In response to my rhetorical question at the conclusion of my recent post on climate change: “(Given that we appear incapable of going after the problem itself), are we going to put dikes around the 217,490 miles of the planet’s coast lines?” frequent commenter Glenn Doty writes:

Part of the disconnect lies in the fact that the models from the IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change) don’t show that we’ll need dikes around most of the coast-line within 20-40 years, and no government plans for a longer time frame than that.

Excellent point.  Regarding (more…)

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According to this article in SmartGridNews, Consolidated Edison, the power utility that serves New York City and the surrounding region, is in the process of spending $1 billion to upgrade its power delivery infrastructure so to minimize outages in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

“Sandy caused incredible damage to our energy delivery systems, disrupting the lives of millions of New Yorkers,” said Con Edison Chairman and CEO Kevin Burke. “While we recognize that these weather events represent a ‘new normal,’ our goal through our investments is to lessen the hardships that violent weather causes for our customers.”

I found it interesting that the increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events and the climate change that is causing them are so openly acknowledged by captains of industry.  It’s hard to understand how people of this stature can affirm the existence of an enormous threat, and bulk up on infrastructure to alleviate the symptoms, but not put a plan in place to deal with the problem itself.  Are we going to put dikes around the 217,490 miles of the planet’s coast lines?

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I know many readers share my excitement about the physics behind clean energy, and appreciate the opportunity to learn more at every available opportunity.  To that end, let me share with you a YouTube channel that I know you’ll enjoy.  Here’s one segment of it, concerning the molecular structure of glass and the transfer of energy with in, which, while it might sound like a snooze, is incredibly well done and captivating for audiences of all academic backgrounds.

I’m sure readers will join me in checking out other episodes that may have even stronger bearing on the science of renewables.  Please post some links in the comments section if you come across something you’d like to share.

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The wedding I attended on the Outer Banks of North Carolina earlier this week led to a chance encounter with Bob Solarz, a good friend of my brother.  Even Bob’s last name itself sounds like a propitious start for a conversation on clean energy and sustainability, and sure enough, he’s the president of a full-service civil engineering and consulting company whose focus is sustainability.  Bob told me all about some of the projects he’s done, including this one, Kensington CAPA High School, Philadelphia, PA, which won LEED Platinum Certification.

Bob’s company, Gilmore and Associates, does a great deal of work in that region of the country that taps into their skills in sustainable water management, low-impact development (LID) planning and design, and several other related disciplines.  I enjoyed the conversation, learned a great deal, and came away gratified that there is so much attention being applied to ensure that each one of our new buildings is environmentally responsible.

Keep up the good work!

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My mother and I spent a wonderful day together on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, our destination for the wedding of my eldest nephew, and the eldest of Mom’s five grandchildren.  Our task for the day was to find a number of interesting places where we could take a few short walks, getting some exercise and learning a bit about the local environment. And of course, in addition to all this good stuff, I’m always on the alert for material for this blog.

Our first stop was (more…)

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The solar PV growth curves illustrate the rapid expansion in the deployment of this form for distributed generation (DG).  The only conclusion one can draw from looking at these graphs is that, after decades of customers’ putting their toes in the water, they’ve begun to take the plunge.  Solar has arrived as a mainstream force, dramatically reshaping the way we power our homes and businesses.

Per this report from the Rocky Mountain Institute: (more…)

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I’m on the Outer Banks of North Carolina for the wedding of my eldest nephew.  I’d never been here before, and I was expecting a stretch of land so desolate that I’d have trouble getting online or finding a good newspaper.

For better or worse, that’s not the case.  I delighted in Sunday’s New York Times, which featured a front-page article on California’s new-found budget surplus, totalling somewhere between $1 billion and $4.4 billion.  Of course, this is welcome news in a state run largely by Democrats who hated being forced to slash the social services to recover from the state’s huge deficit ($60 billion) that existed as recently as three years ago. (more…)

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Frequent commenter Tim Kingston sent me this article from a solar energy nay-sayer and asked my opinion.

Tim:  I come across this stuff a lot. As I’ve often written, Germany has quite clearly made a mistake with their fantastically large feed-in tariffs from which they abruptly backed off; I don’t know anyone who denies that. The migration to clean energy will have some “fits and starts,” though I don’t see how that nullifies the whole enterprise.

I know people who have solar on the roofs of their homes and office buildings who draw net zero power from the grid, and who drive electric vehicles charged from those sources. I wish this guy good luck trying to convince me that this style of living isn’t making a difference to our environment.

Here’s an article that provides some cheery news about the cost of energy in California: due to the early start we got in wind and solar in the 1980s, and the learning curve that we’ve applied over these decades, the cost of electricity from renewables and natural gas are very close to one another.

There are a great number of “apples and oranges” issues, here, however, many of which are unavoidable: (more…)

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Well I took the plunge and ordered a nickel iron battery pack. There was a lot of hemming and hawing but after a huge amount of research and calculating, I could find no better alternative currently available and no new technology shortly forthcoming that was worth waiting for.

The 500Ah 12V pack will cost me $5200.00 shipped to my door with everything I need to set it up. This pack will last 25 years before the fluid needs replacing and then another 25 years after that. I know people with packs of original Edison batteries passed down from generation to generation that are in the range of 75 years old and still functioning at full capacity. (more…)