Blog

Carl Sagan Testifying Before Congress In 1985

Carl Sagan: If you ask what determines the Earth’s climate, clearly the main thing that determines it is sunlight. Sunlight is what heats the Earth. Not all the light that arrives at the Earth from the sun goes to heating the Earth. Some of it is reflected back. It’s just the part that is absorbed. And what happens is there’s …

Read more

Is Nuclear Energy Profitable

There are costs associated with enterprises that may or may not be brought into the calculation of benefit versus cost. So what about nuclear energy? Is it profitable if the costs of decommissioning are brought into the equation, what then? To ChatGPT:Regarding the most modern proven design of nuclear power plants, what is the cost of construction, including sourcing the …

Read more

Is Agricultre Profitable

What about linear agriculture that depends up chemical fertilizers bought in? Those chemicals then run off and enter the water table. Who pays to clean up the water at the sewage works and water treatment plants? Circular agriculture uses animal and plant waste from the farm to make organic fertiliser. Very little escapes the loop except for agricultural products. Circular …

Read more

Electric Norway

The population of Norway is 5.457 million with an area of 385,207 square kilometres (148,729 sq mi). The population of Great Britain is 66.97 million with an area of 209,331 km2 (80,823 sq mi). From these figures, the population density of Britain is twenty-four times that of Norway. And when we look at the main urban centres, London has a …

Read more

Truth and How

How not to mix things up in a world full of casual brushes with the truth – uncaring as to what is real and what is not. In principle it has always been the same for at least some. Now, however, we have reached critical mass. Each uncaring and unthinking person has access to weapons of war. A tweet ricochets off …

Read more

Storing Energy

Fossil fuels store energy. Assuming you have extracted enough, you can meet your needs and produce energy on demand by burning them. Solar is different, The fuel store is the sun, but when it’s cloudy the source dries up until the sun shines again. Wind is different. When the wind drops the source dried up. That has been the problem …

Read more

China’s Energy Output

Coal accounted for 53% of power generation in May 2024 (source). That sounds bad and it is. But the bigger picture is that solar energy is rising fast. And despite the increased energy demand year on year, the estimate is that China reached peak emissions in 2023.

UK Energy Output 2023

According to Renewable UK, “Renewables provided a record 46.4% of the UK’s electricity in 2023.” That’s good but it’s for one month. Government Statistics for 2023, show less that 10% was from wind, solar, and hydroelectricity. A little under 10% was from nuclear plants. About 15% was from bioenergy and waste. A little over 30% was from natural gas and 35% from …

Read more

Pollution And Redemption

An article in the 20 July 2024 edition of The Week describes pollution’s impact on reproduction Exposure to air pollution before the retrieval of eggs can cut women’s chances of having a live birth after IVF by approximately 40%, an Australian study has found. The research was based on some 1,836 women who had frozen embryo transfers. The team looked …

Read more

The Web Of Groups Helping Nature

This is an ongoing list. Wild Justice As it says eloquently on the main page of the site, the UK-based charity Wild Justice uses the legal system to get a better deal for UK wildlife, challenges government decisions in the courts, campaigns for better laws and better policies, and gives its supporters opportunities to speak up for our wildlife. You …

Read more