Let's talk about renewables...

[georgiaboy]

I believe there are some folks here who favor the renewables push, so I'm looking at you to explain this to me... I have a number of questions:

#1 - Oil and natural gas bi-products are not just used to fuel ICE's. They produce a not insignificant percentage of the things that we use and make the modern world possible, such as plastics, paints & coatings, synthetic fibers, fertilizers, vinyl, many makeup products, etc. These products consume a considerable percentage of O&G output. What is the plan to replace these items if O&G production is suspended, as is the apparent desire of the environmentalist movement?

#2 - Is there a plan in place for dealing with aged-out renewable components like wind sails and solar panels?

#3 - Do environmentalists understand the amount of earth-moving required to create the batteries to store the power created by renewables?

#3a - Do environmentalists understand the amount of diesel powered equipment required to produce the raw materials to create those batteries?

#4 - I spent a very brief period of time working in the solar industry in New England recently, and I was compelled by how infrequently solar works in that region... Solar seems to be a power source for regions such as the Desert Southwest, and maybe the Plains states, but few others, given the geography and/or weather. Same/similar with wind. Is there a reliable plan in place to transfer power from regions where renewables work to regions where it does not work? If not, how are those regions where it does not work supposed to generate power without oil, gas and/or coal?

I'm curious as to what the answers are to these questions, because the overwhelming push by the environmentalist movement seems to be completely neglecting these matters.

Do biofuels count as renewables?

[A Son of Liberty]

Do biofuels count as renewables?

I wasn't considering them and mostly referring to solar and wind, but sure... don't really know much of anything about them.

[Anti Federalist]

I wasn't considering them and mostly referring to solar and wind, but sure... don't really know much of anything about them.

My local electricity is supplied by a wood chip plant.

[pcosmar]

My local electricity is supplied by a wood chip plant.

Soo Michigan has a Hydro electric plant visible,, to the right side of the Live Feed.

on the exit of that 13 ft drop.

[Anti Federalist]

Soo Michigan has a Hydro electric plant visible,, to the right side of the Live Feed.

on the exit of that 13 ft drop.

So it does...too bad the enviro Marxists are doing everything in their power to shut down and remove hydro dams.

[TheTexan]

Nuclear is also one of the cleanest sources of energy... and they want to shut those down too

[pcosmar]

So it does...too bad the enviro Marxists are doing everything in their power to shut down and remove hydro dams.

Hooked to the Failed "Grid System"..

More power than the whole UP can use..
but they have to buy it from the grid..

and much is wasted,, could be producing Hydrogen as a store-able energy source. to be used as portable energy.

I hate Waste. of everything.

natural Pack Rat

[GlennwaldSnowdenAssanged]

I am into reusables. I use mason jars over and over. I use insulated stainless steel water bottles. I have 2,000 grit sandpaper that started out as 60 grit. Most all my furniture is second hand quality antique. I take the oil I drained from my automobile and pour it directly into my heating oil tank. We cook at home and eat all the food we cook. I am a conservative kinda guy. All true except the gritty humor. Much of my clothing is nearing the vintage point and I purchased it all new. I have so many old used cars that I know at least one of them will run. I don't mind walking. I recently gave up using toilet paper there is no need for it and a total waste. My theory is replacing a functioning item with a new one because you want an update is probably a mistake. The working old one is probably serviceable and will probably still be working when after the new one isn't. If I am cold I put on a pair of 20 year old wool socks and matching sweater. When I am hot, I open opposing windows, put on a 10 year old micro fiber wicking tee shirt and matching shorts. I can shower with a 2 gallon hot water heater twice. Old bath towels become great rags. 5 minutes of prep time in the morning and I have perfect Italian dough for brick oven style pizza or calzone. I wash from clean to dirty. First sweep everything and wash what is hardly dirty and saturate the soiled areas with water or water/diluted vinegar solution that was saved from cleaning the coffee maker. The cleaner areas hardly soil the old bath towel used to clean the area. Once all the cleaner areas are washed, I dry with another old bath towel. Then I go over the more soiled soaking areas with the already used washing towel for the pre-clean. Then I convert my dry towel into the new wash towel. I use industrial dry floor mops to keep my hardwood and vinyl plank flooring clean. I have had the same mop heads for over 20 years. Every once in awhile I take them outside and vigorously shake out all the dust and just throw them in with a towel rag load. They come out looking as good as the day they were purchased. I make my own laundry soap, body/face soap, lotions. I have my boiler on a timer so it doesn't spend hours each day just keeping the water in the boiler up to a specific temperature. It is shut off when heat/hot water not needed. I hand wash all dishes and there are 6 adults living here presently. The trick is to organize the dishes. First scrape off all scraps. If edible they go to the dogs, if not they go in the garbage. I use old dishwater or overflow from filling water glasses or washing hands that spills into a large dishpan. A stainless steel scratchy thingy is used to pre-clean all the dishes with the second hand water. Once all the dishes are pre-cleaned and stacked according to size the get the official wash in new soapy water after thoroughly washing all the counters, sinks, with a clean rag. Wash the glass plates and glasses first along with the silverware and rinse and put in the rack. They are dry from dripping before I am finished with the pots/pans and anything else. Heat house with hand fired coal stoves. I am probably going to build a solar hot water and put it on the roof for summer hot water. Probably nothing too fancy. Just a potable garden hose coming off an outdoor faucet feeding an appropriate sized pipe on the roof and then piping that into my indirect hot water tank. Will probably only use that in warmer months and gravity drain it for freezing weather. I yearn for nothing and couldn't ask for more.

[TheTexan]

In the summer i keep the AC at 62 degrees. If it gets too cold I turn on a heater. In the winter I have 4 heaters running plus central heating, and sometimes AC if it gets too hot. I keep the lights on in most rooms as it seems the bulbs last longer that way and I have better things to do than switch lights on and off. I keep all my power tools charged though I only use them maybe once a year. I will run hot water in the shower for 20 minutes to warm up the air in the bathroom before I take a shower. This is good but I really need a hottub that I can keep warm all year long and use maybe twice. Perhaps a legit steam shower would be nice also. I could use a lot more stuff.

[GlennwaldSnowdenAssanged]

In the summer i keep the AC at 62 degrees. If it gets too cold I turn on a heater. In the winter I have 4 heaters running plus central heating, and sometimes AC if it gets too hot. I keep the lights on in most rooms as it seems the bulbs last longer that way and I have better things to do than switch lights on and off. I keep all my power tools charged though I only use them maybe once a year. I will run hot water in the shower for 20 minutes to warm up the air in the bathroom before I take a shower. This is good but I really need a hottub that I can keep warm all year long and use maybe twice. Perhaps a legit steam shower would be nice also. I could use a lot more stuff.

Fantastic! I suggest if it gets too hot in winter with all those heaters running, open up some windows!

[fatjohn]

I'm an engineer and loved aerospace in particular and everything with wings.
I'm therefore biased and think a wind turbine is a majestic machine by default.
But what a lot of people who want to bash renewables dont seem to get is that the technology has come a long way.
Not in a big way but every couple of years a tiny bit better.
As the size goes up, it's output has been going up with the square.
Also the efficiency has been inching upwards compounding on that exponential rise even more.
Wind turbines are therefore really coming at the size where they can be the main power generation stations of an economy.
In the EU + UK they already generate 15% of the electricity and this is set to double in the next 10 years.

I fully expect the future energy mix in the EU in say 15 years from now to be 40% wind / 30% solar / 15% hydro / 8% gas / 7% nuclear (basically just 50% of france).
The current high end turbines are rated at 15MW, capable of generating 75 GWh per year. Almost 10x the size they were 20 years ago (most of those that you see standing around are of this size.)
Meanwhile the entire EU + UK only consumes 3000 TWh per year. That's just 40,000 turbines.
Thats not a whole lot.

Anyway Europe 2050 could just be wind and solar parks and then hydro stations, industrial battery packs and gas peaker plants to smooth out the grid.
I think all heating and transportation will be fully electric by then and electricity consumption will probably have doubled to 6000 TWh.
For 40-50% on wind you would just need about 40000 of the current size turbines, but by then turbines twice the power will probably be common place and we'd be looking at about 20000 turbines with a peak height of 300m and a rated power of 30 MW and yearly output of 150 GWh.

I think there will be a huge boon in the near future of whichever region really harnesses the power of wind in the coming decade.
Europe paid a lot for being too early but they might finally start to reap the rewards.