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Monthly Archives: February 2015
Wind turbines hit limits to growth before 50% wind power penetration
Material requirements of 50% wind power in the USA hit limits to growth Also see: Davidsson, S., et al. 2014. Growth curves and sustained commissioning modelling of renewable energy Investigating resource constraints for wind energy. Energy Policy. Fizaine, F., et … Continue reading
Posted in Electrification, Limits To Growth, Renewable Integration, Wind
Tagged cement, concrete, copper, dysprosium, expoxy, fiberglass, iron, limits to growth, neodymium, steel, turbines, wind
2 Comments
Wind’s dirty secret: it goes on vacation in the summer and year-round in the South East
Figure 1. Summer wind across the USA is barely to not economically viable Class 3 (light blue), or not at all economically viable Class 2 (orange) and class 1 (blank) (NREL), with very limited darker blue (class 4) and … Continue reading
Posted in Electric Grid, Electrification, Seasonal, Wind
Tagged monthly, seasonal, wind resource maps, wind speed
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Wind power capacity value — effective load carrying capability (ELCC)
NREL. 2008. Determining the Capacity Value of Wind: An Updated Survey of Methods and Implementation. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Electric systems must have sufficient reserves so that resources are adequate to meet customer demand. Because electricity demand cannot be known … Continue reading
Is there enough renewable energy to replace fossil fuel electricity generation?
NREL. July 2012. U.S. Renewable Energy Technical Potentials: A GIS-Based Analysis. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. This document is a thought experiment that uses GIS mapping to estimate how much renewable power could possibly be generated in each state regardless of … Continue reading
Drawbacks of a distributed generation electric grid
Gardiner, B. October 8, 2013. Bypassing the Power Grid. New York Times. Small, decentralized generators are mostly inefficient, costing far more per unit of output than conventional power or even utility-scale renewable energy, like big solar farms. Making haphazard changes … Continue reading
Posted in Distributed Generation
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Peter Dykstra: Last Tango for Nuclear?
Dykstra, Peter. Feb 4, 2015. Last Tango for Nuclear? energycollective. There is some promise for nuclear: Projects in Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee may yield the first new nuclear plants in decades. But these new nukes are falling behind schedule … Continue reading
Posted in Nuclear Power
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Robert Hirsch on the Saudis and repercussions of low oil prices
Commentary: Déjà Vu With a Twist? By Robert L. Hirsch, Feb 2, 2015, ASPO USA Peak Oil Review. The recent world oil supply/price decline situation looks very much like what happened in 1985-86, when the Saudis dramatically increased oil production, … Continue reading
Posted in Robert Hirsch
Tagged peak oil, saudi oil
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Hydrogen production would use WAAAAAAAAAY too much water
[This is one of many reasons I call hydrogen “not worth the ink”] Webber, M.E. 2007. The Water Intensity of the Transitional Hydrogen Economy. Environmental Research Letters 2. Conclusions Hydrogen production using thermoelectric powered electrolysis is significantly more water intensive … Continue reading
Posted in Hydrogen
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Michael Webber on Energy + Water + Food interdependency
Webber, Michael E. February 2015. Our future rides on our ability to integrate Energy + Water + Food. Scientific American. Michael E. Webber is deputy director of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. His Yale University … Continue reading
Posted in Drought, Interdependencies, Limits To Growth
Tagged drought, energy, food, interdependencies, limits to growth, water
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Richard Heinberg : After the Peak
Richard Heinberg. January 31, 2015. After the Peak. postcarbon.org Nearly 17 years ago the modern peak oil movement began with the publication of “The End of Cheap Oil” by petroleum geologists Colin Campbell and Jean Laherrère in the March, 1998 … Continue reading