Month: September 2019
Dorian Leaves Climate Refugees Behind
With large parts of the Bahamas wrecked by the stalling behavior of Dorian, survivors are doing what they can to survive.
Some are trying to come to the US – @BrianEntin – a Miami investigative reporter has been tweeting on their progress. There has been a change in US rules that has blocked some of them from entering the US.
Tesla’s New Battery could Roll up a Million Miles
But the CEO admitted that the battery packs are not built to last 1 million miles.
Earlier this year, Musk said that they built Model 3 to last as long as a commercial truck, a million miles, and the battery modules should last between 300,000 miles and 500,000 miles.
However, the CEO claims that Tesla has a new battery coming up next year that will last a million miles.
Jeff Dahn and his lab, who are doing battery research for Tesla, have released test results for an impressive new battery cell that is going to be Tesla’s new million-mile battery, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The new battery tested is a Li-Ion battery cell with a next-generation “single crystal” NMC cathode and a new advanced electrolyte.
Dahn’s team have been extensively testing these cells and based on the results, they think that the battery could power an electric car “for over 1.6 million kilometers (1 million miles).”
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We are talking about battery cells that last two to three times longer than Tesla’s current battery cells.
They have tested the battery cells under different conditions and cycles. Even at the extreme temperature of 40’C, these cells were lasting 4000 cycles.
With an active cooling system, like in Tesla’s battery pack, it was pushing the battery cells to over 6,000 cycles, which would easily mean over 1 million miles in a good battery pack.
Controlling the charge to less than 100% state-of-charge also helps push the longevity.
In the research paper, Dahn’s team especially reference that this new longevity potential would be particularly good for ‘robo taxis’:
“This situation may change with the proposed introduction of “robo taxis”, long haul electric trucks and vehicle-to-grid applications. In the former, vehicles will be driving all day, much like a conventional taxi and undergoing nearly 100% DOD cycling. Long haul trucks will almost certainly run in near 100% DOD situations. Cells in vehicles tethered to the grid will be racking up charge-discharge cycles even when the vehicle is not moving. Clearly EVs destined for vehicle-to-grid applications, robo taxis or long haul trucking, would favor a lithium-ion chemistry that could deliver many more charge-discharge cycles in a decade than an EV that was destined for typical commuter driving where high energy density to give the longest driving range for weekend trips might be emphasized. Electric buses represent another application where duty cycles approaching 100% DOD are used on a daily basis.”
Music Break: Tim O’Brien – When There’s No One Around
Most folks have heard Garth Brook’s cover, and may think that he wrote the classic song, but no – it was Tim O’Brien.
Saw Tim and many others this weekend at the improbably sublime Wheatland Music Festival, – one of the best kept cultural secrets of the Midwest.
I was back with my son after not going for many years, and the same old inspirations were still there. I was in happy, musically inspired tears more times than I would have believed…
Bill Maher on Fat America and the Burning Amazon
Politically incorrect but not wrong.
Climate-Trolling Beto, Cruz remains Ever-Clueless
If you haven’t seen the 2016 vid above, worth your 8 minutes.
At least, the right wing net-rag Breitbart thought it was worth their time to publish a panicked non-responsive response immediately after I posted it.
Senator Cruz remains the gift that keeps on giving for denial debunkers.
During CNN’s Thursday night climate town hall event for Democratic presidential candidates, O’Rourke said that his hometown of El Paso “will be uninhabitable, will not sustain human life along this current trajectory unless something dramatically and fundamentally change.” Replying to a video of the moment, Cruz tweeted, “Um, El Paso is land-locked.” He followed with a GIF of Kevin Costner in Waterworld, captioned, “Beto next year in El Paso.”
Continue reading “Climate-Trolling Beto, Cruz remains Ever-Clueless”Of course, O’Rourke never said that rising water levels would imperil El Paso, a city that has seen record-breaking heat in recent summers and that is undertaking efforts to fill its taps with recycled sewage water as droughts become more severe. And it’s more than a little alarming that Cruz, veteran climate science denier though he may be, doesn’t seem to even be aware of the effects experts say the changing climate will have on Texas—the state he represents in the U.S. Senate.
Luckily, Twitter users were happy to enlighten him.
Dead Fuel Walking. Trump’s War on Coal.
New data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration illustrates the rapid decline of coal-fired electricity, showing a more-than 13% decline in generation from the fuel in the first half of 2019.
According to EIA’s Electric Power Monthly, utility-scale coal facilities generated 470,131,000 MWh from January through June, compared to 541,676,000 MWh in the same period last year. Solar generation grew 10.5%, while gas grew 6.1% and nuclear generation remained stable.
EIA expects coal to make up less than a quarter of U.S. generation this year, compared with about half just a decade ago. And Moody’s Investors Services has predicted coal-fired power could decline to 11% of U.S. electricity by 2030.
Note the EIA has historically erred wildly on the side of fossil fuels, and under estimated renewable energy buildout.
Continue reading “Dead Fuel Walking. Trump’s War on Coal.”Roberts said Trump cutting back some of the Obama-era regulations that limited coal-fired power plant emissions “perhaps kept the coal industry … in existence” but that plants are still closing “dramatically” and the market keeps shrinking. He said coal mining jobs will continue to be lost because of what he called bad public policy, and “eventually there will be no market here or only the strongest companies will survive.”
More coal-fired power plants have closed under Trump than during former Obama’s first term, largely because of free-market forces.
Takeaways from Climate Town Hall
First of all, we had one.
Why it matters: The network was past asking if candidates believe in human-induced warming. The first question to Joe Biden was about whether his plan for achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 is too weak, highlighting just how much the center of gravity on the left has moved in recent years.
The event captured the vast dimension of the problem, going way beyond coal and cars to touch on farming, industry, human migration, adaptation, deforestation, trade, the food system, racial and economic justice dimensions of climate — and much, much more.
Some of the biggest takeaways from the event…
Kamala Harris said Senate Democrats should kill filibuster rules if Republicans didn’t work with her on a sweeping climate bill. The California senator had previously been more equivocal.
Big climate legislation faces immense hurdles even if Democrats regain a narrow Senate majority thanks to the 60 votes needed to move bills.
Elizabeth Warren announced support for a carbon tax as part her much wider plan, but offered no real detail. She’d previously signaled overall support for carbon pricing but in blander terms.
Warren also added clarity to her stance on nuclear power. She opposes building new nuclear plants and called for “weaning ourselves off nuclear energy” too.
Dorian Makes Landfall at Cape Hatteras
Great wonky update from Tropical Tidbits.
UPDATE:
The intensification described in the video above kicking in, Dorian is now back to Cat 3 strength.
Note clear, distinct eye.
CBS update below.
CBC recap below.
Continue reading “Dorian Makes Landfall at Cape Hatteras”