo, and Apartment Communities — especially where chargers have to be shared (no garages) and above ground. I’m having a horrible time with my HOA community that when we redo the parking area (next year), we should add conduits and electrical for EV charging stations (with GRANTS so no money out of our pocket) to be used by the entire community. My HOA doesn’t want to do that but also doesn’t want each townhouse to have its own charging station. The feedback I get is the HOA doesn’t want to deal with charging scofflaws, which I understand, but hiring a commercial firm to manage that would work, but I’m not making a sell. FYI, I am in the market for an EV by the end of the year, so this is personal.
Fake Irishman
@Marmot:
Yeah, I had this delimma in 2021 when my air con died. Had a contractor willing to work with me on the heat pump, but the additional upfront cost was too much. Oddly, the IRA tax credit would have almost exactly covered the difference had it been available….
Ended up with a SEER 16 and more efficient gas furnace. Much Better than before, but I’m still bummed out.
ColoradoGuy
I’d like to see a discussion of how long different greenhouse gases remain in the atmosphere, which obviously has a huge impact on long-term climate change. My limited understanding is CO2 remains in the atmosphere thousands to tens of thousands of years, while methane, while more active as a greenhouse gas, is broken down in a matter of decades. Same for modern refrigerants like R-410A … how potent are they, and how long do they last?
A related topic … what methods to remove the CO2 we already have, aside from planting billions of trees? The current level of 415 ppm is obviously not sustainable over the long run (centuries to millennia).
Geminid
@bbleh: Another aspect of the battery topic is battery recycling. I think the Energy Department announced funding support for a couple battery recycling operations.
The prospect of a federal Green Energy Bank would be another good subject. As economist Robert Pollin and others have emphasized, the clean energy transition is more a matter of finance now than of long term cost.
dmsilev
@Cheryl from Maryland: What my building is considering doing is upgrading the feeds to each individual unit and then putting in a subpanel for each feed in the garage (which is where all the meters are). So then, if an owner wants to install an EV charger for their parking spots, they just need to run a conduit across the garage ceiling, which is easy. Billing is straightforward; it’s just handled as usual by the utility company and the HOA doesn’t have to deal with it. This of course requires a building/complex where each unit has dedicated parking spaces.
We’re still early in the planning/feasibility stages of the process. The utility gave me an estimate of $30-80k to upgrade the overall service and change out all of the meters and main breakers. And yes, that’s very vague. Best they could do without coming out and assessing the details of whether there’s space in the main conduits for heavier wiring and all sorts of stuff like that. Add in an electrical contractor to install all the sub-panels and so forth, and our best guess for total project cost would be about $50-100k. (for a 20 unit condo building).
Not cheap, but within what we might plausibly spend for a long-term capital upgrade project.
Geminid
@Pete Downunder: I think there is a project in the works to transmit electricity generated by photovoltaic arrays in Morocco to Great Britain, by means of an underwater, high voltage-direct current cable.
The German company Siemans Electric does a lot in the area of high voltage-direct current infrastructure. It’s an alternative to above ground , high voltage-AC electrical transmission.
kalakal
I’d be very interested in the HVAC side of things. Ours is living on borrowed time & it would be good to replace it with something more efficient/powered via a greener source of energy.
A type of power storage I’d like to see more widely promoted are sand batteries
mainsailset
Peter Sinclair at Climate Crocks has been a must read for me for many years.
https://climatecrocks.com/
trollhattan
@CCL: BTBD, although the subject house is in its mid-90s, not over a century. No “well, gramps brought in plumbing in the twenties and electrified it in the ’30s” riffs.
gene108
@CaseyL:
There doesn’t seem to be many options right now for people not living in a single family home regarding solar panels. With EV’s it’s worse, because the single family needs a driveway, which many older homes in cities don’t have.
trollhattan
Revising agriculture practices for net carbon capture and soils restoration.
Preventing further removal of forests for farming and grazing.
Aquaculture, including seaweeds for conversion to energy and manufacturing raw materials.
brendancalling
I have little to add to the discussion. I’m fully in the doom camp, and to paraphrase Townes van Zandt, I’m waiting around for all of us to die.
So I’ll shut up now, because as I said, I have little to add other than to say I hope when we humans are finally gone that nature will eventually heal itself (and won’t make the same mistake it made with human brains again).
Kent
Urbanization vs suburbanization.
There is an argument to be made that electric cars really aren’t about saving the environment. They are about saving the car industry and suburban way of life.
Everywhere you go on the planet, it is always the case that urban cities have a smaller per-capita carbon footprint than suburbs and rural areas. Switching to EVs doesn’t really change that equation much at all. If we want to be serious about a sustainable carbon neutral future we really need to change our human geography away from sprawling car-centric suburbs and rural areas and into more dense cities or urban areas. That doesn’t mean everyone moves to NYC or San Francisco. It means that every city and even town should be more dense and less sprawling. So that energy efficient transit, walking, biking, etc. become more viable. One of the biggest differences between Europe and North America is that even smaller cities and towns have density and decent transit.
SuzieC
@BSR: Great idea. I often think that my hometown of Columbus, Ohio will get a huge influx. We have a very moderate climate, compared to other places, and are not going to be washed out to sea. I know, it’s Ohio but it can still change.
Also, want recommendations on an EV.
Geminid
I’ve found that a good way to learn in this area is to look up “clean energy news.” I can find dozens of recent articles covering topics from strategic public policy to scientific discoveries to private ventures, and everything in between. Most are worth reading, but the headlines alone are informative
Looking up subtopics like low-carbon concrete, carbon neutral fuels, fuel cells etc. gives a more focused view.
Hidalgo de Arizona
The topic that really should be discussed, which would make a million times more of a difference than literally anything else, but which will always get pushed out because it makes Americans uncomfortable is….
Land Use Reform.
The biggest thing driving us towards climate disaster is suburbia and car-centric design generally. EVs are a band-aid on that, but we won’t be able to make good progress on solving climate change until it is just as safe and efficient to get around our cities on foot, by bicycle, and with mass transit as it is by driving.
NotMax
Don’t cotton to titling the posts as Climate Solutions. Solution implies a permanence, an end to damage (might even suggest, to a general audience, carrying no downside) which the proposed topics only begin to address.
More on point might be Climate Change Mitigation or perhaps Concerning Climate Change. Surely the hivemind can come up with something less clunky.
Just sayin’.
Another Scott
@gene108: On the Climate One show on the radio last night, someone at the World Resources Institute made the point that energy for transportation and heating and so forth is getting oversized attention, when most of the land is still used for farming and similar agricultural work. How we do those things affects water and carbon cycles, people’s livelihoods, etc., etc., and also have a big impact on CO2. It’s worth a listen.
I’ve got a 2004 Jetta TDI wagon that I probably will replace in the next 1-2 years (maybe sooner). I love the torque at low RPMs (peak torque is at 1900), but dislike that it emits 14.6% more CO2 per gallon than a gas burner (which means the diesel mileage needs to be 14.6% higher than a gas car just to break even, and that isn’t the case any more). Plus, diesel was cheaper than regular when I bought it, and now it’s more expensive than premium. But I don’t want anything less than my current mileage either (42-44 mpg commuting, 660-700 miles per tank).
It’s still a bad time to buy a new or used car, but prices seem to be coming down around here (5 year old cars aren’t higher than new car MSRP any more!), finally.
I’ve been looking and thinking about a 2023 Kia Niro PHEV (I could easily commute with it on all-electric and just “charge at home”, every day), but I really don’t want to spend $40k+ right now, and to take full advantage of it we’d have to upgrade our 1963 electrical panel…
Exciting times!
Thanks, TaMara and everyone.
Cheers,
Scott.
DZ-015
Would love to hear more about vacuum tubes for solar water heat. Seems like a no brainer in a sunny state like TX, but adoption here seems nonexistent.
raven
@Fake Irishman: We installed a Bosch 18 SEER, 3 ton inverter heatpump, matching evaporator coil, 95% 2 stage furnace and it works great even in our cold house.
Hidalgo de Arizona
@BSR:
Funny thing: you can live a more climate-friendly life in Phoenix right now that you can in most northern cities. Sure, people around here use a lot of power to run air conditioning during the summer, but they’re using *electricity* to run a heat pump, which is both way more efficient than resistive electric heating in the north, and way more climate friendly than doing like my relations in Central PA and running a fuel-oil furnace. Plus, the electrical demand from AC tracks pretty closely with the amount of sun coming down so, if you have solar panels and decent insulation, you’ll often be *feeding* the grid during the summer.
Also, because I know this argument is coming, there’s plenty of water to support Phoenix: it is a city that sits on the convergence of the Salt, Verde, and Gila rivers – which put it in the same category as other “unsustainable” desert cities on rivers – like Damascus, Cairo, and Baghdad. Now, there isn’t enough water here to support Phoenix and industrial-scale alfalfa growing (agriculture uses three quarters of Arizona’s water,) but that applies just about anywhere that’s a desert.
mvr
@CCL: There is definitely a lot of misinformation out there as well as good information. In general replacement windows are not a good way to spend money. Insulation can be, with ceilings being more important than walls, and air sealing being important as well.
Dangerman
There’s a big battery project potentially coming into the former Duke Energy Plant in my neighborhood (Morro Bay, CA). It’s for off shore wind project. We’ve already got solar in the neighborhood covered with the Carriso Plains project. Plus Diablo is getting it’s license extended.
Am I well versed enough on the projects to do a post? Um, no. The battery thing is fascinating, however, what little I know of it.
ETA: Check out article Estero Bay news, 2/21/21.
Pete Downunder
@Geminid: DC is the way to go – AC radiates a lot of energy into space. And since the solar array is DC you just need an inverter at the receiving end.
raven
@Dangerman: Did you happen to catch Which One’s Pink at the Siren last week?
Geminid
@Pete Downunder:I’ve read about some Australian gazillionaire who is investing a lot in Australian solar-to-hydrogen projects. Have you heard much about this guy?
Another Scott
@Geminid:
Foreign solar may not be as appealing as it was before February 2022…
Cordis.Europa.EU:
There are ways to transmit the power without giant cables, but it’s still being done at research-scale at the moment.
Cheers,
Scott.
Marmot
One more idea: what’re the best alternatives to methane reformers for producing nitrogen fertilizer?
I was a-flippin-gog visiting a small fertilizer plant—LPG goes in one end, burn the shit out of some air, get ammonia and freaking CO2 at the other. Sure, dry ice is fun, but that century-old process could hardly be worse.
Geminid
@Pete Downunder: DC transmission also has an advantage in that buried lines get less public resistance. Siemens is partners in a project to link wind farms in western Iowa with the power grid in Illinois. Over 80% of it will run under existing railroad rights of way, and opposition to the remainder is much less than for overhead lines. A comparable project to the south using overhead transmission has been mired in permitting problems for years and may never be built.
Dan B
@Another Scott: We’ve leased MNissan Leafs for eight years and charge with110. Our 150 mile range Leaf charges to 100% overnight. We usually plug in at dinnertime.
gene108
@Kent:
It’ll so much more than just rethinking city design, in the U.S., to reduce human’s environmental impact.
We’d need to rethink how economic benefits and costs are allocated, and beyond that we really need to rethink the entire economic system where successes isn’t measured on selling more Truffula trees (or whatever goods and services are offered) than the business sold the prior year.
Everything from EV’s to rethinking city design is just kicking around the edges of an economic system built on consuming more and more natural resources each year.
Dangerman
@raven: No, missed it! next time!!
Marmot
@Hidalgo de Arizona: This is really hard to get folks in the northern climes to understand. Sure it’s hot, no it’s not less energy efficient.
Dan B
Tamara; I’ve done a lot of research on LED lights and have a presentation on what I learned.
RSA
I’d be interested in policy changes and how we can judge the difference that any given change is likely to make in the long run. Other commenters have given specific examples of what I mean:
In the end, a lot comes down to actions of individual entities. What incentives and penalties need to be in place to make a difference? How can we predict the size of the effect?
Another Scott
@Dan B: I remember. :-) Leafs/Leaves are part of my looking, too, but we’d have to have something else for longer trips. And Nissan has been negligent about updating their in-car chargers to the standard interface for some reason… :-/
I hate making major decisions, because I want to figure out all the plusses and minuses and optimum solutions. Ideally, we’d upgrade the house electrical, add roof panels, add batteries (we lose power for half-a-day or more regularly because of fallen trees), and add an external power point to charge vehicle(s) – J’s car is a 2000 Corolla… Doing everything at once might be more efficient in some sense, but that means figuring it all out before-hand, and being willing to write the check!
;-)
And we know that 10 years from now, EVs are going to be much better (faster charging, etc.), with more model choices, than these early generation ones that are available now. The temptation to wait is strong.
Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
Raven
@Dangerman: I haven’t talked to my brother to see how it went. Looked like a pretty small venue.
Carlo Graziani
I happen to know a bit about Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS), in consequence of a DOE Energy EarthShot project proposal on the subject that I worked rather intensely on this year. I’d be happy to help answer questions about the state-of-play there.
Cheryl from Maryland
@dmsilev: We have NO Garages.
Geminid
@Another Scott: Are you talking about the €16 billion XLinks venture? It’s actually a combination wind-solar generation project. Last I heard it it is postponed, but the hitch sounds more political(at the UK end) than technological. Or are you talking about Saharan solar generation in general?
I’m sure there will be better ways to transmit power in the future, but Siemens has been intalling high voltage- direct current lines in Germany for over a decade now. They’re not “huge,” just long.
Brachiator
@Another Scott:
Why would this be built primarily to provide energy for Europe?
BSR
@SuzieC: Yes, I think Ohio and all the Great Lakes states will become attractive in the next few decades. Ohio is sandwiched between a lake and a large river. Won’t run out of water any time in our lifetimes.
We may end up in Madison or Milwaukee – my wife is from Wisconsin and although we’ve lived all over the country now, it still feels like home.
Eric S.
I’m very interested in this. Last year I bought a house on the north side of Chicago. It’s a little over 100yo and has been nicely upgraded about a decade ago. I’ve been researching solar panels. One very specific thing I’ve struggled with is estimating hours of sunlight in Chicago. I’ve tried a couple different neutral sources and come up with wildly different answers. That’s a key variable to calculating how much energy I could generate.
Another Scott
@Geminid: I’m only citing that article from the EU. With enough time and money, most technical problems can be solved (but there’s rarely enough of both)…
By “huge power cables” I meant ones big enough to supply 2/3 of Europe’s needs. Even if they were superconducting, and they won’t be, they would be huge to supply the giant current demand.
Of course, every giant project starts out in stages, adjustments are made over time, etc. Any huge project can slip or be cancelled for lots of reasons. Progress is jerky and incremental.
HTH!
Cheers,
Scott.
Another Scott
@Brachiator: It’s an EU article talking about importing solar from Africa. Presumably EU rate payers aren’t too interested in subsidizing solar for others (beyond the natural benefits of reduced cost at scale).
Cheers,
Scott.
BSR
@Hidalgo de Arizona:
Interesting points. The phrase “If you have solar panels and decent insulation” stuck out for me. Are developers including those in most new builds down there? My sister-in-law seemed mostly interested in the low cost of housing compared to other parts of the country, so I wonder.
You’re claiming the rivers there are the equal of something like the Nile near Cairo. Does the river system there support the growth Phoenix seems to be seeing right now for much longer?
Not saying you’re wrong – I’ve just not thought of Arizona as a place where people should relocate if they have climate change in mind, so please educate me if I’m mistaken.
Geminid
@Another Scott: I think the XLink project is projected to supply 8% of the UK’s electrical generation. I’m not sure if that would be one cable or a few laid in parallel. I think almost half the project cost will be the transmission infrastructure.
Is there really a proposal to supply two thirds of all EU power from another continent? That seems awful high. They’ll produce a lot from their own renewable sources, mainly wind power generation on and off shore. And I think France intends to keep its nuclear plants going.
Trollhattan
@BSR: Visit Phoenix in August. You’ll know the first time you step outside if it’s for you.
Bill Arnold
@Brachiator:
Why do Russia or Saudi Arabia export natural gas and/or oil?
Another (besides potential political unrest) main issue with long sea-bottom HVDC powerlines is sabotage by interested actors, including non-state actors. Russia has long been a concern, which is one of the reasons that those Nord Stream explosions are so interesting. (Also communications cables; Russian state propagandists have been making threatening noises about what might happen to sea-bottom communications cables.)
We (humans) will need to develop an international norm that such will not be touched else there will be actor-ending consequences, IMO. Long distance transmission of electricity will be necessary for a future with net carbon emissions <= 0, probably.
Bill Arnold
@Carlo Graziani:
This would be very interesting, particularly the state-of-play, which doesn’t make its way into the press very often.
BSR
@Trollhattan: Oh no – the first time I went to Phoenix was in May and I didn’t even want to be outside!
As a family we have visited Tucson in March for spring break but that’s about my limit.
Dangerman
@Raven: The Siren is TINY. It’s even tinier than you might think because of the layout. The Rock or SLO Brew or whatever it’s called these days is MUCH better place for a show. Well, not counting the PAC, which has the best acoustics on the West Coast.
ETA: SLO Brew Rock.
ETA2: I’m waiting for a PF Cover Band to come to the PAC and use the Forbes Pipe Organ (I volunteered to help carry that thing in and it is amazing).
Another Scott
@Geminid: It’s a thought experiment, and pointing out some of the issues involved.
From the EU link above.
9.3E6 x 1E6 x 263 = 2446 TW per hour of sunlight for the whole Sahara (this is just the usual illustration of how much power the Earth receives from the Sun per square meter and the size of the land exposed.)
vs 2664 TWh electricity produced by the whole EU in all of 2020.
There’s a vast amount of electricity generation possible there.
Here’s a 186 page DOE environmental impact report about a 300 kV line between Canada and the USA that was to supply 1000 MW (186 page .PDF). It would have had 5 separate lines ([email protected] +300kV, 2x @ -300kV, 1 @ neutral) to have the needed current capacity (1000E6/300E3 = 3333 A). For TW capacity, it’s much much more. 1000 MW = 1 GW. 1TW = 1000 GW…
Yes, at the moment it doesn’t make sense for the EU to drop everything to build a giant solar farm in the Sahara, but if one did want a lot of power, from land that is not covered by farmland, or cities, or forests, it’s one way to get it.
HTH!
Cheers,
Scott.
Geminid
@Another Scott: Why would Europe drop anything in order to build a wind solar/project in Morocco that would supply 8% of the UK’s power?
And when this writer says that “each” of these large domestic infrastructure projects would compete with other land uses, he’s leaving out offshore wind and inshore tidal generation projects.
This sounds like a roundabout way to support the argument that European countries need to push conservation and efficiency in electricity consumption. But they already are.
citizen dave
I support all of your plans–sounds like a lot of work but surely will be rewarding for you and us Juicers. I work in the electricity space, in regulation. In general I think that storage technology will get economic enough to mostly wipe out the need for all of this Big Transmission that is all the rage at the moment. I did not realize that the SOO Green (the Iowa to Illinois/Indiana) project intends to be underground–impressing (thanks for pointing that out Geminid). If they can make it work at $2.5 billion, good for them. It is essentially a generation interconnection project, delivered at the endpoint, though, and I agree with that stance by the grid operators. Geminid refers, I think, to the Grain Belt proposal (Kansas wind to just inside Indiana). It’s been around for many years, and is on its second owner (Invenergy). The other day I was checking into it and found that it used to be a $2 billion project, but Invenergy said in 2022 the estimated cost is $7.0 Billion with expected benefits of $7.5 Billion. Who in their right mind would invest in this with that ratio and the risk involved on the supply end and the offtaker (buyer) end?
Geminid
@citizen dave: Well, you certainly bring a lot to this discussion. I’m just an amateur enthusiast in this area. It interests me so I try to keep up as a layman, but you are quite a ways ahead of me.
mvr
@RSA: There is a policy modeling tool called En-ROADS that does this in a relatively coarse-grained but not uninformative way. I saw a presentation about it at a Trout Unlimited Climate Change Working Group meeting. It is pretty nifty. They have a website at:
https://www.climateinteractive.org/en-roads/
Ruckus
@Geminid:
I’m not sure hydrogen will ever make the impact that some see.
First, it’s still burning stuff. Abet a bit differently. Second, it is abundant but has to be accessed, which is not that difficult but does take energy. Third, it will have to be stored at a reasonably high pressure to be useful and that makes it more dangerous. Fourth, to be useful the vehicles that use it will have to store it at high pressure, increasing accident danger. (And we aren’t getting rid of accidents as long as humans are driving, which will be a hell of long timeframe) It sounds good, less damaging than gasoline, but what is the real advantage of hydrogen? I don’t see an up side to hydrogen usage for a fuel. We are seeing much advance in battery chemistry that will replace more expensive current batteries and give better range and with more solar a lot more electricity can be produced so that is less an issue. It might be better if we could have enough electric transit trains and buses that more people can ride rather than drive, at least in the big cities. I’m not sure a large segment of our population will accept public transit but I use it to travel approximately 50 miles across LA County on a regular basis and it works fine for a retired old fart. And it’s far cheaper than driving. And during rush hours it often takes less time.
Ruckus
@Cheryl from Maryland:
I lived in an apartment building in Pasadena, CA with underground parking and the management installed 5 charging stations about 5 yrs ago and the one Tesla increased to 2 in about a week. I’d bet there are more EVs there now. It’s not the ideal where every parking space has a level 2 charger but still it is a lot better than it was.
I believe that the only way that we will get ahead is if we change how electricity is used and measured in rental properties. Something like individual meters that connect to the building main and get paid monthly with the rent. The electricity would cost no more but the entire system could be more efficient. What it would really take is thinking outside the box.
Another Scott
@Ruckus: I assume that residential buildout will be slow (over several decades) and that instead we’ll more quickly (5-10-15 years) see much more, and faster, charging stations. Faster charging means higher voltages, which means less time for the same electrical power delivered.
Kia and Porsche and a couple of others have 800V DC fast-charging systems now. “10% to 80% in 18 minutes!” Companies are working on 1200V systems (12 min), research is being done on 2000V systems (7.2 min) for 1MW+ fast chargers for trucks. E.g. OakRidge presentation PDF (20 slides).
Lots of changes are coming, but it will take time.
Cheers,
Scott.
Geminid
@Ruckus: A lot of objections can be made to hydrogen as an energy source, but the EU is still planning to make hydrogen a substantial piece of its future energy mix for both transport and industry. Hyundai already has heavy trucks that use hydrogen fuel cells for power driving on Swiss and German roads. And French built electric locomotives using fuel cells are pulling trains on some German lines now.
It remains to be seen whether the EU’s ambitious plans for hydrogen will prove out, but for now they are not backing off. The US has been more cautious in this area, but the infrastructure for hydrogen powered transport is starting to be built in your state.
Ruckus
@Another Scott:
Yes it will. I think as more people try EVs that the change over will accelerate. (see what I did there…) It is going faster in Europe than here, there are far more cars to purchase and far more smaller cars with less range, which works for most of Europe. A lot of cities are putting in chargers at curbside so that you can park, pay and charge. Europe also has a bunch of EVs that we will likely never see, mostly the smaller ones that fit the cities and don’t “require” a 400-600 mile range like we hear about here, even though that is often more than anyone here drives at one time more than maybe once a year.
Another Scott
@Geminid:
It sounds like the EU goal is mainly to get industry off dirty hydrogen (produced from methane, mainly used to produce chemicals and plastics and fertilizer), while also building up infrastructure and manufacturing capacity for other uses.
Reuters (from 3/16):
Cheers,
Scott.
Geminid
@Another Scott: So, I’m wondering what the plan is for 2030 to 2040. That’s the time frame I’m talking about when I say the EU intends to make hydrogen “a substantial piece of its future energy mix for both transport and industry.”
Geminid
@Another Scott: So, I’m wondering what the plan is for 2030 to 2045. That’s the time frame I was talking about when I told the other commenter that the EU intends to make hydrogen “a substantial piece of its future energy mix for both transport and industry.”
He was questioning whether hydrogen could be useful and I explained that it is already being used in heavy transport. The EU may be subsidizing this fuel now, but they wouldn’t mess with it at all if they did not think it had long term potential. And Hyundai would not be building those trucks if they did not think this market can grow. They and the EU may be making bad bets but they don’t seem to think so.
A Streeter
@CaseyL:
For what it’s worth, we put solar panels on the roof of our Washington, DC townhouse (“rowhouse” locally), and many other rowhouses in the neighborhood have them also. To be sure, these houses are all separate properties, not parts of HOAs, and if that’s your problem I don’t know what to suggest.
Bupalos
@CaseyL: part of the answer here is what is called community solar, where individuals buy in to a nearby deployment project and get the same net-metering treatment as if the panels were on their roof. Several states have supporting legislation…most don’t.
Bupalos
@dmsilev: I just installed a Mr. Cool (rebaged midea) 3-4 ton unit that does both heat and cool. DIY install, 1 day, 5k all-in, 18-20 seer.
Geminid
@Bupalos: I can tell this will be a lively and useful series, with perspectives from the personal to the global, and from the expanse in between. There are lot of people here with knowledge and experience in these different areas
I am hoping that Ms. Tamara can find the time to put up a series, and I hope her efforts are appreciated.
KBS
I’m so glad commenters like @Kent and @Hidalgo de Arizona brought up land use policies! I’m running for city council and this is one of my main issues. I’d really like to see more municipal government folks talking about this. Tech is going to be essential, of course, but there’s a ton of other things we can do. And reducing our dependence on cars actually makes everyone’s lives better, even aside from climate issues.