Categories
-
Recent Posts
- Book list: What to do about peak everything and limits to growth
- 328 Million Americans use 3.2 million pounds of minerals, metals, and fuels in their lifetime
- Batteries are made of rare, declining, critical, and imported elements
- Livestock threatened by toxic invasive species on rangeland
- Extreme flooding from slow hurricanes a danger to farms
Recent Comments
- energyskeptic on Book list: What to do about peak everything and limits to growth
- energyskeptic on Book list: What to do about peak everything and limits to growth
- L. Phoenix on Book list: What to do about peak everything and limits to growth
- Sean on Book list: What to do about peak everything and limits to growth
- Freya on Book list: What to do about peak everything and limits to growth
Archives
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- January 2011
- January 2010
Meta
Please follow & like us :)
Category Archives: Energy Storage
Renewables must help pay for transmission and their energy storage backup of fossil power plants
Preface. Wind and solar advocates don’t include transmission and backup costs in their net energy calculations. But without fossil backup, the electric grid will come down due to lack of storage. There is almost nowhere left to put pumped hydro … Continue reading
Posted in Electric Grid, Energy Storage, Solar, Solar EROI, Wind, Wind EROI
Tagged energy storage, fossil fuel backup, renewable, solar, wind
2 Comments
EV cars and utility scale energy storage batteries are not likely to materialize
Preface. Clearly there’s not enough minerals and metals to shift from fossil fuels to electric vehicles and utility scale battery storage, due to peak critical elements, peak platinum group elements, peak precious elements, peak rare earth elements, and peak everything … Continue reading
Posted in Automobiles, Batteries, Battery - Utility Scale, Peak Lithium
Tagged battery, EV, lithium, utility scale energy storage
13 Comments
Natural Gas is essential for energy storage
Preface. In a 100% renewable energy storage system mainly dependent on wind and solar, there needs to be a tremendous amount of energy storage for up to six weeks when there is little wind or sunshine. The only storage now … Continue reading
Concentrated Solar Power is dying out in the U.S.
Preface. Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) contributes only 0.06 % of U.S. electricity, mainly in California (64 %) and Arizona (24 %) because extremely dry areas with no humidity, haze, or pollutants are required. Of the 1861 MW power they can … Continue reading
How safe are utility-scale energy storage batteries?
Preface. Airplanes can be forced to make an emergency landing if even a small external battery pack, like the kind used to charge cell phones, catches on fire (Mogg 2019). If a small battery pack can force an airplane to … Continue reading
Posted in Safety
Comments Off on How safe are utility-scale energy storage batteries?
Gravity energy storage
Preface. This is interesting, but not commercial. And as my book “When trucks stop running” explains, trucks are the basis of civilization, and can’t run on electric batteries or overhead wires. Even if they could, I explained why a 100% … Continue reading
Pumped Hydro Storage (PHS)
Preface. This is the only commercial way to store energy now (CAES hardly counts with just one plant and salt domes to put more in existing in only 5 states). Though of course hydropower is only in a few states … Continue reading
Posted in Dams, Energy Production, Hydropower, Pumped Hydro Storage (PHS)
Tagged dams, energy storage, hydroelectric, PHS, Pumped hydro storage
15 Comments
Why solar power can’t save us from peak oil
Preface. Embedded within the posts below are many reasons why solar electricity can’t replace fossil fuels. All solar and wind do is add to the giant fire of burning fossil fuels with just a tiny bit more power, about 4% … Continue reading
Posted in Alternative Energy, CSP with thermal energy storage, Solar, Solar EROI
Tagged EROI, fossil fuels, PV, solar
Comments Off on Why solar power can’t save us from peak oil
Utility scale energy storage has a long way to go to make renewables possible
What follows comes from my book “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation” , which is also where you’ll find the references backing up what I’ve written below. I often get letters from people about energy breakthroughs … Continue reading
Can Zinc batteries save us?
Preface: The New York Times had two articles about zinc air batteries in September 2018. Right now, finite natural gas is the dominant way of balancing unreliable, outright missing, or intermittent power from wind and solar. So other energy storage … Continue reading
Posted in Batteries, Energy Storage, Lithium-ion
Tagged air, battery, lithium, reserves, zinc
1 Comment