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

[RubberToe]

Was watching an episode of practical engineering on YouTube the other day about asphalt. They stated that it is fully recyclable and one of the most recycled products by weight. I had no idea this was the case or whether it was even true. Never gave it much thought but then saw a recent repaving project where the top 4" or so of asphalt gets scraped off by machine into a dump truck to be heated back up and reused?

RT

 

[David_Cary]

"Georgia, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and South Dakota have introduced bills seeking to ease child-labor protections or alter the hours younger employees can work, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures"

The federal government has pretty strict child labor laws. That list above includes just 1 state from the South and is a pretty broad regional list - more so than I have ever found before for anything. Either way, the fed rules would prevent any child from working in a mine - the hazardous condition limitation.

Yes Arkansas just passed a law to make it a little easier to employ 14/15 year olds. They don't have to register with the state. I am not really sure this is a big deal at all.

This is a far cry from child labor working in mines. I realize it was just a joke. But it was an inaccurate characterization. It reinforces bigotry against the South and that isn't particularly helpful.

NC has stricter max hours for minors than Nevada does. Your backward western state allows 14 year olds to work 48 hours a week. See - not helpful.

Every state has areas that have been left in the 20th century (or 19th century). If not for the weather and traffic, Austin would be a fantastic place to live. There are probably some areas of Florida that are ok. Doesn't mean I would want to have their state government but not because of child labor.

Rant over.

 

[Oil4AsphaultOnly]

Was watching an episode of practical engineering on YouTube the other day about asphalt. They stated that it is fully recyclable and one of the most recycled products by weight. I had no idea this was the case or whether it was even true. Never gave it much thought but then saw a recent repaving project where the top 4" or so of asphalt gets scraped off by machine into a dump truck to be heated back up and reused?

RT

EXACTLY! Not every petroleum product is so bad for the environment that it has to be eliminated.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

EXACTLY! Not every petroleum product is so bad for the environment that it has to be eliminated.

Well, it might.

When you drive on the road you can pick up asphalt, and it gets combined with pieces of plastic from tires.
This is a source of local air pollution, but heavy enough that it doesn't get moved around in the air the way particulates from exhausts do so if you can avoid that local environment you're less impacted. (When walking on a sidewalk, try to walk as far from the road as possible. Inches can make a significant difference to pollution levels.)

However, some of the those fragments leave the road and find their way into the wider environment.

Not sure of the further damage from there.

 

[mspohr]

Texas bills call for renewables to help save declining fossil fuel sector

The Texas Senate on Wednesday passed a package of bills that would cut support from wind and solar power and force renewable electricity producers to help pay for new fossil fuel power plants.&nbsp…

thehill.com

The Texas Senate on Wednesday passed a package of bills that would cut support from wind and solar power and force renewable electricity producers to help pay for new fossil fuel power plants. The five bills are part of a larger campaign by the Republican-controlled body to redirect growth in the states’ flourishing renewable energy sector — by far the largest in the country — toward oil and gas.The effort seeks to establish the long-term primacy of “dispatchable” electricity — in practice, gas powered plants — over renewables.Some power producers argue that the call for non-renewable “dispatchables” is obsolete. In New England, for example, advances in forecasting, remote measurement and power sharing have allowed the regional grid to dispense renewable energy from wind, solar and hydropower on demand.

 

[mspohr]

Well, it might.

When you drive on the road you can pick up asphalt, and it gets combined with pieces of plastic from tires.
This is a source of local air pollution, but heavy enough that it doesn't get moved around in the air the way particulates from exhausts do so if you can avoid that local environment you're less impacted. (When walking on a sidewalk, try to walk as far from the road as possible. Inches can make a significant difference to pollution levels.)

However, some of the those fragments leave the road and find their way into the wider environment.

Not sure of the further damage from there.

Asphalt is the heavy thick stuff left over when refining oil so producing it creates and releases cancer and CV and lung disease toxins.
Not good stuff.

 

[eevee-fan]

Texas bills call for renewables to help save declining fossil fuel sector

The Texas Senate on Wednesday passed a package of bills that would cut support from wind and solar power and force renewable electricity producers to help pay for new fossil fuel power plants.&nbsp…

thehill.com

The Texas Senate on Wednesday passed a package of bills that would cut support from wind and solar power and force renewable electricity producers to help pay for new fossil fuel power plants. The five bills are part of a larger campaign by the Republican-controlled body to redirect growth in the states’ flourishing renewable energy sector — by far the largest in the country — toward oil and gas.The effort seeks to establish the long-term primacy of “dispatchable” electricity — in practice, gas powered plants — over renewables.Some power producers argue that the call for non-renewable “dispatchables” is obsolete. In New England, for example, advances in forecasting, remote measurement and power sharing have allowed the regional grid to dispense renewable energy from wind, solar and hydropower on demand.

Whatever happened to 'the government should not be picking winners and losers'? LOL

Reminds me of...

 

[ggies07]

Texas bills call for renewables to help save declining fossil fuel sector

The Texas Senate on Wednesday passed a package of bills that would cut support from wind and solar power and force renewable electricity producers to help pay for new fossil fuel power plants.&nbsp…

thehill.com

The Texas Senate on Wednesday passed a package of bills that would cut support from wind and solar power and force renewable electricity producers to help pay for new fossil fuel power plants. The five bills are part of a larger campaign by the Republican-controlled body to redirect growth in the states’ flourishing renewable energy sector — by far the largest in the country — toward oil and gas.The effort seeks to establish the long-term primacy of “dispatchable” electricity — in practice, gas powered plants — over renewables.Some power producers argue that the call for non-renewable “dispatchables” is obsolete. In New England, for example, advances in forecasting, remote measurement and power sharing have allowed the regional grid to dispense renewable energy from wind, solar and hydropower on demand.

 

[mspohr]

Government picks monopolies as winners

California utilities commission rejects solar microgrid proposal

The commission deemed Sunnova's application to be an attempt to create a monopoly, while simultaneously showing affinity toward investor-owned utility-run microgrids.

pv-magazine-usa.com

I find this accusation a somewhat odd,” said Meghan Nutting, executive vice president, regulatory and government affairs in a pv magazine interview. “Californians must take service from a utility if they are in investor-owned utility territory. This microutility application provides customers with an alternative to the monopoly.”A large coalition of industry advocates and environmentalists, called the Microgrid Resources Coalition (MRC), filed a response to the PAO’s suggested rejection. “We believe that the Proposed Decision, if adopted, would become the latest in a long line of decisions in which the Commission does a disservice to the citizens of California by ignoring the contribution that distributed generation, and microgrids in particular, can make to resolving the state’s ongoing crisis of grid inadequacy

 

[eevee-fan]

Tesla expects massive savings for Powerwall owners in California following net metering change

Tesla is expecting its Powerwall to become an even bigger difference maker for homeowners with solar in California following a...

electrek.co

 

[eevee-fan]

Chevron / Toyota road trip demonstrates renewable gasoline blend

Chevron USA kicked off a road trip across the US Gulf Coast to showcase an innovative new gasoline blend with more than 50% renewable content. People from Chevron and Toyota will be driving Toyota’s Tundra, RAV4 and Camry on this road trip with the objective of demonstrating the fuel, which...

www.greencarcongress.com

Did anyone think of bringing back dinosaurs? If we have dinos roaming the earth again, fossil fuel would be a renewable resource.

 

[cusetownusa]

Chevron / Toyota road trip demonstrates renewable gasoline blend

Chevron USA kicked off a road trip across the US Gulf Coast to showcase an innovative new gasoline blend with more than 50% renewable content. People from Chevron and Toyota will be driving Toyota’s Tundra, RAV4 and Camry on this road trip with the objective of demonstrating the fuel, which...

www.greencarcongress.com

Did anyone think of bringing back dinosaurs? If we have dinos roaming the earth again, fossil fuel would be a renewable resource.

renewable gasoline/diesel. lol. Thank god we have Tesla or this is the type of nonsense we would be hearing about forever while nothing changes.

 

[mspohr]

The tiny Tuscan town facing down a gas ship

Calling the Golar Tundra, which docked here at in March, a ship is not technically accurate. It’s actually a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), whose job is to take liquefied gas (LNG) transported by carriers, return it to a gaseous state and then feed it into the gas network. It will begin operation in May, and Italy’s government wants to “park” it in Piombino’s port for at least three years. But the town’s citizens, and mayor, have other ideas. Along with environmental activists from across Italy, they have set out to block the project.

 

[mspohr]

Germany plans to ban installation of most oil and gas heating from 2024

If the bill is passed in June, it will enact a virtual ban on the installation of gas and oil heating from 2024. It will require almost all newly installed heating systems to run on 65% renewable energy in new as well as old buildings, in which defunct models would need to be replaced. Homeowners will be encouraged to install heat pumps to run on renewable sources of electricity, or to switch to district heating, electric or solar thermal systems. Biomass heat, hydrogen and gas obtained from an approved environmentally friendly source, such as biomethane, will all be encouraged under a programme of subsidy payments of 10-40% for each heating system,. In addition, “Klimabonis” or additional climate bonus payments, will be available in certain cases, for instance if someone voluntarily switches to a more climate-friendly system, regardless of their income.

 

[mspohr]

E.P.A. to Propose First Controls on Greenhouse Gases From Power Plants

If the regulation is implemented, it will be the first time the federal government has limited carbon emissions from existing power plants, which generate 25 percent of U.S. greenhouse gases.

www.nytimes.com

Mr. Biden has said that he is willing to use his executive authority to act on global warming, a point he has recently stressed after facing sharp criticism from environmentalists, particularly young climate activists, for his decision last month to approve an enormous oil drilling project on pristine land in Alaska, known as Willow.

Still, electric utilities have complained that any policy that forces them to install carbon capture technology would be far too expensive, driving up energy costs for consumers. A 2021 report by a group of 600 global investors, including BlackRock, State Street Global Advisors and other top shareholders of U.S. investor-owned utilities, said the high costs of carbon capture “make it a risky and potentially expensive decarbonization strategy.”

 

[ggies07]

E.P.A. to Propose First Controls on Greenhouse Gases From Power Plants

If the regulation is implemented, it will be the first time the federal government has limited carbon emissions from existing power plants, which generate 25 percent of U.S. greenhouse gases.

www.nytimes.com

Mr. Biden has said that he is willing to use his executive authority to act on global warming, a point he has recently stressed after facing sharp criticism from environmentalists, particularly young climate activists, for his decision last month to approve an enormous oil drilling project on pristine land in Alaska, known as Willow.

Still, electric utilities have complained that any policy that forces them to install carbon capture technology would be far too expensive, driving up energy costs for consumers. A 2021 report by a group of 600 global investors, including BlackRock, State Street Global Advisors and other top shareholders of U.S. investor-owned utilities, said the high costs of carbon capture “make it a risky and potentially expensive decarbonization strategy.”

Hmmmm....why not just make utilities install solar/wind? CC would use even more energy.....

 

[mspohr]

Hmmmm....why not just make utilities install solar/wind? CC would use even more energy.....

Yes, I think that will be the end result.
Electricity from fossil fuel plants is already more expensive than renewables. Adding additional expense of CC will make it even more expensive and could push them to close down the FF plants.
However, the utility monopolies may just raise their prices and make consumers pay more. They are monopolies and have weak regulation by PUCs.

 

[mspohr]

World’s first carbon import tax gets green light

Welcome to The Hill’s Sustainability newsletter{beacon} Sustainability Sustainability   The Big Story EU moves ahead with plan for carbon import tax The European Parliament on Tues…

thehill.com

Goods covered under the mechanism include iron, steel, cement, aluminum, fertilizers, electricity and hydrogen, as well as some downstream products like screws and bolts. Companies that import these products into the EU would need to purchase “CBAM certificates” to make up the difference between the carbon price paid in the country of origin and the price of carbon allowances in the EU, according to the parliament.

 

[mspohr]

Divestment From Coal Does Work! Now The Finance Industry Must Reject Requests For Coal Capital - CleanTechnica

Why does divestment from coal work? It's an industry that's dependent on the influxes of capital. Without it, many coal plants are retired.

cleantechnica.com

Actually, research shows that the economic benefits of replacing coal with renewables would far outweigh the costs. In fact, ending coal use shouldn’t be seen as too costly because it provides economic benefits from reduced carbon emissions.
Coal-fired power plants owned by companies that are exposed to bank divestment policies are more likely to be retired, the research shows. “What we found in this case is that banks divesting from coal directly leads to real impact—more than anyone thought,” Vallée said. “This means that the financial effects translate into environmental effects. By reducing capital expenditures, facilities are decommissioned, and CO2 emissions ultimately fall, as any alternative source of energy is less carbon-intensive

 

[eevee-fan]

In a first, a cargo ship strikes an offshore wind turbine [update]

A cargo ship struck an offshore wind turbine at the 330-megawatt (MW) Gode Wind 1 wind farm in the German North Sea.

electrek.co

OK, so also dangerous to ships whose crew are not paying attention.