Falling further behind
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U.S. Declared An Energy Emergency, Then Paid $4 Billion For Less Energy
Trump's administration paid energy firms nearly $4 billion to cancel offshore wind projects during a declared energy emergency. Less power, later, at higher cost.
www.forbes.com
No, likely very few if any have or will come online due to a multitude of reasons, at least in the Pacific Northwest.
This administration prefers to invest more in LNG and other fossil fuel projects versus wind and solar. They believe wind and solar is less viable and more costly. The previous administration was the exact opposite.U.S. Declared An Energy Emergency, Then Paid $4 Billion For Less Energy
Trump's administration paid energy firms nearly $4 billion to cancel offshore wind projects during a declared energy emergency. Less power, later, at higher cost.
EbS-P
Minister of Fire
The reasons are the negative environmental impacts of large scale dams are no longer acceptable. So we chose wind and solar for current renewables.
The US will some nuclear come on line in the next decade I think in the form of SMRs to power data centers.
EbS-P
Minister of Fire
Canada seems to be want to develop more hydro. Site C was just recently commissioned in BC, and their looking at putting another (a 4th) dam downstream of it on the peace river system. Muskrat falls has a giant $10 billion expansion coming in Labrador. And other projects are being considered elsewhere.
Whitenuckler
Minister of Fire
I have been forever puzzled about mpg technology in combustion engines. Over 40 years ago I had a diesel VW Rabbit. I could coax 62 mpg highway from that thing. Not only that, but it was the era of diesel being slightly cheaper than gas. What happened? We seem to have regressed. Emission standards went extreme? Customers stopped demanding hi-mpg? Energy company execs started taking car company execs on golf vacations?
The weight of cars has increased significantly in the mean time.
That was peak diesel efficiency. Small, light, fairly aerodynamic car, a high compression small diesel engine with no emissions equipment. Those old VW diesels made something like 49hp at full output, they weren't even turbo charged, which is un heard of today.
Emissions equipment does reduce efficiency some, but I've got a new GMC half-ton that regularly does 30mpg with the 3.0 diesel. Which really isn't bad for a 5,800lb pickup with a factory 2" lift. It would get better if a few parts fell off, but what's really hard to change is the 15.2:1 compression ratio, which is low for a diesel. 17 or 18:1 would net better economy, but at the cost of higher NOx emissions.
Reality is it's consumer driven, people want bigger vehicles to drive around in. For example, for 2027 GM is dropping the 5.3 and 6.2 V8's from the half tons, and replacing them with larger 5.7 and 6.6 liter variants.
We have money and we're not afraid to spend it and we like comfort. I personally would like to see a basic vehicle but the majority wouldn't buy something basic. Chevrolet does not make a car besides the Corvette, take a minute and wrap your head around that. I couldn't believe it when someone said that but it's true. Americans want BIG and that's what they're giving us. I would think the answer would be a VW type concept EV but it would never be profitable.
This is more the power of money as a result of Citizen's United that is well above the average consumer's. American's don't want big in a lot of cases, especially in urban areas. Unfortunately, instead of buying American, they have been forced into buying cars not made by the big 3 anymore. I did a recent count on a ferry loading here and excluding trucks, only 1 in 7 cars were by American car companies. Several were made in America, but from the likes of Honda, VW, etc.
Yes, the no car production here (only SUVs and pick ups) sucks.
But part of that (foreign vs US) has to do too with the money. If one shells out that much money for a car (compare how car prices have not kept track with median income), it better be a reliable car.
Japanese and Korean cars are just statistically more reliable.
Consumer Reports statistics say Lexus, Subaru, Toyota, Honda, BMW are the top 5.
But part of that (foreign vs US) has to do too with the money. If one shells out that much money for a car (compare how car prices have not kept track with median income), it better be a reliable car.
Japanese and Korean cars are just statistically more reliable.
Consumer Reports statistics say Lexus, Subaru, Toyota, Honda, BMW are the top 5.
This is really apparent at the rental car company fleets. They are mostly all foreign cars now. I suspect this is also true for govt. fleet cars. It is locally at least. Shame, fleet sales are the bread and butter of car companies.
The sad thing about this is the net loss of American jobs. Outside of AI buildout, US manufacturing has plunged. We really liked our Volt and were glad to be driving an American car. Now, it's just a memory.
Several factors:
1. Starting 25 years ago, hybridization with regen braking was seen as the best tech route to higher mpg (with higher peak power). This technology took a long time to mature, and truth be told, was not commercially successful due to the added up front costs. Its wider adoption in the last few years has been driven largely by mpg mandates, not organic demand.
2. Dieselgate was 10 years ago, revealing crimes that led to the early demise of hundreds if not thousands of people, mostly in the EU. The use of diesel in light vehicles, esp without effective emission controls, had its 'Hindenberg moment'.
3. Adding to that, global sales of combustion engine light vehicles peaked in 2018, so few companies are interested in making expensive investments in radical new engine tech.
4. Despite much lip service being given to EVs being heroes or goats, the fact is that every car company has known for years that EVs are the future. So their long range plans are to sell ICE vehicles to 'late adopters', folks in areas that are less well suited to EVs and old folks... none of whom appear to care much about mpg.
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![[Hearth.com] Falling further behind](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/349/349120-650ae983d8c8bd2cfbef28dd98289fce.jpg?hash=_VPIl5Mzla "[Hearth.com] Falling further behind")
$4.49 here on Monday evening (regular gasoline).
Approaching the $5 I saw in East TN back in '14 or '15 or so when a hurricane in the gulf conspired with some other issues to shut down refineries. But that went down in a week or two, if my memory was correct.
A large part of this is, of course, due to current geopolitics. When (...?) that resolves, prices are likely to go down a bit, I think.
*Temporary* incentives to move away from fossil fuels are not good enough as incentives imo.
Approaching the $5 I saw in East TN back in '14 or '15 or so when a hurricane in the gulf conspired with some other issues to shut down refineries. But that went down in a week or two, if my memory was correct.
A large part of this is, of course, due to current geopolitics. When (...?) that resolves, prices are likely to go down a bit, I think.
*Temporary* incentives to move away from fossil fuels are not good enough as incentives imo.
![[Hearth.com] Falling further behind](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/349/349121-ad1a2c243021279f275509d304cd1158.jpg?hash=VHFy9jGunT "[Hearth.com] Falling further behind")
GG Woody
Feeling the Heat
$2.09 CAD per liter for regular gas this AM at my most local fuel stations. Highest I've ever seen. Glad I'm still riding the dual sport motorcycle, hopefully get another month out of the 2 wheel fuel savings. I'd drive an electric truck in a heartbeat if I could justify the price...
I think the question here is what is the definition of temporary? Today's fuel prices are driven by refining capacity (or lack thereof). How quickly can refineries be repaired and brought back online, and will there ever be new capacity built?
I don't see this being a quick turnaround, I think we're stuck with high fuel prices for a while. The US may impose export restrictions, which helps the domestic market, but pushes the cost onto others.
Idk about that, I looked on gas buddy just now and I picked the most expensive prices and here’s a screenshot of them.
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