budget_biochemist
@budget_biochemist@slrpnk.net
- Comment on Long-promised animal cruelty prevention laws quietly shelved by Victorian government 1 week ago:
The dog photographed in the article was bashed with a metal pole by Mark Martinaj for 5 minutes and has since disappeared, presumed killed. He successfully appealed his jail sentence and got off with a community corrections order.
- Comment on Government says people can 'make the call' on work from home amid fuel supply concerns 1 week ago:
We need to somehow invent batteries and solar panels that can be made using nothing non-renewable, but we’re not even close.
This is simply untrue. Here’s an in depth Technology Connections video about renewable power, including the ease of recycling both solar panels and batteries
Solar panels are 90% recyclable and most parts can be easily separated by hand. The aluminum, glass, silver and copper can then be simply melted down. The only reason it isn’t more common is that the labor costs are more expensive than buying virgin raw materials - a capitalism problem, not a technical problem.
Likewise, most batteries are recyclable by simply separating the electrodes and melting them down. For alkali metals like Lithium and Sodium you have the complication of having to work in an inert space but that doesn’t make it impossible, just more work. Again, it’s a problem of the labor cost of recycling being prohibitive, not a technical problem. Lithium batteries are 98% recyclable.
The suggestion that 98% recyclable batteries are somehow less sustainable than oil-based fuels that are literally burnt up and completely unrecoverable is ludicrous.
- Comment on Government says people can 'make the call' on work from home amid fuel supply concerns 1 week ago:
What non-renewable materials?
What is less renewable than literally burning a finite resource?
- Submitted 1 week ago to australia@aussie.zone | 0 comments
- Comment on Government says people can 'make the call' on work from home amid fuel supply concerns 1 week ago:
If that’s the lesson you think needs to be learned, you’ve learned the wrong lesson from this.
As another person said, we’re at the “And Find Out” stages of climate change and fossil fuels.
We need to take more ownership of our petrol/diesel/oil supply.
Or maybe we could shift away from the fossil fuel fetish toward sustainable sources of energy.
- Comment on BYO sandwiches and no cafe lunches as retirements threatened by rising costs 1 week ago:
These people who complain about being “not able to leave their house” are probably the same people who complain about the NDIS paying for support workers to get disabled clients out of the house, saying that that’s not necessary or essential.
- Comment on BYO sandwiches and no cafe lunches as retirements threatened by rising costs 1 week ago:
- Comment on Government says people can 'make the call' on work from home amid fuel supply concerns 1 week ago:
Probably the same ones who bought a stupidly oversized and heavy vehicle and now complain about fuel prices.
- Comment on 25.2% of energy EU used in 2024 came from renewables 3 months ago:
Yes, when I saw the headline I thought it was shockingly low for electricity generation. Only reading the details of “gross final energy” makes clear this includes fuel for vehicles and heating.
- Comment on Why are famous chefs fighting PFAS bans? 3 months ago:
I remember when teflon pans first became popular and the celebrity chefs were all adamant that they were common trash unlike whatever bougie cookware they were using.
- Comment on Nuclear and Fossil Fuels Join Forces to Undermine Renewables 3 months ago:
If it was the only alternative nuclear power would be a solution to reducing coal and gas, but there’s no point building nuclear reactors if the renewables are better. Solar + Wind + Batteries are faster and cheaper to build, require less specialized skills and materials, easier to get approvals for, cheaper to run (doesn’t use any kind of fuel), lower emissions, better safety, more distributed (with the advantages that come along with that like being more fault-tolerant, etc).
Looking at generators all over Australia, Solar, Wind and Batteries are just popping up everywhere partly because they’re cheap and easy to build and run.
- Comment on Australia could miss clean energy target as solar and wind investment slumps, investors warn 3 months ago:
Our (Australia’s) renewable power at the moment is bottlenecked by low storage. Once the storage is present to soak up excess generation during the day, investment in generation will probably pick up again.
We have so much solar power during the day that wholesale prices go negative and in six months they will be required to make it free during the day to try and shift usage to when the excess generation occurs.
- Comment on DIY Retained Heat Stockpots for efficient slow cooking? 4 months ago:
Thanks, that page also links to Wonderbag which is far more practical to DIY. The branded ones are rather expensive (although to be fair that price includes the charitable contribution).
In any case wrapping a stockpot in silicone (to protect the fabric) and then even more insulating material should be straightforward.
- Submitted 4 months ago to diy@slrpnk.net | 7 comments
- Comment on Tomato: Software that aids community based organizations in redistributing resources. 4 months ago:
- Comment on Tomato: Software that aids community based organizations in redistributing resources. 4 months ago:
This seems to be a component of a larger system called “Rootable” and would be better to link directly to that.
- Comment on Australia has so much solar that it's offering everyone free electricity 4 months ago:
Cut and paste my comment on another post about the announcement:
Australia wastes a lot of our renewable energy because of insufficient storage during the day. The data of our energy generation can be seen on OpenElectricity. The shaded section on top is the amount of renewables which are “curtailed” (turned off due to insufficient storage), and the little bit below the zero line is the amount that actually gets stored in batteries or pumped hydro.
Because coal power can’t turn on and off easily, we burn coal 24/7 for power and throw away 10% of our renewable generation. Hence this policy, to encourage more use during the day when we can use more renewable power. Some retailers have been already offering this as “happy hours” or “three for free” during the solar peak.
There are even a few retailers that vary their charges (pun intended) based on current (intended again) wholesale rates - because of all the excess solar, electricity through those providers is often completely free from 9-10am to 3-4pm.
- Comment on Australians to get at least three hours a day of free solar power - even if they don’t have solar panels 4 months ago:
I think there will be more appliances that come with batteries built in too. There are already fridges and induction stoves that come with dual battery/mains power.
- Comment on Australians to get at least three hours a day of free solar power - even if they don’t have solar panels 4 months ago:
This link should show curtailment on](explore.openelectricity.org.au/energy/nem/?range=…). There should be a white-shaded bit at the very top (if not, click on the box on the left side under “Curtailment” and next to “Renewables”).
- Comment on Australians to get at least three hours a day of free solar power - even if they don’t have solar panels 4 months ago:
PS: Australia wastes a lot of our renewable energy because of insufficient storage during the day. The data of our energy generation can be seen on OpenElectricity. The shaded section on top is the amount of renewables which are “curtailed” (turned off due to insufficient storage), and the little bit below the zero line is the amount that actually gets stored in batteries or pumped hydro.
Because coal power can’t turn on and off easily, we burn coal 24/7 for power and throw away 10% of our renewable generation. Hence this policy, to encourage more use during the day when we can use more renewable power. Some retailers have been already offering this as “happy hours” or “three for free” during the solar peak.
There are even a few retailers that vary their charges (pun intended) based on current (intended again) wholesale rates - because of all the excess solar, electricity through those providers is often completely free from 9-10am to 3-4pm.
- Australians to get at least three hours a day of free solar power - even if they don’t have solar panelswww.theguardian.com ↗Submitted 4 months ago to energy@slrpnk.net | 12 comments
- Comment on Plug-in solar panels that fit on your balcony or deck are gaining traction in the US 7 months ago:
AFAIK most of the small scale solar systems designed for balconies and rentals aren’t intended to connect to the grid. They are designed to deliver power downstream only to a few DC appliances, falling back to a mains power adapter when there isn’t enough sunlight or battery power.