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The Carbon Capture Begging Bowl

Colin Challen MP [Member of the United Kingdom Parliament], the author of “Too Little, Too Late : The Politics of Climate Change” has told the nascent Carbon Capture industry to stop bleating for funding, effectively a bailout for the Coal industry :-

https://www.newenergyfocus.com/do/ecco.py/view_item?listid=1&listcatid=32&listitemid=3178&section=Carbon

“CCS industry should support itself, claims MP : Wednesday 04 November 2009 : Labour MP Colin Challen believes the CCS industry should fund itself : A Labour MP has called on the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) industry to stop giving a “sob story” about needing government investment and instead fund new projects itself. Colin Challen, the MP for Morley and Rothwell, made the comments at today’s (November 4) Energy and Climate Change Committee meeting at Westminster, which was held as part of its inquiry into low carbon technologies. Responding to calls from industry body representatives for more government help in developing CCS plants, Mr Challen said: “It seems to me that research and development (R&D) has plummeted to a fraction of what it was. This industry has had billions of pounds out of the consumers’ pockets but yet we get this sob story about needing more money.” However, the director of technology and external affairs at Alstom – which builds integrated power plants – Philip Sharman, argued that utility companies have been investing in CCS, but said that the larger scale projects would need government help…”

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Big Picture Carbon Capture Energy Revival Peak Energy Peak Oil Pet Peeves Renewable Resource Technological Sideshow Toxic Hazard

A Path to True Enlightenment

One of my relatives takes the Scientific American magazine on subscription, postal strike notwithstanding, so I was privileged to be able to read an article in the November 2009 edition even before it hits the shelves in WH Smith at the major train stations in London, or Waterloo at least, where I looked for my own copy yesterday evening.

An uplifting, positive plan to green the world’s energy, composed by two Marks, one Delucchi, one Jacobson, both in American academia, yet not dreamers; their practical brains fully switched on and their souls engaged.

https://www.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/susenergy2030.html

“A Path to Sustainable Energy by 2030” contains some excellent mythbusting material as well as practical proposals for turning over all our Energy supply to truly sustainable sources.

A full-colour PDF is available online :-

https://www.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/sad1109Jaco5p.indd.pdf

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Climate Change Nuclear Nuisance Nuclear Shambles Pet Peeves Political Nightmare Protest & Survive Renewable Resource Technological Sideshow Unutterably Useless

New Nuclear Is Not A Climate Policy

The rumour mill about the propsects for new Nuclear Power is quite active, a kind of underground semaphore.

About a year ago, the idea that the United Kingdom would be burdened with eleven new Nuclear Power stations entered the mill and popped out all over the shop, being greeted with ridicule, dismissiveness, anger and despair.

When the Energy Supply companies started going into “free capital” meltdown over new investments, owing to issues concerning insurance and the general Economy, there was concern that they wouldn’t come along with the new Nuclear plan.

The Government kept pumping out the information that we should have at least four new Nuclear Power stations. How critical this project was ! How bright and shiny new Nuclear would be ! The unwritten back room understanding that any new Nuclear Power plant could expect State support in one form or another. However, the public statements were that there would be no Public Money for new Nuclear build.

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Big Picture Burning Money Carbon Capture Climate Change Energy Revival Nuclear Nuisance Nuclear Shambles Peak Energy Peak Oil Pet Peeves Renewable Resource Technological Sideshow

Claverton Energy Conference 8

The Claverton Energy Group will be holding its 8th Conference from 23rd to 25th October 2009 at the headquarters of Wessex Water, Claverton Down in Bath, England.

Advances in Energy technologies old and new will be presented amongst a wide-ranging and influential forum of engineers. The focus, as ever, will be the development of new infrastructure, within the context of the urgent need to de-Carbonise Energy supply.

https://www.claverton-energy.com/8th-claverton-energy-group-conference-2325th-october-wessex-water-bath-ba27ww.html

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Bad Science Bait & Switch Big Picture Climate Change Media Non-Science Political Nightmare Social Change Technological Sideshow The Data Toxic Hazard

Good Faith Can Move Mountains

Image Credit : Icecap

The British Climate Change Minister Ed Miliband has admitted at the Labour Party Conference that there are low commitment levels to dealing with the causes of Global Warming :-

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Bait & Switch Burning Money Media Nuclear Nuisance Nuclear Shambles Pet Peeves Technological Sideshow

A Subsidy By Any Other Name

There’s the real world. And then there’s “Daily Telegraph world”, a fantasy mindscape, it seems to me.

In yet another piece that seems to be written for the sole purpose of attacking wind power, massaged in under the banner of standing up for the fuel poor :-

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/6236920/Taxing-the-fuel-poor-to-bolster-subsidised-companies-is-a-waste-of-energy.html

is this outstanding piece of reporting about Atomic Energy in the United Kingdom :-

“Nuclear, by contrast, is unsubsidised.”

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Big Picture Climate Change Emissions Impossible Energy Revival Pet Peeves Political Nightmare Social Change Technological Sideshow

An Irritating Truth

An Irritating Truth

An Irritating Truth
by Jo Abbess
17 September 2009

Essay to answer the question : ‘Which technical solutions offer the best potential for decreasing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions over the next 50 years?’ based on the key text, Chapter 4, entitled “Energy Supply” of the mitigation volume of the Working Group III (WG3) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) published in 2007.

https://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg3/ar4-wg3-chapter4.pdf

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Bait & Switch Behaviour Changeling Big Picture Climate Change Contraction & Convergence Geogingerneering Media Meltdown Pet Peeves Political Nightmare Renewable Resource Social Change Technological Sideshow The Data

Everybody Dance Now !

Dancing with Bicycles

Whenever you hear government ministers or public figures telling the people that technology will save us, remember this : the word “technology” is synonymous with the word “business”.

“Technology” is Big Engineering, and this is what is done by large companies and corporations. Large organisations that make profit by selling manufactured products and Energy always have a surplus set aside for their communications budgets, and that includes persuading government people that their business is invaluable and needs promoting.

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Behaviour Changeling Big Picture Carbon Army Climate Change Emissions Impossible Low Carbon Life Pet Peeves Political Nightmare Social Change Technological Sideshow

Pushy, Positive, Persuasion Pitfall

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unNZDByYHzw : The Power of Persuasion
https://evelynrodriguez.typepad.com/crossroads_dispatches/clear_and_resonant_marketing/
“Not Converts, But Consorts”

Despite what the psychologists evidence and the psychotherapists cogitate, there’s no getting through to some people, and I really think we just ought to accept that, stop with the guilt trip and the navel-gazing and admit it : the people with leadership authority have got to start telling people that things will change, whether they come along with it or not.

Everybody knows that there’s no secret to persuasion, no “how to win friends and influence people” magic techniques : you just need to have enough money to guarantee yourself the widest possible audience and the dominant narrative, and your product gets all the sales it needs, and overrides “what if” critique. TV was made for it. The Hollywood film industry is its highest and finest embodiment.

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Carbon Capture Pet Peeves Technological Sideshow Toxic Hazard

Coal : Burning the Future

Here’s one for all my States-side buddies, because nobody in Euroland will get to see this for a while (please correct me if I’m mistaken) : the trailer for the film “Burning the Future”. It’s all about the toxic, dirty nature of Coal Energy :-

https://burningthefuture.semkhor.com/page.asp?s=burningthefuture&content_id=14092

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Bait & Switch Big Picture Burning Money Carbon Capture Carbon Commodities Emissions Impossible Energy Revival Nuclear Nuisance Peak Energy Peak Oil Pet Peeves Technological Sideshow

Big Energy : Fighting for Survival

The Carbon game’s up : within 40 to 70 years the Petroleum empires will be gone. Even with massive new investment, Hydrocarbon production will be peaking. With supplies of Crude Oil, Natural Gas, and yes, even Coal, starting to fall away, a crucial sub-plot will begin to play out.

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Bait & Switch Carbon Capture Climate Change Cost Effective Pet Peeves Technological Sideshow Toxic Hazard

Clean Coal : Dirty Joke

Seven reasons why “Clean” Coal is dirty, dangerous and wicked, but not funny in the slightest.

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Big Picture Carbon Capture Climate Change Energy Revival Growth Paradigm Low Carbon Life Media Nuclear Nuisance Nuclear Shambles Pet Peeves Political Nightmare Technological Sideshow

Pouncing on the Pussycat Parade

He may prowl like a cat and purr like a cat, and make out he’s soft and sweet in interviews, but Peter Mandelson’s ideological positioning gives him the impression of him more resembling a pawn, an eel or a rat, and gives me a shudder of disgust; and I’m glad to hear the Climate Rush non-Pussycat Dolls have seen fit to pounce on him :-

https://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/aug/10/mandelson-climate-protest-vestas

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Acid Ocean Bait & Switch Big Picture Climate Change Cost Effective Emissions Impossible Geogingerneering Technological Sideshow

Cloud Ships. Yes, But…

Geoengineering. Sounds great. Treat the Earth like one big motoring machine, get under the hood (bonnet) and tinker with it.

But what if actually this is the equivalent of putting the Planet on a life support system ventilator, and the plug could be pulled at any time ?

How sustainable are some of the Geoengineering proposals ? Are they guaranteed to work ? Won’t they have knock-on side-effects ? Are they reversible if they prove unhelpful ? And how much will they cost ?

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Bait & Switch Big Picture Burning Money Carbon Capture China Syndrome Climate Change Pet Peeves Technological Sideshow

China Laughs at Carbon Capture

Whenever one exchanges words with a representative of the British Government regarding Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), if one deigns to risk asking such a question as “why is the UK spending so much time, effort and resources on CCS demonstrations ?”, the usual, much-trodden answer is “because we need to lead China on this”.

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Nuclear Drive : Barbecue Country

A number of media outlets have been skewered and grilled one more time in the last fortnight by the Nuclear industry and it’s paid-up or paid-to fans. It feels like the poor lamb hacks have been gambolling and frolicking too close to the fire.

Just getting a Press Release in the papers is not equivalent to convincing a critical mass of people to support your energy technology of choice. It’s like roasting and toasting a very dodgy piece of carcase/carcass and adding hot pepper sauce to hide the bacterial slime.

Even recruiting a senior former British Government Minister to the radioactive cause is not sufficiently influential for a good portion of the electorate. That’s like pulling some Amazon-killing soya-fed dead cow out of the freezer and finding it’s several years too old to eat.

Nuclear Power has a bad track record, and the last couple of years have been near-on laughable.

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Bait & Switch Big Picture Burning Money Carbon Capture Climate Change Emissions Impossible Pet Peeves Technological Sideshow Utter Futility

Ed Miliband : Coal Captured

The Public Opinion No is a Government Policy Yes. Carbon is Zero Carbon. Coal is Clean. Sounds like Doublethink to me.

As Orwell put it : “The power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them….To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed, to deny the existence of objective reality and all the while to take account of the reality which one denies…”

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Big Picture Carbon Capture Climate Change Energy Revival Nuclear Nuisance Nuclear Shambles Pet Peeves Renewable Resource Technological Sideshow Utter Futility

Feel The Greater Burn

I cannot offer an opinion about the validity of this research, because I haven’t read the science paper with the calculations, I haven’t spoken to the researchers, or entirely understood their model from the news report, but I’ve got to admit the results appear intriguing.

The authors speak to my key annoyances : the proposals for new Nuclear Power and Carbon Capture and Storage. And they say we shouldn’t do it : the net heat from “thermal” power generation is going to be dangerous regardless of what we do with any resulting Carbon Dioxide.

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Big Picture Burning Money Carbon Capture Emissions Impossible Energy Revival Pet Peeves Technological Sideshow

Joan Ruddock : “Less Attractive”

A curious little news item caught my eye last week : a Reuters report of the official opening of the Britain’s largest Carbon Capture project in Renfrew, Scotland :-

https://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-GreenBusiness/idUSTRE56R00E20090728

All pretty standard hot-off-the-Press-Release fare. You would have thought it was a fine thing, a noble undertaking, a breakthrough. If you were at all interested in Energy engineering, which most of you aren’t.

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Wind Systems Are Go !

Little boy and girl engineers across the globe are starting a lifetime of fascination with wind turbines, playing with Trademarked miniature construction kits :-

https://hertenberger.co.za/?p=4831

https://legosip.blogspot.com/2009/04/120409-lego-7642-garage-7686-helicopter.html

Durable plastic toy manufacturers can see which way the wind is blowing, even if rich landowners, Mr-Deal-or-No-Deal [1] and certain members of the CPRE [2] cannot :-

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5850681/Wind-farm-to-be-built-on-borders-of-Peak-District.html

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Burning Money Climate Change Low Carbon Life Peak Oil Technological Sideshow

Genetically Modified Biofuels

Scottish historians can correct me on this : was it Robert the Bruce or William Wallace who first coined the phrase “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” ?

Well, it seem the “life sciences” industry, producing genetically modified organisms, is doing just that, this time in the fields of Energy and Climate Change.

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Bait & Switch Big Picture Burning Money Climate Change Technological Sideshow

The Wild and Windy Moors

Out on the wild and windy moors, a battle for the wuthering heights of Middle England is coming to its apogee.

For what seems like aeons, certain branches of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE), and their “enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my” friends in the misnamed Renewable Energy Foundation (REF), have been jousting with stirred-up local passions, fighting the feared onslaught of Wind Power.

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Bait & Switch Carbon Capture Climate Change Nuclear Nuisance Social Change Technological Sideshow

Political Moonshine

Recalling the first Apollo moon landing, Ed Miliband tries to make the noble, heartwarming case for spending lots of public money in The Guardian :-

https://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jul/20/climate-change-low-carbon-economy

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Big Picture Burning Money Carbon Capture Climate Change Cost Effective Low Carbon Life Nuclear Nuisance Social Change Technological Sideshow

The Low Carbon Transition #1 : It’s Gonna Cost Ya

There was a rash, a veritable rash of media articles last week about Ed Miliband’s Low Carbon Transition :-

https://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/publications/lc_trans_plan/lc_trans_plan.aspx

It was an overwhelming torrent of fairly helpful and semi-accurate information, and it’s taken me a few days to wade through it to fish out some relevant threads.

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Carbon Capture Cost Effective Nuclear Nuisance Technological Sideshow

Roll Over Beethoven

Dear Reader,

You are politely asked to consider the connection between the following two pieces of information :-

https://blogs.ft.com/energy-source/2009/07/15/us-government-moves-carbon-capture-forward