Prediction: Coal has fallen. Nuclear is next then Oil.

[Raffy.Roma]

Our choices shouldn't be between bad and worse! This is a dichotomy that's been forced upon us by the political machines. Anyway, I'm going way off-topic. I only brought up my distrust of the administration's "committment", because you firmly believe that it'll will matter. It won't. We've reached the point where economics (Thanks to Tesla) will drive the renewable energy push and Trump won't be able to stop it. He tried during his administration and will also fail IF he somehow gets a second term. If Biden wins, and renewables become the predominant source of electricity in the US, it won't be because of his presidency!

Government policy doesn't drive innovation. This was made clear by CARB's failed initial EV mandate in 1990! The follow-up mandates would've failed too, if some rich idiot didn't spend all his money to push the engineering (no radical new tech needed to be developed) forward. Engineering and market forces drives innovation.

It's true that Engineering and market forces drive innovation. Then if you don't like the word committment let's put it in another way.
I love the politicians, independently from their political color, who ease the transition to a Clean Energy future. Because we also need the Government acting in cohoperation with us to work out the Climate Change issue IMO.

 

[David_Cary]

Government policy doesn't drive innovation. This was made clear by CARB's failed initial EV mandate in 1990!

Do you really want to dissect that statement?
So if one government policy doesn't work the way you expect it to, no policy can drive innovation? War, space program etc - unbelievable innovation. Tesla would not be here without government programs.

Might read "The Big Myth" - it will try to show you how through historical examples that you have been brainwashed to believing the the market was the only true way to get progress, growth and innovation - the quasi-religious concept of market fundamentalism.

Just as we were programmed for years that socialism is one step away from communism and the red menace. I still remember the visceral feelings I got as a teenager watching Red Dawn. Even Star Trek had a capitalist, christian, US as center of the world theme. (Assuming you grew up in the US)

That doesn't mean we all ended up the same but we are just different places on the bad vs worse spectrum - the fact is we are all on the spectrum.

The US is so far on the worse part of the spectrum as a population, it is pretty hard for the government to not reflect that. Manchin was a big problem and a 50/50 Senate is an even bigger problem. No single politician can do what is right in a vacuum.

None of this means that I am trying to be a Biden apologist. I wish we had a reasonable R party so that I could vote third party. It also doesn't mean capitalism isn't the best system of allocating resources. But saying Government policy doesn't drive innovation is just absurd.

 

[mspohr]

Fossil fuel companies have a secret weapon. Here’s how Britain can help take it away from them | Cleodie Rickard Fossil fuel companies have a secret weapon. Here’s how Britain can help take it away from them | Cleodie Rickard

The treaty is a multi-country investment deal for the energy sector that contains the notorious investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), a mechanism written into international agreements that companies can use to sue governments over policy changes they allege could affect their profits. The cases are heard in secretive tribunals outside the national legal system. The ECT is increasingly used by fossil fuel companies to make billion-dollar compensation claims against governments introducing climate policies. The Netherlands has been sued over its coal phase-out law, and Slovenia for its fracking ban. Last year an oil company won a case over Italy’s ban on offshore drilling, and was awarded six times the amount it had invested in the project. It has said it will use those winnings to fund new oil exploration.

 

[mspohr]

‘Magical thinking’: hopes for sustainable jet fuel not realistic, report finds

IPS report says replacement fuels well off track to replace kerosene within timeframe needed to avert climate disaster

www.theguardian.com

Hopes that replacement fuels for airplanes will slash carbon pollution are misguided and support for these alternatives could even worsen the climate crisis, a new report has warned. There is currently “no realistic or scalable alternative” to standard kerosene-based jet fuels, and touted “sustainable aviation fuels” are well off track to replace them in a timeframe needed to avert dangerous climate change, despite public subsidies, the report by the Institute for Policy Studies, a progressive thinktank, found.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Do you really want to dissect that statement?
So if one government policy doesn't work the way you expect it to, no policy can drive innovation? War, space program etc - unbelievable innovation. Tesla would not be here without government programs.

Might read "The Big Myth" - it will try to show you how through historical examples that you have been brainwashed to believing the the market was the only true way to get progress, growth and innovation - the quasi-religious concept of market fundamentalism.

Just as we were programmed for years that socialism is one step away from communism and the red menace. I still remember the visceral feelings I got as a teenager watching Red Dawn. Even Star Trek had a capitalist, christian, US as center of the world theme. (Assuming you grew up in the US)

That doesn't mean we all ended up the same but we are just different places on the bad vs worse spectrum - the fact is we are all on the spectrum.

The US is so far on the worse part of the spectrum as a population, it is pretty hard for the government to not reflect that. Manchin was a big problem and a 50/50 Senate is an even bigger problem. No single politician can do what is right in a vacuum.

None of this means that I am trying to be a Biden apologist. I wish we had a reasonable R party so that I could vote third party. It also doesn't mean capitalism isn't the best system of allocating resources. But saying Government policy doesn't drive innovation is just absurd.

Not to mention that it was CARB's programs that allowed Tesla to have an aggressive strategy.

For EVs we can also _easily_ look at China. China had EDIT two a bunch of key policies:
- high cost of registration for ICEVs and HEVs, and in some cities PHEVs as well
- copied CARB's ZEV program (but China-being-China, multiplied the max credit numbers from 1.3 to 2 and 4 to 6 to make it look more impressive).
- EDIT joint ventures requirements
- EDIT sizable import tariffs

That shaped the market there, creating space into which domestic manufacturers could develop.

Take away government policy and you are pretty much always left trending to oligopoly and praying for a technological development disruptive enough to allow companies to get over the scaling hump.

 

[mspohr]

UK ‘net zero’ project will produce 20m tonnes of carbon pollution, say experts

Government told Net Zero Teesside gas scheme will be massive polluter despite its carbon capture claims

www.theguardian.com

A multibillion-pound “net zero” project backed by two of the world’s biggest fossil fuel firms will be responsible for more than 20m tonnes of planet-heating carbon over its lifetime, according to research submitted to the UK government. The Net Zero Teesside scheme to build a new gas-fired power station in north-east England is backed by BP and Equinor and says it will use carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology to capture up to 95% of its emissions and bury them beneath the North Sea. But according to evidence submitted to the government, even if the project’s claims for its carbon capture and storage facility prove accurate, the gas power station would still be responsible for more than 20m tonnes of carbon pollution over its lifetime. Andrew Boswell, an energy analyst who carried out the research based on Net Zero Teesside’s own figures, said: “When a project produces over 20m tonnes of carbon pollution, it is simply wrong, and misleading, to call it ‘net zero’.”

 

[mspohr]

Cow dung's key role in India's energy mix

India is hoping that biogas, produced from farm waste, will curb its reliance on imported gas.

www.bbc.com

Every day, with bare hands, Rukmini Baburao Kumbhar, collects around 50kg (eight stone) of fresh cow dung. She is part of a spiritual group that runs a small ashram (a religious retreat) in a village in the north-western Indian state of Maharashtra. Collecting cow dung is not, primarily, an effort to keep the place tidy. Instead, the cow dung is used to make biomethane. "Fuel has become extremely expensive. Biogas was a good option. The only requirement was space and cows. We had both,” explains Ms Kumbhar.

Indian cattle produce around three-million tonnes of cow dung a day, according to data from the government' s policy body NITI Aayog. The government wants more of that dung, and other agriculture waste, to be made into methane.

 

[eevee-fan]

Cow dung's key role in India's energy mix

India is hoping that biogas, produced from farm waste, will curb its reliance on imported gas.

www.bbc.com

Every day, with bare hands, Rukmini Baburao Kumbhar, collects around 50kg (eight stone) of fresh cow dung. She is part of a spiritual group that runs a small ashram (a religious retreat) in a village in the north-western Indian state of Maharashtra. Collecting cow dung is not, primarily, an effort to keep the place tidy. Instead, the cow dung is used to make biomethane. "Fuel has become extremely expensive. Biogas was a good option. The only requirement was space and cows. We had both,” explains Ms Kumbhar.

Indian cattle produce around three-million tonnes of cow dung a day, according to data from the government' s policy body NITI Aayog. The government wants more of that dung, and other agriculture waste, to be made into methane.

Space cows, the answer to colonizing Mars!

 

[nwdiver]

Government policy doesn't drive innovation. This was made clear by CARB's failed initial EV mandate in 1990!

Probably impossible.... but try not to allow ideology to cloud your reason.

The EV mandate failed largely because the technologies it needed weren't yet mature. But even failure can provide the seeds to success. Have you read the early history of Tesla? That EV mandate drove funding to AC propulsion which developed the drive train for the EV1. AC propulsion also developed the tZero which was the inspiration to found Tesla. The Tesla Roadster also incorporated technology developed by AC propulsion.

And probably the biggest success of government policy is the fact you can buy solar for ~$0.20/w instead of $10/w. That is almost entirely due to initially the German government and now the Chinese government driving economies of scale to an insane degree.

Greatest Achievements of Public Policy​

 

[mspohr]

Trump explains American democracy....

Alleged ‘deal’ offer from Trump to big oil could save industry $110bn, study finds

Ex-president at Mar-a-Lago last month hosted more than 20 executives, including from Chevron, Exxon and Occidental Petroleum

www.theguardian.com

A “deal” allegedly offered by Donald Trump to big-oil executives as he sought $1bn in campaign donations could save the industry $110bn in tax breaks if he returns to the White House, an analysis suggests. The fundraising dinner held last month at Mar-a-Lago with more than 20 executives, including from Chevron, Exxon and Occidental Petroleum, reportedly involved Trump asking for large campaign contributions and promising, if elected, to remove barriers to drilling, scrap a pause on gas exports, and reverse new rules aimed at cutting car pollution. Congressional Democrats have launched an investigation into the “ethical, campaign finance and legal issues” raised by what one Democratic senator called an “offer of a blatant quid pro quo”, while a prominent watchdog group is exploring whether the meeting warrants legal action.

 

[eevee-fan]

Lombardo expresses concern over California bill that could raise Nevada gas prices

Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo is expressing concern over a California bill that could result in higher gas prices in Nevada.

www.kolotv.com

Maybe NV needs to do more with renewables and more BEV push so the state is not reliant on imports. The Republican party used to champion self sufficiency… what happened to make it celebrate reliance on others?

 

[mspohr]

Lombardo expresses concern over California bill that could raise Nevada gas prices

Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo is expressing concern over a California bill that could result in higher gas prices in Nevada.

www.kolotv.com

Maybe NV needs to do more with renewables and more BEV push so the state is not reliant on imports. The Republican party used to champion self sufficiency… what happened to make it celebrate reliance on others?

This bill seems to try to reduce profits so any oil company moves to raise prices would be self defeating.
It should reduce prices.

 

[nwdiver]

The Republican party used to champion self sufficiency… what happened to make it celebrate reliance on others?

Undercooked pork?

 

[fhteagle]

Undercooked pork?

Lol that joke works on so many levels......