This Yglesias piece in the NYT is horrifically bad.
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27. Back to the chart. Look at how much dirtier Canadian oil is than US oil. (Because tar sands are very energy intensive to extract). You know who pushed to stop imports of dirty Canadian oil into the US? Obama! Google "keystone XL pipeline" if you've forgotten that history.
28. Recall that the oil industry (and the GOP) demonized Obama for blocking Keystone not because they were looking out for US producers but because they had spare refining capacity and wanted to make money exporting the resulting finished products. So again, this is about producers v consumers.
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28. Recall that the oil industry (and the GOP) demonized Obama for blocking Keystone not because they were looking out for US producers but because they had spare refining capacity and wanted to make money exporting the resulting finished products. So again, this is about producers v consumers.
29. Now look at the US bars on that chart. Yes, bars plural. Because US production is not monolithic. Conventional oil production (offshore gulf, southwest) uses relatively little energy to lift the oil to the surface and as a result is much cleaner than "other US" (aka fracking).
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29. Now look at the US bars on that chart. Yes, bars plural. Because US production is not monolithic. Conventional oil production (offshore gulf, southwest) uses relatively little energy to lift the oil to the surface and as a result is much cleaner than "other US" (aka fracking).
30. Which means that if you're making the argument that US oil production is cleaner, you have to be honest about where the marginal production is happening. And in OH, PA and those other swing states he describes, it ain't from conventional drilling.
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30. Which means that if you're making the argument that US oil production is cleaner, you have to be honest about where the marginal production is happening. And in OH, PA and those other swing states he describes, it ain't from conventional drilling.
31. On natural gas, his arguments are just as bad. Yes, it is true that at the burner tip a unit of natural gas emits less CO2 than a unit of coal. And if you have a coal mine and a gas well in your back yard, both of which are hooked up to your furnace that is a relevant comparison.
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31. On natural gas, his arguments are just as bad. Yes, it is true that at the burner tip a unit of natural gas emits less CO2 than a unit of coal. And if you have a coal mine and a gas well in your back yard, both of which are hooked up to your furnace that is a relevant comparison.
32. That's of course not the norm. And because methane is such a potent greenhouse gas (>80x as bad as CO2 for the first 20 years after release) even a minor leakage rate in the collection and distribution makes natural gas worse than coal from a global warming perspective.
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32. That's of course not the norm. And because methane is such a potent greenhouse gas (>80x as bad as CO2 for the first 20 years after release) even a minor leakage rate in the collection and distribution makes natural gas worse than coal from a global warming perspective.
33. That's even more true for exported natural gas which also has to be liquefied since the liquefaction process is so energy intensive. Roughly speaking, you need nearly 120 units of gas to make 100 units of LNG. So more CO2 and magnified impacts of upstream leaks.
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33. That's even more true for exported natural gas which also has to be liquefied since the liquefaction process is so energy intensive. Roughly speaking, you need nearly 120 units of gas to make 100 units of LNG. So more CO2 and magnified impacts of upstream leaks.
34. And of course you also need to fuel the ship that carries the LNG to another country - which means that environmental impact of exported natural gas is primarily driven by methane leaks and liquefaction / distribution. The burner tip comparison is just a vapid industry talking point.
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34. And of course you also need to fuel the ship that carries the LNG to another country - which means that environmental impact of exported natural gas is primarily driven by methane leaks and liquefaction / distribution. The burner tip comparison is just a vapid industry talking point.
35. Source for that graph if you want to get into the details: https://www.research.howarthlab.org/publications/Howarth_LNG_assessment_preprint_in_press.pdf
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35. Source for that graph if you want to get into the details: https://www.research.howarthlab.org/publications/Howarth_LNG_assessment_preprint_in_press.pdf
36. Finally this. The mark of the fossil fuel shill who never loses the arrogance to walk into a room, say "the sun doesn't shine at night and its not always windy", drop the mic and leave, confident that no one else knows what they just discovered.
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36. Finally this. The mark of the fossil fuel shill who never loses the arrogance to walk into a room, say "the sun doesn't shine at night and its not always windy", drop the mic and leave, confident that no one else knows what they just discovered.
37. I will concede. Night is real. Some days I can't fly a kite. It is also true that sometimes coal trains are stuck, gas pipelines fail, warm weather derates thermal power plants and unplanned outages happen.
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37. I will concede. Night is real. Some days I can't fly a kite. It is also true that sometimes coal trains are stuck, gas pipelines fail, warm weather derates thermal power plants and unplanned outages happen.
38. Every utility manager and operator knows this. NERC standards explicitly require that in any given utility control area you cannot have a coincident failure mode that affects more than 10% of your load. The scary scenario (night time blackouts!) doesn't happen and won't.
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38. Every utility manager and operator knows this. NERC standards explicitly require that in any given utility control area you cannot have a coincident failure mode that affects more than 10% of your load. The scary scenario (night time blackouts!) doesn't happen and won't.
39. Moreover, wholesale power markets include variable time of use rates and in some cases capacity payments to pay a premium to sources that can ramp up on a moments notice. Here is a list of what PJM used last year (% is the likelihood that the given source would be there when called.)
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39. Moreover, wholesale power markets include variable time of use rates and in some cases capacity payments to pay a premium to sources that can ramp up on a moments notice. Here is a list of what PJM used last year (% is the likelihood that the given source would be there when called.)
40. So yes, we have a grid with lots of stuff. The most reliable backup in that PJM analysis was nuclear and load sited demand reduction. Diesel gen sets. Pumped hydro. Battery storage is a big deal and a bigger one as costs fall and longer durations are available. Gas peakers too.
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40. So yes, we have a grid with lots of stuff. The most reliable backup in that PJM analysis was nuclear and load sited demand reduction. Diesel gen sets. Pumped hydro. Battery storage is a big deal and a bigger one as costs fall and longer durations are available. Gas peakers too.
41. Not shown here, but also a big deal is transmission to connect different parts of the system so that the wind in Iowa can power Chicago, or the sun in Florida, or the geothermal in Nevada, or the hydro in Oregon, etc.
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41. Not shown here, but also a big deal is transmission to connect different parts of the system so that the wind in Iowa can power Chicago, or the sun in Florida, or the geothermal in Nevada, or the hydro in Oregon, etc.
42. Point is, markets and existing regulatory structures also know that no source is available 24/7/365 and manage the grid accordingly. They don't learn anything from Yglesias insight about nighttime and you didn't either.
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42. Point is, markets and existing regulatory structures also know that no source is available 24/7/365 and manage the grid accordingly. They don't learn anything from Yglesias insight about nighttime and you didn't either.
43. If you're still reading at #43... thanks, I guess? But also this. :) Anyway, a final thought to wrap up. https://youtu.be/QbJelY1kZNU?si=h7B3Upg3Y2h9qfGQ
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43. If you're still reading at #43... thanks, I guess? But also this. :) Anyway, a final thought to wrap up. https://youtu.be/QbJelY1kZNU?si=h7B3Upg3Y2h9qfGQ
44. I've spent my entire adult career in the energy industry. As a consultant, as a manufacturer, as a power plant developer/owner/operator and now as a legislator. There is something really optimistic about the moment we're in that pundits like Yglesias said was impossible 20 yrs ago.
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44. I've spent my entire adult career in the energy industry. As a consultant, as a manufacturer, as a power plant developer/owner/operator and now as a legislator. There is something really optimistic about the moment we're in that pundits like Yglesias said was impossible 20 yrs ago.
45. Specifically, we've decoupled economic growth from fossil energy consumption. Coal demand has collapsed. Oil use is flat. Natural gas use is growing but < GDP, even as standards of living have gone up. That's happened because of higher efficiency and decarbonization.
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45. Specifically, we've decoupled economic growth from fossil energy consumption. Coal demand has collapsed. Oil use is flat. Natural gas use is growing but < GDP, even as standards of living have gone up. That's happened because of higher efficiency and decarbonization.
46. We are, in a word, investing in energy productivity, getting more economic value out of less input. That is great news, for the same reason that higher returns on capital are good or increases in labor productivity good. Make more useful stuff with less input and we all get richer.
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46. We are, in a word, investing in energy productivity, getting more economic value out of less input. That is great news, for the same reason that higher returns on capital are good or increases in labor productivity good. Make more useful stuff with less input and we all get richer.
47. As Amory Lovins has said for years, no one wants a lump of coal, or a barrel of oil. All we want is a hot shower and a cold beer. And if we can get that heat and light and chilling without paying for (or burning) fuel, we're all happier... with one notable exception.
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@klara ty :D
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@aeva Lincoln Square!
Specifically Laurie's Planet of Sound.
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@klara where :O
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Ah, yes, the kind of record store with tarot and incense sections.
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@molly0xfff This is hilarious, and I am definitely at least partially the target audience (would be 100% if they were crocheted socks lol). I did get some knitting needles a couple months back but haven't given it a go yet 🤷
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@molly0xfff idk the first thing about #knitting or #crochet, but the people who do these crafts seem very fun-spirited. So, I share this reminder that the U.S. National Park Service has patterns for a goat, a cactus, fish, triops, a beaver, and more. https://www.nps.gov/search/?query=Crochet&sitelimit=&affiliate=nps
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@newstik @molly0xfff
I don't recognize him either.
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@EugestShirley @molly0xfff Who is the bespectacled guy in the back?
