Some Atomic Insights readers don’t like it when I use the term “unreliables” to describe weather dependent power sources like wind and solar energy. They believe that word is demeaning and not entirely accurate, especially in certain system designs where wind turbines are partnered with hydro or pumped storage. Even in that situation, however, the […]
Wind energy
David MacKay asks his audience to use arithmetic to understand energy challenges
After posting a couple of videos with Amory Lovins providing his energy mirage, several commenters indicated they would like to hear and see a different point of view. Unlike Amory, David MacKay is a physicist who likes to use real numbers and simple arithmetic to illustrate the scale of the challenge of replacing the power […]
Atomic Show #217 – Michael Mariotte, President NIRS
At the suggestion of a long time Atomic Insights contributor and Atomic Show listener, I invited Michael Mariotte for a guest appearance on the Atomic Show. In the small world made up of active nuclear advocates and people adamantly opposed to nuclear energy, Mariotte and his organization are famous — or infamous, depending on one’s […]
Where’s the Wind When You Need It?
The Bonneville Power Authority service area has more than 4,000 MW of wind energy capacity installed. They also provide a web-based information service that is updated every five minutes that reports on the service area load, thermal generation, hydro generation, and wind generation. Here is a picture reporting those numbers for the period from Jan […]
Cape Wind scrambling to meet deadline to qualify for $780 million taxpayer gift
Cape Wind is the leading offshore wind energy project in the United States. In 2001, more than 12 years ago, Jim Gordon, the project founder, started the process of promoting his vision of a building a 430 MWe (peak capacity) field of 130 massive (rotor diameter – 110 m, hub height – 80 m, nacelle […]
NuScale wins second round of DOE SMR funding under FOA
On December 12, 2013, the US Department of Energy (DOE) announced the selection of NuScale as the winner of the second round of funding under the Department of Energy Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). That announcement, which had been due since sometime in September, must have been quite welcome to a lot of really talented and […]
Limitations of unreliable energy sources (aka “renewables”)
As part of the discussions stimulated by their airing of Pandora’s Promise, CNN hosted a debate between Michael Shellenberger of the Breakthrough Institute and Dale Bryk of the Natural Resources Defense Council. That debate included some commentary that I thought was worth promoting to the front page. A commenter named Fred, a tech who has […]
Breakthrough Institute’s Michael Shellenberger debates NRDC’s Dale Bryk about nuclear energy
Michael Shellenberger of the Breakthrough Institute states that he loves wind and solar and always has, but he has learned to recognize their limitations. He reminds viewers that solar energy produces less than one tenth of one percent of the energy used in the United States. He is deeply concerned about climate change and the […]
Distressingly elitist view from two “sustainability consultants”
Joris van Dorp is an HVAC and energy systems mechanical engineer at a building installations consultancy. His primary work is associated with projects intended to improve energy efficiency/sustainability within the field. Clients include medical centers, airports, data centers, laboratories, office buildngs and some industrial clients. On October 18, 2013, Joris submitted the following comment. It […]
Mark Jacobson pushing his plans in appropriate location – late night comedy show
On October 9, 2013, David Letterman interviewed Mark Z. Jacobson, a leading proponent of a 100% renewable energy future. He described Jacobson as a man with a plan that should make us all more optimistic; that plan describes a world that has a completely changed energy supply system that does not threaten us with catastrophic […]
Talk of electric power grid demise is wrong
Someday, America is going to return to logic and reality. We may be making some progress as shown by the fact that there are an increasing number of people who no longer watch TV or trust the TV talking heads in the entertainment business called “television news.” However, we still have our issues. One irrational […]
Value of an unspoiled view
One of my favorite Atomic Insights commenters left an inspiring message in a thread that was evolving into a discussion about wind energy, including its environmental impacts and low productivity. Daniel; Do you recall a time when a bucolic scenic view was just priceless; that beyond just property values you just didn’t allow anything mar […]
