The Russia/Ukraine situation

posted by geeblock

Good time to get out of oil anyway and move on to electric and solar power 

Sign me up for some of that electric power!

posted by ptown_trojans_1

Its not the 80s. If it was, NATO would be even more so a threat and both sides would be on the brink of war. 

I get it as I said it's bad, but it is not worst case World War level.....yet. That is my overall point. 

The 80's comment is a dig on the foolish comment Obama made in a debate with Romney.  Just remember to keep your thermostat at 65 during the day and turn it down at night.  And don't forget to put on a sweater.

It's not World War level until it is.  No one thought the assassination of a European archduke was world war level.  In the end young American men are buried in a foreign land who had no clue what the hell a fucking duke is. Many of them conscripts.

The German and Soviet invasion of Poland was not considered world war level at the time.  Neither was the winter war.  The invasion of western Europe  and the attack on Pearl Harbor kicked it off.

This shit is scary. Bottom line is none of us know the capabilities of Putin.  Makes it very scary as a parent.  

posted by jmog

lol, tell me you don’t understand how huge amounts of power, and their efficiency works, without telling me  

If you truly want off oil, the only way to make power in the quantities we need is nuclear. Wind/solar is not terrible for “backup/peak” usages but on a large scale they are useless  

no I get how it works but there wont ever be a good time so might as well start now.  being dependent on oil will never be the correct answer.  Cars would be a great start

posted by Dr Winston O'Boogie

This shit is scary. Bottom line is none of us know the capabilities of Putin.  Makes it very scary as a parent.  

I voted for Trump but I'm kind of glad he's not running the show right now. Granted, Biden is inept and likely soils himself daily, but sanctions are probably the best route to slow this down. Trump is/was such a Putin fanboy that I think he'd just let him run roughshod over Ukraine.

posted by geeblock

Good time to get out of oil anyway and move on to electric and solar power 

You WILL drive an electric vehicle (powered by a natural gas or coal-fired power plant) and you will do it now, comrade. 

posted by QuakerOats

You WILL drive an electric vehicle (powered by a natural gas or coal-fired power plant) and you will do it now, comrade. 

I had actually thought about purchasing an electric vehicle, because of my commute, until the libs started pushing it on us. Then I was like "nope." Plus, I keep seeing these horror stories of batteries dying in these things and replacements costing as much as the vehicle. Also, exactly how is the nation going to go full electric when the dumbasses in California can't avoid rolling blackouts?

posted by BR1986FB

I voted for Trump but I'm kind of glad he's not running the show right now. Granted, Biden is inept and likely soils himself daily, but sanctions are probably the best route to slow this down. Trump is/was such a Putin fanboy that I think he'd just let him run roughshod over Ukraine.

Trump armed Ukraine.

posted by QuakerOats

Trump armed Ukraine.

I get it but he's a wildcard when it comes to Putin. For some reason, he just loves the guy.

posted by BR1986FB

I had actually thought about purchasing an electric vehicle, because of my commute, until the libs started pushing it on us. Then I was like "nope." 

posted by BR1986FB

I get it but he's a wildcard when it comes to Putin. For some reason, he just loves the guy.

Left wing talking point.  What people fail to see is that Trump would have slapped sanctions on Russia BEFORE THEY INVADED and likely prevented this shit show

posted by geeblock

no I get how it works but there wont ever be a good time so might as well start now.  being dependent on oil will never be the correct answer.  Cars would be a great start

i work in O&G, i agree with your sentiment. but everyone has this same ask, "get out of being dependent on oil", but no one has a plan. We can't mine the lithium required without gas powered vehicles currently but even if we did we could never get 100% off of oil and gas and people need to understand that. the only viable option if we want to truly get serious is to develop and IMPLEMENT carbon capture and sequestration. 

something else that doesn't get much coverage and people call me a conspiracy theorist for calling out is the fact that solar and wind are 100% ponzi schemes and if we stopped subsidizing them they would collapse wholly in 3-5 years. the only reason they still push forward is because the money getting filtered to friends of politicians to keep building this crap. these folks are aware of the cliff they are approaching and they are BANKING on a government bailout when the bottom falls out. 

long term the energy policy we need to get to is simple but tough to accept if you want to virtue signal for votes or popular opinion. the time for easy choices are long gone. none of the correct decisions we have left are easy, we need to limit the negative impact of our existence while knowing we cannot eliminate it. nature/mother earth is just as chaotic and deadly as it was for the cavemen that came before us. our existence is made easy because of tremendous consumption of natural resources (i.e. energy) its up to us to act in order to prevent us from reverting back to the past. our choice in spending sadly is leading us to certain doom.

1. get 100% of electricty supplied by nuclear (ideally fusion, but fission at a minimum)

2. get 100% of ground and sea transportation (public and private) on electric. this means huge investments in light rail to drive down the necessity for personal vehicle use.

3. limit oil and gas production to only volumes necessary for fertilizer production, road maintenance and plastic needs that can't be sourced by recycling and only until such time as sustainable technology catches up on the plastic side.

4. aggresive carbon capture and sequestration funding and installations to get CO2 levels below 300ppm (ideally below 250)

posted by j_crazy

4. aggresive carbon capture and sequestration funding and installations to get CO2 levels below 300ppm (ideally below 250)

I agree with everything else you posted, but the above is ridiculous.  We were @ 280ppm BEFORE industrialization.

I have no idea what "optimal" CO2 concentrations are and no one does.  It's just assumed that "more CO2 = bad", but the science is pretty suspect.  My guess is the true "goldilocks" zone is somewhere between 400-800ppm, but the speed we get there is potentially a problem.

We DO KNOW at @ 160ppm the planet dies.  The last million years or so has cycled several times between about 190-300, so several times the planet has come perilously close to extinction long before modern man came on the scene.

posted by geeblock

no I get how it works but there wont ever be a good time so might as well start now.  being dependent on oil will never be the correct answer.  Cars would be a great start

If the marketplace says it's time, so be it.

posted by Laley23
Solid reason for not bettering your life.

It was more so due to the failing batteries/cost but also not a fan of being told what I'll do.

posted by gut

I agree with everything else you posted, but the above is ridiculous.  We were @ 280ppm BEFORE industrialization.

I have no idea what "optimal" CO2 concentrations are and no one does.  It's just assumed that "more CO2 = bad", but the science is pretty suspect.  My guess is the true "goldilocks" zone is somewhere between 400-800ppm, but the speed we get there is potentially a problem.

We DO KNOW at @ 160ppm the planet dies.  The last million years or so has cycled several times between about 190-300, so several times the planet has come perilously close to extinction long before modern man came on the scene.

250-300 is the ideal zone for humans since we have leveled much of the old growth forest we'll have to keep it lower than the pre-industrialization number to keep our crops going. 280 was ideal for 7ft plus diameter white oak and ash trees. them some bitches are long dead.

posted by j_crazy

250-300 is the ideal zone for humans since we have leveled much of the old growth forest we'll have to keep it lower than the pre-industrialization number to keep our crops going. 280 was ideal for 7ft plus diameter white oak and ash trees. them some bitches are long dead.

LOL, no just no.  You realize the planet has been getting greener?  You do realize that crops are plants that eat CO2?

Also, CO2 concentrations are partly a function of plants.  Optimal CO2 doesn't become lower because you have less plants, but rather fewer plants means less absorbtion of emissions.

800 ppm is estimated optimal for plant life, which means it's optimal for animals given plants are the foundation of the food chain.  Above 800ppm there are diminishing margins of return, though not necessarily negative.  In the dinosaur era, life flourished between 1000-2000 ppm.

250ppm puts us much, much closer to extinction than 800ppm.

algea consumes most of the co2, not trees. 

posted by kizer permanente

algea consumes most of the co2, not trees. 

And the other interesting thing is 97% of CO2 emissions are natural.  Man contributes ~3%, about half of which is "magically" absorbed by a system "in balance".  The other half is man's contribution to rising CO2, roughly 3-4ppm per year.  Not sure there's even enough fossil fuel in the earth to get to 800ppm, given proven reserves are only estimated to last 60-80 more years.

posted by j_crazy

i work in O&G, i agree with your sentiment. but everyone has this same ask, "get out of being dependent on oil", but no one has a plan. We can't mine the lithium required without gas powered vehicles currently but even if we did we could never get 100% off of oil and gas and people need to understand that. the only viable option if we want to truly get serious is to develop and IMPLEMENT carbon capture and sequestration. 

something else that doesn't get much coverage and people call me a conspiracy theorist for calling out is the fact that solar and wind are 100% ponzi schemes and if we stopped subsidizing them they would collapse wholly in 3-5 years. the only reason they still push forward is because the money getting filtered to friends of politicians to keep building this crap. these folks are aware of the cliff they are approaching and they are BANKING on a government bailout when the bottom falls out. 

long term the energy policy we need to get to is simple but tough to accept if you want to virtue signal for votes or popular opinion. the time for easy choices are long gone. none of the correct decisions we have left are easy, we need to limit the negative impact of our existence while knowing we cannot eliminate it. nature/mother earth is just as chaotic and deadly as it was for the cavemen that came before us. our existence is made easy because of tremendous consumption of natural resources (i.e. energy) its up to us to act in order to prevent us from reverting back to the past. our choice in spending sadly is leading us to certain doom.

1. get 100% of electricty supplied by nuclear (ideally fusion, but fission at a minimum)

2. get 100% of ground and sea transportation (public and private) on electric. this means huge investments in light rail to drive down the necessity for personal vehicle use.

3. limit oil and gas production to only volumes necessary for fertilizer production, road maintenance and plastic needs that can't be sourced by recycling and only until such time as sustainable technology catches up on the plastic side.

4. aggresive carbon capture and sequestration funding and installations to get CO2 levels below 300ppm (ideally below 250)

I agree with everything you are saying I was just saying that given its a 10-20 year process we should be starting now even if its just planning.

Also I just got gas and I feel violated