Case for Fossil Fuels / Abundance & the Divine Council

Options
Dave Angelini
Dave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,746 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
in In the Weeds--Member's Choice #1

Energy expert Alex Epstein is pushing for a positive, pro-human alternative to the green movement. In the first half, he contended that contrary to what we hear about the "renewable revolution," reality has proven fossil fuels are still the dominant source of energy worldwide and growing fast-- while renewables are causing skyrocketing electricity prices and increased blackouts. Though he concedes that humans' impact on the planet (including the use of fossil fuels) can affect climate, he doesn't expect that this will be catastrophic. Oil, in particular, has a unique density that allows it to produce a lot of energy in a small amount of mass, which is why it's so practical for things like agricultural machinery, planes, and cargo ships, he pointed out. While natural gas is very lightweight and clean, and works well for residential heating.

"We are shutting down reliable power plants-- namely natural gas, coal, and nuclear on the false hope that some amount of solar and wind can really replace it," he remarked. Solar and wind are not dependable as they aren't controllable, and at any given time can be depleted, and their energy is expensive to store, he suggested. We should be using more, not less fossil fuel, as it's crucial to human flourishing, and it's indispensably needed around the world, Epstein continued. Fossil fuel is the only thing that has been able to scale to billions of people in thousands of places, he added. For more on this viewpoint, visit his site energytalkingpoints.com.

https://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2022-09-19-show/


"we go where power lines don't" Sierra Nevada mountain area
   htps://offgridsolar1.com/
E-mail offgridsolar@sti.net

· Share on Twitter

Comments

  • Graham Parkinson
    Graham Parkinson Registered Users Posts: 160 ✭✭✭
    #2
    Options
    Umm, dominant doesn't mean good.   I wouldn't take this guy too seriously.  I don't think he's really got a good handle on what "flourishing" really means.  Fossil fuels were great until we realized the consequences.

    Saying "humans can affect climate" is avoiding reality with wishful thinking, we are affecting the planet in many ways and the bill will come due soon.

    My job in geoscience puts me in close contact with the evidence of human caused global changes to our earth.  One project involved radiometric dating and analysis of lake sediments adjacent to a mine that was suspected of causing mercury pollution.  It turned out that layers of sediments in lakes all around the world are polluted by mercury arising from the burning of coal since the industrial revolution - it wasn't the mine.  It was people burning coal, affecting the atmosphere. Mercury gets vaporized and passed around the globe until it settles out. Mercury levels in lake sediments peaked in the 1970s and started to decline when the USA and  the EU mandated reductions in the burning of high mercury coal.

    Similar to what we achieved with the ozone layer, and in reducing the burdens of mercury laden coal and Ethyl lead from gasoline, we need to deal with the inconvenience of weaning ourselves off fossil fuels.

    Offgrid in cloudy PNW

    MacGyver'ed museum collection of panels, castoff batteries and generators - ready for state of art system install .... parade of surviving and dead generators: H650, Ryobi 900, Briggs and Scrap Iron 2000, H2200, H3000, Kubota 3500, Kubota 4500, Onan 7500

    · Share on Twitter
  • Dave Angelini
    Dave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,746 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    #3
    Options
    His point to me is that the inconvenience of moving to another source needs to be done in an intelligent way.

    For instance, much of the solar and battery technology is being built in China with power from coal burning plants.

    In California,  about 3 % of the cars are electric and they barley kept the lights on during this hot summer.

    Saying humans affect the climate without other sources in the mix is not being very honest in a debate.

    Just a few thoughts at this time. The fire below was from a Tesla power plant that went on line in April..........


    MOSS LANDING, Calif. —

    A shelter-in-place has been ordered following a fire at the Tesla-powered PG&E facility early Tuesday morning. The fire has also closed Highway 1 near Moss Landing, causing traffic to take sideroads.

    A shelter-in-place order was issued by North County Fire Department and Monterey County Sheriff’s Office for areas of Moss Landing west of Dolan Road, south of Struve Road, and North of Potrero Road. The order was issued as crews determine if there is a danger to the public from the hazardous material.

    Advertisement

    During the shelter-in-place, residents are being told to shut their windows and turn off their ventilation systems.

    The county created an incident information page showing the map of shelter-in-place locations and road closures. Click here to view it.

    The highway was closed between Jensen Road and Molera Road, Caltrans reported. At 1:30 p.m. the CHP reported that the roadway closure was extended and there is no estimated time for reopening.

    There are two separate energy storage facilities in Moss Landing. One is operated by Vistra Corp., the other is operated by Pacific Gas & Electric Company.

    PG&E's Tesla Megapack battery in Monterey Bay's Elkhorn Slough now operational (April 2022)

    Play Video

    KSBW 8 reached out to both companies.

    A Vistra Corp. spokesperson said their equipment is safe and was not impacted by the fire. The spokesperson said they are aware of a fire at the PG&E Elkhorn Battery facility, which is adjacent to their property.

    PG&E sent the following response in an email (exact quote):

    • The safety of our customers, employees, contractors and the communities we serve is PG&E’s top priority.
    • Around 1:30 A.M. this morning, PG&E became aware of a fire in one Tesla Megapack at its Elkhorn Battery Storage facility in Monterey County.
    • PG&E is working with firefighters to stop the spread of the fire and provide a safe area for emergency response personnel.
    • Safety systems at the facility worked as designed when the issue was detected, and automatically disconnected the battery storage facility from the electrical grid.
    • There have been no injuries to onsite personnel.
    • There are no electrical outages for customers at this time due to the incident.

    The 182.5-megawatt energy storage facility went online in April 2022. The system includes 256 Tesla Megapack battery units on 33 concrete slabs.


    "we go where power lines don't" Sierra Nevada mountain area
       htps://offgridsolar1.com/
    E-mail offgridsolar@sti.net

    · Share on Twitter

Categories