Earth matters

[TheReal_ND]

That doesn't count the cost imposed on the power company to have to deal with all the shitty power these people dump on the grid. Even then, it's only economical because we subsidize the manufacturing of the equipment and then give people tax incentives to switch to it. In the big picture, it's just stupid.

In space, solar is fucking awesome. Here on Earth.. for most applications.. nah. I think it's great for homesteading where you are not hooking it up to the grid and using wind/solar to pump and heat water, run some lights, etc. That's fine. Even then, it's not really economical -- just a good idea to be more off the grid.

Its also useful for battery maintenance on sailboats or other big boats in general.

I use one in my van. Just a little cheapo I one from harbor freight to keep my auxiliary battery charged a little longer when I'm running a 12 volt fan. I'm thinking of ways to expand the solar production a little but really I need a whisper quiet generator from Honda so I can play PC games and run a little AC or something.

[Montegriffo]

A British Antarctic Survey-led team of scientists will embark on a mission Wednesday to study the changes to ocean ecosystems at Antarctica's prominent peninsula after a massive iceberg broke away from it last summer.

Over the course of three weeks. from February to March, an international team of biologists, oceanographers and geologists will travel onboard the research ship RRS James Clark Ross to the Larsen C ice shelf to study the local marine ecosystem that has been hidden for more than 100,000 years.

British Antarctic Survey marine biologist Katrin Linse, the operation's leader, told BBC News Radio 4 that the mission's timing is expedient, as they want to examine the ecosystem before sunlight starts to change it.

"We're going into an area where we don't know what we're going to find, and this is an exciting thing," Linse said. "I expect to find animals similar to animals we find in the extreme deep sea, so animals that are not used to feeding on green food, because there was no phytoplankton in the water above... We don't know until we've seen it."

A lump of ice more than twice the size of Luxembourg broke off the Larsen-C ice shelf, spawning one of the largest icebergs on record and changing the outline of the Antarctic Peninsula forever, on July 12, 2017.

[SuburbanFarmer]

I'm sure this is fine.

[Montegriffo]

Nothing to see here, move along...

[StCapps]

*yawns*

[Ph64]

When I looked it up in very minute detail for my property in Washington, about 5 years ago.

If you assume 0 Time Value of Money, and 0 Maintenance costs, and 0 land cost.

Taking advantage of all federal and Washington state government subsidies

Solar would pay for itself in 20 years.


(no battery system / grid attached )

What a coincidence, I keep reading how barring storm/accident damage solar panels will last about 20 years before they lose so much efficiency they should be replaced.

[Speaker to Animals]

Well that's kind of fucked up.

[Montegriffo]

It would be fucked up if true, however

Solar panels are increasingly becoming a popular way to provide energy to UK houses, due in large part to rising energy bills and carbon emissions. The newer solar panel models in the market are expected to have 40-50 year lifespans and warranties to protect them for at least half that time.

The warranties also guarantee the performance level of the panels over their first 25 years. Most warranties guarantee that performance will not drop below 80% by the end of the warranty period. Some panels have been known to still be more than 80% efficient by the end of their life.

With care and attention, solar panels could potentially last over forty years after installation, although their performance will have deteriorated marginally over that time. The 40-50 year life expectancy goes for both monocrystalline and polycrystalline solar panels. Less is known about the lifespan of thin film panels at the moment but, as they also have 25 year warranties as standard, they are expected to match the long life of crystalline panels. The size and wattage of the system should not impact its lifespan.

https://www.theecoexperts.co.uk/life-ex ... lar-panels

Warranties are not the same as lifespan.

[Penner]

Pruitt has “has a blanket waiver to fly in first or business class” because of security concerns, an EPA spokesperson told CBS News in a separate statement.

Government workers are allowed to fly business or first class when there are no cheaper options “reasonably available” or if under exceptional security circumstances, according to federal regulations.

But Pruitt’s travel activity, which is frequent, has been particularly expensive for taxpayers. Pruitt is also the first EPA administrator to have round-the-clock security. Previous administrators only had a security detail when working or in transit. Pruitt’s security detail cost $832,735.40 in salary and travel expenses for his first quarter at the agency, according to E&E News obtained records last year under the Freedom of Information Act. Those costs were nearly double than what was spent on security for previous EPA chiefs Lisa Jackson and Gina McCarthy.

The latest discovery, reported by the Washington Post, was $90,000 in taxpayer-funded travel for Pruitt and his top aides during a stretch of travel in early June.

The Associated Press has records showing Pruitt has taken at least four flights on non-commercial aircraft, costing more than $58,000. EPA has said all of those flights were necessary and pre-approved by ethics lawyers.

http://fortune.com/2018/02/14/epa-scott ... ss-travel/

[Fife]

Muh narrative has some southern exposure?

Weird.

:goteam: :drunk:

https://www.popularmechanics.com/scienc ... f-melting/

“It blew our minds,” Christina Hulbe, the glaciologist from the University of Otago in New Zealand, who co-led the project, told National Geographic.

. . .

Though results of this study were unexpected, that doesn't change the larger trend of accelerated warming and icecap melting. In fact, NASA just confirmed we are losing ice in Antarctica at a faster rate every year. The reasons for these odd Ross results probably won't become clear until much more research is done. But for now, at the very least, it's a decent sign that catastrophic melting of the Ross Ice Shelf won't occur in the near future.