Last June, the Biden administration was so concerned about China's use of Uyghur Muslim slave labor to produce the polysilicon needed for solar panels that it imposed bans on imports of that product from some Chinese manufacturers. But that was last year before the domestic solar industry went into free fall due to a Commerce Department investigation into allegations of dumping that effectively halted the import of solar panels from four southeast Asia countries that were accused of … [Read more...]
Rolls-Royce’s SMR Needs 10,000 Times Less Land Than Wind Energy, Proves ‘Iron Law Of Power Density’
Last month, Rolls-Royce said that it expects to receive regulatory approval from the British government by 2024 for its 470-megawatt small modular reactor and that it will begin producing power on Britain's electric grid by 2029. Will that happen? Time will tell. Many nuclear projects and startups have blown past their projected in-service dates. But Rolls-Royce’s announcement is important for two reasons. First, it adds more credence to the notion that a global nuclear renaissance is, in … [Read more...]
Germany’s Green Energy Fixation Should Teach US a Lesson
Germany’s new Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government vice chancellor and economic minister Robert Habeck, a leading member of his country’s Green Party, has experienced a rude lesson regarding the disastrous consequences of his years of naïve opposition to fossil fuels. After tasking his top officials to assess the energy security implications of Germany’s dependence on Russian supplies in the event of a then-looming Ukraine invasion, their conclusions were desperately dispiriting. Habeck … [Read more...]
Teaching Science Students to Think Critically About EVs and to Peek Behind the Curtain
“The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps.” – Proverbs 14:15 ESV“Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.” – Proverbs 31:8-9 ESV In one of the laboratory classes I teach, students learn techniques to separate heterogeneous mixtures of solids. One procedure involves the separation of sodium chloride from beach sand by mixing the solid mixture in water, … [Read more...]
How a Mindless Climate War on Energy Surrendered Ukraine
Delusional Western nation anti-hydrocarbon energy policies premised upon combating climate change as the "greatest existential threat" are being exploited by far more immediate and formidable adversaries. We are currently witnessing tragic consequences play out in failures of Russian oil and gas-dependent NATO allies — Germany in particular — to dissuade and counter savage Putin aggression against Ukraine. Add to this, a concurrent Biden administration policy disaster which has … [Read more...]
So Climate Change Is a Non-Crisis—What about Air & Water Pollution?
A follower writes, My question concerns the legitimate concern with pollution in large urban areas across the globe. I have come to believe that CO2 emissions are not a threat to our climate. But many of the things spewed into the air and water as a result of industrialization are harmful to people. It seems to me it is good to clean up our air and water for the sake of the health of many. Do you have any comments or resources that would help think through these issues? Yes, definitely, … [Read more...]
