Solar Energy

The tyranny of the temporary

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Generals are particularly famous for planning for the last war rather than the next one, but it’s a common failing; most of today’s industrial civilization, for example, is busily planning its future on the basis of the energy supplies it had available in the recent past, rather than those much sparser supplies it will have to make do with in the recent future. Outside the myopic conviction that temporary conditions will last forever, there are plenty of options that can make the Long Descent ahead of us less grueling than it will otherwise be.

Review: A User’s Guide to the Crisis of Civilization by Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed

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User’s Guide to the Crisis of Civilization shows how our major crises share the same root causes and thus can be solved only by taking into account their complex interactions. Ahmed acknowledges that in this age of specialization it’s understandable for issues like climate change and oil depletion to be studied and discussed separately—indeed, he observes that this mode of inquiry into the causes of specific phenomena has enabled many of our greatest scientific advances. But it’s also, he argues, beginning to seem like an increasingly antiquated method, preventing experts from seeing the whole picture and the public from receiving consistent information.

Germany’s unlikely champion of a radical green energy path

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The disaster at the Fukushima plant in Japan convinced German Chancellor Angela Merkel that nuclear power would never again be a viable option for her country. Now Merkel has embarked on the world’s most ambitious plan to power an industrial economy on renewable sources of energy.

Critical comments on “The Energy Report” by WWF and Ecofys

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The Energy Report aligns with several others in recent years in confidently claiming that we could transition to full reliance on renewable energy, without any disruption of high material living standards or the pursuit of economic growth. These reports are typically quite impressive involving glossy formats with lots of coloured graphs and pictures, a large cast of heavy-weight authors, and a long list of high-powered endorsements.

Critical comments on The Energy Report by WWF and Ecofys – TEMPORARY

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The Energy Report does not provide a satisfactory analysis of the issue. It fails to defend assumptions adequately and it omits discussion of crucial issues. To put it mildly, its general conclusion is not established at all persuasively. More importantly, the Report appears to provide yet more proof that renewables can save energy-intensive and growth obsessed societies. It therefore helps to ensure that thought will not be given to the possibility that sustainability cannot be achieved unless there is dramatic reduction in levels of production, consumption, affluence and GDP, and therefore unless there is extremely radical social change, including the abandonment of growth economies.

ODAC Newsletter – Apr 22

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Confusion around the true extent of the spare oil production capacity of Saudi Arabia increased this week following a statement by Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi that his country had reduced production in March by 800,000 barrels–this despite the loss of 1 million barrels/day of production from Libya. Al Naimi went on to claim that global markets are currently oversupplied.

The road to Fukushima: The nuclear industry’s wrong turn

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Imagine a nuclear reactor that runs on fuel that could power civilization for millennia; cannot melt down; resists weapons proliferation; can be built on a relatively small parcel of land; and produces little hazardous waste. It sounds like a good idea, and it was a well-tested reality in 1970 when it was abandoned for the current crop of reactors that subject society to the kinds of catastrophes now on display in Japan.

The limits to solar thermal energy

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Whether or not renewables can save consumer-capitalist society depends heavily on solar thermal electricity, because unlike wind and photovoltaic energy it can be coupled with large scale storage and so can deal much more effectively with the problem of the intermittency of wind and sun. But can it enable total dependence on renewables?

The coolest book I’ve ever read on energy

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It may seem a bit over the top to say that a book entitled Into the Cool is the coolest book I’ve ever read on energy. But energy junkies should take note of its two compelling theses: First, the eventual heat death of the universe – a supposed consequence of the Second Law of Thermodynamics – has, to borrow a phrase from Mark Twain, been greatly exaggerated. Second, life – in all its forms – is NOT an anomaly made improbable by the aforesaid Second Law, but rather a direct and likely inevitable consequence of it.

After Fukushima: a new dash for gas? Really?

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The final outcome and cost of the nuclear accident at Fukushima are yet to be determined but the obituary of the nuclear industry has already been written, and one competing source of power has already been declared the absolute winner by the Serious People: natural gas. Renewables are nice, but unSerious (not “reliable,” too expensive) so we need to rely on the big boys. Coal is a bit too dirty to be pushed openly, so gas is it. Cheap, abundant, clean and quick to be ramped up. Case closed.

Or is it? Let’s take all of these arguments in turn.

As nuclear falters, here is a practical, affordable (and safe) clean electricity plan

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In the wake of the Japanese nuclear debacle, we need a practical and affordable clean electricity plan that does not rely on new nuclear power. This article presents just such a Plan. New nuclear is absent from the Plan not because of any safety concern, but simply because it fails the “practical and affordable” test. President Obama called for “80% Clean Energy” by 2035. This Plan presents how we can do it right.

Powering down – March 13

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– Lights go out in Seoul amid energy crunch
– Monbiot: UK must follow Spain down the road to lower speed limits
– Scrapping the fuel duty rise will hurt Britain economically
– “Repair-Ware” Household Gadgets Designed To Last Forever With Easy Fixability
– Maine Report Finds Solar Hot Water Would Save Mainers $, Oil