Social Climate Tech News

Tue 02 08 2022
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Producing energy is difficult, but saving is greater!

by bernt & torsten

What has happened, and where has the issue of saving energy gone? Many want to make the production of hydroelectric power more difficult and expensive through unreasonable demands for rebuilding without regard to whether the facilities have existed for hundreds of years and that thereby local biotopes and cultural environments have been created which can be just as valuable as the possible fish they say they want to protect. 

Have those now talking about “small modular nuclear reactors” understood that these only exist in scientists’ theories? Have those advocating for more nuclear power realized that Russia controls more than 50 percent of known uranium resources? France has the largest share of nuclear power generation in Europe, has the most expensive electricity and has major problems with cooling the inland nuclear plants as the river water gets warmer.

Passive houses are not rewarded. Energy saving is not on the agenda. Everyone wants to show off with the flashiest look.

Sometimes hydrogen is seen as a good solution. During combustion, water is formed – but how is hydrogen produced? Hydrogen is designated by different colours depending on how it has been produced.

  • Grey: Produced from fossil natural gas without capture and storage (CCS) of the by-product carbon dioxide.
  • Blue: Produced from fossil natural gas with CCS.
  • Brown: Produced by gasification of lignite.
  • Black: Produced by gasification of hard coal.
  • Green: Produced primarily by splitting water through electrolysis, using electricity from renewable sources. It can also be made from biomass.
  • Yellow, which can, depending on who you ask, be considered to be from electrolysis with nuclear electricity, electrolysis with solar electricity or electrolysis with electricity of mixed origin.

Which colour the hydrogen gas is called thus has nothing to do with either appearance or chemical composition. Hydrogen always consists of hydrogen atoms joined together two by two and is always transparent. Almost all hydrogen produced today is black, brown or grey. It has a fossil origin and is, therefore, not particularly environmentally friendly!

“Grand design” and other TV programs on architecture or design show house after house with super-large glass sections, flat roofs and apparently thin walls. You get praise from famous architects. The more glass and crazy looks, the more praise!

Glass cool in the winter and lets in heat in the summer. Then you heat or cool with AC! AC draws electricity and would not be needed at all, at least not in climate zone 1-3, if the houses were built with a good climate shell! 

Passive houses are not rewarded. Energy saving is not on the agenda. Everyone wants to show off with the flashiest look. Passive houses will not be more expensive to build but cheaper to live in! How are architects and builders trained?

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