Posts

XLDES

Image
  The dunkleflaute problem ( a couple of weeks with little renewable generation)  has a short term solution, but is a long term problem and I see no research or policy  addressing it. (  nuclear  is not the answer as I've explained on numerous occasions) In the short term it is possible to restart gas powered combined cycle generators ( CCGT) and handle the variability of demand using batteries that will have been added in earlier phases.  As I've commented before these need to be owned by the grid and out of the market model. They will be costed on an annual generation / power capacity basis as the generator of last resort. They will use the written off CCGT assets. However we don't want to use  natural gas  due to the fugitive leakage issues in mining, pipes, ships etc. By some estimates this makes USA shale gas worse than coal. We could make the gas by biological anaerobic digestion of waste food ,leaves and  animal waste. However unl...
Post a Comment
Read more

CO2 to X summary of approaches and research

Image
Ian Page -2023.12.27 Some recent papers indicate that a lot of research is trying to navigate a rather complex space, essentially to come up with answers to the critical issue of how civilization reduces the concentration of CO2 in the air from 400+ppm to 300 to avoid the worst effects of climate disaster.   The diagram indicates the major components which I will discuss, but the key overall measures are:  %C    How much of the expensively captured CO2 is converted to either permanently sequestered carbon which reduces the concentration of CO2, or something that replaces oil and gas extraction which reduces the annual addition of CO2 to the environment. Losses of C along the way may appear to be small but will tend to end up as CO2 again, or large quantities of some material that must be disposed of. e   How large an increase in generated electricity worldwide is needed to drive the systems. I have recently pointed out from a paper that this could involve m...
Post a Comment
Read more

Peak trade

Image
By Ian Page -  I had a recent issue with the assumption that trade in ships would continue to increase massively in the future.
Post a Comment
Read more

Easier than we thought

By Ian Page -  A paper from Stanford last year estimated how much more electricity the world needs to generate to totally replace fossils.
Post a Comment
Read more

Transition: a rough societal perspective and rant

By Ian Page - This waffly note identifies some fundamental structural problems with our civilization and suggests some of the principles that might be a guide to sorting it out.
Post a Comment
Read more

Biodegradable optical fiber

By Ian Page. https://phys.org/news/2023-09- biodegradable-optical-fiber- modulate-electrical.html Optical fibers are made by pouring Agar( from seaweed) into cylinders to set.
Post a Comment
Read more

Misalignment of objectives of commercial agents and commercial and society is an economic problem?

 By Ian Page I commented recently that something seems wrong with economics or its application as it doesn't seem to be able to effectively capture the external costs of production and use to society in a way that actually drives commercial actors to make decisions that are right for society at large.
Post a Comment
Read more