Category Archives: eco

eco: nuclear and decarbonizing electricity

Posted on 2023-01-24 by skierpage

If every country had followed France after the 1970 oil crisis, the world would be generating a majority of its electricity from low-carbon nuclear, and nuclear plants would have probably got cheaper and quicker to build so replacing the aging … Continue reading →

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cars: electrics eat supercars

Posted on 2022-08-09 by skierpage

There was a lot of coverage of the Goodwood Festival of Speed. More noisy $1M+ supercars that don’t even pretend to be anything other than garage queens that the ultra-rich trailer to the race track for catered racing experiences; more … Continue reading →

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eco: the latest on gravity energy storage

Posted on 2022-08-05 by skierpage

A year ago I wrote “eco: energy storage is hard, gravity storage as a game”, using physics and a units calculator to show how hard it is to profitably store energy using gravity. Gravity storage isn’t a scam, but nothing … Continue reading →

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cars: salespeople that don’t sell cars you can’t get

Posted on 2022-08-01 by skierpage

2013 trip to dealer Scene: in front of one Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid out of many that’s close to the spec I want.Me: I’m thinking of ordering this hybrid in a different color. Can I just sit in it?Salesperson: please, yes! … Continue reading →

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cars: Mercedes EQS is another big blob EV

Posted on 2022-05-13 by skierpage

First Mercedes EQS spotted! I joined in online making fun of its front clip that looks like a Honda Civic, but in the flesh it’s quite nice. Like the Lucid Air (I haven’t seen one of those yet), it’s a … Continue reading →

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eco: YouTuber hypes Plasma Kinetics hydrogen nonsense

Posted on 2021-11-10 by skierpage

Hydrogen, the clean fuel of the future (as long as you ignore the problems of making it cleanly, distributing it, and storing it, and its inevitably worse efficiency than electrifying all the things) keeps getting hyped by people who choose … Continue reading →

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eco: let me de-junk my order!

Posted on 2021-11-06 by skierpage

When you order stuff, you get unwanted crap. Why send me stuff that costs a non-zero amount that I’m immediately going to throw away or struggle to recycle!? order food for takeout or delivery, you get sauce packets, chopsticks, plastic … Continue reading →

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eco: the big lie of recycling triangles

Posted on 2021-07-16 by skierpage

There’s a wave of articles about the plastic recycling problem, with predictable photos of mountains of plastic trash; Treehugger: Don’t Believe the ‘Store Drop-Off’ Label When It Comes to Plastic Packaging NPR: How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing … Continue reading →

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cars: Tesla Model S Plaid is a bargain at $131,000

Posted on 2021-06-17 by skierpage

The Tesla Model S Plaid is crazy. Nitpicking fans are arguing over whether 0-60 in 2 seconds (!) is real because 1-foot rollout and special pavement blah blah, but Motor Trend managed to do it and found: Faster projected quarter-mile … Continue reading →

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eco: energy storage is hard, gravity storage as a game

Posted on 2021-02-18 by skierpage

How much energy does it take to raise 1 tonne 100 meters into the air (the height of a 23 story building)
⟶ 1 tonne * gravity * 100 meters = 0.27240694 kWh… 1/4 of a kWh doesn’t look like the path to riches! Continue reading →

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