Electricity prices in California have multiplied at three times the rate of the national average. (Meanwhile, Nevada and Texas electric rates have gone down) And because wind and solar alone cannot efficiently provide constant baseload power generation - California has to buy marked up power from other States (generated by fossil fuels or nuclear, btw) in order to meet the varying hourly load demands. https://www.forbes.com/sites/michae...for-inherently-physical-reasons/#2238f51b17e8
Yes. Very bad for the environment. Those people staying in Inner Mongolia where there are lots of mining must be suffering.
If we'd put all our money and efforts, as a society, into figuring out Mr. Fusion, we would have it by now and the world would be in a better place. The way of the future, man!
I'm Anti Solar Panels aswell, until recently they took so much energy to produce, they never made enough to cover this, so not only all of the above but energy negative aswell. They sound good, free ( once made ) energy, but in reality stupid stupid!!
I am NOT anti solar or anti wind. Truly. I advocate balance and truth. Scores of people believe absolutely everything that Elon Musk says - he’s akin to Jesus Christ in that respect. A rather pathetic statement has been attributed to him in the press: to the effect ‘that solar panels covering a nuclear power plant could replace that plant’s generation capacity’. I doubt that Elon would be so foolish, though. At least I hope not. Physics is tough to beat. On my bookshelf is the Bible: “Power Density: A Key to Understanding Power Sources and Uses” by Vaclav Smil Not Disputable. And NOTHING comes even remotely close to Nuclear in terms of Carbon free power. Indisputable. Not close. Orders of magnitude. Including ancillaries and support footprints. The amount of zero greenhouse gas MEGAWATTS of power generation THAT PROVIDES BASELOAD POWER by Nuclear - nothing comes close. Generation Four Reactors with Passive Redundant Safety Systems - in terms of what we know and can prove right here right now; it’s the very best technology.
I'm not Anti Wind, or Tidal energy, simply because you get more energy back, unlike Solar. Might be refering to the entire 20Square mile area around a nuclear plant with all the security, but even then only when the sun is shining not 24/7 like a plant. I say build massive great big Algea plants in deserts and literally grow our own oil, Car Tech is pretty decent, doesn't use any rare materials, recyclable, unlike Electric motors with rare earth magnets, copper which is in short supply and nasty to build and recycle batterys, can also be used by power stations, plastics, fertalisers and everything else oil from the ground and is CO2 neutral. ( likely some from processing but less than burning oil from the ground )
Fine. Y'all don't want to invest in Mr. Fusion? How about a Dyson Sphere? That will solve our problems!
Geek! Hell of a lot of work / material just to get solar energy 24/7, they’d also be very little gravity as not much mass under your feet, you’d have to get it spinning at 1 rpm for centrefugal gravity, 5% light speed lol Plus Dyson vacuums literally dont suck.
Rare earths on the Trump-Morrison agenda Phillip CooreyPolitical Editor Sep 15, 2019 — 8.00pm The development of alternative supplies of critical minerals, as well as other joint efforts by Australia and the United States to address Chinese influence in the region, will dominate talks in Washington DC at the end of this week between Scott Morrison and Donald Trump. Mr Morrison leaves on Thursday for what will be the first state visit to the US by an Australian prime minster since John Howard was feted by George W Bush in 2006, and what is only the second state visit to be offered to any leader by Mr Trump. Shoulder to shoulder: Prime Minister Scott Morrison. left, and US President Donald Trump. AAP Talks in Washington will focus on how both sides can boost their efforts in the Indo-Pacific. This will include the Pacific step-up announced last year by Mr Morrison; a joint program by the US, Australia, New Zealand and Japan to provide electricity to 70 per cent of Papua New Guinea by 2030; other critical infrastructure projects; and joint US-Australian efforts on so-called “critical minerals”. Critical minerals, including rare earths, lithium, copper and cobalt, are a vital part of the defence supply chain, being used in everything from weapons guidance systems to improving the durability of electronics used in the field. They are also vital for wind turbines and electric vehicles. Australia’s defence capability is affected through the staged purchase of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters from US, which have been reported to contain around half a tonne of rare earths. China controls at least 80 per cent of the global trade in rare earths. The Australian Financial Review reported in June that the US State Department was working with Canada and Australia to better understand what critical minerals each country had and how these could be developed. It is regarded as a top-line national security issue. Austrade has put together a prospectus of these minerals, which could be developed with the help of capital from the US, Europe, Japan or South Korea. One company which could benefit is junior miner Arafura Resources, which is seeking funding for its $1.1 billion rare earths project outside Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. Mr Morrison will also address the United Nations General Assembly in New York in the middle of next week, but will skip a special UN climate change summit at the start of the week and send Foreign Minister Marise Payne instead. Mr Morrison shrugged off criticism from Labor on Sunday for missing the climate event, saying his government’s climate policy was set and Australia would no longer be contributing to the UN’s Climate Fund. “Australia has already outlined our policies to tackle climate change, including cutting our emissions by 26-28 per cent and investing directly into climate resilience projects through our regional partners,” Mr Morrison said. “As the Government has said previously, we’re investing directly with our regional partners given the frustrations they have faced with the UN’s Green Climate Fund.” But the issue is expected to be raised in Canberra on Monday when Mr Morrison hosts his Fijian counterpart Frank Bainimarama, who is a lead advocate in the region for climate action. https://www.afr.com/news/politics/national/rare-earths-on-the-trump-morrison-agenda-20190915-p52ri6