[MtnGoat]

[drm]

[Randito]

This thread is a bit like the evolution vs creation science / intelligent design debate. Nobody is going to rethink their position and interpret new evidence in ways to support their position if they can and dismissing or ignoring evidence that runs contrary to their position.

[Parked Out]

For those of you on Twitter, Robert Wilson @countcarbon is a great source of infographics on energy use. https://twitter.com/countcarbon

[Malachai Constant]

[drm]

[Parked Out]

Interesting factoid... I watched this video last night on what it would take to go 100% solar for the US's energy needs. The video isn't very sophisticated but it's not terrible. He makes the point that we would have to dedicate only 0.5% of the US land base, or about 12 million acres, to PV solar installations. I don't think he said where he got that number, maybe from Mark Jacobson? Anyway, 12 million acres is a lot or a little, but either way it's roughly 13 times the area occupied by the US interstate highway system. Always helpful to put these things in perspective.

[drm]

Clearly that's a lot of land area, about 80% the size of West Virginia, for another comparison. But were we to actually try for 100% solar, a lot of it would be going on top of structures, so it would not be solar dedicated land. Of course even the biggest solar advocates aren't calling for 100% And if we were to go 100% nuclear, we would generate about 10,000 metric tons of waste per year. I'm not too concerned with how much space that would take, but how long is it dangerous for - above low-level background rates? Can it all be reprocessed in theory, or are any high level wastes not reusable?

[Randito]

I think 100% solutions are proposed by two kinds of people: 1) idealistic dreamers unconcerned with whether the solution is achievable in practical terms. 2) Status quo proponents who wish to demonstrate that doing anything other than current practice is unworkable. IME it gets progressively more expensive the closer to 100% you try to get in any area (not just non fossil fuel energy sources) so that achieving 80% can cost a 10th of 90% and 90% a 10th of 99% and 99% a 10th of 100%. E.g. When I was restoring my vintage motorhome I installed 400 watts of solar panels and standard lead acid batteries to the original capacity. This gives me enough battery capacity to go three days without sun to run the propane furnace, led lights and appliances without sun. I also bought a small propane generator (700 watts) to recharge the batteries to handle long periods without sun. If I tried to go 100% solar I would have needed to buy many more batteries and need to use 5x more expensive Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries to get the capacity needed in the available space. Ironically living full time in the Motorhome since Thanksgiving I haven't once had to fire up the propane generator to keep the batteries topped up, but I think last December/January was sunnier than normal, the RV was in storage in Feburary while I was in BC and NYC and I've been in Baja since then.

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[Randito]

More observationals for the "nothing to see here" crowd to claim doesn't exist. One of Alaska’s warmest springs on record is causing a dangerous thaw https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/04/19/one-alaskas-warmest-springs-record-is-causing-dangerous-thaw/

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[Parked Out]

One of my favorite ski films, and I've always wondered about the origin of the audio clip at the beginning - someone describing the hardships of Eskimos experiencing an unseasonably warm winter.

[Sculpin]