Diary dates, cafe culture edition

The Dundee Cafe Science has an event on renewables on Monday:

Dr David Rodley from the University of Dundee Centre for Renewable Energy will speculate on how the energy landscape in Scotland and the wider UK might look in the future. Will carbon become the new currency as extreme targets for limiting greenhouse gas emissions begin to bite? Can Scotland achieve its goal for 100% equivalent renewable electricity, and how might smart metering help keep the lights on, and affordable?

Details here.

Comments

[Phillip Bratby]

"The New Age of Renewable Energy". It sounds like an indoctrination event.

[TerryS]

Will he be mentioning that he was a founding director of Solar Cities Scotland?

He is no longer a director but might have shares (I'm unwilling to pay the fee to companies house to get a shareholder breakdown).

[Brent Hargreaves]

Will carbon become the new currency?

Will the King's new clothes be gorgeous?

[cedarhill]

Since the trend in the UK points strongly to self-induced energy poverty, the return to the age of bartering for fuel will return. And it won't be "carbon credits".

[Allan M]

"Will carbon become the new currency…"

Carbon is the element of life. Control of carbon is control of all life. No wonder it appeals to both real and armchair megalomaniacs.

…

He is no longer a director but might have shares (Terry S)

Or even just friends and sympathies.

[jamspid]

Bishop interesting thing i heard at Battle of Ideas.

Enviros tell us that with enough Solar Panel the Sahara Desert can power Western Europe.Unfortunately there is not enough water to keep them clean dust free and efficient .

Why they don't use them in Las Vegas and in the Middle East and other Desert cities

[Graeme No.3]

It seems an impossible task to get it understood that 100% renewable energy is impossible, unless someone can find a cheap method of storing large quantities of electricity.

Economist Silvio Borner in Swiss news weekly Weltwoche has responded to the variable nature of renewable with (paraphrased)
The electric power circuit is like blood circulation. Both need a permanent flow. What use does the average number of annual heartbeats have if your heart stops for a few hours every night? What does our household do over the long and dark winter months? Anyone who puts faith in the annual value for supplying his own power, should please get off the grid and not expect others to bear the extra costs.”

See more at: http://notrickszone.com/#sthash.tDpCiobh.dpuf

[dc9]

So much said and promised. Scotland's energy policy is a real basket case. Still adhering to self-proclaimed world-beating emissions reduction targets of 80% by 2050. It might have been a wake up call to devolved incompetent gov when potential hydro was uncomfortably eliminated. The forthcoming closure of Longannet in 2023, Hunterston B and Torness is instead to be replaced by.... what? Grampian solar and Ochil?

Re hydro: downrating capability was a neat way of maximising profit, almost universally adopted across Scotland.

[hunter]

Google has determined that renewable energy plans (outside of hydro) plan will fail. Since their engineers are held to reality, I think I trust them more than political players making wishes.

[KNR]

Can Scotland achieve its goal for 100% equivalent renewable electricity, no, and how might smart metering help keep the lights on, and affordable, -it can't, but it can help to decide who gets 'lights out' and when, which for some is what makes them 'smart'

Meanwhile the green 'dream' is not renewable energy supply to meet people's needs , but for people's needs to be massively reduced by what ever means, included rationing and massive price increases, in pursuit of the mythic rural ideal, when everyone went to bed when the sun went down, no one travelled more than 20 miles and everyone one is the rosy cheeked pastoral workers they idiotically seem to think existed before 'nasty industry ' came about.

The fact that for most life was short and grim means nothing in their little hands, Man was one with nature and that is all that matters.