It's the End of the World: Climate Collapse

[Egalitarianism Always]

1 hour ago, larrytheimp said:

Yeah but think about solar if you funneled it all into a super pipe for added power. NOW mix that with a WIND TUNNEL!!! 

Now THAT'S a power dream come true!

The effect you have on the world is none, that's what's funny here hahahaha.

[Kalbear]

2 hours ago, Egalitarianism Always said:

9.5 square mile solar farm in California powers 180,000 homes

Source? Marin Clean energy has 170,000 customers, but they aren't all 100% solar.

And California is not Minnesota.

[Gorn]

Even environmentalists need to take climate change more seriously: https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2018/1/27/16935382/climate-change-ugly-tradeoffs

There is no either/or choice between renewables and nuclear. Serious reduction of emissions requires renewables AND big hydro AND nuclear power (at least for another generation). A lot of people have tunnel vision when it comes to their pet environmental issues - see, for example, articles about poor birds killed by wind turbines or desert ecosystems being destroyed by solar plants.

[Gorn]

On 1/19/2018 at 4:48 PM, mcbigski said:

Even apart from arguing a few of those points, nuclear power is way more reliable than wind and solar, and way less location dependent than hydro or geothermal or wind or solar.  You can do windmills around the edges but right now when there's peak electric demand, we're firing up the coal plants.  A lot better to just crank up the reactor when demand peaks.

You can't "crank up" coal or nuclear plants. Power plant's output is controlled by starting up or shutting down individual generators. With coal or nuclear, this takes very long time, and for this reason, they are usually used as baseline, always-on sources of energy.

Peak demand is covered by gas and big hydro plants, since you can start them up almost instantly by starting the flow of gas/water.

[Loge]

On 1/26/2018 at 4:46 PM, Alarich II said:

In other sad news, water saving in some parts of Germany has reached a level, where pipes are clogging because there's simply not enough water running through the pipes to flush the excrements and other waste. Which means that bacteria are spreading and communities have to flush their sewage systems in regular intervals.

It's a simple market mechanism that has turned into a vicious circle: Because water usage is priced by the liter, water saving means saving money. But because many of the infrastructure costs are fixed, the prices have to go up as consumption goes down. Which in turn increases the financial incentive for even more water-saving.

I don't think money is the main issue. Environmentalists have brainwashed people to think water was a dwindling resource that must be used cautiously. (Which may be perfectly true in some parts of the world, just not in Germany.) Not sure if this is still a thing but it definitely was back in  the 70s and 80s.

That said, I think home owners are charged for wastewater according to their water usage, so there might be some financial incentive there. Living in a rental apartment, I have never been charged for (cold) water, though it probably affects the Nebenkosten. 

Another issue is the shutdown of the East German industry. Berlin has a problem with rising ground water levels because consumption has halved since the 80s. 

[Starkess]

It's definitely possible to adjust the output power of a nuclear reactor.

[mcbigski]

Possible or feasible?  I was under the impression that the speed of the reaction could be managed by how many control rods that absorbed neutrons were inserted into the reactor.  (Or possibly how deeply the array of control rods was inserted.) But I'm basing that on recollections from a school field trip when I was a 10 year old.

[Loge]

Not sure how fast you can start or shut down a nuclear power station but they are usually used to cover the base load.

 

[TrueMetis]

Nuclear reactors are usually run at 100% of what they're capable of producing (or at least as close as possible). They also take a long time to refuel, we're talking a least 3 weeks for a refuel cycle. (Plus several months of prep work to make sure everything goes smoothly) Granted much of that is maintenance they don't want to do at any other time but still. Altering the output on a nuclear reactor isn't something you could, or would want, to do.

[Starkess]

On 1/27/2018 at 5:53 PM, mcbigski said:

Possible or feasible?  I was under the impression that the speed of the reaction could be managed by how many control rods that absorbed neutrons were inserted into the reactor.  (Or possibly how deeply the array of control rods was inserted.) But I'm basing that on recollections from a school field trip when I was a 10 year old.

Yes, that's correct. It doesn't have to be run at 100% or burn through effective full power hours for no reason. Of course this is not necessarily feasible for a traditional nuclear power plant (my experience is obviously a different case), but I think it's getting more feasible with updated nuclear technology.

Here's a brief rundown: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Load_following_power_plant#Nuclear_power_plants 

[HexMachina]

Not sure if this should go here or the dark ages thread but

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42626790

https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/conservation/issues/cape-town-may-be-first-major-city-to-run-dry.htm

pretty frightening to consider

[James Arryn]

15 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Not sure if this should go here or the dark ages thread but

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42626790

https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/conservation/issues/cape-town-may-be-first-major-city-to-run-dry.htm

pretty frightening to consider

I actually looked around for a thread on Day Zero a couple days back, coukn’t find anything, wondered if it fit in here, and eventually got distracted. But honestly, this should be a much bigger story. This could get very very ugly.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

16 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Not sure if this should go here or the dark ages thread but

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42626790

https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/conservation/issues/cape-town-may-be-first-major-city-to-run-dry.htm

pretty frightening to consider

I only 'd you by a week!:

On 1/26/2018 at 8:41 AM, Tywin et al. said:

Well this is horrifying:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/24/africa/cape-town-water-crisis-trnd/index.html

1 hour ago, James Arryn said:

I actually looked around for a thread on Day Zero a couple days back, coukn’t find anything, wondered if it fit in here, and eventually got distracted. But honestly, this should be a much bigger story. This could get very very ugly.

It probably should have its own thread. I fear this is a sign of what’s to come. There’s a reason why a lot of dystopian future stories, be it books or movies, revolve around water wars. That said, while there’s been a lot of “water conflicts” in recent history, I heard a historian say that the last full blown water war happen over 4000 years ago in Mesopotamia.

[HexMachina]

Interesting ruling from the High Court in the UK today, ruling that current measures against air pollution are inadequate in 45 local authorities. And essentially taking control over this area to the Courts, rather than ministers. Still reading up to get the full picture (I was previously unaware of the case) but here is a Guardian article:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/feb/21/high-court-rules-uk-air-pollution-plans-unlawful?CMP=fb_gu

[GAROVORKIN]

I recall reading something about putting solar Mirrors in orbit which would transmit their energy to ground based recovers. 

[Spring Bass]

On 2/26/2018 at 6:30 AM, GAROVORKIN said:

I recall reading something about putting solar Mirrors in orbit which would transmit their energy to ground based recovers. 

It wouldn't be mirrors so much as massive solar arrays in orbit that would then transfer power down either by microwave beams or lasers. The problem is the launch and maintenance costs (both would be gigantic with present-day technology). 

[mcbigski]

Sol blasts unimaginable quantities of energy into space each instant, and virtually every joule of it is wasted entirely. Incomprehensible riches can be ours if we can but stretch our arms wide enough to dip from this eternal river of wealth.

Orbital power transmitters for the win if you all are that afraid of fission.

[Larry of the Lawn]

Too bad we don't have some kind of like, panel, that could harness the sun's energy here on Earth and convert it into electricity.  How cool would that be?  

[GAROVORKIN]

16 hours ago, mcbigski said:

Sol blasts unimaginable quantities of energy into space each instant, and virtually every joule of it is wasted entirely. Incomprehensible riches can be ours if we can but stretch our arms wide enough to dip from this eternal river of wealth.

Orbital power transmitters for the win if you all are that afraid of fission.

It would cost billions .

[maarsen]

9 hours ago, larrytheimp said:

Too bad we don't have some kind of like, panel, that could harness the sun's energy here on Earth and convert it into electricity.  How cool would that be?  

Black roofs have been already invented. Back off as I intend to use the idea.