Progress on Climate Change Policies and Future Plans

Where We Stand: the Problem Continues

 

Source: https://www.iea.org/reports/co2-emissions-in-2022

 

 

Source: https://www.iea.org/reports/co2-emissions-in-2022 

 

Our Recent Efforts

I think we've been moving federal government policies in the right direction, but it's been slow. With the IRA there is more assistance for EVs, reduced taxes for energy-saving appliances and use of photo-electric cells in solar panels and for wind energy. These will all gradually replace carbon-based energy systems.

Clearly, we've been addressing the Transportation Sector with efforts to assist EVs. We've been trying to address the Power Sector by pushing along Wind and Solar Power production, improvements to the grid, and promotion of large-scale batteries. We've addressed the Buildings Sector (for quite a long time) by promoting energy-conservation in construction materials and techniques and with the HVAC systems. Furthermore, we've done similar things for the residential construction industry, though standards for construction have largely remained local. Still, electricity production by power plants using coal remains a huge problem. The improved price-comparison for energy sources favors wind and solar, so we must promote that. Some other sources such as tidal power may eventually be part of the picture, but its adoption has been slow due to technical issues.

 

Source: https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy23osti/85332.pdf

 

Grid-Scale Energy Expected to Grow

Texas Power-Grid Battery-Storage Growing

A related issue is the location of the materials used in the latest battery technologies.

 

Source: https://www.isi.fraunhofer.de/content/dam/isi/dokumente/cct/2023/abt-roadmap.pdf

 

We might include more nuclear if the latest technologies there prove to be safe, cost-efficient, and reliable. We don't want to start something like that and then have to do a turn-around because of failures.

Those can supplant carbon-based fuel for energy sources. Still, there are other issues. Not all countries are able to do these things to help protect the entire planet. Growing poorer countries won't want to do it. Even China has mixed feelings about limiting growth, so they do some Renewable Energy things, but they still burn coal. There are also some other sources of CO2. The making of concrete is one of the worst because we use so much concrete in our modern world. Can we make it without so much production of CO2? I have hardly discussed his part of our project to rid ourselves of too much CO2.

 

What's Next

Ars Technica Article: Renewable energy is now cheap—what’s next?

    “A decade ago, our present renewable energy situation was unimaginable. Most projections had wind and solar as niche players on the electric grid due to their relatively high cost. In the US, the reality is anything but. Combined, wind and solar have now passed coal; throw in hydro, and they've passed nuclear, too. In most areas of the country, they're now far and away the cheapest means to generate electricity; the same holds true for most locations around the world.
Despite the changed economics, most countries have fallen behind on their climate pledges, and fossil fuels aren't being pushed off the grid fast enough to get us back on track. While the entire globe is suffering the consequences of climate change, the factors that are keeping renewables from reaching their full potential vary from country to country. What should we be doing to get past these roadblocks?”

In that article it's made clear we have to put our technologies to work and for that we have to consider government policies (sticks & carrots) to encourage it and government projects where it can be enforced. Let's lean our shoulder into this and begin pushing known technologies that are already cost-effective!

 Cost of Batteries 

One of the most essential will be the use of batteries to store all kinds of energy for use overnight and during times when we aren't getting new energy from wind or solar sources. Not having it ready to go on a very large scale can hold up greater development and use of our existing price-effective technologies. Let's push what we've got and work to eliminate barriers to completion of the picture.

 

Other Issues

Video on some of these non-EV issues

It's time to start looking more at eliminating, reducing, replacing, ways to do things that produce too much CO2. 

 

John's Songs

 

Wichita Lineman 

 

Confessin' (Louis Armstrong style)

 

Daddy

Sweet Soul Lulaby

University Financial Woes

Thanks, Kathy. That's a good article (link below).

There are a lot of things happening in the educational field, and not all are the result of the pandemic or political leadership of the state. Just as we're seeing the wholesale purchase of properties by investment firms that ends up driving rents up, there are other effects from a change in demands by students and future employers when technologies and international trade changes their worlds. There is also a huge shift away from higher education among young men. It's a complicated picture.

We already knew the Democrats in Washington were looking at higher-education costs as an issue they could address, and now Pres. Biden is trying to mitigate the effects on the economy caused by long-term educational debt, which drains money away from consumption. When you combine all these factors, the resulting mosaic is not easy to solve.

It's obvious they can look at both state and international sources of students and see the ups and downs ahead of time. That doesn't stop all the petty tyrants from trying to build bigger castles. So, the first part of the solution has to be administration and a reality-check on the numbers of future students and monies which will become available. As simple as that sounds, we live in times when political (and other) agendas can make it seem complicated. While it may sound draconian to shut down this and that, consider that some of this and that may be brand spanking new, rather than 30-year-old buildings or programs. It might just be pulling in the horns, back to real sound levels. Second, views of what a modern university should be doing are evolving, and it may be useful to reduce this thing, even as that thing holds steady or grows. Discussions on the Internet reflect that POV all the time. Should a college teach to some profession, or should it be a more general Liberal Arts type school? Should there be more sports or less? Should they recruit students to increase its size or should there be an ideal student body size?

Shaping a corporation has many similar questions and isn't very simple if it isn't a one-dimensional organization. How much money can schools expect from political bodies like the state legislature or the federal government? That is a very difficult question to answer, but they've somehow managed it in the past. Even our local school system has its ups and downs, some due to inept or criminal management. Leadership is a primary issue. Do the people of the state want all this? Has anyone even asked them what they want?

Start by answering some fundamental questions, and a lot that follows will be easier and more useful.

On 8/15/23 15:51, Kathy wrote:

This article from the Chronicle of Higher Education explains how WVU ended up so far in debt.

https://community.wvu.edu/~jokatz/ChronStoryWVU.pdf

 

Kathy