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On Sustainability reporting in tech companies – the hardware vs software divide
Thanks Denis.
The article above is incorrectly credited to my colleague James Governor - this is my first login since the migration to the new platform so I assume this is a result of that.
I have written several articles on SAP and interviewed Peter Graf (SAP Chief Sustainability Officer) several times so I am very familiar with their record in this space.
On Sandbag report: Europe’s carbon caps have turned into a carbon trap
On Is there really any need for baseload power?
Hey David - thanks for the comment.I never heard anyone "make the case that it must be some kind of conspiracy to recognize that baseload power is required to run a grid" either. Do you have a link? ;-)
The point I was making, rather clumsily obviously, was as Upton Sinclair more eloquently said: "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it"
But, as you say, let's leave this aside and look at costs.
Sure, the Areva reactor in Finland is costing $7.1bn at the minute but that's not the final cost. Not by a long shot.
Nor is there any reckoning of the decomissioning cost of this plant, nor the cost of storing of its waste (in perpetuity). In fact there is no reckoning of the cost of developing technologies to store the waste from this plant as current technologies for storage of nuclear waste cannot handle waste from EPR!
And I assume the cost of even something as straightforward as insurance would be orders of magnitude greater for nuclear (esp EPR) as opposed to renewables.
On Google Energy to start disrupting the utility industry
Yup - couldn't agree more Joy - I'd love to see Google shake things up there a bit but I think if it happens at all, it is not going to be today or tomorrow :-(On Green China: Friend or foe?
Unfortunately the "This is one earth" argument won't cut any ice with the Reps. for the coal states of the US. They are very much of the opinion that all politics are local unfortunately.Consequently, while the UK was the has-been superpower of the 20th century, the US is now headed for has-been superpower status of the 21st century.
On If Most of What I Know Comes from Google, Why Do I Know More Than Eric Schmidt?
Right."Hopefully, Dr. Schmidt is a mature human being who can acknowledge his mistakes, and alter his views accordingly."
And we all hope the same holds true for you too.
On European Future Energy Forum - great show, poor turnout?
That could well be it Robin. I suspect the event was poorly marketed. The vast majority of the attendeed were either from the UK or the Iberian peninsula (Spain or Portugal). I didn't meet anyone who had travelled from France (next door), the Nordic countries, or Eastern Europe - very odd!On Nuclear Power Station Proposals Threaten Wind Farm
Charles,As has been said, try to be civil. Calling people crazy, insane or using preposterous information when they disagree with you only serves to make you (and by extension your argument) look bad.
Vicky more than adequately answered your completely baseless "careless with the facts" accusation. I will just add to that I didn't see you link to any source to back up your numbers/claims.
Re nuclear and CO2, according to the Rocky Mountain Institute:
Firmed windpower and cogeneration are 1.5 times more costeffective than nuclear at displacing CO2. So is efficiency at even an almost unheard-of seven cents per kilowatthour. Efficiency at normally observed costs beats nuclear by a wide margin— for example, by about ten-fold for efficiency costing one cent per kilowatthour.
On Nuclear Power Station Proposals Threaten Wind Farm
Charles and Geoff,It is a pity (and does your argument no good) that you feel the need to denigrate renewable energy.
And Charles, while nuclear plants may output relatively little power while up and running, let's not overlook the fact that the carbon cost of building a nuclear power plant is enormous.
On Better Place to charge US$0.08 per eMile
Sure Geoff,but if the car knows you need a 1 hour charge to top up and that you are (at work, for instance) going to be parked for 8 hours, it can decide when is likely to be the best time for Better Place to buy those electrons to sell to you (where best = most profitable)!
And at the swap stations, the batteries will all be charged at times of low price and then sold on for the US$0.08 Shai mentioned.
When it starts to get interesting is when the economy picks up again, demand for oil ramps up and hits inelastic supply. When that happens we get another oil shock, high prices at the pump and Shai starts to look very prescient!
On IBM’s Dave Bartlett Talking Smarter Buildings
Nice one, thanks willem