Comment on When you want to be Meta, but you just a Beta

• goldenballs@wolfballs.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨years⁩ ago

  Well no, but you need a mix of things. I mean, i work offshore and i see first hand how many jobs there are in renewables, inclufing for thr UK, Denmark, Germany,in exports, and how many projects there are. I also know that you need oil to run ships, and you need gas storage, which Labour removed, and some Nuclear, which the Germans removed. To say decarbonisation is murdering the poor is obviously bollocks, but it is also misconceived and mismanaged to transition so abruptly and completely to renewables and electric, which has its own limitations and pollution problems. The future is hybridisation of everything. It can't be an either or, just more efficient ways of using a mix of sources. The causes of blackouts or brownouts won't be one simple thing in one area only, it will be more complex, which makes for boring headlines. It doesn't mean i disagree with everything you say, just that stopping everything is as useless as going all in. Most leaders in the UK have no science or engineering background, and there are often perverse incentives for decisions.

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  • iamtanmay@wolfballs.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨years⁩ ago

    I agree with your first point, but not the second or third. I am not anti-renewable. I am anti-communist planning and dumping taxpayer cash into the newest fad to curry favor with environmentalists.

    For my bachelor thesis I was working with Solar companies to change panel material mix to cheaper substitutes. I think wind/tidal/hydro are far far far cleaner than Solar due to the huge amount of toxic chemicals needed for Solar fabrication. Definitely, I am 100% in favor of Wind.

    But, politicians have screwed the transition. Decarbonisation IS murdering the poor. When your bills are 3x and you get disconnected, what's next in life for you ? A stroke or a heart attack from stress ? Not getting treatment for other diseases because you have no $ left ? Green levies don't just reduce standard of living for middle class, for those working paycheck to paycheck it will shave years off their life.

    My solution: Govt should cut the Green subsidies out of the energy price so the poor can still afford it. Don't shut down existing fossil fuels like natural gas or petrol cars. Richer customers prefer green/electric and will migrate first and bring down the prices for poorer naturally.

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    • goldenballs@wolfballs.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨years⁩ ago

      Sure tidal is the most ideal for many countries (obviously great for the UK, not so useful for Mongolia). I agree that PV manufacture is problematic, but if in the future we could install orbital solar panels, and beam the energy down or covert it into transportable storage, it would be pretty good too.

      A lot of green companies went bust when LNG went up I have been chilling in tropical Asia during the pandemic, so I don't really know what life is like in lockdown land, it seems pretty miserable, and now with inflation continuing (and i tend to think real inflation is about 3 times CPI, housing costs are much higher than reported). There are big problems with lack of energy mix and storage. Germany strongly illustrates that.

      The UK is lucky in terms of potential, and it is entirely selfish to want the benefits of wind equipment export. There are British and Danish companies off the coast of New England doing work Americans can't do (there are probably a couple of Americans, but they will have to adapt to North Sea safety standardsi), but also in the North Sea, and in Taiwan. It's boom time for that sector, and yes its probably paid for by governments, but not necessarily "ours".

      In the UK we have a very different health system from America. In Asia, have to buy insurance and experience something more like America. Canada is amongst many countries experiencing health service failure, and the UK too - its the main part of the national budget that keeps growing, and i think is unsustainable. This is a separate, but overlapping issue.

      Govt has limited influence on the cost of energy. They have a bit of influence on the cost of energy wastage. Tax on fuel is already much higher in Europe than anything in North America. It is grossly underinvested in, and i think a change will be forced, but the world is facing some volatility in energy prices for sure.

      I think the netzero idea is a bit of a gimmick, and a pivot towards an export industry from the UK perspective. The UK is economically different from the USA, the UK is a densely populated archipelago, where cars aren't as universally essential as in north america. We need ro maintain presence and expertise in the maritime and offshore sectors, so offshore wind is partly about that. We probably should have more nuclear. If we had several tidal sites, the UK could potentially export electricity (particularly to Ireland) as well as be self sufficient. I think most people don't care where their energy comes from as long as its cheap.

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      • iamtanmay@wolfballs.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨years⁩ ago

        I agree with everything you said. The example about health was just an example, I know National health care exists in UK and Germany. I just wanted to highlight the plight of those who are the worst affected by energy costs.

        Govt has limited influence on the cost of energy.

        Yes and No. Govt cannot influence the Market price. However, the consumer price includes tax, which is the problem. This is a heavy burden when all new green projects are subsidised by it, rather than letting market forces compete to bring prices down. Bad for the poor.

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