Preface. Hurricane Katrina cost somewhere between $109 and $250 billion dollars (Amadero 2017). Estimates of hurricane Harvey range from $100 to $190 billion (Kollewe 2017, Lanktree 2017).
The next California ArkStorm is likely to cost $900 billion, or even a trillion dollars (NRA 2013 Schlosberg 2020).
Recent research progress in sodium ion batteries: (a) cathode, (b) anode, (c) electrolyte and (d) binder. Source: Hwang J (2017) Sodium-ion batteries: present and future. Chem. Soc. Review 46: 3529-3614 DOI: 10.1039/C6CS00776G
Preface. If lithium were used for both EV and utility scale energy storage, reserves would not last long. But there’s a lot of sodium. A sodium battery is better than lithium as well because it is safer and keeps most of the charge when temperatures fall far below freezing.
But sodium batteries have an enormous disadvantage: they need to be bigger than lithium batteries to hold the same electrical charge. So this doesn’t solve the #1 energy crisis problem: Transportation. They’d be far too heavy to electrify long-haul trucks, tractors, locomotives, ships, and other heavy-duty vehicles that run on diesel.
Their best use would be large-scale electric grid energy storage. In fact, Sodium sulfur (NaS) batteries are the only kind of large-scale energy storage for which there are enough materials on earth (Barnhart 2013).
Although Barnhart may be wrong about the amounts of sulfur available. Sure, sulfur is the fifth most common element in the world, but deposits large enough to exploit are extremely rare, mostly near volcanoes. Most sulfur or sulfates are combined with copper, iron, lead, zinc, barium, calcium (aka gypsum), magnesium, and sodium.
Today 80% comes from oil and natural gas refining into pure elemental sulfur, safe and easy to transport, unlike sulfuric acid, and with the bonus of preventing sulfur dioxide emissions and acid rain. But there are scientists warning about 25 years of conventional oil left in the world at current rates of consumption. Others say more than that. But whatever the amount left, exponential growth from population and capitalism shortens consumption time.
Preface. Plutonium for nuclear weapons was produced at the Hanford Washington site for nearly four decades. Today it is the world’s most polluted site chock-a-block with radioactive waste and toxic chemicals.
The department of energy estimates a clean-up could cost as much as $641 billion dollars (DOE 2022). Six years ago, the estimate was $110 billion. It’s a ticking time bomb that could release radioactive materials like Chernobyl and Fukushima if facilities were ruptured by an earthquake, fire, or explosion.
Preface. A GEN IV sodium-cooled fast reactor is such a bad idea that I am stunned Bill Gates would support it. Worse yet, a lot of the $4.5 billion cost for the Wyoming reactor is not his money, it’s taxpayer dollars.
These types of GEN IV reactors are called sodium-cooled Small Modular Reactors (SMR), or Sodium cooled fast reactors (SFR). No matter what you call them, they have always failed over the past 70 years, mainly due to higher risk of breakout fires than standard light water reactors. On contact with air sodium burns, with water explodes. There is a much higher risk of accidents.
What follows is a letter written by Arnie Gundersen who makes a good case for why these are not worth building.
Source: Salt Lake Tribune. For Latter-day Saint families, preparing for emergencies is the normPreface. Ted Koppel’s book “Lights Out” highlights the many risks to the grid from cyber and physical attacks, electromagnetic pulses from weapons or solar flares, large transformer failures, and simply falling apart because it is very old and is falling apart at a time when it needs to be expanded for electric cars and trucks, which would require 40% of all electricity produced today.
The LDS church Mormons are by far the most prepared for the grid going out for weeks or months, which Koppel explains would kill many Americans (according to the congressional testimony here, a year-long grid outage could kill 90% of us)
Preface. I am fascinated by war and conflict, and especially in this book which shows how societies and conflicts are similar across time and mountain ranges all over the world. These cultures may be inevitable due to the harsh environments. Those of you trying to decide where to be postcarbon will especially find this of interest. As well as my book review of Ramp Hollow: The Ordeal of Appalachia.
Preface. Unconventional US (and some Canadian) fracked tight oil was over 90% of how oil production increased after conventional oil peaked in 2008, but US fracked oil peaked in 2018 (and consequently all world oil, both conventional and unconventional also peaked then). Only the Permian shale basin is not in decline yet.
Preface. I don’t know of a book or article that better explains fusion and why fusion is so difficult and far from being commercial. Or ever commercial for that matter. Except for hydrogen bombs.
Preface. This book is about the history of the town of Cobalt and would make a great horror movie — the disease, filth, poverty, poor wages, racism, and destruction of the environment — the biodiversity, fresh water and more.
Preface. I have many posts at energyskeptic on the myriad reasons the grid will fail or disrupted in the future. Climate change is causing droughts and reservoirs too low to generate much hydropower, and nuclear plants must shut down if they can’t be cooled as well.
