The renewable energy changes and policy

cannabineer said:

Do you see that that kicks a big hole in the idea that market forces tend toward the common good?

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I never said they were in general, in this instance however where we want to deploy new technology quicky, iteratively improve it and develop even better technologies like perhaps fusion one day. Free markets allow that to happen and allow investors to finance scientists and engineers with good ideas and reasonable prospects.

As we move into a technological Utopia (we hope!) where robots do the work and AI even does the thinking and creating, while automatic biotech produces the food, we should see more socialism and less capitalism, eventually we might drive it off earth into space! If people have no jobs in a fantastically rich society, what are they going to do, other than lay around and be hedonistic slobs living lives of luxury and recreation!

DIY-HP-LED said:

I never said they were in general, in this instance however where we want to deploy new technology quicky, iteratively improve it and develop even better technologies like perhaps fusion one day. Free markets allow that to happen and allow investors to finance scientists and engineers with good ideas and reasonable prospects.

As we move into a technological Utopia (we hope!) where robots do the work and AI even does the thinking and creating, while automatic biotech produces the food, we should see more socialism and less capitalism, eventually we might drive it off earth into space! If people have no jobs in a fantastically rich society, what are they going to do, other than lay around and be hedonistic slobs living lives of luxury and recreation!

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What would drive such a transition? I think all it will do is make a more evolved capitalist. One with new wealth-stripping abilities.

cannabineer said:

What would drive such a transition? I think all it will do is make a more evolved capitalist. One with new wealth-stripping abilities.

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I didn't say there would be no problems getting from here to there, the rich can afford the technology like humanoid robots, and they are coming, the technology shows are full of them from over a dozen companies. They might control the money, but people control the vote and the government and while some of them can be hornswoggled and lied to by foxnews and republicans, mass unemployment has a way of moving the needle. Besides not all rich people are nefarious, and many want a better world too. If we develop automation as we appear to be doing, it along with AI will throw many people out of work, many highly educated and creative among them thanks to things like AI.

You can buy a pretty good humanoid robot now or soon will for less than $50K and all it really needs is a brain and better battery pack and AI with Wi-fi could help with the brains part. It is the automation revolution that is most impactful, and it includes things like shipping containers and future EVs with few moving parts and no or little maintenance, few auto mechanics. Perhaps fewer farmers, even if the RethinkX report is off by a few years. Another way of looking at it is, if society is fantastically rich and people live the good life, they won't give a shit about the 1%. Go into many people's homes and they are very nice with a backyard paradise, such people are not eager to revolt or change things much.

DIY-HP-LED said:

I didn't say there would be no problems getting from here to there, the rich can afford the technology like humanoid robots, and they are coming, the technology shows are full of them from over a dozen companies. They might control the money, but a small minority of powerful people control the vote and the government and while some of them can be hornswoggled and lied to by foxnews and republicans, mass unemployment has a way of moving the needle. Besides not all rich people are nefarious, and many want a better world too. If we develop automation as we appear to be doing, it along with AI will throw many people out of work, many highly educated and creative among them thanks to things like AI.

You can buy a pretty good humanoid robot now or soon will for less than $50K and all it really needs is a brain and better battery pack and AI with Wi-fi could help with the brains part. It is the automation revolution that is most impactful, and it includes things like shipping containers and future EVs with few moving parts and no or little maintenance, few auto mechanics. Perhaps fewer farmers, even if the RethinkX report is off by a few years. Another way of looking at it is, if society is fantastically rich and people live the good life, they won't give a shit about the 1%. Go into many people's homes and they are very nice with a backyard paradise, such people are not eager to revolt or change things much.

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fify
Democracy is unnatural. It requires unrelenting effort to maintain.

cannabineer said:

fify
Democracy is unnatural. It requires unrelenting effort to maintain.

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America is a structurally flawed liberal democracy and they are easier to fuck over and destroy democracy in, there are studies. The ideological SCOTUS appears to be making the country ungovernable, at least while democrats are in control and are legislating themselves, talk about "activist judges". It would be clearer cut with a strong democratic majority that the SCOTUS would find hard to strike down their laws without getting themselves packed. There are also future impeachment hearings for some justices and congressional investigations too, until Thomas resigns or retires. If the democrats win usable majorities, then even Cannon could be hauled in front of an impeachment inquiry, if there is just cause.

DIY-HP-LED said:

America is a structurally flawed liberal democracy and they are easier to fuck over and destroy democracy in, there are studies. The ideological SCOTUS appears to be making the country ungovernable, at least while democrats are in control and are legislating themselves, talk about "activist judges". It would be clearer cut with a strong democratic majority that the SCOTUS would find hard to strike down their laws without getting themselves packed. There are also future impeachment hearings for some justices and congressional investigations too, until Thomas resigns or retires. If the democrats win usable majorities, then even Cannon could be hauled in front of an impeachment inquiry, if there is just cause.

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It’s not only US.

cannabineer said:

It is a major driving force only for the kind of innovation that can be monopolized or cartelized.

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More profits than just a fixed wage is a major motivator also for small scale innovators, not just evil big corp. It got mudded a bit but the main context for me was still PF. Besides monopolies and cartels, there are many innovators who are not cooperating as colluding competitors. Farmers for instance. Take away the ability to make profts, privately, and we’d have to end up stealing intellectual property like china.

Big cosmetic, big food, big any-industry isn’t switching to climate-neutral for the common good. They have no choice other than to innovate if they want to continue making profits, at least in EU regulated capitalistic economies. It’s demand driven. If they don’t someone else will. Possibly bring prosperity to a different economy.

cannabineer said:

It’s not only US.

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Canada has constitutional issues too, but it is 200 years more advanced, in the technology of constitutions, so to speak. The western system of government and law (in several forms) are a form of technology that allowed people to govern themselves better and spread globally, even autocracies ape it.

“Conservatives”

Sativied said:

Italy bans cultivated meat products

New law prohibits the production or sale of cultivated meat in Italy, with fines of up to €60,000

www.chemistryworld.com

“Conservatives”

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The more industry people who fear it, the more it means that progress is being made and they perceive a threat. Some people who read that RethinkX forecast were alarmed, the predictions are near term and dire for some.

Sativied said:

Italy bans cultivated meat products

New law prohibits the production or sale of cultivated meat in Italy, with fines of up to €60,000

www.chemistryworld.com

“Conservatives”

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ignore the first one as the diversion it is, and the remaining three show who’s boss: the livestock lobby.

‘In defence of health, of the Italian production system, of thousands of jobs, of our culture and tradition,

DIY-HP-LED said:

The more industry people who fear it, the more it means that progress is being made and they perceive a threat. Some people who read that RethinkX forecast were alarmed, the predictions are near term and dire for some.

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So, if someone in Bulgaria producing meat and selling it to processed foods companies in the EU might have a trade issue with that and it would have to be settled by the EU.

Dealing with extreme cold and EVs

A cheap simple option would be just a propane heater, like an old Volkswagen Beetle cab heater, except for the battery pack. There might be a chance for someone to make a buck and sell them as an after market product. Tell someone from China and they might be on it like stink on shit!

The purpose of the gizmo is to heat the battery so even exhaust gas can be used to make it super-efficient. Propane might be best if it isn't used for a year or two and a barbeque gas bottle could last a long time, is common and cheap. A plug-in battery pack heater would go with it, similar to an ICE engine block heater. It might be made as a kit an aftermarket thing, it just needs to heat and circulate the power pack coolant, so you can tap into the cooling system at the radiator or the connector where it goes into the battery pack.

A propane burner that heats a coil of copper tubing and pumps coolant is not even hard to DIY much less manufacture using a cooling jacket out of aluminum with fins on the inside to pick up the heat and it can generate a lot of watts of heat. A remote control or phone app could control it to start warming up the battery and maybe even the cab. It sits in the front trunk of most EVs like a Volkswagen gasoline cab heater and is vented the same way. Even with better batteries it would be a desirable feature on a new EV (dealer installed) or as an aftermarket product, especially for older EVs. It would only use propane during cold snaps for most folks and a gas bottle might last a very long time and they are already certified for transport.

Are perovskite cells a game-changer for solar energy?

Imagine creating solar panels without relying on materials in short supply and adopting an eco-friendlier production process. And at the same time boosting efficiency? Enter perovskite tandem solar cells—an innovation that has long held the promise of revolutionizing the solar energy landscape. But where are they in their development, and could they truly represent the future of solar panel technology?

As batteries, management electronics and solar drop in price more people will be able to "fight back" against power utilities. Better batteries mean better EVs and free transportation for many that cuts the oil industry out of their pocket for transportation too.

They will likely be screwing you on net metering one day so best be prepared with a system that can use a battery when you need one and they get cheap. With enough solar and battery reserve you won't pay much for power if they should eliminate net metering, just the grid connection fee.


I'm Fighting The Energy Monopoly - You Can Too!

I'm a bit of a control freak, and there's something about monopolies that drives me nuts. As an American i've gotten so used to disruptive tech that constantly pushes the needle forward. But sadly there are still some things in our lives that we have no choice over. Things like cable companies or energy utilities. But with recent advancements in solar and batteries and internet from space, we might finally be able to put them on notice. Let's see how I'm fighting the monopolies in my life, together!

DIY-HP-LED said:

From what I can see impeding progress on renewables, mounting disinformation campaigns and generally freaking out, it's not just private oil companies, but countries like the Saudis and Russians, when they were selling oil. They influence a lot of international reports on renewables and such and were consistently underestimating their impact and still do. In reality there is not much an industry can do when their value chain is disrupted from the gas pump to the oil well. Like some creatures they thrash around before they die, projected solar and battery costs are the factors in their demise.

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I hear what you and @cannabineer are saying and I somewhat agree. The fact is corporate profit's, greed, unsustainable wealth, and nation building have driven the reliance on oil and gas to a point where we are now. I work in this renewables space both in the public sector and the private sector & regulation is almost a joke tbh, plus it changes with the way the political wind blows at least in the US. but innovation is key imo. the cost of solar has come down around 75% in the past 20 years. This trend will continue and even lead to more innovation such as hydrogen fuel production co-gend w/ solar. The big boys (like chevron/exxon/shell) all have major investments in renewables. They know the time is ticking…even if they aren’t saying it in their shareholder reports…but in the board meetings I bet it is a topic profit's regularly and hefty annual budgets are assigned. It has to be innovation that changes the course imo and it needs to have a cost saving aspect but I think it is the only option we (humanity) have long term.

But sadly there are still some things in our lives that we have no choice over. Things like cable companies or energy utilities.
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agreed. case and point is here in CA the same solar array (small home roof deal) producing relatively the same amount of power in the same household using relatively the same amount of draw is now paying the electric utility around 20% more then 5 years ago. that is because there is a loophole in the regulation that the utility companies are bound too so they can raise rate on power supplied and/or reduce the cost per unit you put back to the grid. It’s not fair.

Proteins or additives for fish feed might be one target of PF, but farming small marine animals might be a cheaper and easier way to make fish feed. This polyculture aquaculture approach has potential to produce a lot of food.


Can we farm the ocean without destroying it?

The oceans cover 70% of the world’s surface, but they only supply 2% of its food. Farming fish, the fastest growing food production activity in the world, could change that. But even though it’s been practiced for thousands of years, it still poses environmental challenges. Can we change that?

ooof-da said:

But sadly there are still some things in our lives that we have no choice over. Things like cable companies or energy utilities.

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agreed. case and point is here in CA the same solar array (small home roof deal) producing relatively the same amount of power in the same household using relatively the same amount of draw is now paying the electric utility around 20% more then 5 years ago. that is because there is a loophole in the regulation that the utility companies are bound too so they can raise rate on power supplied and/or reduce the cost per unit you put back to the grid. It’s not fair.

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Distributed generation never was in the utilities’ operating paradigm. To keep on with “business as usual” and service their shareholders, they have no real choice but to buy the extra household power at wholesale and sell it back at retail.

Only way this changes is if government intervenes and taxes the utilities into extinction. Or buys the grid from them.

ceterum censeo screw free-market “libertarians”.

cannabineer said:

Distributed generation never was in the utilities’ operating paradigm. To keep on with “business as usual” and service their shareholders, they have no real choice but to buy the extra household power at wholesale and sell it back at retail.

Only way this changes is if government intervenes and taxes the utilities into extinction. Or buys the grid from them.

ceterum censeo screw free-market “libertarians”.

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In some states they recently had referendums about nationalizing the grid and taking it over from private interests. In CA like other place utilities buy solar panels too since it's the cheapest form of power generation and soon they start competing with prosumers on the daytime solar duck curve which imbalances the grid and can quickly cut the prosumer out of the game with net metering. They need to be made to invest in wind, which compliments solar.