Climate change, real or no deal.

[DanZac]

Hopefully fusion will finally take off.

I think we are a long way from that, the problems still to be overcome are massive and highly complex.

I believe that to even get it to work for milliseconds takes massive amounts of electrical power to generate and stabilise the plasma fields. And by massive we're talking that they can only run the experiments in the middle of the night as the national grid can't take it Scotty, even with the addition of local power storage systems (massive flywheels).

Be a result if they do manage it though, but don't hold your breath.

Culham Centre for Fusion Energy - Culham Centre for Fusion Energy

ccfe.ukaea.uk

 

[Gareth J]

It seems to me most of the Greens don't actually want unlimited free clean energy even if it were available. They want everyone to cut back on things and go back to the "good" old days

The hair shirt life the yoghurt knitters hanker after is perplexing. It is not desirable to go back to the good old days where infant mortality was high, bizzare and lethal diseases reigned and things like famines were very real concerns.

That said, we can all reduce consumption (of both energy and stuff) without living in a cave. In fact, according to that program, us westerner's energy demand peaked sometime in the '70s. Yet our quality of life has continued to improve in almost every measurable way. Win, win. Reducing consumption further, essentially with efficiency and reliability gains is a no brainer.

Regarding the unknowns around how the climate will react to our short sharp (in geological terms) release of previously buried stuff into the atmosphere, there are degrees of uncertainty. But that's not the same thing as not being confident of the outcomes predicted, just that the outcomes predicted have a range within which confidence lies. Climate deniers misuse the term "uncertainty" from this context to pretend scientists aren't sure about what is happening/will happen. They are.

Climate modelling now is very decent. Models are well verified. There is a lag regarding CO2 release and the warming it facilitates but that doesn't make it unpredictable.

Optimistically, we can still swing the pendulum. It's not too too late.

 

[tlovatt]

I think we are a long way from that, the problems still to be overcome are massive and highly complex.

I believe that to even get it to work for milliseconds takes massive amounts of electrical power to generate and stabilise the plasma fields. And by massive we're talking that they can only run the experiments in the middle of the night as the national grid can't take it Scotty, even with the addition of local power storage systems (massive flywheels).

Be a result if they do manage it though, but don't hold your breath.

Culham Centre for Fusion Energy - Culham Centre for Fusion Energy

ccfe.ukaea.uk

They run the experiment during the day, the flywheel generators are run up by pony motors (which are not actually that big) and then used to generate a series of pulses for the experiment.

 

[Miranda]

It’s not all just about Carbon Dioxide.

Net zero is an “easy fix”, or at least comparatively “easy fix” , dream being rammed down our throats.

we are waaaaayyyyyy beyond a situation whereby if CO2 production stopped tomorrow that we can avoid the long term effects.

we’ve been looking at climate for what amounts to nanoseconds in terms of the earths history measured in millennia.

it’s the RATE of change that is unbelievable and it’s not just climate as I’ve said before.

just as serious is the mass insect loss we are currently experiencing..,,,. Food chains and ultimately us depend on them.

I’m as guilty as anyone, I’ve sprayed agricultural insecticides on farm crops as suggested by the chemical producers same as everyone else…. I drew the line at mass slug pelleting when drilling brassicas etc. but was one of the few.

the starlings have gone poisoned by mercuric grain dressings as have a huge swathe of our native wildlife.

I’m not a green supporter, but I do see what has happened and get why they take the view they do.

there is no way back in reality. The future is pretty bleak.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

over the past century or so, we have increased the amount of CO2 just over and above the amount the Earths climate system has evolved deal with.

Just tread water, it'll catch up..... [sorry, I'm being frivolous ]

 

[mcostello]

Plant more trees.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Plant more trees.

I always think it's funny we keep looking for clever ways to extract CO2 from the atmosphere....there was a perfectly evolved natural solution to the problem....trees!

My philosophy is to do my part when asked...but I accept that as a species I don't think we have the collective intelligence to implement the changes required which are planet wide.

I'm not a climate change denier...I am a realist though!

 

[Farside]

One of the simplest disasters occurred hundreds of years ago in N.Africa, long before anyone thought of global climate change.
******' goats.
They ate everything.
The desert got bigger.

 

[mike os]

Plant more trees.

Wrong... have less idiots

 

[mcostello]

Let's compromise, more trees and LESS idiots. Win-Win.

 

[mike os]

Let's compromise, more trees and LESS idiots. Win-Win.

Lots less idiots ... 2 or 3 billion should help

 

[Edward Teach]

I think in general, it is better to renew/rebuild/repair old Everything, than buy all the 'New Technology' they keep pushing on us,
The 'Carbon Footprint' of newly produce goods is quite extensive when you look into the full picture.
Certainly motor vehicles.

 

[Farside]

Lots less idiots ... 2 or 3 billion should help

Problem is, the other idiots will replace the missing ones quickly and then we're back at square one.

 

[fizzy]

G. B. National Grid status

www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk

Only 0.62gw - 1.7% of demand.
France is putting out 30gms of CO2 - Britain 320gm
So much for renewables
When are people going to wake up?

 

[Munkul]

I'm coming right back around now in where I stand on the Hinckley point C issue.

For the last few years, all I'd read about it made me think it was an over budget, untested, politically charged project that was more likely to make the public think even worse of nuclear than present.

Now i see it as a new generation of even cleaner, more efficient power, with ground breaking technology, and a formidable capacity for generation... I mean, the chart above says the UK is generating 3.55GW from its current nukes... Point C will be capable of 3.26GW - almost 10% of the ENTIRE UK demand by itself!!!

I hope it goes to plan and other projects are signed off on the back of this. It'll also bring more money into Cumbria too, and THORP might restart. I hope it does, anyway.

 

[gaz1]

G. B. National Grid status

www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk

Only 0.62gw - 1.7% of demand.
France is putting out 30gms of CO2 - Britain 320gm
So much for renewables
When are people going to wake up?

can we dump the nuclear waste on your land then ?

Storage and Disposal of Radioactive Waste - World Nuclear Association

Most low-level radioactive waste is typically sent to land-based disposal immediately following its packaging. Many long-term waste management options have been investigated worldwide which seek to provide publicly acceptable, safe, and environmentally sound solutions to the management of...

world-nuclear.org

its ok screaming about when everyone will wake up

but unless we find another way theres no alternative

cars vans and wagons we need but i dont see many of you giving them up

 

[fizzy]

can we dump the nuclear waste on your land then ?

Storage and Disposal of Radioactive Waste - World Nuclear Association

Most low-level radioactive waste is typically sent to land-based disposal immediately following its packaging. Many long-term waste management options have been investigated worldwide which seek to provide publicly acceptable, safe, and environmentally sound solutions to the management of...

world-nuclear.org

its ok screaming about when everyone will wake up

but unless we find another way theres no alternative

cars vans and wagons we need but i dont see many of you giving them up

Yes I would welcome it for suitable renumeration
I am truly worried by the amount of CO2 being released. The ONLY sensible answer is nuclear.
Britain and Germany are putting out 10x more CO2 than France. We have renewables they have nuclear!

 

[Maker]

And no I don't mean for cleaning up power stations but to remove CO2 from the air

I've just finished a module at uni looking at oxy-fuel power stations, essentially 60 percent or so of the flue gas from a coal fired power plant is fed back into the intake, along with pure oxygen to get the composition back up to 21 ish percent O2, the whole point being the flue gas comes out with a much higher concentration of CO2 (96+%), which is necessary for more efficient post combustion capture. I couldn't help wonder the whole time, how much extra power is needed to produce that pure O2 in the first place, not to mention the energy used in PCC (Two or three tonnes of amine needs to be boiled for every tonne of CO2 captured!), I can't believe that's being pushed as the future of power generation!

 

[fizzy]

I've just finished a module at uni looking at oxy-fuel power stations, essentially 60 percent or so of the flue gas from a coal fired power plant is fed back into the intake, along with pure oxygen to get the composition back up to 21 ish percent O2, the whole point being the flue gas comes out with a much higher concentration of CO2 (96+%), which is necessary for more efficient post combustion capture. I couldn't help wonder the whole time, how much extra power is needed to produce that pure O2 in the first place, not to mention the energy used in PCC (Two or three tonnes of amine needs to be boiled for every tonne of CO2 captured!), I can't believe that's being pushed as the future of power generation!

And the Hydrogen they are pushing is so inefficient as well.
Don't get me wrong I would LOVE Hydrogen power - but it is so damn inefficient to produce it with electrolysis !

 

[gaz1]

Yes I would welcome it for suitable renumeration
I am truly worried by the amount of CO2 being released. The ONLY sensible answer is nuclear.
Britain and Germany are putting out 10x more CO2 than France. We have renewables they have nuclear!

care to lose all your vehicles and replace them with electric ?

transport goods by train again and delivered to a central depot by tram way system

heres the loverly price for your trucks

Tesla customers can pay up to $200,000 to reserve the electric Semi truck on the company's website

Tesla allows customers to reserve its upcoming electric semi-truck, the Semi, on its website.

www.businessinsider.com

cars gone replaced by publc electric tram bus system

if you want to run a vehicle sorry its on hire only

How Much Does a Tesla Cost in 2023? [Updated Prices]

One of the driving forces behind the surge in EV popularity comes back to a familiar name: Tesla. But what does a Tesla actually cost?

news.energysage.com