Well, my confusion continues.
As some will know I periodically have a look at the UK's electric grid's sources of power, if for no other reason than being nosy.
Today, a rather dull day here in the middle of England the mix was:
CCGT = 39.4%;
Nuclear = 15.3%;
Wind = 24.4%;
Hydro = 2.4%
Solar = 0.4%;
Coal = 3.9%;
Biomass = 7.4%
(Don't bother trying to add this lot up, I know it doesn't add up to 100%, there are quite a few, generally quite small, sources I've not included)
Hardly any surprise that solar is so low, we are looking at the UK on a dull March morning and the Sun is hiding behind a thick layer of cloud.
The amount of nuclear is fairly constant at just below 6GWHr, but obviously the proportion varies with demand.
Hydro, well we are a "green and pleasant land", with no real mountains, but some decent upland areas so I think we could do far better on that front.
Wind, well we do have a fairly constant wind flow over parts of the UK, but it does vary a bit too much to be a reliable backbone.
Coal??? WTF, I thought we'd got rid of all the coal burners.

The UK is pushing solar and wind, but I don't see that being the whole of the UK's energy solution. Quite a number of UK new-build houses and commercial premises are having lots of solar panels fitted, I've no idea about how many of those are feeding directly into the grid and how many are connected to battery banks. But we are in the UK and we do not have the nice bright sun of say North Africa, but a cloudy maritime climate. So why not encourage micro/mini-hydro schemes which would utilize some of the run-off streams around our moors and uplands, reduce the need for massive power distribution networks and not rely on the rarely seen sun, but on the frequently observed rain. I'm sure with a little thought and effort hydro could easily eliminate the need for burning coal, and eat into the CCGT requirement.

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

I suspect that much of the answer lies in so much of British decision-making being concentrated in the relatively flat, dry, and porous south-east of England. Scotland has a significant number of public hydro-power stations feeding into the national grid; both Scotland and Wales have pumped-storage hydro stations (Cruachan and Dinorwig respectively); England (well, Northumberland) has Cragside, attributed with being fitted with the first private hydro-electric system in the world, in 1870.

So we have the knowledge, the expertise, and (in some places) the geography to make use of all these tools. But either we've forgotten how, or we overlook them in favour of more "acceptable", "fashionable" alternatives.

Richard - of your list of options I'd go for "fashion" as the most likely.
Just look at the number of villages that had their own water driven mills at one time. Indeed there were some quite substantial industrial machines like ore crushers and forge hammers that were water powered until the late 1800s, whereupon it became fashionable to use steam the electricity to provide the power for such equipment.

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Yes, I live in exactly such a village. Our village symbol is a stylised water-wheel, derived from the wheel at Sunnydale Paper Mill. It's said that the top wheel (of two) was the largest built, until the Laxey wheel was built to a similar design.

The mill it powered produced high-quality paper, used for printing banknotes. The mill was the highest and most prestigious of a chain of up to a dozen mills that ran down the valley - so it got first dibs on the water captured from the moorland. Each subsequent mill captured the water again in its own pond, and used it to power mostly textile production. I have a map dated 1899, showing the main mills still in use - it can still be used as a walking guide to the village, and the outlines of the now-demolished buildings can be traced.

I live in a small courtyard of five cottages: one of my neighbours when they were first built in the 1850s is listed as a 'papermaker' in the 1861 census.

Fascinating little bit of local history there Richard.

Edit to add:-
I'd have never thought of Yorkshire as producing paper. Tea maybe, but paper!

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Some better pictures at the village society website - pre-https technology, I'm afraid. The mill wheel itself is at the right of line 2, and two below is a fine picture of my back door (no, the ladies weren't there to greet me when I moved in).

This is one of the more dubious solutions:


Climate change: IPCC scientists to examine carbon removal in key report
wrote:

UN scientists are likely to weigh up technology to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, as they gather to finalise a key report.

This idea will be one of many solutions considered over the next two weeks by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Also in attendance will be government officials from all over the world, who will need to approve every line in the summary report...

Simply: Removing CO2 from our atmosphere is vastly more costly than not dumping the CO2 into the atmosphere in the first place.

In general, not making a mess in the first place is always a lot better than trying to clean things up afterwards...


Also, is there a very good bet that the politics will twist the options made available to become yet another excuse for highly profitable procrastination and denial, all for the sake of short term destructive profits...?


All on our only one planet,
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

It's time for space observatories to get green.

Carbon footprint of huge astronomy observatories raises climate change concerns.

Astronomers in the future may not be able to build large complex power-hungry observatories if they want to reduce their carbon footprint in line with greenhouse gas emission requirements, a study suggests.

Powerful ground and space-based telescopes, such as the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope or the Square Kilometer Array Observatory (SKAO) currently being built in Australia and South Africa, come with large life-time carbon footprints that pushes up astronomy's overall greenhouse gas emissions.

In a new study, a team of researchers from the Institute for Astrophysics and Planetology Research (IRAP) in Toulouse, France, found that all combined, the world's cutting-edge astronomical observatories generate over their lifetime about 22 million tons [20 million metric tonnes] of carbon dioxide equivalent. That value equals the annual carbon emission of some small European countries, such as Estonia, Croatia or Bulgaria, the authors said in a news conference on March 17.

Related: 10 devastating signs of climate change satellites see from space

This value involves the carbon emission generated during the construction and manufacturing phase as well as the greenhouse gas produced as a result of the observatories' operations. In the case of space telescopes, such as Webb and the Hubble Space Telescope, the researchers also included the carbon footprint of delivering the telescopes to space....

Now this sounds interesting.

Researchers develop reactor that refines waste carbon into chemicals while generating hydrogen.

In a world faced with dual concerns about climate change and growing energy needs, developing renewable replacements for fossil fuels has been a long-sought dream. While considerable progress has been made in converting various biomaterials into usable energy in recent years, refining them in an environmentally sustainable way has remained a challenge.

Now, a team at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has developed an innovative flow cell reactor capable of refining waste carbon into valuable chemicals, while simultaneously generating hydrogen that could be used to power vehicles or generate heat. This refinement process is potentially carbon neutral and eventually may even be carbon negative.....

And then there's.

Your disposable COVID masks could be reborn as fuel.

The demand for single-use plastic significantly increased when the COVID-19 pandemic began, especially with the steady need for personal protective equipment (PPE) such as surgical face masks, gloves, face shields, and gowns to prevent virus transmission. An estimated 3.4 billion single-use face masks or face shields are discarded every day due to the pandemic. Food packaging and plastic bag waste in households also multiplied with the increase in online shopping and delivery services.

Improper waste management will only aggravate existing global pollution and endanger the lives of both people and animals. It’s necessary to come up with an effective strategy that will minimize the environmental impact of the continuous COVID-19 waste stream—and some scientists think turning trash into fuel could be an option.

Numerous studies propose that COVID-19 waste could be converted to fuel

Several studies over the past two years have proposed pyrolysis—an effective method that will not only mitigate plastic pollution but also convert waste into usable fuel. A 2020 study published in Biofuels proposed that discarded PPE kits be converted into liquid fuel through the process, which is the thermal decomposition of a solid material. Pyrolysis heats the material to a temperature high enough to deconstruct polymers....

Giving new meaning to driving a piece of rubbish.

Mercedes-Benz has wowed the consumer electronics show in Las Vegas with a visionary concept that could revolutionise vehicle design.

Used nappies, rotten food and waste fibre from sugar cane could be key ingredients in the car of the future.

Forget about towering SUVs with V8 engines, rich leather trim, 25-speaker stereos and enormously powerful motors – Mercedes-Benz reckons cashed-up customers are just as likely to lean toward sustainability.

The Mercedes-Benz EQXX concept car built for the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas suggests the brand will think outside the box for upcoming models.

In the same way that fashionable folk wouldn’t be busted with a styrofoam coffee cup, the EQXX shuns conventional manufacturing and materials to focus on new tech that could make it into your next car.

Some elements are made from recycled household rubbish transformed into a plastic-like material that reduces landfill while cutting the brand’s reliance on raw materials. Surplus fibre from sugar cane reinforces carbon fibre components in the car’s structure, and photovoltaic cells embedded in the roof turn the roof into a giant solar panel.

No more powerful than it needs to be, the EQXX has a 150kW motor that won’t come close to matching the supercar-rivalling thrust promised by the likes of Tesla.

But the Mercedes does bring more than 1000 kilometres of driving range from a battery half the size of those in its range-topping machines.

A fanatical attention to weight and aerodynamics might make that promise a reality.

The famous three-pointed star is a sticker under the paint’s clear coat, not a physical badge....

My 2000 Mercedes S-500 cost over $90,000. I bought it when we had more money than common sense. It was un-reliable and had a high maintenance cost--it was plush and modern for it's time and ate up miles on the Interstate highways. Now I drive a nice car that costs less than $25,000. Take a guess at the cost of this putative
mythical automobile from Karl Benz.

Why does it require a 'crisis' to go less polluting, efficient, and green?


Fertilisers: UK to reward green farming practices as {fossils} costs surge
wrote:

The UK government will pay farmers in England to use greener fertilisers as global economic shocks send crop-growing costs soaring.

A spike in gas prices has left British food producers facing surging costs for fertilisers, fuel and animal feed...

... ministers are expected to set out cash incentives on Wednesday, aimed at farmers who move away from gas-dependent fertilisers...

Another positive side effect is in reducing the shipments of the fossils-dirty material that destroyed the port in Beirut with an unholy big bang...


All on our only one planet,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

GAS and OIL FOREVER BABY!!!!!!!

Yep

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May we All have a METAMORPHOSIS. REASON. GOoD JUDGEMENT and LOVE and ORDER!!!!!

Who would have thought that Putin's warmongering would wake up other governments to going clean and green and more safely and reliably energy independent?


Wind and solar reach milestone as demand surges
wrote:

Wind and solar generated 10% of global electricity for the first time in 2021...

... Fifty countries get more than a tenth of their power from wind and solar sources...

... Solar and wind and other clean sources generated 38% of the world's electricity in 2021...

... The fastest switching to wind and solar took place in the Netherlands, Australia, and Vietnam. All three have moved a tenth of their electricity demand from fossil fuels to green sources in the last two years...

... Vietnam also saw spectacular growth, particularly in solar which rose by over 300% in just one year...

... "What we saw with that was a massive step up in solar generation last year, which didn't just meet increased electricity demand, but it also led to a fall in both coal and gas generation."

Despite the growth and the fact that some countries like Denmark now get more than 50% of their electricity from wind and solar, coal power also saw a remarkable rise in 2021...

... Much of the rise in coal use was in Asian countries including China and India - but the increase in coal was not matched by gas use which increased globally by only 1%, indicating that rising prices for gas have made coal a more viable source of electricity. "The last year has seen some really super high gas prices, where coal became cheaper than gas,"...

... the price rises for both gas and coal: "a double reason for electricity systems to demand more clean electricity, because the economics have shifted so fundamentally."

The researchers say that despite the coal resurgence in 2021, major economies including the US, UK, Germany, and Canada are aiming to shift their grids to 100% carbon free electricity within the next 15 years...

... wind and solar need to grow at around 20% every year up to 2030. The authors of this latest analysis say this is now "eminently possible".

The war in Ukraine could also give a push to electricity sources that don't depend on Russian imports of oil and gas...

At least for the rest of the world, there may be a more urgent positive shift rising from the death and destruction being wrought in Ukraine.

All on our only one planet,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Fossil Fuel PowerPlants and NUKE Plants

Provide POWER 24/7/365

wind and sun NOPE

Yep

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May we All have a METAMORPHOSIS. REASON. GOoD JUDGEMENT and LOVE and ORDER!!!!!

Just one of the on-going solutions being ramped up worldwide:


The World's Largest Battery Isn't What You Think


More of a question is how to kill off the polluting fossil power stations sooner...


All on our only one planet,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

More of a question is how to kill off the polluting fossil power stations sooner...

I've Worked in MANY Fossil Fuel Plants and Air Inside Plant and Outside Plant is SWEET as Air I'm Breathing Right Now.

Only Time I CAN'T STAND Air Then and Now is When a Worker or a Neighbor is CIG Smoking and Their CIG Smoke Gets in my Lungs.

I've Mentioned Before: While On Interstate aka FreeWay Going 55 -75 mph - Some Vehicle with Smokers GAG ME with their SPEW of SMOKE as I'm Trying to Enjoy Fresh Air with an Open Window. Same with Driving a Motorcycle - Only Worse Since I'm COMPLETELY in Air Stream.

Fossil Fuel Plants. Every Been in One? FRESH AIR BABY!!!!!!

SUPER Yep

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May we All have a METAMORPHOSIS. REASON. GOoD JUDGEMENT and LOVE and ORDER!!!!!

Engineers Create an Enzyme That Breaks Down Plastic Waste in Hours, Not Decades.

A new study outlines the use of a specially created enzyme variant that vastly reduces the time it takes to break down the components of plastics.

We could even use the enzyme variant to clean up sites contaminated by plastic pollution, say the team that developed it.

In tests, products made from the polymer polyethylene terephthalate (PET) were broken down in a week and, in some cases, 24 hours – these are products that can take centuries to degrade properly in natural conditions.

"The possibilities are endless across industries to leverage this leading-edge recycling process," says chemical engineer Hal Alper from the University of Texas at Austin.....

Do da ENYNME Work on PLASTIC People?

Buy a BOATLOAD Baby!!!!!

SUPERYap

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May we All have a METAMORPHOSIS. REASON. GOoD JUDGEMENT and LOVE and ORDER!!!!!

It can be done.

Renewable electricity powered California just shy of 100% for the first time in history.

Renewable electricity met just shy of 100% of California's demand for the first time on Saturday, officials said, much of it from large amounts of solar power produced along Interstate 10, an hour east of the Coachella Valley.

While partygoers celebrated in the blazing sunshine at the Stagecoach music festival, "at 2:50 (p.m.), we reached 99.87 % of load served by all renewables, which broke the previous record," said Anna Gonzales, spokeswoman for California Independent System Operator, a nonprofit that oversees the state's bulk electric power system and transmission lines. Solar power provided two-thirds of the amount needed.

Environmentalists who've pushed for years for all of California's power to come from renewables were jubilant as they watched the tracker edge to 100% and slightly beyond.

"Once it hit 100%, we were very excited," said Laura Deehan, executive director for Environment California. She said the organization and others have worked for 20 years to push the Golden State to complete renewable power via a series of ever tougher mandates. "California solar plants play a really big role."

But Gonzales said they doublechecked the data Monday, and had to adjust it slightly due to reserves and other resource needs.

The environmental group also pushed for 1 million solar rooftops statewide, which has been achieved, adding what some say is a more environmentally friendly form of solar power than the solar farms, which eat up large swaths of the Mojave desert and fragile landscapes.....