Category Archives: Renewable Energy

International Nuclear Fusion Project Underway


The UK Independent reports that the Iter fusion project gained final approval “ for the design of the most technically challenging component – the fusion reactor’s “blanket” that will handle the super-heated nuclear fuel.”
The Iter project is designed to produce  at a rate of  500 megawatts of energy using an input of 50 megawatts  during a 1000 seconds run. The Iter fusion project is forecast to cost £ 13billion (US $20 billion) .  The project team is an international combine of 46 nations that are contributing  science and money.  The facility is based in Cadarache, France.
Below is a cut-away of the Iter reactor design and brief description of the elements of the reactor from Howstuffworks.com
fusion-reactor-5

“The Magic Washing Machine”—–Limiting Energy Access To The World’s Poor Is Wrong


You have to give credit to the Green NGOs in that they are much more upfront about their goals than most of the Global Governments. Greenies want to stop development of all fossil fuel sources and they would like to see the nuclear industry dismantled and no new nukes built.  The Obama Administration is not quite that ambitious, at least for now, although there is not much difference in their objectives. Examples of goals the Administration have announced are: kill coal,  minimize (and in some cases prevent any) use of Federal lands for accessing the mineral resources and raise the price of gasoline and electricity.
Who is it that will feel the most pain, if this cabal is successful?  It will be the poorest among us, of course.  They justify their actions by saying that the Earth will really, really, really go to hell if we don’t stop burning fossil fuels.  And besides they add, we will have wind and solar farms takeover the job of supplying power.  Wind and solar farms are not ready for prime time and who knows if they will ever be. The experience around the world demonstrates that when and if these renewables do replace fossil fuels, the power supplied will be more costly than that supplied by fossil fuels.  No help for the poor here.

Is Carbon Your Enemy?


I am on a Pointman kick right now, but I can assure you that keeping up with what Pointman has to say is worth your time and his posting ”Sleeping with the Enemy”  is both informative and funny.  He notes that environmentalist believe “carbon” is their enemy even though they really have little understanding who or what that enemy really is.  Pointman gets things going by saying this:
“So, let’s put that other hat on and learn about their elemental enemy. The thing is, I’ve found the alarmists actually don’t do science but like all good scenario explorations, we’ll lose that little detail as part of simplifying the exercise. Let’s get down and boogie up real close to her sexy satanic majesty, Ms. Kickass Carbon. She has a certain ballsy attitude I kinda like.”
By the way, he pays tribute to the Aussies in his audience by naming one of the elements “Vegemitium”.
 Read this enjoyable posting by clicking here.
cbdakota

Where Are The “Consensus” Scientists Hiding?


Dr Rajendra Pachauri admits that there has been no global warming for 17 years.  Dr Pachauri is, if you don’t know, the leader of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a branch of the UN.  The IPCC has issued reports on climate change which conclude—- burning of fossil fuels releases CO2 causing a “dramatic” increase in global temperatures.  The IPCC documents have had widespread influence. For example, the US EPA successfully used these reports as the technical justification to declare CO2 a hazardous pollutant that needed to be regulated. The IPCC’s belief is that natural forces are inconsequential.
For the last 17 years, CO2 emissions resulting from fossil fuel burning have increased.  The measurement of atmospheric CO2 has climbed steadily over these 17 years and yet the global temperature has not risen.  Proving that the natural forces indeed are consequential.

More Range Anxiety From Tesla. Trip On Newly “Electrified” I 95 Falls Short Of Plan


Tesla planned, for  NY Times writer John Broder,  a trip using their model S top of the line all-electric car.  The plan was to test out Tesla’s newly “electrified I 95 corridor” that has two charging stations along the way.  The idea here is that these two station should allow for a trip from Washington DC to the Boston area. Things did not work out.

The model S is a $101,000 vehicle with a 85 Kilowatt-hour battery that Tesla reports has a range of 300 miles between charges. The EPA rates the range at 265 miles.  The distance from Broder’s home to the first charging station in Newark, DE was about 114 miles and the distance to the second charging station in Milford, CN is about 200 miles.  So the trip should be easy. Below is a NYTimes graphic of the trip.  The numbers represent the each new phase of the journey.

Continue reading

The Warmers Are Punishing The Poor


A recent posting on WUWT by Willis Eschenbach titled “We Have Met The 1%, and He Is Us” illustrates that the  people that get hurt the most by energy rationing are the poor.   Eschenbach’s experiences as a sailor got him to many parts of the globe where living is a daily struggle and the high cost of energy, if it is even available, doom those people to suffering and short lifespans. I recommend that you read his posting which can be accessed by clicking here.
I recently ran across a story that helps illustrate how the zeal of the warmers is punishing the poor. The West Bengal government wants to provide electricity to 1076 Sundarbans villages. The government believes there will be a 10 to 20 fold increase in electricity demand between 2010 and 2020. However the environmental groups oppose this action because the grid will supply coal based electricity.

Comments On COP18 Doha, Qatar Meeting—Kyoto II And Reparations


 The 18th Conference of Parties (COP) met in Doha, Qatar from 26 November to 7 December. Initially the purpose of these COPs was to monitor the Kyoto treaty which was designed to control greenhouse gas emissions. The people who set up this treaty hoped that it would give global governance of world’s energy to the UN bureaucracy.  It has failed to do that. The Kyoto Treaty  expires on 31 December 2012.  Undeterred, the attendees replaced it with  Kyoto II. The response to Kyoto II by the COP 18 attendees was underwhelming.  And this new version has even less chance of accomplishing their desired result.The COP meetings have a new raison d’etre that alleges that the developed nations have damaged or will damage the undeveloped nations and thus owe them reparations. The idea is that developed nations send money to the UN who then decide what to do with it. Surpassed only by a few despots such as Duvalier and Amin, UN bureaucrats have mastered the art of siphoning money out of similar programs into their own Swiss bank accounts.  The “OIL FOR FOOD”  program is an example.  Do you want give your money to the UN?  I don’t. Continue reading

WindTurbines Regularly Fail In Weather Extremes


The 12th of December was a cold day in the UK.  Power demand was up, about 20% more than normal.  How much contribution to the total load did renewable wind power provide—–0.6%.  That amounts to about 3% of the wind renewable’s rated capacity.   The fact that these wind farms failed to come through when the weather was cold is nothing out of the ordinary.  It happens all over the world.  The wind farms also fail to provide power in the hotest weather.  This is owing to the fact that during very cold and very hot weather, the wind is very likely not blowing. Read this posting from the Institute for Energy Research to see performance during weather extremes. 
And this from a previous posting on Climate Change Sanity   
 
The Brits are mandated to have, by 2020,  30% of their electrical energy provided by renewables.  For the year 2011,  renewables provided 9.7% of the total.  Wind’s contribution to that was 4.4% and solar’s 0.1%.   To read the full posting “Just Enough To Boil The Kettle” the blog that provided most of this information, click here.
 
I wish them the best, which means, that they elect politicians that recognize that the current course is unsustainable.   
cbdakota

Green Energy Stock In Free Fall


The Renewable Energy Industrial Index (RENIXX ®World), is composed of the world’s 30 largest renewable energy companies.  The 30 companies get the majority of their income from wind, solar, biofuel, geothermal, hydropower or fuel cells.  The stock index was set up  to allow the shareholder to profit by the expected surge in value of these companies as the green revolution unfolded. Unfortunately for the investors, the stock value which surged, peaked in the 2007 -2008 timeframe, has been a downhill ride since then.  The glib promises of the performance of these renewables has not materialized and the Nations that have heavily subsidized these renewables can no longer afford them.  
A Washington Times-Community posting authored by Steve Goreham titled “So, how’s your green energy stock doing?” discusses the history of the Index.  For instance,  in a private meeting, Al Gore impressed the Deutsche Bank Asset Management  team causing them to establish the RENIXX and the rest is history. One wonders how many investors have lost money believing that Gore knew some real science. On the other hand,  Mr Gore is rumored to have made $200 to 300 million himself selling carbon offsets and his stake in the Chicago Merc’s Carbon Market. He may be weak on science but he knows how to make a buck.
 
The posting is a good read that I recommend to you. The whole story with the chart of the Index’s rise and fall are in his article. Also he talks of the thirty companies,  of which 10 are headquartered in China, 10 in Europe, and 7 in the US.  Click here to read his posting.
cbdakota