As always you do great work exposing reality and facts over dumb narrative. I hope that these people get their act together before they face a preventable tragedy.
Thanks Doomie for opening this post to us groundlings as we prepare our coats and a drawer full of fuzzies (winter hats and scarves) for a cold January that, so far, has come in like a lamb with rain and mild temperatures. Fortunately, I'm writing this from Ohio where buildings are prepared for cold weather and where there's gas supply. Your first map drove the point home.
This illustrates perfectly, the inefficiency of Governance, and the impracticality of some laws as time and social outlook changes. One can only hope that the righteousness of eliminating fossil fuel projects generates enough of an internal warm glow to sustain those believers through winter.
I live in CT, despite most homes being heated by oil, you would be greatly surprised how many homes have not just one, but multiple fireplaces in the house. A HUGE number of the homes are very, very old. The housing that goes up today, like apartments and what not, yes, they will need energy. However, I would not discount NE's ability to redirect energy consumption away from oil and into wood at the drop of a hat.
I'll give a short story to demonstrate.
10ish years ago there was a terrible storm in which before the leaves finished falling, we had freezing rain/snow. As the rain froze to the leaves, it made the limbs so heavy that trees all across CT and Mass we falling left and right. On homes, in streets, on cars and on power lines. We were out of power for a week here. What did people do. There was no energy crisis. No one was out of oil to heat homes. What happened. There was like a regional effect by everyone to clean this wood up. Why? Because everyone wanted to get their hands on the firewood. See, state workers were coming with chainsaws, slicing up the trees on the road and would simply push it to the side and onto some persons lawn. Within hours that tree would be GONE! Like vultures, New England residents would swoop in with pick-ups, trucks...cars,...everything. Everyone wanted to get free firewood because free is better than paying for oil! The effort to get the biggest tree was so great, I even had a full cord worth of uncut log stolen off my yard after dragging it 30 miles back to my house. An impressively heavy thing to steal if you think about it.
My point being is that the moment energy prices become a real problem in the NE,...not a distant one, but a real issue that the residents are aware of, you would instantly see a massive shift to burning firewood. We burn wood; we got jackets, wood splitters, axes and chainsaws for days. Believe me, there is no short supply of trees around here and everyone that isn't in the metro of Boston/Springfield/Hartford...grew up carrying firewood for campfires and the house alike. Wood Spiders? Who hasn't seen one scurry across your hand grabbing wood in the winter. What to do what to do... campfire and alcohol of course.
IMO, the real issue around here is in the summer. AC usage is something there is no way around. While winter is cold, New England is used to it. We get hot more easily than someone from Florida simply because of climate acclimation. We're used to the cold nine months of the year, so when the summer months hit, the AC turns on and runs 24.7. I agree with SolarFest Dave's point that your "comfort zone" level is set WAYYYY too high. If I had my house set like that in the winter, I would literally not be able to do anything in the home unless I was only wearing only what God gave me. A comfort zone between 64 and 75 is more reasonable. People here are aware of energy costs and usually opt to turn the heat down and wear socks, not work overtime so the house can be empty and 90 degrees.
Hope that helps perhaps give a little perspective of a native.
First of all, I have been a New Englander for the past 54 years of my life (since the age of 6).
There is an awful lot of either misleading information - or simply ignored facts in this opinion piece:
Misleading info: the range given for the "thermal comfort" zone (67 to 82F) is absolutely ABSURD!! Well insulated and air sealed homes are well known to be comfortable in the mid 60sF and below. Heating one's home to 80F (or above) is only done by the elderly (and low-income folks in public housing because we have not invested in heating system controls in decades since these buildings were erected, many in the 1940s and 1950s and would be extremely uncomfortable to the average New Englander (as well as being highly wasteful, which no proud New Englander will tolerate. The desired humidty range is more accurate, though I would narrow it to 40 to 50% - and also note that our homes are MUCH too dry, leading to less comfort as well as less healthy places to live (low humidity dries out the sinuses and makes catching colds and flus more likely.
By drastically overstating the desired indoor temperature of our homes, the Doomsberg folks have recommended indoor temperature settings that, at the extreme of 82F, would result in an increase of about 90% in our energy consumption to heat our homes (every 10F of temperature reduction would will save about 30% on fuel consumption).
Ignored facts: all the talk about building new gas pipelines COMPLETELY ignores the dire reports from the IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change) about how we MUST reduce fossil fuel consumption MUCH more rapidly than we realized. Continuing to build out fossil fuel infrastructure is climate suicide!
How must we proceed? We've got to practice much more conservation and energy efficiency, our two greatest resources which 99% of the 'experts' have NO IDEA about the potential of (see what the Rocky Mountain Institute is doing - REAL projects in the REAL world www.rmi.org). We have to look to the big picture of leaving the planet healthy and productive for our children - and, yes, that likely means some 'sacrifice' as we learn to change our over-consumptive lifestyles.
I put the word 'sacrifice' in quotes above because I cannot call it sacrifice but rather relatively minor inconvenience. Think of it this way: when the Greatest Generation stormed the beaches at Normandy in June of 1944, knowing that their death was an all too likely possibility, THAT was sacrifice.
We have become embarrassingly spoiled and self centered by our lack of being challenged in way too long...God help us.
How do the IPCC recommendations warm people's houses this winter? When elderly people freeze to death in their homes will you say that's ok, because we did a Global Warming-thing?
A fellow was stuck on his rooftop in a flood. He was praying to God for help.
Soon a man in a rowboat came by and the fellow shouted to the man on the roof, “Jump in, I can save you.”
The stranded fellow shouted back, “No, it’s OK, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me.”
So the rowboat went on.
Then a motorboat came by. “The fellow in the motorboat shouted, “Jump in, I can save you.”
To this the stranded man said, “No thanks, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith.”
So the motorboat went on.
Then a helicopter came by and the pilot shouted down, “Grab this rope and I will lift you to safety.”
To this the stranded man again replied, “No thanks, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith.”
So the helicopter reluctantly flew away.
Soon the water rose above the rooftop and the man drowned. He went to Heaven. He finally got his chance to discuss this whole situation with God, at which point he exclaimed, “I had faith in you but you didn’t save me, you let me drown. I don’t understand why!”
To this God replied, “I sent you a rowboat and a motorboat and a helicopter, what more did you expect?”
Great piece. Need to have interview with Vaclav Smil about how the real world works. His book "Numbers Don't Lie" is awesome. Only thing missing is time component (that is time to build a pipeline from WV to Northeast even with no permitting delays). Everyone is used to instant stuff but this works only in the (now crumbling) Metaverse.
I had the misfortune of having to show the Al Gore film to a jr hi science class back around 2002. I was a sub teacher at the time and the primary teacher didn't appreciate that I told the classes that the film appeared to be closer to propaganda than scientific fact. I wasn't asked back. Since then, I am convinced that the "Greenies" have become even more divorced from the realities of physics. This piece confirms that.
Enjoy your work. So take these questions for what they are... questions. 1) NE energy demand has been in secular decline... does that mean that there is excess capacity? Or is capacity falling faster? 2) peak energy demand is in the summer... is there actually a potential for shortfalls in the winter? 3) The population lives in the coast... wouldn't you expect infra to be close to the population?. 4) Do you have any work that shows supply and demand and works through what it would take create a shortfall. 5) It will happen eventually... you will post a piece, and get feedback and find out that the central point of the article is wrong... how will you deal with it. I am not a grid expert. I don't know that you wrong here or even if my questions are great questions. But I will gain a lot more confidence in the work when the time comes and we get to see in real time how you deal with publishing a piece that proves to be off base.
I say bring on the crises and then watch as the media and our elites propagandize the people to think that it wasn't poor investment in renewables that was the cause. then they will double down again and then get wiped out. We will see who the smart politicians are that wake up to this and use the crises to take power (literally). The only other way this could go is that the propaganda works and no matter if they don't have power, people will literally suck it up and keep believing in the green propaganda. We will see which way it goes. I wish I could come up with a way to financially benefit from the green idiots and their plans.
New Hampshire has been trying to bring in more LNG pipelines for year. Most people in the State rely on Propane or Heating Oil delivery by trucks. The problem is New York will not allow pipelines to transit New York State or it's nearby off shore waters. Massachusetts and Vermont hold a similar position. So, no new pipelines can reach New Hampshire (or Maine). If New England only relied on LNG pipeline capacity, it would run out of gas to power its plants. So, it has to import. New Hampshire has its own problems, though. It also recently voted to block a large hydroelectric line from Canada called "Northern Pass".
As always you do great work exposing reality and facts over dumb narrative. I hope that these people get their act together before they face a preventable tragedy.
It would take a heart of stone not to ___________.
Excellent
Thanks Doomie for opening this post to us groundlings as we prepare our coats and a drawer full of fuzzies (winter hats and scarves) for a cold January that, so far, has come in like a lamb with rain and mild temperatures. Fortunately, I'm writing this from Ohio where buildings are prepared for cold weather and where there's gas supply. Your first map drove the point home.
This illustrates perfectly, the inefficiency of Governance, and the impracticality of some laws as time and social outlook changes. One can only hope that the righteousness of eliminating fossil fuel projects generates enough of an internal warm glow to sustain those believers through winter.
“Solarfest”. Hmm. Okay. Kinda says it all.
I live in CT, despite most homes being heated by oil, you would be greatly surprised how many homes have not just one, but multiple fireplaces in the house. A HUGE number of the homes are very, very old. The housing that goes up today, like apartments and what not, yes, they will need energy. However, I would not discount NE's ability to redirect energy consumption away from oil and into wood at the drop of a hat.
I'll give a short story to demonstrate.
10ish years ago there was a terrible storm in which before the leaves finished falling, we had freezing rain/snow. As the rain froze to the leaves, it made the limbs so heavy that trees all across CT and Mass we falling left and right. On homes, in streets, on cars and on power lines. We were out of power for a week here. What did people do. There was no energy crisis. No one was out of oil to heat homes. What happened. There was like a regional effect by everyone to clean this wood up. Why? Because everyone wanted to get their hands on the firewood. See, state workers were coming with chainsaws, slicing up the trees on the road and would simply push it to the side and onto some persons lawn. Within hours that tree would be GONE! Like vultures, New England residents would swoop in with pick-ups, trucks...cars,...everything. Everyone wanted to get free firewood because free is better than paying for oil! The effort to get the biggest tree was so great, I even had a full cord worth of uncut log stolen off my yard after dragging it 30 miles back to my house. An impressively heavy thing to steal if you think about it.
My point being is that the moment energy prices become a real problem in the NE,...not a distant one, but a real issue that the residents are aware of, you would instantly see a massive shift to burning firewood. We burn wood; we got jackets, wood splitters, axes and chainsaws for days. Believe me, there is no short supply of trees around here and everyone that isn't in the metro of Boston/Springfield/Hartford...grew up carrying firewood for campfires and the house alike. Wood Spiders? Who hasn't seen one scurry across your hand grabbing wood in the winter. What to do what to do... campfire and alcohol of course.
IMO, the real issue around here is in the summer. AC usage is something there is no way around. While winter is cold, New England is used to it. We get hot more easily than someone from Florida simply because of climate acclimation. We're used to the cold nine months of the year, so when the summer months hit, the AC turns on and runs 24.7. I agree with SolarFest Dave's point that your "comfort zone" level is set WAYYYY too high. If I had my house set like that in the winter, I would literally not be able to do anything in the home unless I was only wearing only what God gave me. A comfort zone between 64 and 75 is more reasonable. People here are aware of energy costs and usually opt to turn the heat down and wear socks, not work overtime so the house can be empty and 90 degrees.
Hope that helps perhaps give a little perspective of a native.
-Ice
Never use oil based heating as upstate resident, NG in modern homes in 90s was a standard.
"We were out of power for a week here. What did people do. There was no energy crisis. No one was out of oil to heat homes."
Without power the NG furnace does not work. Is oil similar to woodfire place found inside homes, one without NG. Here in VA , NG fire place is common.
First of all, I have been a New Englander for the past 54 years of my life (since the age of 6).
There is an awful lot of either misleading information - or simply ignored facts in this opinion piece:
Misleading info: the range given for the "thermal comfort" zone (67 to 82F) is absolutely ABSURD!! Well insulated and air sealed homes are well known to be comfortable in the mid 60sF and below. Heating one's home to 80F (or above) is only done by the elderly (and low-income folks in public housing because we have not invested in heating system controls in decades since these buildings were erected, many in the 1940s and 1950s and would be extremely uncomfortable to the average New Englander (as well as being highly wasteful, which no proud New Englander will tolerate. The desired humidty range is more accurate, though I would narrow it to 40 to 50% - and also note that our homes are MUCH too dry, leading to less comfort as well as less healthy places to live (low humidity dries out the sinuses and makes catching colds and flus more likely.
By drastically overstating the desired indoor temperature of our homes, the Doomsberg folks have recommended indoor temperature settings that, at the extreme of 82F, would result in an increase of about 90% in our energy consumption to heat our homes (every 10F of temperature reduction would will save about 30% on fuel consumption).
Ignored facts: all the talk about building new gas pipelines COMPLETELY ignores the dire reports from the IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change) about how we MUST reduce fossil fuel consumption MUCH more rapidly than we realized. Continuing to build out fossil fuel infrastructure is climate suicide!
How must we proceed? We've got to practice much more conservation and energy efficiency, our two greatest resources which 99% of the 'experts' have NO IDEA about the potential of (see what the Rocky Mountain Institute is doing - REAL projects in the REAL world www.rmi.org). We have to look to the big picture of leaving the planet healthy and productive for our children - and, yes, that likely means some 'sacrifice' as we learn to change our over-consumptive lifestyles.
I put the word 'sacrifice' in quotes above because I cannot call it sacrifice but rather relatively minor inconvenience. Think of it this way: when the Greatest Generation stormed the beaches at Normandy in June of 1944, knowing that their death was an all too likely possibility, THAT was sacrifice.
We have become embarrassingly spoiled and self centered by our lack of being challenged in way too long...God help us.
Perhaps you should read the post above about burning wood.
How do the IPCC recommendations warm people's houses this winter? When elderly people freeze to death in their homes will you say that's ok, because we did a Global Warming-thing?
The IPPC is NOT an organization that is in the home heating business.
Do you criticize Toyota for not being involved in solving cancer?!?
What a truly idiotic comment you have posted!!
You're not really serious with that comment, are you?
When it comes down to committing suicide fast or slow I would chose slow.
Reminds me of this old joke...
A fellow was stuck on his rooftop in a flood. He was praying to God for help.
Soon a man in a rowboat came by and the fellow shouted to the man on the roof, “Jump in, I can save you.”
The stranded fellow shouted back, “No, it’s OK, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me.”
So the rowboat went on.
Then a motorboat came by. “The fellow in the motorboat shouted, “Jump in, I can save you.”
To this the stranded man said, “No thanks, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith.”
So the motorboat went on.
Then a helicopter came by and the pilot shouted down, “Grab this rope and I will lift you to safety.”
To this the stranded man again replied, “No thanks, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith.”
So the helicopter reluctantly flew away.
Soon the water rose above the rooftop and the man drowned. He went to Heaven. He finally got his chance to discuss this whole situation with God, at which point he exclaimed, “I had faith in you but you didn’t save me, you let me drown. I don’t understand why!”
To this God replied, “I sent you a rowboat and a motorboat and a helicopter, what more did you expect?”
Great piece. Need to have interview with Vaclav Smil about how the real world works. His book "Numbers Don't Lie" is awesome. Only thing missing is time component (that is time to build a pipeline from WV to Northeast even with no permitting delays). Everyone is used to instant stuff but this works only in the (now crumbling) Metaverse.
I had the misfortune of having to show the Al Gore film to a jr hi science class back around 2002. I was a sub teacher at the time and the primary teacher didn't appreciate that I told the classes that the film appeared to be closer to propaganda than scientific fact. I wasn't asked back. Since then, I am convinced that the "Greenies" have become even more divorced from the realities of physics. This piece confirms that.
Enjoy your work. So take these questions for what they are... questions. 1) NE energy demand has been in secular decline... does that mean that there is excess capacity? Or is capacity falling faster? 2) peak energy demand is in the summer... is there actually a potential for shortfalls in the winter? 3) The population lives in the coast... wouldn't you expect infra to be close to the population?. 4) Do you have any work that shows supply and demand and works through what it would take create a shortfall. 5) It will happen eventually... you will post a piece, and get feedback and find out that the central point of the article is wrong... how will you deal with it. I am not a grid expert. I don't know that you wrong here or even if my questions are great questions. But I will gain a lot more confidence in the work when the time comes and we get to see in real time how you deal with publishing a piece that proves to be off base.
No posts since I joined,. I'll try to not take it personally. 🤔
Funny how the bird is green. Just a coincidence, I sure.
https://www.bitchute.com/video/1qMMhg3zpQ0K/
I say bring on the crises and then watch as the media and our elites propagandize the people to think that it wasn't poor investment in renewables that was the cause. then they will double down again and then get wiped out. We will see who the smart politicians are that wake up to this and use the crises to take power (literally). The only other way this could go is that the propaganda works and no matter if they don't have power, people will literally suck it up and keep believing in the green propaganda. We will see which way it goes. I wish I could come up with a way to financially benefit from the green idiots and their plans.
New Hampshire has been trying to bring in more LNG pipelines for year. Most people in the State rely on Propane or Heating Oil delivery by trucks. The problem is New York will not allow pipelines to transit New York State or it's nearby off shore waters. Massachusetts and Vermont hold a similar position. So, no new pipelines can reach New Hampshire (or Maine). If New England only relied on LNG pipeline capacity, it would run out of gas to power its plants. So, it has to import. New Hampshire has its own problems, though. It also recently voted to block a large hydroelectric line from Canada called "Northern Pass".