What Difference Can Renewable Energy Make?

The latest from Germany. The renewable energy resource in Germany is not very abundant but the government (aka "the people") has put its best foot forward in promoting the development of such resources with the following results.

The ultimate problem with renewables is that they are limited in nature. Thus the question becomes one of if we can live a full and pleasant life within those limits (which are not trivial, especially if pushed to the extremes of development) or do we inherently need more, and need it relatively soon, for such a lifestyle. This is above and beyond the question of global warming and the limits that increasingly appear to be required there.

Regarding limits, I suppose the same could be said of other natural resources for that matter. Water, soil, certain species, certain cultures and languages, certain mined materials, etc..

More. The magic word. As Mahatma Gandhi once said, "Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed".

German Investments in Clean Alternative Energy Pay Off - VOA News - 25 Dec 07

"In some regions, wind energy produces up to 20 percent of the electricity used in German power grids."

"Germany has achieved a 19 percent reduction in CO2 emissions, in part by providing subsidies to companies willing to invest in new technologies."

What Difference Can Renewable Energy Make?

The latest from Germany. The renewable energy resource in Germany is not very abundant but the government (aka "the people") has put its best foot forward in promoting the development of such resources with the following results.

The ultimate problem with renewables is that they are limited in nature. Thus the question becomes one of if we can live a full and pleasant life within those limits (which are not trivial, especially if pushed to the extremes of development) or do we inherently need more, and need it relatively soon, for such a lifestyle. This is above and beyond the question of global warming and the limits that increasingly appear to be required there.

Regarding limits, I suppose the same could be said of other natural resources for that matter. Water, soil, certain species, certain cultures and languages, certain mined materials, etc..

More. The magic word. As Mahatma Gandhi once said, "Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed".

German Investments in Clean Alternative Energy Pay Off - VOA News - 25 Dec 07

"In some regions, wind energy produces up to 20 percent of the electricity used in German power grids."

"Germany has achieved a 19 percent reduction in CO2 emissions, in part by providing subsidies to companies willing to invest in new technologies."

Big News of the Day

I ordered DSL service to start this Friday morning.  Even went whole hog when I found out they were going to stick me for a $25 extra fee if I only wanted the "lite" level of connection.  It was an extra fiver to get to the next level of broadbandedness so thought I'd at the minimum use the higher speed for five months and then downgrade for free at that point if I thought the whole thing was excessive.

Also got more reading done on the pro-nuke "Light Water: How the Nuclear Dream Dissolved" (1978) by Irvin C. Bupp and Jean-Claude Derian.  It's an interesting read to compare and contrast to the more anti-nuclear references I've read on those early days of "Atoms for Peace".  Books like:

"The Menace of Atomic Energy" (1979) by Ralph Nader and John Abbotts
"The Cult of the Atom: The Secret Papers of the Atomic Energy Commission" (1982) by Daniel Ford.
"Nuclear, Inc.: The Men and Money Behind Nuclear Energy" (1983) by a young Mark Hertsgaard
"The Fall of the House of WPPSS" (1985) by Daniel Jack Chasan

One of the things I like about "Light Water" is not only the pro-nuke slant but also the internationalist aspect that it has to it.  How there was an interactive nature to the development of nuclear power in a trans-Atlantic sense.  Also fun stuff like the role of  the French technocracy, DeGaulle and nationalism.  The battle between gas graphite, light water and breeder technologies.   Mindboggling head fakes by American corporate marketing types that worked superbly regarding the economic prospects for an as yet untested technology.  Yada yada. 

Also how the more things change, the more they seem to remain the same in that world.  False expectations and broken promises a-gogo.

The new Finnish European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) reactor 25% over-budget, two years late-of-schedule and deficient of safety design fiasco by Areva and Siemens. [reference] The restart of Browns Ferry Unit 1 of which nuclear engineer David Lockbaum of the Union of Concerned Scientists (who used to work at the plant) said, "For the same amount of money, they could build a brand-new reactor that's safer and has a longer life, [. . .] It's like trying to dust off an eight-track tape player rather than buying a DVD system". [reference] It ended up being $90 million over budget (of an original $1.7 billion) and took 5 years to complete; re-starting in 2007 instead of the originally predicted 2006. [reference]

One item that was a new thought for me was that prior to the OPEC driven crisis in oil prices and availability, the USA had put in price supports for domestic oil.  The low prices that Europe was experiencing prior to that were not noted here.  As such, as much as the oil crisis was a shock to the domestic economy, it was a much bigger wammy on European economies which in turn had an impact on future energy choices.

Big News of the Day

I ordered DSL service to start this Friday morning.  Even went whole hog when I found out they were going to stick me for a $25 extra fee if I only wanted the "lite" level of connection.  It was an extra fiver to get to the next level of broadbandedness so thought I'd at the minimum use the higher speed for five months and then downgrade for free at that point if I thought the whole thing was excessive.

Also got more reading done on the pro-nuke "Light Water: How the Nuclear Dream Dissolved" (1978) by Irvin C. Bupp and Jean-Claude Derian.  It's an interesting read to compare and contrast to the more anti-nuclear references I've read on those early days of "Atoms for Peace".  Books like:

"The Menace of Atomic Energy" (1979) by Ralph Nader and John Abbotts
"The Cult of the Atom: The Secret Papers of the Atomic Energy Commission" (1982) by Daniel Ford.
"Nuclear, Inc.: The Men and Money Behind Nuclear Energy" (1983) by a young Mark Hertsgaard
"The Fall of the House of WPPSS" (1985) by Daniel Jack Chasan

One of the things I like about "Light Water" is not only the pro-nuke slant but also the internationalist aspect that it has to it.  How there was an interactive nature to the development of nuclear power in a trans-Atlantic sense.  Also fun stuff like the role of  the French technocracy, DeGaulle and nationalism.  The battle between gas graphite, light water and breeder technologies.   Mindboggling head fakes by American corporate marketing types that worked superbly regarding the economic prospects for an as yet untested technology.  Yada yada. 

Also how the more things change, the more they seem to remain the same in that world.  False expectations and broken promises a-gogo.

The new Finnish European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) reactor 25% over-budget, two years late-of-schedule and deficient of safety design fiasco by Areva and Siemens. [reference] The restart of Browns Ferry Unit 1 of which nuclear engineer David Lockbaum of the Union of Concerned Scientists (who used to work at the plant) said, "For the same amount of money, they could build a brand-new reactor that's safer and has a longer life, [. . .] It's like trying to dust off an eight-track tape player rather than buying a DVD system". [reference] It ended up being $90 million over budget (of an original $1.7 billion) and took 5 years to complete; re-starting in 2007 instead of the originally predicted 2006. [reference]

One item that was a new thought for me was that prior to the OPEC driven crisis in oil prices and availability, the USA had put in price supports for domestic oil.  The low prices that Europe was experiencing prior to that were not noted here.  As such, as much as the oil crisis was a shock to the domestic economy, it was a much bigger wammy on European economies which in turn had an impact on future energy choices.