Solar volatility: interconnectors versus batteries?
The solar energy reaching a given point on Earth’s surface varies by +/- 6% each year. These annual fluctuations are 96% correlated over tens of miles. And no battery can…
X Energy: nuclear fuel breakthrough?
…fuel on Earth”. It cannot melt or melt down. This enables a simplified reactor design, using 220,000 x 60mm ‘fuel pebbles’, each containing around 19,000 TRISO fuel particles. What stands…
Enhanced geothermal: technology challenges?
…develop a next-generation, closed-loop geothermal energy technology. Eavor’s aspiration is that its geothermal systems can be deployed anywhere, to harness the Earth’s geothermal gradient, and provide clean, reliable, flexible baseload…
Refrigerants: leading chemicals for the rise of heat pumps?
…elevates the amount of UV-B radiation reaching Earth, increasing skin cancer and impacting agriculture. And hence CFCs were phased out under the Montreal Protocol of 1989. CFCs were largely replaced…
Silica producers: screen of leading companies?
The chemical element silicon makes up 28% of the Earth’s crust, second only to oxygen. It is found naturally in the form of silica sand. In turn, highly pure silica…
Albedo of different landscapes: a challenge for reforestation?
…reflects. This includes both visible light (from violet at 380nm to red at 700nm), which is c43% of the incoming energy reaching the Earth’s surface; and infra-red radiation, which is…
Growing economies: reforest and reinvest?
…to accommodate clean economic development for 4bn people on Planet Earth, with incomes around $2k pp pa, who currently use 90% less energy per capita than the ‘top 1bn’ in…
Carbon accounting: philosophical investigations?
…process on Planet Earth occurs in a vacuum. (6) Counterfactuals matter. All of this discussion of counterfactuals might seem academic. Here is an example for why they matter. Planting a…
Energy transition: distorted by politics?
…effectively be ignored. This is despite not having any clear expertise in Earth Science or climatology himself. Conversely, our own climate models and conclusions are below. https://thundersaidenergy.com/2021/02/03/global-temperatures-how-fast-are-they-increasing/ https://thundersaidenergy.com/downloads/net-zero-an-energy-climate-model-for-2-degrees/ (2) A…