6 ms·

I guess its not surprising the word "climate" doesn't show up in this text, but I still find it depressing.

biglenny 8y ago
Curious why you would find the mention of climate necessary in a piece about frac financing.
toomuchtodo 8y ago
Solar and wind aren't deployed rapidly across the world because of climate change; it's because they're stupid cheap compared to other generation technologies. While I'd love for more people to embrace the urgency of climate change, using economic self-interest is just as good.
- polotics 8y ago
  Really? Please look up some references. Eg. https://jancovici.com/en/ https://jancovici.com/en/
  - toomuchtodo 8y ago
    Germany and other nations that poured subsidies into renewables early on (and are to be commended for their economic sacrifice for doing so) are outliers. The rest of the world caught up as soon as renewables were cheaper than fossil fuels. Capital markets don't have feelings. Humanity lucked out that solar and wind costs were driven down as rapidly as they were through manufacturing scale. We'd be screwed otherwise ("ie business as usual carbon output estimates"). Somewhat related but unrelated: it's not bad if fracking goes south. It'll drive the price of natural gas up, which will make existing nuclear and existing/new renewables more cost competitive. It'll also drive adoption of energy storage faster. We want natural gas prices to rise, since we're not going to internalize the CO2 emission cost through regulation. This allows for market forces to kick in that are beneficial to climate change mitigation. Disclaimer: I have brokered one tax equity partnership arrangement for a solar plant rated @ >1MW (Indianapolis suburbs), and have done my research.
    - Gibbon1 8y ago
      > Humanity lucked out Humanity didn't luck out. The Chinese communists invested heavily in solar while the US was wasting money on fracking.
      - deleted 8y ago
        [deleted]
      - Spooky23 8y ago
        That’s just a clueless statement. How are people going to heat their homes? Solar is amazing, but isn’t the be all end all.
        toomuchtodo 8y ago
        Heat pumps and weatherizing. Likely some homes in very cold climates will still need natural gas service (propane tanks, more likely) for emergency heat when the polar vortex hits, but a tight envelope and an efficient heat pump do most of the heavy lifting.
        scottlocklin 8y ago
        You live in the Bay Area, don't you? No, heat pumps (which take energy; duh) and "weatherizing" are not going to heat houses in Canada or Maine.
        toomuchtodo 8y ago
        One of my properties is in northern Illinois, no problems running off a heat pump almost year round. Natural gas bill is about $150/year for monthly service connections and rare use. I’ve never lived in California.
        roenxi 8y ago
        Your comment omits an important but interesting detail here - how common is "rare use" and what is it being used for?
  - benj111 8y ago
    Are we to read the entire website? I'm not even sure which part you disagree with.

Curious why you would find the mention of climate necessary in a piece about frac financing.

Solar and wind aren't deployed rapidly across the world because of climate change; it's because they're stupid cheap compared to other generation technologies. While I'd love for more people to embrace the urgency of climate change, using economic self-interest is just as good.

polotics 8y ago
Really? Please look up some references. Eg. https://jancovici.com/en/ https://jancovici.com/en/
- toomuchtodo 8y ago
  Germany and other nations that poured subsidies into renewables early on (and are to be commended for their economic sacrifice for doing so) are outliers. The rest of the world caught up as soon as renewables were cheaper than fossil fuels. Capital markets don't have feelings. Humanity lucked out that solar and wind costs were driven down as rapidly as they were through manufacturing scale. We'd be screwed otherwise ("ie business as usual carbon output estimates"). Somewhat related but unrelated: it's not bad if fracking goes south. It'll drive the price of natural gas up, which will make existing nuclear and existing/new renewables more cost competitive. It'll also drive adoption of energy storage faster. We want natural gas prices to rise, since we're not going to internalize the CO2 emission cost through regulation. This allows for market forces to kick in that are beneficial to climate change mitigation. Disclaimer: I have brokered one tax equity partnership arrangement for a solar plant rated @ >1MW (Indianapolis suburbs), and have done my research.
  - Gibbon1 8y ago
    > Humanity lucked out Humanity didn't luck out. The Chinese communists invested heavily in solar while the US was wasting money on fracking.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
    - Spooky23 8y ago
      That’s just a clueless statement. How are people going to heat their homes? Solar is amazing, but isn’t the be all end all.
      - toomuchtodo 8y ago
        Heat pumps and weatherizing. Likely some homes in very cold climates will still need natural gas service (propane tanks, more likely) for emergency heat when the polar vortex hits, but a tight envelope and an efficient heat pump do most of the heavy lifting.
        scottlocklin 8y ago
        You live in the Bay Area, don't you? No, heat pumps (which take energy; duh) and "weatherizing" are not going to heat houses in Canada or Maine.
        toomuchtodo 8y ago
        One of my properties is in northern Illinois, no problems running off a heat pump almost year round. Natural gas bill is about $150/year for monthly service connections and rare use. I’ve never lived in California.
        roenxi 8y ago
        Your comment omits an important but interesting detail here - how common is "rare use" and what is it being used for?
- benj111 8y ago
  Are we to read the entire website? I'm not even sure which part you disagree with.