Author Archives: energyskeptic

Climate-water impacts on electricity sector capacity expansion NREL 2014

NREL. 2014. Modeling climate-water impacts on electricity sector capacity expansion. To be presented at the ASME 2014 Power Conference Baltimore, Maryland July 28–31, 2014. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. 12 pages. Excerpts follow: ABSTRACT Climate change has the potential to exacerbate … Continue reading

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Capacity value of solar is low as penetration increases which could suppress investment

Notes from 33 page: NREL. 2014. Representation of Solar Capacity Value in the ReEDS Capacity Expansion. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Technical Report NREL/TP-6A20-61182 March 2014 Comparison of Capacity Value at High Penetration. Several researchers have conducted modeling efforts to quantify … Continue reading

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The potential role of concentrating solar power

Preface. The word “water” appears nowhere in this document, even though that’s a major limiting factor for CSP with thermal storage. Dry cooling is possible, but it lowers the EROI and raises the already way-too-high capital cost. An electric grid … Continue reading

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Vernon VG&E AB 2514 Energy storage report

STAFF REPORT: VERNON GAS & ELECTRIC DEPARTMENT   September 2, 2014 [some of the 25-page report is shown below as I attempted to get up to speed on energy storage. Since California is the first state to mandate this, and … Continue reading

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Stop wasting food

[Clearly at the point when food rationing begins due to limited amounts of transportation oil, not wasting food will be important, and composting can expected to be the main way of disposal since garbage trucks will run less frequently. Below … Continue reading

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Expanding rail infrastructure to accommodate growth in agriculture and other sectors

Excerpts from 103 page: Keith, K. Jan 2013. Maintaining a track record of success. Expanding rail infrastructure to accommodate growth in agriculture and other sectors. TRC Consulting. [I’m working on a book about the distribution of food when declining oil … Continue reading

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Reducing fuel consumption of medium & heavy-duty vehicles 2014 National Research Council

Look at the enormous waste of fuel when JIT supply chain trucks ramped up in the late 70s  (page 63). Excerpts from the 117 page: NRC. 2014. Reducing the Fuel Consumption and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles, … Continue reading

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Commercial scale cellulosic ethanol still not happening in 2016 – why?

Here’s Rapier’s latest column on cellulosic ethanol explaining why it still isn’t commercial yet, despite attempts since the 1900’s.  He points out that we have been able to create cellulosic ethanol since 1900, but not economically. February 13, 2016. Cellulosic … Continue reading

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Wind, solar, and storage impact on the California grid

California Energy commission. June 2010. Research evaluation of wind generation, solar generation, and storage impact on the California Grid. 131 pages. Excerpts: This report analyzes the effect of increasing renewable energy generation on California’s electricity system and assesses and quantifies … Continue reading

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Sacramento SMUD AB 2514 Energy storage report

[The state of California has realized that it’s unlikely a larger or national transmission grid will be built to share and balance variable renewable power, and is going to Plan B, energy storage. The problem is, all of the utilities … Continue reading

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