Energy

Hi everyone. I'm about to go on holiday for a fortnight which will mean leaving my MS85 idle. I don't have a home charger yet (hopefully within a month) so rely on the nearby supercharger at Westfield. This means my car will sit idle for 3 weeks without a charge or usage, starting at about 55%...

This Week Tesla & Companies

Elon Musk has given us a perspective on the more widespread use of electric cars, batteries for energy storage in general, rockets that can land for reuse, rapid innercity transit via near-vacuum tubes... Wouldn't it be a good idea "to return the favor"? Have the creativity that is stored in...

Don't know about you but I am still riding SpaceX's Mars Mission and More. Digiverse has been lit with opinions discussions and afterglow thoughts. Quantum STEM stuff. An OTD moment brought to us by NASA Astronaut Mark T. Vande Hei @Astro_Sabot who tweeted out, "Happy Anniversary @Spacex Dragon...

Beware possible increase in solar panel prices. Uncertainty Grips Solar as Industry Awaits Trump's Tariff Ruling My wife and I are thinking of moving our solar install up to this fall instead of next spring as originally planned to make sure we don't get bitten by this. If it were up to me...

Hello, i am starting a project on making a range extender on my tesla model S P85 to get an additional 650KM range i am doing this with a hydrogen fuel cell system this will just be a proof of concept first and afterwards i will make it look pretty;) i have done this with other vehicles...

The Jones Act has been in the news a little bit of late, because of its impact on early attempts to respond to the situation in Puerto Rico. I'm posting this under Energy, Environment, and Policy because it also turns out that the Jones Act hurts the environment. By making commercial shipping...

Lighting strikes are double the average in shipping lanes https://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21729974-lighting-strikes-are-double-average-shipping-lanes-pollution-ships MODERN, broad-beamed merchant vessels are well able to withstand the rough and tumble of the waves, but...

Tesla has already sent hundreds of Powerwalls to Puerto Rico to help restore electricity in the wake of Hurricane Maria. Today, CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter the company would be glad to scale the system to power the whole island if the government wanted to pursue that option. Tesla has...

I've seen circle farms sweep the nation lately. I guess and therefore think I understand why: lower irrigation labor costs (to install and remove irrigation pipes, because the circles allow the pipes to just roll automatically with a central rotating connection point (rather than a troublesome...

Part of small government in action :rolleyes: Trump proposes higher payments for coal, nuclear power

Tesla is shipping hundreds of Powerwall battery systems to Puerto Rico

California Considers Following China With Combustion-Engine Car Ban Looks more like internal questions than any serious policy movement, but worth posting here.

In order to reap the full benefits of sustainability we must sow seed of responsibility. None can dismiss the devastation recent major storms have left behind in Texas Florida Puerto Rico and other Carribbean isles along their path. Less covered by mainstream media was the 7.1 magnitude...

San Francisco and Oakland, Calif., are suing five major oil companies, blaming them for the effects of climate change. The cities announced Wednesday they each filed a lawsuit in their respective county courts against Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips Co., ExxonMobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell and BP...

Harvey shut down 22 percent of the nation’s refining capacity, vitally disrupted the oil and gas transportation networks that deliver energy to much of the US, and caused damage to facilities that leaked more than a million poundsof dangerous air pollutants into communities around Texas. The...

Can someone explain to me why RSWW is so difficult to activate on my EAP? While you're at it. What's the hold up on reading speed limit signs? Seems like pretty old tech to me.

I found a lot of inverters that can be connected to a battery but are not grid tied. I also found a lot of inverters that are grid tied but fed by solar panels. I'm looking for an inverter that is fed by a battery but also connects to the grid. Any suggestions are appreciated.

I am working on a system to incorporate a battery pack from a Tesla Model S into a Solar system for the home. This uses the entire pack from salvage as is. Yesterday, I discharged the pack down to about 1.4% state of charge using a 20kW inverter to the point where the internal BMS master board...

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released Tuesday new guidelines that seemingly aim to encourage the development of autonomous vehicle systems. The guidance eliminates a federal mandate requiring carmakers testing autonomous systems to receive government approval before cars...

This should be interesting....

I'd love to hear the inside scoop on this, or at least get some help in reading this news item Madhya Pradesh seeks to quash Goldman-backed solar project It sounds like the state is using bureaucracy to strong-arm the project developers into renegotiating the PPA to a lower rate but I am not sure.

[vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=9&v=ytInsBB1lIQ” video_title=”1″]Lawmakers are showing an interest in the potential for autonomous vehicles, as the House passed this week a bipartisan driverless car bill while the Senate is preparing its own version of a self-driving...

With all the gasoline shortages in Florida I thought it would be interesting to crunch some numbers... I couldn't find any hard numbers for the vehicles leaving Florida but given the population ~3M would probably be on the high end. The primary reason for shortages is more than likely...

Anyone care to comment on the ideas presented here? The Most Cost Effective Efficient Attic Solution Not on their endorsed products necessarily, but just the ideas presented. I'm thinking of doing some of the things presented on this site. Here's a quick summary of everything they discuss...

$3-billion spending bill to boost rebates for electric vehicles was amended in the California Legislature late Friday. The $3 billion was taken out of the bill, AB 1184. No dollar amount was inserted to take its place. Instead, the bill is now a directive to the state Air Resources Board to...

Here's an interesting idea... Exxon and other fossil fuel majors have teams of lawyers that can fight a few class action suits. But... what if they were inundated with hundreds or thousands of state level small claims suits? My Mom needs AC in WA thanks to climate change. The filing fee is $29...

Some articles say 10% other say 15%, but a significant percentage of the US refining capacity is in the destruction zone from this hurricane. Almost all of those refineries are shut down right now because of the flooding and storm damage. There are concerns oil imports will be curbed after the...

Anyone know where to get some good solar power static cling window films or stickers? Something that says "Powered by Solar", etc. Would love to get one for my car after I get rooftop solar installed.

Here is a graphic to show how the power output of my solar system dipped during the eclipse, which went to about 95% here. The red line show eclipse. Other power dips are clouds passing by. If you have a solar system, what did it do?

Nope- ABC South West

I just came across some data regarding what is effectively the cleanest of commercial hydrocarbons - natural gas. As its transportable form - LNG - this is an increasingly important global commodity. LNG tankers are transporting product from port hubs as far as halfway around the world. LNG is...

Thought I'd provide a few details to interested parties about my rooftop solar installation. Might give others some things to think about for their own houses, or maybe you'll give me something else to think about. I'm in the Kansas City, Missouri area. Incentives are not so great here, but...

Just signed us up for this. Arcadia links up to your existing utility provider but sources a minimum of 50% of your energy needs from renewable sources (wind or solar) at no additional cost. This is a great way to show your utility company that you want more energy generated by renewables, not...

If there is a California licensed PE reading this, or you know of one: My solar PV system (in work) uses a DynoRaxx mounting system out of NY. They did all the mounting engineering calcs including wind tunnel test numbers. Problem is, I need a California PE to stamp off on just the DynoRaxx...

A seemingly rising and potentially reasonable concern for rooftop and ground mount solar installations is sun glare that can shine on neighbor houses and be a nuisance. I saw a TV report on one case like this, and it's a concern among some members of my HOA. My wife and I think it's a...

Maybe someone (NWdiver) can help me understand why this is happening. I would have thought that now that solar panels are less expensive and more people are installing them companies could still be competitive and also make a profit.

A Bloomberg report says Tesla Powerpacks could be used to store clean energy generated at sea as part of a project submitted to the state of Massachusetts by Deepwater Wind LLC. The plan submitted proposes a facility with 144-megawatt capability leveraging Tesla batteries for massive offshore...

The company that obtained a permit to build the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline might decide not to build it. A TransCanada Corp. executive told investors Friday that it is still assessing interest in Keystone among the oil companies that would pay to use the Canada-to-Texas line, as well...

Hello! As my family eagarly awaits our model 3, we are looking at getting a solar system for our house. We have a large south facing roof, so the question is, how big do I need to go. I know that is a complex question, but since I know next to nothing about solar, I was hoping some folks could...

Why This Big Oil CEO Is Buying an Electric Car

Freeway drivers breathe dirtier air than previously thought Quotes: "Rush hour just got a lot worse. A new study finds that freeway pollution is twice as toxic than air just off the roadway. And air during the morning commute is worse than during the drive home. ...... Then, the researchers...

According to this abstract Alternative strategy for a safe rechargeable battery - Energy & Environmental Science (RSC Publishing) researchers at UT (including a 94-year old, John Goodenough!) think that this type of battery is denser than today's Li-ion types. Here is the story: Lithium-Ion...

The UK will ban the sale of all petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2040 onwards, including hybrid models, as part of a move to tackle air pollution. UK plans petrol and diesel car sales ban from 2040

less ambitious than some but should it actually happen has to be positive. New diesel and petrol vehicles to be banned from 2040 - BBC News thanks Elon (US next?)

From a resource availability and neutral cost perspective, do you think Elon could build out a 90% renewable Western Interconnection within 6 years and the whole country within 12? Assuming we gave over total control of the grid and all policy while guaranteeing roughly the same $/kWh revenue...

[vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/2C-A797y8dA” video_title=”1″]Tesla CEO Elon Musk, in a broad conversation at the National Governors Association conference, made some bold statements about the risks of artificial intelligence and hinted that two more Gigafactories will be built in the U.S...

'National Parks: Americas Best Idea' a PBS Ken Burns series is streaming on Amazon Prime. It's an amazing series about the history of our parks. It's scary that only a handful of people stood between preservation and the absolute exploitation of these areas that most people would now agree are...

Not news to most of us here, however it appears that utilities are being successful in many states in getting net metering killed: Rooftop Solar Dims Under Pressure From Utility Lobbyists I am fortunate that the little power co-op — 13,000 meters in four counties — which serves my remote...