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Photos capture the breathtaking scale of China's wind and solar buildout

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Re: Photos capture the breathtaking scale of China's wind and solar buildout

#431

Post by MaxHoppersGhost »

senordevnyc wrote: post #256
MaxHoppersGhost wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you think there is oil in Greenland I think you should not contribute to these types of discussion for lack of knowledge on the topic.

Was curious, so I did a 30 second search: "The US Geological Survey estimates that onshore northeast Greenland (including ice-covered areas) contains around 31 billion barrels of oil-equivalent in hydrocarbons – similar to the US’s entire volume of proven crude oil reserves." Source: https://theconversation.com/greenland-is-rich-in-natural-res...

Also, Idk what that source is but the US has way more barrels than that. Proven reserves mean that’s what’s been proven via drilling, not speculative (which is what the Greenland barrels are). There is a lot more “unproven” oil out there but it doesn’t make for a sensationalist statement that fools readers.

Re: Photos capture the breathtaking scale of China's wind and solar buildout

#432

Post by energy123 »

delta_p_delta_x wrote: post #218
energy123 wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's words like "cloudy", and then there's proper simulation studies which demonstrate that these concerns are unfounded.

Okay... and? I'm not saying 'let's only do nuclear, and not bother about wind/solar/tidal'. I'm saying there is plenty of money to go around, and it doesn't hurt to spend some of that to diversify our power generation and have some reliable, non-polluting, highly power-dense, high-tech base load (nuclear) that can be quickly throttled to meet demand, and is generally resistant to most environmental conditions. The Ch…

If you read the simulation studies you would know that ~0% nuclear is the most cost effective solution in many locations.

Re: Photos capture the breathtaking scale of China's wind and solar buildout

#434

Post by mjevans »

roxolotl wrote: post #21

It genuinely makes me so sad to see the US not doing the same. Having grown up to the constant beat of “energy independence” as the core goal of a party it seemed obvious that the nearly limitless energy that rains down from the sky would be the answer. But instead we’ve kept choosing the option which requires devastating our, and other’s around the world, community. That’s not to exclude the harsh reality of mining…

It shouldn't be one thing, or 'only eco thing'.

It should be _every_ thing that isn't a bad idea.

Solar

Wind

Geothermal

Tidal power?

Got a way of using that tasty oil cleanly? Maybe we want to reserve those complex hydrocarbons for some other use like growing crops, making solid rocket fuel, or some other national priority.

Nuclear - Yes, craft regulations that make sense and squeeze all the damned energy possible out of that 'waste'. No, I don't mean burn the fuel the easy way only - I mean send it back to military run reprocessing centers to concentrate the power and make the (effective) half life of the waste decades rather than civilizations of time (yes, concentrating it, there will also be some super mild things that decay slowly enough to be useful in other applications rather than waste).

We want to maximize energy in the long, medium and short term. Try Everything.

Re: Photos capture the breathtaking scale of China's wind and solar buildout

#438

Post by throw310822 »

vladiim wrote: post #399

I like Musk's lens: the sun is 99.8% of the galaxy's total mass and over 99.99% of its energy production. Pretty straight-forward where you want to be getting your energy from.

Yes, well, if we want to see the big picture, fossil fuels are also stored solar. Musk's statement sounds good but it's pointless.

Re: Photos capture the breathtaking scale of China's wind and solar buildout

#439

Post by philamonster »

tzs wrote: post #354
roxolotl wrote: post #21

It genuinely makes me so sad to see the US not doing the same. Having grown up to the constant beat of “energy independence” as the core goal of a party it seemed obvious that the nearly limitless energy that rains down from the sky would be the answer. But instead we’ve kept choosing the option which requires devastating our, and other’s around the world, community. That’s not to exclude the harsh reality of mining…

Up to the 2008 election the Republican party platform called for reducing fossil fuel use, establishing a Climate Prize for scientists who solve the challenges of climate change, a long term tax credit for renewable energy (with specific mentions of solar and wind), more recycling, and making consumer products more energy efficient. They wanted to aggressively support technological advances to reduce the dependence o…

Republicans. Remember them?

Re: Photos capture the breathtaking scale of China's wind and solar buildout

#440

Post by pfdietz »

gregbot wrote: post #421
pfdietz wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The person he was responding to is wrong, as you might have discovered had you actually tried to provide information.

Well if by close to nothing he means waste lasting 300 years instead of 10,000 years and by latest generation he means gen IV reactors like bn-800, superpheonix, oklo, moltex etc sure he is basically correct. Here’s a source where you can read more about breeder reactors: (which is what he is referring to) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breeder_reactor

These aren't nuclear power plants. They're designs of nuclear power plants. None have been constructed (well, aside from old plants like Superphenix, which was a failure, so much so that the French have mothballed their fast reactor program.)

Moreover, they would be considerably more expensive than existing plants (especially if fuel is to be reprocessed), so they're nonstarters.

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