Powering the planet with Unobtainium.
First Order Of Business
They should declare themselves “energy worker sanctuary states” and power ahead. So should we.
How Many Solar Panels Does It Take To Clean A Solar Panel?
Green Energy will employ 1000's of people….
— DawnTJ90™ 🇵🇭💖🇨🇦 (@DawnTJ90) January 4, 2021
I, For One, Welcome Our New Self-Driving Overlords
Police are investigating the fatal conflagration of a Tesla Model X that killed its owner and injured two others in an underground parking garage in Seoul.
The Model X crashed into the wall of the parking garage of an apartment complex in Yongsan District, central Seoul, then caught fire, on Wednesday. This led to the burning death of the car’s owner, who was in the passenger seat.
The driver, who escaped with injuries, claimed “the car suddenly got out of control,” raising the possibility of a sudden unintended acceleration as the cause of the accident, according to police.
It is unusual for a car slowly winding its way through a parking garage to suddenly smash into a wall and result in the death of a passenger. The police will ask the National Forensic Service to try to determine the cause of the accident.
h/t Raymond
In 1903 The Electric Car Was 54 Years Old
And manned flight was still just a sparkle in Wilbur Wright’s eye.
We Don’t Need No Stinking Giant Fans
At this moment 94.8% of Alberta's electricity is being produced by fossil fuels. Wind is at 0.8% of capacity and producing 0.2% of total generation, while solar is at 0.0% of capacity and producing 0.000% of total generation. At the same time we are importing 403 MW or 3.9% pic.twitter.com/oiKMvzIOjt
— Reliable AB Energy (@ReliableAB) December 27, 2020
We Don’t Need No Flaming Sparky Cars
I know! Let’s ban all the gas engines!
“Japan would run out of electricity in the summer if all cars were running on electric power. The infrastructure needed to support a fleet consisting entirely of EVs would cost Japan between ¥14 trillion and ¥37 trillion, the equivalent of $135 billion to $358 billion, he said.
“When politicians are out there saying, ‘Let’s get rid of all cars using gasoline,’ do they understand this?” Mr. Toyoda said Thursday at a year-end news conference in his capacity as chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.”
We have the worst governing class in planetary history.
Rants From The Road
Unexpectedly
Update!
Another green boondoggle from the Obama era has failed, and you, dear taxpayers, are out as much as $510 million. https://t.co/gptz38OreS via @WSJ
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) December 14, 2020
We Don’t Need No Flaming Sparky Cars
The latest auto survey from Consumer Reports shows several newer electric cars to be beset with problems, contradicting the conventional wisdom that EVs with their simpler powertrains should have fewer issues than gasoline- or diesel-powered cars. The CR reader survey harvested data on some 329,000 vehicles and specifically calls out the Audi E-Tron, the Kia Niro EV, and the Tesla Model Y.
The E-Tron is dinged for “drive-system electrical failures along with other power-equipment issues.” The Niro EV’s problems reportedly included electric-motor bearing failure. The Tesla suffers a panoply of build-quality issues include misaligned body panels and poor paint quality. Both Audi and Kia claimed to be aware of the issues. For now, though, CR has removed the E-Tron and the Niro EV from its Recommended list (which is based on vehicle test results as well as reliability). The Model Y was not on the Recommended list.
We Don’t Need No Flaming Sparky Cars
In this photo provided by the Corvallis Police Department, emergency personnel pick up batteries at the scene where a man crashed a Tesla while going about 100 mph, destroying the vehicle, a power pole and starting a fire when some of the hundreds of batteries from the vehicle broke windows and landed in residences in Corvallis, Ore., on Tuesday
h/t Greg
Margin Of Soros
Merely a coincidence: Dominion Voting shares office with far-left George Soros linked group
We Don’t Need No Flaming Sparky Cars
And we don’t need to buy them for Quebec.
Quebec said on Monday it will ban the sale of new gasoline-powered passenger cars as of 2035, joining California and others in announcing moves to shift to electric vehicles and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Canada’s second-most populous province announced the ban as part of a $5.1 billion plan over five years to help Quebec meet a target of reducing its greenhouses gases by 37.5% by 2030, in comparison with 1990 levels, Premier Francois Legault told reporters in Montreal.
The “joining California” part however, I completely endorse.
h/t Robert
Y2Kyoto: Half The Water, Twice As Often
I’m surprised the kitchen sink escaped scrutiny;
Plus, like so many environmental rules, the old regulations made people’s lives worse without delivering improvements: “The tighter rules didn’t lead to energy savings for customers. The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers estimated that they actually increased water consumption by 63 billion gallons, as households would have to run their dishwashers multiple cycles, or pre-rinse their dishes by hand, in order to get dishes actually clean.”
I, For One, Welcome Our New Self-Driving Overlords
Humans are simply not good at passing off 80-plus percent of a task and then staying alert to monitor what’s going on, which is what Autopilot demands. Since Level 2 systems offer no failover capability and need a human to be ready to take over at any moment, if you’re not paying constant attention, the wreck we see here is precisely the kind of worst-case nightmare that can happen.
It’s not just me saying this; experts have long known about how shitty people are at “vigilance tasks” like these for decades. Imagine having a chauffeur that had been driving you for hours, and then sees something on the road he doesn’t feel like dealing with, so, he jumps into the back seat and tells you it’s your job to handle it now.
You’d fire that chauffeur. And yet that’s exactly what Autopilot is doing here.
I, For One, Welcome Our New Self-Driving Overlords
A Tesla test drive in drunk mode.
We Don’t Need No Stinking Giant Mirrors
Unexpectedly: Solar panel installations plummet after UK Govt cuts subsidies
I, For One, Welcome Our New Self Driving Overlords
The shuttles can seat up to six people at a time and can travel at speeds of up to 25 km/h. Typically, the shuttles travel along a pre-programmed route and use sensors and software to detect their surroundings and avoid obstances.
Those sensors proved to be very sensitive during Monday’s test. Light snow, blowing leaves, and even geese that can frequently be found around Tunney’s Pasture brought the shuttle to a halt.
We Don’t Need No Stinking Giant Mirrors
A Medicine Hat solar thermal project was demolished for scrap last week after the city, fed gov, and provincial carbon tax fund invested a total of $13M into the project. After an unsuccessful trial, Medicine Hat was unable to sell off the equipment. https://t.co/fncnx7Uch0
— oilrespect (@oilrespect) October 27, 2020