
Distributed Solar: The Democratizaton of Energy

Blogroll
- Dominic Cummings blog Chief advisor to the PM, United Kingdom
- "Consider a Flat Pond" Invited talk introducing systems thinking, by Jan Galkowski, at First Parish in Needham, UU, via Zoom
- NCAR AtmosNews
- John Kruschke's "Dong Bayesian data analysis" blog Expanding and enhancing John’s book of same title (now in second edition!)
- Mertonian norms
- Nadler Strategy, LLC, on sustainability Thinking about business, efficient and effective management, and business value
- Logistic curves in market disruption From DollarsPerBBL, about logistic or S-curves as models of product take-up rather than exponentials, with notes on EVs
- Harvard's Project Implicit
- Ted Dunning
- The Plastic Pick-Up: Discovering new sources of marine plastic pollution
- WEAPONS OF MATH DESTRUCTION, reviews Reviews of Cathy O’Neil’s new book
- Dollars per BBL: Energy in Transition
- Rasmus Bååth's Research Blog Bayesian statistics and data analysis
- Label Noise
- Leadership lessons from Lao Tzu
- Hermann Scheer Hermann Scheer was a visionary, a major guy, who thought deep thoughts about energy, and its implications for humanity’s relationship with physical reality
- Why It’s So Freaking Hard To Make A Good COVID-19 Model Five Thirty Eight’s take on why pandemic modeling is so difficult
- Higgs from AIR describing NAO and EA Stephanie Higgs from AIR Worldwide gives a nice description of NAO and EA in the context of discussing “The Geographic Impact of Climate Signals on European Winter Storms”
- Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation
- John Cook's reasons to use Bayesian inference
- The Alliance for Securing Democracy dashboard
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)
- Tim Harford's “More or Less'' Tim Harford explains – and sometimes debunks – the numbers and statistics used in political debate, the news and everyday life
- Subsidies for wind and solar versus subsidies for fossil fuels
- Mike Bloomberg, 2020 He can get progress on climate done, has the means and experts to counter the Trump and Republican digital disinformation machine, and has the experience, knowledge, and depth of experience to achieve and unify.
- Tony Seba Solar energy, electric vehicle, energy storage, and business disruption professor and visionary
- Brian McGill's Dynamic Ecology blog Quantitative biology with pithy insights regarding applications of statistical methods
- Mrooijer's Numbers R 4Us
- Professor David Draper
- Busting Myths About Heat Pumps Heat pumps are perhaps the most efficient heating and cooling systems available. Recent literature distributed by utilities hawking natural gas and other sources use performance figures from heat pumps as they were available 15 years ago. See today’s.
- Slice Sampling
- All about Sankey diagrams
- Prediction vs Forecasting: Knaub “Unfortunately, ‘prediction,’ such as used in model-based survey estimation, is a term that is often subsumed under the term ‘forecasting,’ but here we show why it is important not to confuse these two terms.”
- The Mermaid's Tale A conversation about biological complexity and evolution, and the societal aspects of science
- Team Andrew Weinberg Walking September 8th for the Jimmy Fund!
- Comprehensive Guide to Bayes Rule
- Earth Family Beta MIchael Osborne’s blog on Science and the like
- All about ENSO, and lunar tides (Paul Pukite) Historically, ENSO has been explained in terms of winds. But recently — and Dr Paul Pukite has insisted upon this for a long time — the oscillation of ENSO has been explained as a large-scale slosh due to lunar tidal forcing.
- Awkward Botany
- Survey Methodology, Prof Ron Fricker http://faculty.nps.edu/rdfricke/
- "Impacts of Green New Deal energy plans on grid stability, costs, jobs, health, and climate in 143 countries" (Jacobson, Delucchi, Cameron, et al) Global warming, air pollution, and energy insecurity are three of the greatest problems facing humanity. To address these problems, we develop Green New Deal energy roadmaps for 143 countries.
- ggplot2 and ggfortify Plotting State Space Time Series with ggplot2 and ggfortify
- Los Alamos Center for Bayesian Methods
- International Society for Bayesian Analysis (ISBA)
- What If
- London Review of Books
- Mark Berliner's video lecture "Bayesian mechanistic-statistical modeling with examples in geophysical settings"
- James' Empty Blog
- Thaddeus Stevens quotes As I get older, I admire this guy more and more
- Charlie Kufs' "Stats With Cats" blog “You took Statistics 101. Now what?”
climate change
- Bloomberg interactive graph on “What's warming the world''
- Tuft's Professor Kenneth Lang on the physical chemistry of the Greenhouse Effect
- Isaac Held's blog In the spirit of Ray Pierrehumbert’s “big ideas come from small models” in his textbook, PRINCIPLES OF PLANETARY CLIMATE, Dr Held presents quantitative essays regarding one feature or another of the Earth’s climate and weather system.
- The beach boondoggle Prof Rob Young on how owners of beach property are socializing their risks at costs to all of us, not the least being it seems coastal damage is less than it actually is
- US$165/tonne CO2: Sweden Sweden has a Carbon Dioxide tax of US$165 per tonne at present. CO2 tax was imposed in 1991. GDP has grown 60%.
- "A field guide to the climate clowns"
- Climate model projections versus observations
- And Then There's Physics
- The Carbon Cycle The Carbon Cycle, monitored by The Carbon Project
- Reanalyses.org
- Agendaists Eli Rabett’s coining of a phrase
- Simple box models and climate forcing IMO one of Tamino’s best posts illustrating climate forcing using simple box models
- Exxon-Mobil statement on UNFCCC COP21
- weather blocking patterns
- World Weather Attribution
- The Keeling Curve The first, and one of the best programs for creating a spatially significant long term time series of atmospheric concentrations of CO2. Started amongst great obstacles by one, smart determined guy, Charles David Keeling.
- James Hansen and granddaughter Sophie on moving forward with progress on climate
- Climate Communication Hassol, Somerville, Melillo, and Hussin site communicating climate to the public
- Ellenbogen: There is no Such Thing as Wind Turbine Syndrome
- Professor Robert Strom's compendium of resources on climate change Truly excellent
- Anti—Anti-#ClimateEmergency Whether to declare a climate emergency is debatable. But some critics have gone way overboard.
- Grid parity map for Solar PV in United States
- `The unchained goddess' 1958 Bell Telephone Science Hour broadcast regarding, among other things, climate change.
- Updating the Climate Science: What path is the real world following? From Professors Makiko Sato & James Hansen of Columbia University
- Spectra Energy exposed
- Équiterre Equiterre helps build a social movement by encouraging individuals, organizations and governments to make ecological and equitable choices, in a spirit of solidarity.
- James Powell on sampling the climate consensus
- Simple models of climate change
- Jacobson WWS literature index
- Model state level energy policy for New Englad Bob Massie’s proposed energy policy for Massachusetts, an admirable model for energy policy anywhere in New England
- The Scientific Case for Modern Human-caused Global Warming
- Solar Gardens Community Power
- NOAA Annual Greenhouse Gas Index report The annual assessment by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the radiative forcing from constituent atmospheric greenhouse gases
- Climate impacts on retail and supply chains
- Climate Change Reports By John and Mel Harte
- Energy payback period for solar panels Considering everything, how long do solar panels have to operate to offset the energy used to produce them?
- "Lessons of the Little Ice Age" (Farber) From Dan Farber, at LEGAL PLANET
- Sea Change Boston
- HotWhopper: It's excellent. Global warming and climate change. Eavesdropping on the deniosphere, its weird pseudo-science and crazy conspiracy whoppers.
- MIT's Climate Primer
- Jacobson WWS literature index
- An open letter to Steve Levitt
- Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature
- "Mighty Microgrids" Webinar This is a Webinar on YouTube about Microgrids from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), featuring New York State and Minnesota
- “Ways to [try to] slow the Solar Century''
- Documenting the Climate Deniarati at work
- David Appell's early climate science
- The great Michael Osborne's latest opinions Michael Osborne is a genius operative and champion of solar energy. I have learned never to disregard ANYTHING he says. He is mentor of Karl Ragabo, and the genius instigator of the Texas renewable energy miracle.
- "Warming Slowdown?" (part 1 of 2) The idea of a global warming slowdown or hiatus is critically examined, emphasizing the literature, the datasets, and means and methods for telling such. In two parts.
- The Green Plate Effect Eli Rabett’s “The Green Plate Effect”
Archives
Jan Galkowski
Category Archives: rate of return regulation
Now, if we could only say the same thing about Massachusetts …
Massachusetts is supposed to be a Blue State. Massachusetts is supposed to be concerned about the environment, full of tree-hugging eco-weenies (like myself!), and sprouting solar panels from every other rooftop. Massachusetts is supposed to have aggressive support for zero … Continue reading
Posted in Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, bridge to nowhere, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, Cape Wind, Carbon Worshipers, citizenship, clean disruption, climate business, corruption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, distributed generation, economics, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy utilities, explosive methane, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, gas pipeline leaks, Green Tea Coalition, greenhouse gases, Hyper Anthropocene, investment in wind and solar energy, ISO-NE, Joseph Schumpeter, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local generation, MA, Mark Jacobson, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, Massachusetts Interfaith Coalition for Climate Action, Michael Osborne, natural gas, New England, Nikola Tesla, pipelines, politics, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reason, reasonableness, regulatory capture, risk, Sankey diagram, solar energy, solar power, Spaceship Earth, supply chains, Texas, the energy of the people, the green century, the tragedy of our present civilization, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon
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Mark Carney: Why are financial regulators and central bank governors looking at climate?
http://www.cbc.ca/i/caffeine/syndicate/?mediaId=725874755644 “We don’t want a Minsky moment about climate.” Update, 2016-07-19 Interesting that Carney talks about “stabilizing at a temperature” when emissions are stabilized using a Carbon tax. He agrees with a Carbon tax, but he seems to have his … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, Anthropocene, Bloomberg, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BLUE, central banks, civilization, climate, climate business, climate change, climate disruption, climate economics, climate education, climate justice, corporate litigation on damage from fossil fuel emissions, corporate supply chains, demand-side solutions, ecology, economics, education, environment, false advertising, finance, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, global warming, greenwashing, grid defection, insurance, investing, Joseph Schumpeter, liberal climate deniers, local generation, organizational failures, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, solar domination, Spaceship Earth, stranded assets, sustainability, the right to know, the value of financial assets, zero carbon
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Want your democracy back? Take back control of your energy supply
Some progressives lament the loss of Bernie Sanders’ run for President, arguing “we need to get our democracy back.” A necessary step in order to get your democracy back is to take back control of your energy supply. Centralized energy … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, citizenship, civilization, clean disruption, climate disruption, conservation, consumption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, distributed generation, ecology, economics, efficiency, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy storage, energy utilities, environment, Epcot, extended supply chains, fossil fuel divestment, global warming, green tech, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, investment in wind and solar energy, ISO-NE, Joseph Schumpeter, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, liberal climate deniers, local generation, microgrids, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, the energy of the people, the green century, the right to know, zero carbon
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Massachusetts Bill S.2372 (“An Act to promote energy diversity”), Amendment 1
Ms. Jehlen, Messrs. Keenan, Montigny, Timilty and Joyce, Ms. Creem, Mr. Brady, Ms. L’Italien, Ms. Gobi, Ms. O’Connor Ives, Ms. Chang-Diaz, Messrs. Lewis, Pacheco, Moore and Ross moved that the bill be amended by inserting the following section:- SECTION X. … Continue reading
Posted in Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to nowhere, bridge to somewhere, citizenship, clean disruption, decentralized electric power generation, destructive economic development, disruption, electricity, electricity markets, energy utilities, explosive methane, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, gas pipeline leaks, greenhouse gases, investment in wind and solar energy, Joseph Schumpeter, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Interfaith Coalition for Climate Action, methane, microgrids, moral leadership, natural gas, pipelines, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regulatory capture, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, stranded assets, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon, ``The tide is risin'/And so are we''
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Still think exponential growth in global Solar adoption is mere extrapolation?
Story here. Graphic: (Click on image to see a larger figure, and use browser Back Button to return to blog.) Update, 2016-06-28 Bloomberg: “Solar Power to Grow Sixfold as Sun Becoming Cheapest Resource”. Excerpt: The amount of electricity generated using … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, Buckminster Fuller, clean disruption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, disruption, distributed generation, efficiency, electricity, electricity markets, exponential growth, fossil fuel divestment, green tech, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, investing, investment in wind and solar energy, Joseph Schumpeter, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local generation, microgrids, rate of return regulation, rationality, Ray Kurzweil, reasonableness, resiliency, RevoluSun, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, SunPower, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, zero carbon
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Plunging costs for Solar PV
Offered without comment. Hat tip to Bloomberg and to the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. (Click on image to see a larger figure. Use your browser Back Button to return to blog.)
Posted in adaptation, Bloomberg, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, Buckminster Fuller, clean disruption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, destructive economic development, distributed generation, electricity markets, energy, energy utilities, fossil fuel divestment, green tech, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, investing, investment in wind and solar energy, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regime shifts, regulatory capture, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, stranded assets, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, utility company death spiral, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon
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Hermann Scheer in California, at Google, hosted by MIT and GABA
I am increasingly thinking of myself as a solar revolutionary or, at least, a solar evangelist in the spirit of Hermann Scheer, whose advocacy for solar and renewable energy is as much a social revolution as it is a technological … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, Buckminster Fuller, clean disruption, Debbie Dooley, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, disruption, distributed generation, ecology, economics, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy utilities, exponential growth, feed-in tariff, fossil fuel divestment, green tech, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, investing, investment in wind and solar energy, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local generation, microgrids, planning, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regime shifts, regulatory capture, RevoluSun, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the tragedy of our present civilization, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon
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Where’s NY-REV today?
This is a video and link from The Rocky Mountain Institute about New York State’s Reforming the Energy Visions or “REV”. I have written about REV before.
Posted in adaptation, Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, citizenship, civilization, clean disruption, climate change, climate disruption, conservation, consumption, corporate litigation on damage from fossil fuel emissions, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, distributed generation, Ecology Action, efficiency, EIA, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy storage, energy utilities, feed-in tariff, fossil fuel divestment, global warming, Green Tea Coalition, greenhouse gases, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, investment in wind and solar energy, ISO-NE, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, Life Cycle Assessment, local generation, long-term contract for differences, marginal energy sources, Mark Jacobson, microgrids, mitigation, optimization, planning, prediction, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regulatory capture, RevoluSun, risk, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, Solar Freakin' Roadways, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, stranded assets, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, utility company death spiral, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon
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Why Salem Harbor Power — or any methane-powered electricity — is a big mistake
Dan Dolan of the Massachusetts Power Generators association wrote an op-ed lauding the Salem Harbor Power Station, an explosive methane-powered monstrosity located just 16 feet above sea level, and built with the implicit assumption sea level rise in Salem will … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to nowhere, bridge to somewhere, Carbon Worshipers, citizenship, clean disruption, climate, climate change, climate disruption, coastal communities, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, denial, distributed generation, economics, efficiency, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy utilities, environment, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, fracking, gas pipeline leaks, global warming, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, ignorance, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local generation, methane, natural gas, pipelines, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, regulatory capture, Salem, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, SolarPV.tv, stranded assets, the energy of the people, the green century, the problem of evil, the right to be and act stupid, the tragedy of our present civilization, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, utility company death spiral, waves, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon
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On the simple pleasures of Solar
(To see a larger figure, click on image. To return to blog, use your browser’s Back Button.) RevoluSun installed our SunPower solar panels late last year, and they came online on 31st December 2015. We have made a number of … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, clean disruption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, disruption, distributed generation, efficiency, electricity, electricity markets, energy utilities, engineering, fossil fuel divestment, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, investment in wind and solar energy, ISO-NE, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local generation, Massachusetts, microgrids, New England, optimization, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, RevoluSun, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, SunPower, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, zero carbon
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synopsis of NY-REV
What New York State is doing, and Massachusetts, apparently not. Cheap supplies of domestic natural gas have driven the New England power plant market toward that fuel and away from the more expensive coal, oil and nuclear material. Limited capacity … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, business, causal diagrams, clean disruption, climate, climate change, climate disruption, climate justice, coastal communities, conservation, consumption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, disruption, distributed generation, ecology, economics, efficiency, electricity markets, energy, energy storage, energy utilities, engineering, environment, extended supply chains, feed-in tariff, fossil fuel divestment, global warming, greenhouse gases, grid defection, Hyper Anthropocene, investing, investment in wind and solar energy, Joseph Schumpeter, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, marginal energy sources, meteorology, microgrids, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regime shifts, regulatory capture, risk, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, Solar Freakin' Roadways, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, stranded assets, sustainability, temporal myopia, the energy of the people, the green century, the right to know, the tragedy of our present civilization, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, utility company death spiral, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon
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George Monbiot: On leaving fossil fuels in the ground
Posted in Anthropocene, carbon dioxide, Carbon Worshipers, causal diagrams, citizenship, civilization, clean disruption, climate, climate change, climate disruption, conservation, consumption, corporate litigation on damage from fossil fuel emissions, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, denial, destructive economic development, disruption, distributed generation, ecology, economics, energy, environment, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, geophysics, George Monbiot, global warming, greenhouse gases, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, perceptions, philosophy, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, Sankey diagram, supply chains, the problem of evil, the right to be and act stupid, the right to know, the tragedy of our present civilization, the value of financial assets, zero carbon
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10+ kilowatts (!) from a PV with 29 SunPower panels designed and installed by RevoluSun
(Click on image to see larger figure. Use your browser Back Button to return to blog.)
Posted in Anthropocene, bridge to somewhere, clean disruption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, destructive economic development, distributed generation, electricity, electricity markets, fossil fuel divestment, grid defection, Hyper Anthropocene, investment in wind and solar energy, local generation, microgrids, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, RevoluSun, Sankey diagram, solar energy, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, SunPower, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, time series, Tony Seba, zero carbon
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Facebook, Alphabet, Walmart, General Motors, and others create corporate Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance
Major United States corporations form a renewable energy buyers alliance. Facebook, Alphabet (Google’s new name), Walmart, and General Motors, while the environmental groups include the Rocky Mountain Institute, the World Resources Institute and the World Wildlife Fund. Fed up with … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, Anthropocene, Bloomberg, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, causal diagrams, citizenship, clean disruption, climate change, climate disruption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, destructive economic development, disruption, distributed generation, Ecology Action, efficiency, energy, energy reduction, energy storage, energy utilities, engineering, environment, fossil fuel divestment, global warming, greenhouse gases, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, investing, investment in wind and solar energy, local generation, Massachusetts, meteorology, microgrids, moral leadership, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, Solar Freakin' Roadways, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, Tony Seba, utility company death spiral, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon
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Mayor Robert Hedlund demonstrates awesome moral leadership
Mayor Robert Hedlund demonstrates awesome moral leadership Here’s Mayor Hedlund’s statement from his Facebook page: As State Senator, I fought and opposed Spectra’s proposed compressor station in North Weymouth. As Mayor, I took a hard and proactive stance in opposition … Continue reading
Posted in Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to nowhere, Carbon Worshipers, citizenship, clean disruption, consumption, corruption, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy utilities, extended supply chains, FERC, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, gas pipeline leaks, greenhouse gases, Hyper Anthropocene, investment in wind and solar energy, local generation, methane, moral leadership, natural gas, pipelines, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regulatory capture, temporal myopia, the problem of evil, the right to be and act stupid, the tragedy of our present civilization, the value of financial assets
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videos of the week, the blocking pattern edition
(This is another new, weekly feature, like the 8:00 a.m. mashup recently introduced, intending to collect a group of videos together for your enjoyment.) Don’t know how many realize it or not, but New England weather is blocked. That’s why … Continue reading
Posted in American Petroleum Institute, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, Buckminster Fuller, Cape Wind, Carbon Worshipers, citizenship, civilization, clean disruption, conservation, consumption, Debbie Dooley, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, destructive economic development, disruption, distributed generation, economics, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy storage, energy utilities, engineering, feed-in tariff, fossil fuel divestment, grid defection, investment in wind and solar energy, local generation, mesh models, microgrids, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regulatory capture, Sankey diagram, solar energy, Solar Freakin' Roadways, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, Tony Seba, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon
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The Patch blows O’Donnell’s “alert on solar panels” out of proportion, botches it, and deletes my comment correcting them
The Foxborough Patch, one of a network of cheap-looking online news outlets, carried an edited version of Norfolk County Registrar of Deeds “alert” regarding solar panels. One can ask if Registrar William O’Donnell might have had other motivations for issuing … Continue reading
Posted in Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, Buckminster Fuller, clean disruption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, distributed generation, economics, efficiency, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy utilities, fossil fuel divestment, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, investment in wind and solar energy, ISO-NE, local generation, Massachusetts, microgrids, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regulatory capture, RevoluSun, risk, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, Solar Freakin' Roadways, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, utility company death spiral, zero carbon
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“Solar power is contagious. These maps show how it spreads.” (from Vox)
Brad Plumer at Vox writes on take-up patterns of rooftop solar based upon a large dataset from SolarCity. The full article is available at the SolarCity site. Mr Plumer combines it with a report on other studies of solar adoption … Continue reading
Posted in Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, business, clean disruption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, diffusion, diffusion processes, disruption, distributed generation, economics, electricity markets, energy, energy utilities, exponential growth, grid defection, investment in wind and solar energy, local generation, Peter Diggle, point pattern analysis, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, regulatory capture, sociology, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, SolarPV.tv, spatial statistics, statistics, stochastics, the energy of the people, the green century, utility company death spiral, zero carbon
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REV-NY
So, Massachusetts, why can’t you do this instead of proposing to build new explosive pipelines?
Posted in adaptation, Anthropocene, Arnold Schwarzennegger, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, civilization, clean disruption, climate, climate change, climate disruption, coastal communities, conservation, corporate litigation on damage from fossil fuel emissions, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, disruption, distributed generation, economics, efficiency, electricity, electricity markets, energy reduction, energy storage, energy utilities, engineering, environment, feed-in tariff, fossil fuel divestment, global warming, greenhouse gases, grid defection, Hyper Anthropocene, investing, investment in wind and solar energy, ISO-NE, Life Cycle Assessment, local generation, Mark Jacobson, mesh models, meteorology, methane, natural gas, networks, Our Children's Trust, pipelines, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regulatory capture, resiliency, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, Solar Freakin' Roadways, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the tragedy of our present civilization, the value of financial assets, utility company death spiral, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon
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“Oil’s Big Dive” (by Peter Sinclair)
From Peter Sinclair’s Climate Denial Crock of the Week.
Posted in American Petroleum Institute, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to nowhere, Carbon Worshipers, Chevron, citizenship, clean disruption, conservation, consumption, corporate litigation on damage from fossil fuel emissions, corporate supply chains, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, disruption, distributed generation, economics, energy, energy reduction, energy utilities, engineering, extended supply chains, Exxon, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, fracking, Gulf Oil, investing, investment in wind and solar energy, local generation, methane, natural gas, petroleum, pipelines, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regime shifts, regulatory capture, resiliency, risk, Sankey diagram, solar domination, supply chains, Texaco, the tragedy of our present civilization, the value of financial assets, utility company death spiral
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Karl Rabago at the Rhode Island state legislature
(There was a glitch in the original link of this video, leaving it about 11 minutes long. The full hour and 10 minutes is now available.) Karl Rabago is an expert on the value of renewable energy. This talk examines … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, citizenship, civilization, clean disruption, conservation, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, disruption, distributed generation, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy utilities, engineering, environment, fossil fuel divestment, grid defection, investment in wind and solar energy, ISO-NE, local generation, marginal energy sources, microgrids, New England, planning, politics, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, resiliency, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, Solar Freakin' Roadways, solar power, SolarPV.tv, sustainability, temporal myopia, the energy of the people, the green century, Tony Seba, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon
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Germany’s Energiewende aims to make baseload power obsolete
In a December 2015 article in Forbes, William Pentland seeks to answer the question “What is so revolutionary about Germany’s Energiewende?” Mr Pentland begins: Germany’s energy revolution has become the perennial punching bag of American energy policy. In particular, American … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, Anthropocene, Arnold Schwarzennegger, bifurcations, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, citizenship, civilization, clean disruption, conservation, consumption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, disruption, distributed generation, Ecology Action, efficiency, EIA, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy storage, energy utilities, engineering, Epcot, feed-in tariff, FERC, fossil fuel divestment, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, investing, investment in wind and solar energy, ISO-NE, Joseph Schumpeter, liberal climate deniers, local generation, marginal energy sources, mesh models, microgrids, optimization, planning, politics, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regime shifts, regulatory capture, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, Solar Freakin' Roadways, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon
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Our Children’s Trust
Washington State Climate Lawsuit has a second win for the plantiffs. Detailed complaint here. The details are available at Our Children’s Trust. In granting the youth a remedy, Judge Hill noted the extraordinary circumstances of the climate crisis, saying, “this … Continue reading
Posted in Anthropocene, bridge to somewhere, carbon dioxide, case law, citizenship, climate, climate change, climate disruption, climate justice, corruption, Ecology Action, environment, environmental law, ethics, fossil fuel divestment, geophysics, global warming, greenhouse gases, Hyper Anthropocene, James Hansen, MA, Massachusetts, organizational failures, Our Children's Trust, politics, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regulatory capture, science, Spaceship Earth, sustainability, the energy of the people, the right to be and act stupid, the tragedy of our present civilization, zero carbon
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Mr Buffett bets the farm
From Dr James Hansen’s blog, of today. So, Mr. Buffett, I am heartened by the words in your last annual report, where you conclude that continued inaction on climate change “is foolhardy.” You wrote: “Call this Noah’s Law: If an … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, climate change, climate disruption, climate justice, corporate litigation on damage from fossil fuel emissions, environment, extended supply chains, games of chance, geophysics, global warming, greenhouse gases, hurricanes, Hyper Anthropocene, insurance, investing, James Hansen, liberal climate deniers, meteorology, oceanography, physics, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, science, statistical dependence, statistics, sustainability, the right to be and act stupid, the tragedy of our present civilization, the value of financial assets, Wally Broecker, Warren Buffett, zero carbon
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This is what the future looks like, for towns and villages — and utilities
Welcome to Minster, Ohio. (Hat tip to Clean Technica.) Check One: A 4.3 MW solar array. Check Two: A history of being supportive to local residents, and a plan for making them more efficient and reducing their electrical energy needs. … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, business, clean disruption, conservation, consumption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, distributed generation, economics, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy storage, energy utilities, engineering, grid defection, Hyper Anthropocene, investment in wind and solar energy, local generation, microgrids, politics, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regime shifts, regulatory capture, risk, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, wind energy, zero carbon
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Boston, are you ready?
Yeah, how about warming up the seas a bit more by building pipelines, buying into more explosive methane (*), and encouraging fracked gas people to export? What could it hurt? There are many alternatives, most sketched here on this blog. … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, AMETSOC, Anthropocene, bollocks, Boston, bridge to nowhere, carbon dioxide, Carbon Worshipers, climate change, climate disruption, corporate litigation on damage from fossil fuel emissions, corruption, disingenuity, ecology, evidence, false advertising, floods, Florida, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, fracking, geophysics, global warming, greenwashing, Hyper Anthropocene, MA, Massachusetts, methane, mitigation, natural gas, NOAA, nor'easters, physics, pipelines, prediction, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regulatory capture, science, sea level rise, sustainability, the right to be and act stupid, the right to know, the tragedy of our present civilization, utility company death spiral
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“Preserving the climate can also save you money.”
“Can you power a business on 100% renewable energy? Ikea wants to try.” From Guardian sustainable business The new bottom line. I also monitor Bloomberg New Energy Finance. (Update: 2016-04-20) And not preserving the climate will be very, very expensive, … Continue reading
Posted in Anthropocene, Arnold Schwarzennegger, Bloomberg, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, carbon dioxide, citizenship, clean disruption, climate, climate change, climate disruption, corporate litigation on damage from fossil fuel emissions, corporate supply chains, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, destructive economic development, disruption, distributed generation, economics, efficiency, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy storage, energy utilities, environment, extended supply chains, fossil fuel divestment, global warming, greenhouse gases, grid defection, Hyper Anthropocene, ignorance, investment in wind and solar energy, local generation, meteorology, microgrids, mitigation, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regime shifts, regulatory capture, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, Solar Freakin' Roadways, solar power, SolarPV.tv, supply chains, temporal myopia, the energy of the people, the green century, the right to know, the tragedy of our present civilization, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, utility company death spiral, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon
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FERC requires energy storage plans
Energy Storage Participation in the Energy, Capacity, and Ancillary Services Markets On April 11, 2016, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) announced that it will expand its evaluation of ISOs/RTOs policies that could lead to revolutionary changes in the energy … Continue reading
Posted in BNEF, clean disruption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, distributed generation, efficiency, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy storage, energy utilities, FERC, fossil fuel divestment, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, investment in wind and solar energy, local generation, microgrids, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, reasonableness, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, SolarPV.tv, the energy of the people, the green century, Tony Seba, utility company death spiral, zero carbon
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Ray Kurzweil predicts dominance of energy industry by Solar in 12 years
Read it and weep, Carbon Worshippers. Facts are, with so much cheap solar electricity around, even if its supply is uneven in any particular locale, (a) the energy storage business will have big incentives to roll out, and roll out … Continue reading
Posted in Anthropocene, Bill Nye, Bloomberg, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, Carbon Worshipers, citizenship, civilization, clean disruption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, distributed generation, economics, efficiency, electricity, energy, engineering, environment, exponential growth, forecasting, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, investment in wind and solar energy, liberal climate deniers, local generation, planning, politics, population dynamics, public utility commissions, PUCs, quantitative ecology, rate of return regulation, rationality, Ray Kurzweil, reasonableness, regime shifts, regulatory capture, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, Solar Freakin' Roadways, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Stanford University, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, utility company death spiral, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon
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