Reporting on a communique from the OECD’s Nuclear Energy Agency in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France, published on 16 October New Scientist reports that nuclear power output could be quadrupled by 2050 rising to 1400 gigawatts from present 370 GW and supply roughly 12.5% of total world power use. This high projection assumes that renewables and CCS don’t […]
Read MoreThe Future Role of Hydrogen – David McGrath – M.D. of Regentech the Fuel cell and Energy Company.
The Future Role of Hydrogen – Text of presentation that was scheduled to be given at the October Claverton Conference by David McGrath – M.D. of Regentech. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I shall share my perspectives. This is how I see things based on the evidence I have available. If you like it is my […]
Read MorePromoters overstate the environmental benefit of wind farms
According to the Daily Telegraph, Dec 21, The British Wind Energy Association, (BWEA ) the wind farm industry lobby group, has been “forced to admit that the environmental benefit of wind power in reducing carbon emissions is only half as big as it had previously claimed”. This is because it used a carbon emission figure […]
Read MoreNew Titanic Disaster Discovery Points Way To Solving Global Warming And Fossil Fuel Shortages
Jodrell Bank radio telescope discovers faint radio echoes of last broadcasts from doomed ocean liner Titanic. World learns of hitherto unknown triumph of economic thinking with striking lessons for how to deal with global warming and predicted energy shortages! (Also see http://tx1.fcomet.com/~claverto/cms/professor-lowed-notes-similarity-between-birkenhead-disaster-and-complex-systems-such-as-politics-globalisasion-and-economics-the-banking-crisis-perhaps.html) By: Brendan “Lunchtime” O’Toady * Images courtesy Wikipedia. It is well […]
Read MoreNew fusion approach at Lawrence Livermore – "artificial star"
“Scientists plan to ignite tiny man-made star. It is science’s star experiment: an attempt to create an artificial sun on earth — and provide an answer to the world’s impending energy shortage”……..
….drools the headline of Telegraph Science Correspondent, Richard Gray’s article article – 27 Dec 2008
A cynic would say this is part of the ongoing “distraction robbery” being carried out by the energy and motor industry – “don’t worry – we’ll sort out the energy problem (we’ve got various wheezes up our sleeves – fusion, fuel cells, hydrogen just around the corner) meantime keep shelling out on far more of the stuff than you would need if the governments and / or us, the energy utilities funded the already existing and far more cost effective energy conservation schemes, or invested in already available and proven renewable energy schemes such as wind energy along with further grid interconnections, and more high efficiency local CHP/DH schemes.
Read MoreBlackouts could hit Britain by 2015, says National Grid chief
Reported in The Daily Telegraph by Jon Swaine 22 Dec 2008, Steve Holliday, National Grid chief executive, said that Britain faces a severe shortage in power generation due to crumbling coal and nuclear plants being taken out of service and that the Government needs to cause the investment of Pounds 100 billion in new power plant.
This is the legacy of the deluded economic “thinking” of the Thatcher era which instituted the not widely admired market for electricity which was supposed to use market signals of supply and demand to cause an optimal delivery of the cheapest sources of power.
Read MorePotential demand management savings worth $3 billion/yr in USA
+ According to new reference in the Wikipedia article on Demand Response ” study carried out in 2007 by The Brattle Group for the United States showed that even a 5 percent drop in peak demand would yield substantial savings in generation, transmission, and distribution costs – enough to eliminate the need for installing and running […]
Read More100% carbon reduction possible with wind power, vehicle to grid and interconnection.
Review of solutions to global warming, air pollution, and energy security
Mark Z. Jacobson is Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director of the Atmosphere/Energy Program at Stanford University. and has amongst his qualifications a B.S. in Civil Engineering and a B.A. in Economics.
With Jacobson’s credentials, and the fact that this is a peer reviewed journal, the paper has to be taken seriously. He indicates that wind powered battery electric vehicles not only offer the most reduction in CO2 compared to other options, but is also better than the other options when other environmental impacts are considered. CCS is a poor option, and corn to ethanol or cellulosic ethanol are very bad indeed.
He notes, that as does Claverton, that the intermittency effects can be dealt with using a combination of geographic dispersal, demand management, storage, use of vehicle to grid, and weather forecasting.
"US government should fund massive public works projects" – Dennis Kucinich – Congress
On the Today programme this morning (Wednesday 18th Dec) there was an interview with Dennis Kucinich, chair of a US congressional committee (who stood for the Democrats presidential candidate in 2004), and he proposed that the US government should take over creating money from the banks, to fund massive public works projects, rather than borrow […]
Read MoreDanish Wind Power and Electricity Export in 2007
By Paul Frederik-Bach, ex Director Danish Western Power Grid.
Denmark is considered to be a frontrunner in the use of wind power. In 2007 the generation of wind energy in west Denmark was 5.6 TWh or 26 % of the electricity consumption.
In east Denmark 1.6 TWh wind energy was generated, which is 11 % of the electricity consumption.
The normal interpretation is that 20
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