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second law of thermodynamics

battery

Maximize Grid Battery Value with Smart Deployment

By Energy Rant No Comments
Time flies even during pandemics. Two years ago, I found the quote, “Casual observers are often wrong” by Charles Bayless with Public Utilities Fortnightly. Back then, the Rant topic was that battery storage increases carbon emissions – because “Batteries, or any storage, only swap dispatchable, conventional resources; never renewable resources. Result: increased emissions.” Whenever energy is converted from electricity to battery and back to electricity, the nasty second law of thermodynamics intervenes to steal some energy. The result is more source energy consumption and more GHG emissions. That introduction leads to today’s edition of “casual observers are often wrong.” This…
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Fresh Air Causes Asthma?

By Energy Rant No Comments
Show me anything, and I’ll investigate it. This investigation was spurred by an article blurb I reviewed for a potential spot in AESP’s monthly member e-magazine, Strategies. The headline: Connection Between Home Energy Efficiency and Respiratory Health in Low-Income Homes. That sounds fine enough until I got to the reported root cause: too much infiltration; i.e., ventilation; i.e., fresh air! The study says people living in drafty homes have higher rates of chronic cough, asthma, and asthma-like symptoms. I find it amazing how numerous topics I’ve written in the past converge into a topic like wasting energy via infiltration reportedly…
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Black Box Technology – Rarely Real; More Often Hocus Pocus

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant No Comments
Readers of this blog may think I’m a cynical, frumpy coot because I’m frequently noting the negative aspects of approaches, programs, technologies, and evaluation.  I feel obligated to do it because I’m a licensed professional engineer in half a dozen, or so, states.  Professional engineers, like doctors, are sworn to go about their profession in the best interest for the general well-being, health, and welfare of the public and those they serve (e.g. clients).  Well-being and welfare include not getting screwed over or caught by surprise – by revealing the whole story; the whole truth. Recently, E Source published a…
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