What's something really good that is about to happen, and not a lot of people know about it?

Keep your blinds down then, but the rest of us praise the sun!

It'll still continue to feel dark until early March so don't worry.

Yea this is my first winter in the northern hemisphere, I was warned about the dark being unbearable, but it’s been pretty good so far…

I can take the cold. I like seasons. I despise the short days.

What, not being in highschool? That tends to put them off their feed, I hear. 🤢🙃

Indeed. China is such a paradox. An absolute anathema in terms of culture and politics. It's almost impossible for us Westerners to grasp how a people could accept that level of authoritarianism, how they could value their personal freedom so little. And yet, and yet. Without China we would be royally screwed. They are pulling the weight of the green transition basically alone. So personally I've decided to hold off on China-bashing for now.

The energy density of batteries just keeps increasing, for cars at least it's now good enough. I agree completely about the rest but this was meant to be a happy thread! I agree with OP that we need to talk about good news too sometimes.

Agreed. In theory that problem can be dealt with by properly regulated competition.

I bet the Solarpunk and homesteading / permaculture communities might have some ideas on this!

Best ask in a more specialized forum. Personally I rent so I have to take what I'm given.

Why would you pass up on the free money of selling the power? You're probably looking for a hybrid system if you just want to keep the lights on during a service outage. Or I guess you can just build an off grid system and wire it to a generator transfer switch if you want to power your house circuits but only during an outage.

Most half decent solar installers can help either way.

I've set up an off grid solar system out of necessity. Used to be an electrician so I know a good bit (but not everything by any means). What are your questions I can maybe point you in the right direction.

Based on your initial question, it depends on local zoning. You can likely legally grid tie a set up and have a battery backup. I think if you want to be legal I'd go that route.

If you want I think you could set up a completely separate system in a more sneaky fashion that is completely isolated from the grid / your existing house circuitry. But when grid tying (including into your house circuitry) you have to be pretty safe because that power can go upstream and feed the grid or the house when workers think the power is off, which is obviously very dangerous and could get you in a lot of trouble if it went wrong.

Sure, but energy efficiency is always improving, distribution and storage are always improving. And the full electrification of transport (which is what you seem to be alluding to) is not going to happen overnight.

Happy birthday!

Really? I bet it's probably more than a year away though right?

I'm surprised it hasn't made me motion sick yet. A new record.

Thanks. Happy birthday to you too!

Thanks :)

Thanks

Thank you

Thanks <3

Thanks <3

Thanks

Thanks

Thank you <3

I'm not up to speed with it as I'm not Norwegian myself but I think that's correct. They're aiming to be ICE free in 2035.

It makes sense, why does anyone need them? We will run out of fossil fuels in the next 25-50 years. They are also less cost efficient.

I don't want anyone to have to go through being unable to marry just because of the gender of their partner

What? Why?

Oh it tipped a few years ago. It's just still being implemented. There may be less startup to ramping up fossil fuel plants still, but solar is cheaper to build and operate

What would one use lithium on phosphatase leisure batteries for? I'm not familiar with those

Not only that, but lithium sulfur is coming too.

I heard this as well and am sweating the anticipation. They make another breakthrough on density and it'll blow li-io out of the water, at least for on-site storage. Would be crazy to see backup diesel generators replaced by batteries.

There's too much money in renewables for rich people. The tariffs may or may not happen, but the renewable switch is a runaway train, and almost entirely in the country.

On the electricity futures market, wind producers regularly sell their power for negative prices (paying transmission companies to take their power) because it's so cheap for them to make, with such negligible overhead; since the government subsidies are based on the mWh they produce, they can sell it at a loss and still make money. But even if those subsidies go away, renewables can still easily undercut every other producer on the grid.

That's just one example. The same tipping point is approaching fast all over just about every industry. Obama and Biden got the renewable energy industry over the hump of research and infrastructure outlay, so now Tr*mp gets to take the credit for their work while it all falls into place; and because the rich people are benefiting from it financially, they're going to protect the industry.

People who didn't lease will lose their shirts but the price of new cars is the primary driver for the price of used cars. New, cheap, and more useable EVs will make used ones cheap.

As to the reliability, it remains to be seen. Considering the size of a vehicle I think an aftermarket will pop up for refurbishing and replacing batteries like it has for the earliest modern EVs in the us, the leaf.

Reception, with some managerial responsibilities. There's room to move up.

I have a Bachelor's in Game Programming. The world doesn't need another game programmer right now, but my experience managing projects came in handy.

I currently work in grocery, min wage, as a janitor/stocker.

Goddamn you DrSleepless, your name checks out, why can't I fall asleep

Donny was a good bowler, and a good man

A Nintendo Hitman clone where you play as Luigi and have to take revenge on Bowser's cronies because they stopped Mario from getting treatment when he needed it.

Well, I was worried that I had forgotten the art of dating, but it seems that there will be another! I don't know how it will end up, but for now I'm happy!

Looked into this a few years ago and you could have said the same then. The problem was the deal with the financing had all these weird caveats when you looked into the details like you didn't own the panels, and any cost would transfer with the sale of the house, it was like a forever rental with no upgrades ever.

When we get to the point that you can get solar added, and own everything, and can pay for it without financing with a positive ROI in 3 years, that's the tipping point.

I'm projecting inflation adjusted prices of energy to go down in the coming years as well as financing costs. The energy market is stabilising with the Ukraine war and central bank rates are also going down right now. Outlook is pretty good economically right but Covid and Ukraine really threw a wrench into the works and fucked up 4 years so far

5 words never written in sequence by a utility provider:

"We are lowering your rates"

I would recommend if you wish to sit down and read the book, it reads like a mad mans manifesto on how to take over europe and china but putin is using it as a playbook. It's available on the internet archive in english to read. Everything over the past few years is going to their plan, and the instability of civility in the USA is apart of that. killing CEO's and people being pushed to brink of using violence to send their message or push progress forward, bringing a domino effect of the US goverment under donlad trump revolting and causing a 2nd civil war. Eurpoe should not rely on the US for defence, and should focus on their own.

Humans can do a lot of things that they aren't.

The Yellowstone Caldera erupting would probably do it, too. Also, a sufficiently big meteor, a rogue planet, or black hole. All would are beyond our current level of technology to survive or avoid. Or a local supernova, although there are no known likely candidates so that one is less likely.

That technology requires massive manufacturing capacity that requires civilization. When water and food become scarce from a changed climate, there goes that.

We won't go extinct for a time, agreed. We'll cling to our hardened structures and aging tech for as long as we can.

But humans thrived on easy mode. In a climate we evolved to thrive in. Without that, we'll become subject to nature's whims once again.

This is precisely why "we're going to colonize Mars" is a hilarious pipedream. We couldn't make a practically infinitely forgiving environment that automatically recycled our waste, water, and air work. We stressed it as hard as we could for as long as we could until it started pushing back, yet we only increased our attack.

A few peak humans growing potatoes on mars is a cute "yay humanity" moment. But you've met us. A colony of hundreds, or thousands, some born into what would inevitably be a highly class segregated system that demands their servitude, given the private profit egotists now in charge of such things, where anyone making a mistake or having had enough easily leading to boom everybody dead try again? Yeah, that'll go swell.