Environment

The new PG&E Energy Usage Detail on their customer portal is worse. The old one had per-hour energy cost per tier, and the new one doesn't. The old one had per-hour energy use bar graph that included negative usage below the 0, and the new one hides it in a flat "0" with a popup, so there is no...

The oil giant Shell issued a stark warning of the catastrophic risks of climate change more than a quarter of century ago in a prescient 1991 film that has been rediscovered. However, since then the company has invested heavily in highly polluting oil reserves and helped lobby against climate...

This is the second time this has occurred... can't wait until it's a common event :) On 2/13/17 wind hit ~52%. We're likely to exceed that tonight.

Bill Text - SB-584 California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program. Quote: "the goal of the program is... for all electricity sold at retail to be generated by eligible renewable energy resources by December 31, 2045." Very ambitious. But achievable.

Bill Text - SB-584 California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program. Quote: "the goal of the program is... for all electricity sold at retail to be generated by eligible renewable energy resources by December 31, 2045." Very ambitious. But achievable.

From here in SW Washington I have a bit of a rant about our Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler (Republican). I got a call out of the blue last night asking if I wanted to join a virtual town hall she was doing. I'm not sure how they got my number, but I tuned in. My SO wanted to ask a question...

It's not just Beijing and New Delhi: New York Times: https://nyti.ms/2lsAZ2S ^ London smog in January. Matt Dunham/Associated Press It would appear that London needs more electric cars and fewer diesel ones. As a bicycle commuter since 1978 I have a particular hatred of diesels. Around...

I ordered a 'Sense' last week. I had seen these previously but they didn't have a solar version until recently so I wasn't that interested. I also failed to realize how sophisticated it was. With extremely high resolution (1M/sec) sense is able to identify every device in your home by it's...

EV owners can signup at the link below until May (each EV owned is eligible), and then the credits will be disbursed later this summer on your bill. Link to signup... Electric Vehicle Climate Credit | San Diego Gas & Electric

hey folks. My local Air Board representative sent this info to me today and I promised a I would "rally the troop". This could be a huge thing for getting more used EV's into the state, upgrading to a larger pack and buying the Tesla ESA. This should be important to those buying new, (resale...

Finally, a sensible regulatory regime for environmental correction proposed that I can trust, support, and believe in. It proposes a legal structure for improving the environment that I find acceptable and good for us and our country. Please promote and let's do it! Elon Musk is promoting this...

My wife and I are planning an eco-trip from top to toe of Italy by electric car and the Tesla is the only vehicle with the necessary capability. Our aim on the trip is to write a blog and book which would promote Tesla in the context of ecological travel and as part of the fight against climate...

Here is an interesting article about the market for products like the Powerwall. How behind-the-meter storage could make up 50% of the U.S. market by 2021 One of the takeaways for me is that the growth will come with changes in Net Metering policies.

As you may know, PG&E, a major California utility, reached the deployed distributed generation threshold that allowed them to change the Net Metering tariff for new distributed generation interconnections. The limit of 2,409 MW defined in the original NEM tariff was reached on December 15...

To change everything, we need everyone. It’s up to us to stop that from happening before it starts. Our fights are tied together, and we will only succeed together. That’s why, from now through the first 100 days and beyond, we are taking action and standing up for everything and everyone we...

I ask the following question during and after reading the following article: Can we return to the wealth of inexpensive energy necessary to support a middle class high quality lifestyle known to most USA citizens back in the early 1960s? Here's the article reference which spurred my question...

A friend and fellow Tesla owner started the following petition on Change.org. I expect TMC members may be interested in signing: Mark Fields: Hey Ford! Want to sell us cars? Don't work to reduce fuel economy regulations.

The city next to where I live has just brought a new TESLA power plant on line with the co-operation of SoCal Edison. It is 20 megawatts and can power 2,500 homes for a day. It was brought on line in only 88 days as compared to years! There was no need for water or gas lines to be installed...

Tonight(Wed 2/1) at 9pm on PBS. Should be interesting. Storage is the missing piece of the puzzle. Preview I'm assuming the gigafactory will be featured prominently and they include a piece on Aquion's salt water battery.

This graph is from a newsletter distributed by a group advocating EVs. I was pleasantly surprised to see the reliance on GREET.

I've been following the idea of using CO2 as a refrigerant for a couple years but this is the first time I've found a product that actually uses it. It's a lot more expensive since IIRC the pressures required are ~4x higher than R410A and ~10x higher than R134a. But the gain in efficiency is...

So this doesn't take a political spin out of control....note that this is sponsored by 2 Republicans and 2 Democrats - crony capitalism sees no political parties. Here is the story: Briggs: Indiana bill that doesn't mention Tesla is all about Tesla Here is how Tesla recommends taking action...

I'm going. We've lost far too much time already. We can't afford a 4 year back slide....

I'm going. We've lost far too much time already. We can't afford a 4 year back slide....

Al Gore and others will hold climate change summit canceled by CDC Al Gore and associated parties will host Climate Change related Emerging Health threats. The thing is, these risks will not go away just because trump and his minions are AGW idiots, and denial will just prevent mitigation.

President Trump told executives from the country’s largest automakers Tuesday that he would ease environmental rules and other regulations to encourage the return of manufacturing jobs to the United States, a pledge that some analysts question will be as effective as promised. Trump tells...

Silent Spring has been on my must read list for an embarrassing amount of time. I caught a 2hr special on PBS. Rachel Carson is widely credited for elevating environmental issues and creating the political inertia necessary for the founding of the EPA. I found the documentary unexpectedly...

If Donald Trump has never been in a Tesla or experienced the Tesla grin, I think it would be fantastic if Elon musk himself would invite him for a test drive. That, and perhaps a personal tour of one of the factories and a demonstration of the rooftop solar tiles. Given Trump's affection for...

An America First Energy Plan | whitehouse.gov My poor grandchildren. Good luck Elon.

Evidently Mr. Pruitt is in favor of states' rights except when it comes to California http://www.governing.com/templates/gov_print_article?id=411181865 Trump's EPA pick casts doubt on California's power to regulate auto emissions

Reuters article: EPA accuses Fiat Chrysler of excess diesel emissions Here's the link to the EPA news release: EPA Notifies Fiat Chrysler of Clean Air Act Violations | U.S. EPA News Releases | US EPA Déjà vu all over again...

Clean Fuel Rebate for electric vehicles

India's double first in climate battle - BBC News

Report: Tesla leads U.S. electric vehicle sales for 2016 "So how are Tesla's electric vehicle sales looking compared to the electric vehicles from the majors? In the U.S., according to estimates released by ChargePoint: "The Tesla Model S topped the chart [with 23,714] with the most vehicles...

Dont know if this was discussed before, but I wonder how much pressure will be put on energy supply, if x percent of ICE cars are swapped with EVs? I believe millions of EV cars will become the major electric consumers and wondering where we will find out a "clean" source which is able to...

Watched a segment on PBS Newshour this evening that mentioned an invention by a Greek scientist that was able to turn water into power. Would certainly want to see this invention validated for obvious reasons. When I tried to view the segment on the video version online, it wasn't there. If...

Full article at: Mahmood Mosque built with environmentally friendly ideals

Donald Trump Wants to Drown the World in Oil | Mother Jones Scary isn't it....what now Elon?

So Nevada may be the most interesting recent solar case-study. Their PUC essentially shut down the entire residential solar market in 2015/16 by killing net metering, removing grand-fathered net metering and approving punitive fees/paybacks so punitive that you'd be foolish to install a...

Lately WSJ has been pretty rational about the future of BEV's and Tesla. Here is one from 20th Dec 2016, oriented on the positive outlook for utilities powering BEV's: The Highly Charged Way to Play Electric Cars

It's exciting to see advances in solar, including the new solar tiles from Solar City. My wife and I will certainly explore those solar tiles for our home. However, I wonder how others will benefit from such advancements if they face barriers such as lack of ownership, shade bearing objects...

Do you remember how they did got the registration surcharge approved? They had people vote on a $10 surcharge for EV's. I remember commenting to my wife how that's just a "foot in the door, before they swing their a** in" . Once voted in, the next year it went to to $100, now it's $150 or more...

Rep. Mark Meadows, wrote in a 100 day plan: unleash the truthsquad on this ignorant fool Respond to Mark Meadows by replying to: Mark Meadows on Twitter his stupid document with the above nonsense is at: First 100 Days

World Energy Hits a Turning Point: Solar That's Cheaper Than Wind

Hi all, my wife and I have just gotten to watching a National Geographic Channel series titled "Years of Living Dangerously". I know this show has been around for a while, but having 2 babies we haven't much time for TV :) We've watched about 90% of the episodes so far, and although we're...

Full article at: World's hottest borehole nearly complete - BBC News

Trump names Elon Musk, Uber CEO to advisory team

I've always struggled to decide what to get family for Christmas... but this year was easy. And I'm pretty sure the next 4 years will be easy too. I've seen Earthjustice at work. They don't play games and their legal teams get results. So this year everyone in my family is getting a card...

Trump team memo on climate change alarms Energy Department staff 13 Hours AgoReuters 10K SHARES President-elect Donald Trump's Energy Department transition team sent the agency a memo this week asking for the names of people who have worked on climate change and the professional society...

Reading a popular summary motivated me to dig up the original: Re-assessment of net energy production and greenhouse gas emissions avoidance after 40 years of photovoltaics development : Nature Communications Abstract: Since the 1970s, installed solar photovoltaic capacity has grown...