keithfeather

10 Green Energy Gambles for 2009: 3 Month Update

Thank heaven there a few engineers left who will speak out. Wind and solar have a place where one cannot connect to the grid economically, but overall they are but a convenient mental diversion until new nuclear plants can be completed.


On Apr 14 09:27 AM billp37 wrote:

> "Why did my generation fail to develop wind and solar? Because our
> energy choices are ruthlessly ruled, not by political judgments,
> but by the immutable laws of thermodynamics. In engineer-speak, turning
> diffused sources of energy such as photons in sunlight or the kinetic
> energy in wind requires massive investment to concentrate that energy
> into a form that's usable on any meaningful scale. ...
>
> Now, I was told back in the 1970s the same that you're being told
> today: that wind and solar power are 'alternatives' to fossil fuels.
> A more honest description would be 'supplements'. Taken together,
> wind and solar power today account for just one-sixth of 1% of America's
> annual energy consumption today. Let me repeat that statistic - one-sixth
> of one percent -- .0016. "
>
> home.comcast.net/~bpayne37/pnmelectric...
>

Li-ion Batteries and How Cheap Beat Cool in the Chevy Volt

A bet on electric cars must include a long position on tow trucks for "out of elelctricty" cars. I presume that no one would dream of leaving their home with only 2 gallons of gas in the tank, and yet we are to believe that everyone should consider the equivilent using an electric car?

Mobile recharge companies to the rescue.

Time for America to Fire First Shot in the EV Revolution

a third the cost? Electricity here is the equivalent of $32/mmBTU, while gasolene is $9.32/mmBTU, natural gas $6.50, and corn is $10.53. Electric motors are 2.5X efficient, but there is still a gap.

Alternative Energy Storage Is an Investment Tsunami

Timely article. Is it even remotely possible that the hydro storage the US currently has will ever be allowed by the US Corp or land owners to fluctuate enough to act as a viable storage system? Your analysis is on the mark in my opinion.