tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10911751.post2064695140535466802..comments2024-03-07T02:00:01.582-05:00Comments on NEI Nuclear Notes: Nuclear Weekend ReadingUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10911751.post-79614747410564993262009-10-19T10:39:31.384-04:002009-10-19T10:39:31.384-04:00Woofa,
Are you serious about your comment on the ...Woofa,<br /><br />Are you serious about your comment on the use of the phrase "ad hominem"? The phrase has a specific meaning and is used by many ordinary folk, so how could it be a "weasel word"?<br /><br />What common value is advanced by making ad hominem attacks instead of cogent arguments?D Kosloffnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10911751.post-35757350789919465822009-10-18T22:09:35.668-04:002009-10-18T22:09:35.668-04:00Pundits who use weasel words like "ad hominem...Pundits who use weasel words like "ad hominem" show a lack of confidence in ordinary usage and common values. Unquestionably a shifty character.Woofanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10911751.post-58901275736169856542009-10-17T09:10:10.810-04:002009-10-17T09:10:10.810-04:00Anonymous - as you mentioned, Lovins has a rather ...Anonymous - as you mentioned, Lovins has a rather poor record as an energy prediction guru. However, he keeps getting some pretty plush consulting deals from well established energy companies and even from that establishment of establishments called the Pentagon.<br /><br />Why?<br /><br />That is the question that I like to address, but when I do, Lovins accuses me of ad hominem attacks. <br /><br />Oh well. . .Rod Adamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03652375336090790205noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10911751.post-68983559725385596802009-10-16T23:12:19.475-04:002009-10-16T23:12:19.475-04:00This is neat. Amory Lovins says,
"Over the ...This is neat. Amory Lovins says,<br /><br />"Over the next five years, nuclear construction costs about tripled. Was this due to pricey commodities like steel and concrete? No; those totaled less than one percent of total capital cost."<br /><br />If the materials needed to build nuclear plants are less than 1% of the current prices (which is correct), then there is a lot of room for these prices to come down as the nuclear supply chain gets built up and factory prefabrication and modular construction methods become finely tuned.<br /><br />Amory Lovins really believes what he believes, but it's only possible because he routinely ignores the obvious. This explains his poor predictive power over his career as an energy guru.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10911751.post-34441761171468483342009-10-16T16:13:28.407-04:002009-10-16T16:13:28.407-04:00I read most of Lovins' new report, and it'...I read most of Lovins' new report, and it's more of what we've come to expect from him. The report is chock full of cherry-picked data, invalid comparisons, unsupported claims, extensive self-referencing, and even contains some familiar chartjunk.<br /><br />I'll share some highlights:<br /><br />Lovins' notes that the unreliability of wind power can be addressed by interconnecting several geographically diverse plants (stretching from Texas to Canada) you can improve the combined reliability of them, but then on the following page says that the grid is the real source of unreliability, and power production should be moved off the grid.<br /><br />To support the reliability of wind power, he notes several German *states* that got a large fraction of their electricity from wind without reliability issues, failing to mention that this reliability was contingent upon the collective electricity production on the grid.<br /><br />He routinely compares renewable energy installations to nuclear power plants in terms of capacity, not actual generation.<br /><br />He notes, when countering Brand at one point, that an author can shop for references to a desired conclusion, in the midst of a section which he does precisely this, readily dismissing sources giving contrary opinions in favor of his preferred, 'independent' sources.<br /><br />He lumps fossil fuel generation in with renewable energy under the euphemisms 'micropower' and 'decentralized generation'. The vast majority of electricity generated in these categories is, of course, fossil fuel. (See Fig. 3, p. 27)<br /><br />He cites himself 9 times and his Rocky Mountain Institute another 8 times.<br /><br />Needless to say, he's stayed busy.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06989611896218534840noreply@blogger.com