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CO2 emissions

Iowa: Case Study in Major Renewable Supply

By Energy Rant No Comments
It seems like someone coined the line, “what others are saying,” but I can’t find it. So, maybe I’ll coin “what others are saying” with that; here is what others are saying: lawmakers and policymakers should read the Rant. Here is why, starting with this PR Newswire: “Recent studies indicate that as of this year, 99% of all coal plants in the U.S. were more expensive just to operate compared to building new wind and solar. This is especially true for Iowa, where all coal used in power plants must be imported, costing ratepayers both the cost of coal and its transport.…
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COP27, Elites, and Engineers

By Energy Rant No Comments
I have run enough marathons to have lost count, most of them in the last ten years, with the total approaching 20. Why would you do that, Jeff? I like the grind, double, especially when I can run negative splits and pass people the entire race rather than being passed the whole race. I’ve done both about equally. I guessed that winning marathon times had not changed much in forty years. Wikipedia confirms this with finishing times at the NYC marathon. Americans Bill Rogers and Alberto Salazar finished with the same times back in the 1970s and early 1980s as…
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green energy

Does Green Investing Work? Expert Says No

By Energy Rant No Comments
I’m just a mechanical systems engineer but assume for a moment that I was a structural or civil engineer, and you asked me what it would take to build a bridge from Los Angeles to Honolulu. We can build anything, including that bridge. If the Golden Gate Bridge could be built in the 1930s, a nuclear submarine in the 1950s, and we put a man on the moon in the 1960s, we can sure as heck build a bridge to Hawaii in the 2020s. The bridge would be easier than zeroing out carbon emissions from the energy sector. See, I’m…
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Connecting on Climate Change

By Energy Rant No Comments
The day before Thanksgiving, news and talk shows were chattering about topics to avoid at the Thanksgiving table. Topics included Trump, Hillary, Russia, Russia, Russia, a lot of U.S. House Representatives and Senators, Hollywood, NFL players, and in-laws, to name a few. I think you could easily add climate change to the list. It would probably be easier, and more socially acceptable, to discuss Charlie Rose’s peccadillos than climate change.There is a middle ground for climate change. It is occupied by 0.8% of the population. To come to solutions for issues like this, each side has to actually believe the…
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cpp

Clean Power Plan (CPP) – The Next Layer

By Energy Rant No Comments
Last week, we scratched the surface of demons in the Clean Power Plan (CPP) details.  Let’s see what lies on the second layer below. There are two methods for counting, scoring, and achieving compliance in the plan: mass based and rate-based plans.  To recap, mass based is the simpler of the two. For starters, it includes one metric: tons of CO2 emissions from stationary power suppliers.  The second is, I believe, far more complicated.  Why?  Glad you asked. The rate based approach would appear to be an itty bit more complicated, like steaming broccoli versus steaming carrots.  The only difference…
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clean power plan

A Wee Bit of Clean Power Plan Knowledge

By Energy Rant No Comments
Everyone reading this knows about the EPA’s Clean Power Plan (CPP). You probably know the final rule was released in August 2015, and the plan calls for reducing CO2 emissions by 32% from a baseline of 2005 to the goal-achieving euphoria in 2030. From there, I’ll bet a survey for CPP knowledge falls like a Wile E Coyote Acme anvil.Answers to basic questions are very hard to find. The EPA’s website mainly provides fluff and spin describing how great the plan is and how flexible and easy it will be to “glide” to success. Instead, I conducted my research from…
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clean power plan

Clean Power Plan v the World

By Energy Rant No Comments
Last week, a colleague asked about my take on climate change. This is a wide open question, and my response was babbling and incoherent. Having some time to forge a coherent response, there is nothing in the technological pipeline, nor is there an existence of policy with teeth that will make a significant difference from status quo. Happy Holidaaaayyyys! Happy Holidaaaayyyys! While the merry bells keep ringing… Assume the Clean Power Plan (CPP) survives the blizzard of court cases and is successful by the year 2030. Consider the 32% reduction goal of the CPP by 2030. Using round numbers, if…
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No Policy?

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant, Government, Renewable Energy, Sustainability, Utility Stuff No Comments
As administrations and congresses come and go, one thing remains the same: “there is no clear energy policy”, and “we need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil”.  Neither one is ever addressed. First, what the heck is a clear energy policy anyway and are we sure we want one?  When the government messes with any market, the result is always negative for consumers and in some cases bordering on catastrophe.  The only exception I see is utilities, which lend themselves to monopolistic efficiency.  You may need to lie down after that head-spinning oxymoron.  But seriously, in order to have…
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Dow Chemical Finds Free-Market Religion

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant, Government, Stimulus, Sustainability, Tax Stuff No Comments
I was going to talk about sane solutions for ground transportation this week and I was going to lead with a tidbit, but that snowballed into the entire rant of its own. Last week I was reading The Wall Street Journal on my 1994 organic cotton-stuffed futon when I had a “Ha!  You scheming, scamming, shysters!” moment.    In Law of Gravity Repealed, I accused for-profit corporations who are in favor of carbon caps of essentially getting in bed with the political hacks in Washington to form the rules of the game such that they come out ahead of their competitors. …
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