Comments on: Minnesotan Republicans Disrupt Attempts to Save Civilization From Itself

By: Uncle Glenny

Uncle Glenny — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:57:57 +0000

I must be in some alternate universe, because all I can get off that web site is a lecture about hoar frost.

By: F

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:27:03 +0000

Energy storage: Compressed air is another efficient method for storing (esp. geologically) energy.

Solar panels: If in mass use, somewhat less efficient and way less toxic cells could be used. But toxicity is a red herring here. Don’t tell me you don’t use any modern technology, all of which uses toxic metals and other compounds. Never mind the toxins released in procuring and burning sequestered carbon for fuel.

“The manufacturing process used to make the windmills is more polluting than just using oil in the first place. ”

Get. Real.

By: Vince Whirlwind

Vince Whirlwind — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:25:34 +0000

” It requires a large scale interconnected grid to maximise collection potential and reduce effect of local cloud/low wind but that is a fairly minor issue to overcome. ”

That all depends on whether the investment is made today while the economy still (sortof) works, or if they wait until the economy *really* tanks during the next energy crisis, in which case the investment required will be pretty much unaffordable, which will make electricity pretty much a luxury on a par with owning cars and employing servants…..I see why prominent Republicans aren’t concerned about this, but what about the idiots who vote for them? Do they imagine their masters will be able to wave a magic wand to maintain their voting base’s standard of living? Do they imagine their masters will feel any sort of loyalty to the idiots who voted for them once the time comes for them to retire to their well-stocked secure compounds where they intend to escape from the collapse of society that will be caused by their idiotic policies?

By: Cowcakes

Cowcakes — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:47:15 +0000

Actually for large scale base load solar electricity production the solar concentrator array towers use sodium to store heat which creates steam to drive turbines that produce electricity. These towers store enough heat to continue production overnight and potentially for several days. They could also be used to run plants to crack the hydrogen from water for production of hydrogen fuel cells.

Because multiple wind, solar, tidal etc plants can be located in more areas than coal/oil/gas plants the distances to where electricity is used is less meaning less energy is lost over long distance transmission lines for most of the time. It requires a large scale interconnected grid to maximise collection potential and reduce effect of local cloud/low wind but that is a fairly minor issue to overcome.

By: Ozonator

Ozonator — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:25:14 +0000

The war on science started with the Looter Limbaughs and the rest of the extremist Republicans and Christians conserving only Ronald Reaganâ??s Alzheimers for one and all. More AGW dumped in the air and less Obamacare will more quickly achieve this goal. Ronny is also known as Ronaldus Magnus by legal – drug users, sex tourists, and terrorists.

By: lyle

lyle — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:40:32 +0000

At least in MN you could do pumped storage as energy storage (used with Nuclear plants elsewhere in the US and even in MI). You pump water uphill when the renewables are in surplus and then let it go downhill when the renewables are not there. (One place is along the Lake Superior coast for example.) Actually a second solution is to build gas turbine combined cycle plants to back up the renewable solutions. They start up in 15 or so mins and the best modern ones run at 60% heat to electricity conversion, compared with 33% for a coal plant, because the high temp in the combustion chamber leads to higher Carnot efficiencies.

By: NJ

NJ — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:21:56 +0000

“Yvonne” aka Rob Hood @ 4:

Use real words.

Oh, like medicien? Or flouride? Or socilaism? Real words like those, Rob?

I would have thought you’d have filled your ‘scrips at the start of the month, so those voices in your head wouldn’t be warning you of the dangers of HAARP.

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:52:01 +0000

Yvonne, there are batteries that are lot toxicity and fairly inexpensive to make and install … and quite large … that are hooked up to windmill farms to store power when windmills are running slow. This is being done now effectively. Wind and sun are not as intermittent and unpredictably as you might think. Certainly, not especially intermittent. A nuclear power reactor has to be shut down for longish periods of time on a regular basis just for refuling, thus they are intermittent, and they are very often powered down for various emergencies, thus they are unpredictable. Yet you never hear those two adjectives applied to nuclear power.

Looking at the rest of your blog post makes me want to check to see which sock puppet you are.

brb.

Oh, that one. Fixed that for ya.