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That is one reason why a lot of serious environmentalists are such ardent fanboys of Tesla - Renewable generation is already extremely cheap, but it has less ut

That is one reason why a lot of serious environmentalists are such ardent fanboys of Tesla - Renewable generation is already extremely cheap, but it has less utility without some adjacent means of storage. It's really energy storage, not sustainable generation, that needs to get cheaper to muddle through the end of fossil fuels. Funding energy storage research by attaching wheels to batteries and selling them above market rates is a pretty genius bit of economic hacking when seen in that context.

wazoox 7y ago
As I said renewable generation is only cheap because 1° we use our fossil-fueled infrastructure to build it 2° we have fossil fuels (mostly gas) to make up for its foibles. But we don't have the resources to build up enough batteries and windmills without destroying the climate doing it. The ecological and climate situation is absolutely cataclysmic. Rich people from rich country are far-removed enough from down-to-earth reality to minimize it most of the time, but the truth is that current trends are not only unsustainable but must be reversed as soon and as fast as possible. We're falling towards the ground and accelerating, but as long as we haven't hit the ground we still believe everything's fine and someone will pop a parachute out in time. But all we have are handkerchiefs. I'll remind you that the "climate goals" from the Paris agreement are 1° much too low to actually "save the climate" but at the same time 2° we're far from attaining them! I'll tell you what "serious environmentalism" is: Actually you, we, I, everybody should be terrified of the current situation. Planetary collapse is about to occur about any moment now, but the orchestra's still playing on the upper deck. If you haven't trouble finding sleep about climate and mass extinction at night, then you're probably not having a good grasp of what's happening. It's the heart of winter here and fruit trees are blossoming. There isn't any snow in any ski resorts under 2000m in the Alps; they're hauling snow with helicopters ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEuTKMkgY6A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEuTKMkgY6A ) because it's not even cold enough at night for "snow guns" to work. I'm out there in t-shirt while it should be freezing. It's been the same temperature in Scandinavia last week as is normal in June. Half of the "non-return" points have been reach 40 years sooner than expected in the worst scenarios. 60% of wild animals worldwide have died. 65% to 80% of insects have disappeared in Europe. 88% of freshwater fish worldwide. Only 20% of land worldwide haven't been negatively impacted by human activities yet.
- ash 7y ago
  > It's the heart of winter here and fruit trees are blossoming. There isn't any snow in any ski resorts under 2000m in the Alps; they're hauling snow with helicopters ... I think you are confusing weather with climate: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/weather-vs-climate https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/weather-vs-climate
  - wazoox 7y ago
    When abnormally hot weather repeat month after month and year after year, we call this climate. 17 of the 18 hottest years worldwide were among the past 20 years. The current climate evolution is way worse than the worst predictions from recent IPCC reports. We'll reach +2°C before 2050.

wazoox 7y ago

As I said renewable generation is only cheap because 1° we use our fossil-fueled infrastructure to build it 2° we have fossil fuels (mostly gas) to make up for its foibles. But we don't have the resources to build up enough batteries and windmills without destroying the climate doing it. The ecological and climate situation is absolutely cataclysmic. Rich people from rich country are far-removed enough from down-to-earth reality to minimize it most of the time, but the truth is that current trends are not only unsustainable but must be reversed as soon and as fast as possible. We're falling towards the ground and accelerating, but as long as we haven't hit the ground we still believe everything's fine and someone will pop a parachute out in time. But all we have are handkerchiefs. I'll remind you that the "climate goals" from the Paris agreement are 1° much too low to actually "save the climate" but at the same time 2° we're far from attaining them! I'll tell you what "serious environmentalism" is: Actually you, we, I, everybody should be terrified of the current situation. Planetary collapse is about to occur about any moment now, but the orchestra's still playing on the upper deck. If you haven't trouble finding sleep about climate and mass extinction at night, then you're probably not having a good grasp of what's happening. It's the heart of winter here and fruit trees are blossoming. There isn't any snow in any ski resorts under 2000m in the Alps; they're hauling snow with helicopters ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEuTKMkgY6A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEuTKMkgY6A ) because it's not even cold enough at night for "snow guns" to work. I'm out there in t-shirt while it should be freezing. It's been the same temperature in Scandinavia last week as is normal in June. Half of the "non-return" points have been reach 40 years sooner than expected in the worst scenarios. 60% of wild animals worldwide have died. 65% to 80% of insects have disappeared in Europe. 88% of freshwater fish worldwide. Only 20% of land worldwide haven't been negatively impacted by human activities yet.

ash 7y ago
> It's the heart of winter here and fruit trees are blossoming. There isn't any snow in any ski resorts under 2000m in the Alps; they're hauling snow with helicopters ... I think you are confusing weather with climate: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/weather-vs-climate https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/weather-vs-climate
- wazoox 7y ago
  When abnormally hot weather repeat month after month and year after year, we call this climate. 17 of the 18 hottest years worldwide were among the past 20 years. The current climate evolution is way worse than the worst predictions from recent IPCC reports. We'll reach +2°C before 2050.