Bruce MirkenThis is so painfully obvious it shouldn't need to be said, but I'm glad a major news service is saying it, and clearly. #IranWar #RenewableEnergy
DP0@BruceMirken Indeed the sun is always shining free of charge. And were the sun does not shine, there is wind, or water, or geothermal energy ... no need to curry favour with medieval-style absolutists or 20th century style dictators.
@DP0 And no one’s missles or drones can take out the sun or wind.
Joseph A di Paolantonio@BruceMirken we pay US$0.0938/kWh to charge our Ioniq5 and our Anker F3800 & F3800 Plus batteries for our Home Power Panel time-of-use system. We charge both at night, when the energy source is hydro, wind and grid #BESS from solar. During the day, we use the batteries and we have solar photovoltaics and small vertical axis wind turbines to reduce grid usage when natural gas might be used on the grid. No one should have needed a war to show them the economics of renewables and BESS.
@jadp Yeah, happy Hyundai Kona Electric owner here. My power company's bills aren't models of clarity, but my "fuel" costs are no more than a third of what gas would cost.
@BruceMirken we have a county public utility district that powers our grid and fiber for Internet. The solar #BESS electricity is purchased at night from a neighboring county to our north. Wind is across the bay from us. Hydro is the main energy source. Natural gas generated energy is purchased from a neighboring county to our south, at need. The cost is fixed and doesn’t vary throughout the day nor the seasons.
@jadp That's great. I have to deal with Hawaiian Electric, which isn't the worst utility company in the U.S. (that title belongs in perpetuity to Pacific Gas & Electric), but suboptimal in several ways -- albeit with a growing renewable portfolio.
@BruceMirken yeah, absolutely agree on PG&E, I lived in the SF Bay Area for over three decades. Washington State varies, but we were pleasantly surprised by our county’s PUD.
Morgan ⚧️@jadp @BruceMirken the problem is, those who most need the savings are those who can least access them. Rich people don't care about destroying the planet. For poor people, it's a lot harder to get an electric car than a gas one, and renters generally don't get to install charging stations or solar panels. My fear is that instead of our ruling classes actually investing more in making renewables accessible to all, people who can't afford them rn are just going to be priced out of transportation
@raphaelmorgan @jadp Actually, plug-in or balcony solar is becoming more available and can be simple and pretty inexpensive. The U.S., of course, had policies to make EVs more affordable that Trump tossed in the trash. That said, there are some quite affordable used EVs now.
@BruceMirken @raphaelmorgan yes, to all of what both of you are saying. Making both renewable energy at the grid and local level, and individual sustainability and resilience, need to be priorities for government and utilities. There are utilities, especially in the New England area, providing battery energy storage systems to all customers. And some states still have programs for rebates/tax incentives to install solar, or to purchase/lease a #BEV
2/ We did what we did in stages. There was a Memorial Day sale on an Anker F3800 with expansion battery, Home Power Panel and subpanel for backups. We had enough in savings to take advantage of that sale. We didn’t have it installed until we replenished the savings many months later. After the installation and activation, Anker offered us a deal on a F3800Plus and expansion battery. We were able to take advantage of the offer months later again. PV panels and wind came later.
@BruceMirken @jadp I'm really tired of people going "actually, this is totally accessible and affordable!" when I can't afford things. I forgot about balcony solar when making this post, but not when assessing my ability to afford it. Have you seen any that are less than $100 (total, both panel and generator) and won't fall apart within a year? How about less than $50? What's affordable to you is *not* affordable to everyone. It's not affordable to me. I make ~$400/month.
@BruceMirken @jadp and yeah, electric cars can be inexpensive comparatively, if we're talking used ones at dealerships. Not everyone can afford to buy a car at a dealership, either bc money or bc of their credit score. People in my circles often have to buy cars from the side of the road for less than $1000--I haven't seen any electric cars on offer like that, but I'll definitely try to get one if I do
@raphaelmorgan @jadp Well, if your budget is $1,000, it's hard to get a decent car in any configuration. Tough situation.
@BruceMirken @jadp Yeah. Some of us don't have the privilege of picking a decent car--we need to get to work, public transit is inaccessible, and our last piece of junk is no longer getting us to work. So we find something that can.
Now, anyone in that situation, when gas prices go up enough, gets to a point where we'd save money by not working at all (unless we're lucky enough to find a job in walking or biking distance). Hence my original "I fear poor people will be priced out of transport"
Now, anyone in that situation, when gas prices go up enough, gets to a point where we'd save money by not working at all (unless we're lucky enough to find a job in walking or biking distance). Hence my original "I fear poor people will be priced out of transport"
@raphaelmorgan @jadp I can't speak for other countries, but the U.S. is not a hospitable place to be poor.
Heliograph@BruceMirken yes I hope they all bomb each other's oil shit back into the ground and no one wants their crude business anymore henceforth 
🤞
🤞
mike805@Heliograph @BruceMirken The bad news there is most of the fuel seems to be getting burned in the process. This war is making a whole lot of pollution.
Franz Graf@BruceMirken maybe we should refraim "renewable" to "independent energy". Some ppl may be more receptive to the term. 😐
Eva Chanda@hikingdude
Good point, I think reframing it as a sexy manly NatSec issue, rather than about saving the earth from climate catastrophe, might appeal to "conservatives." We need everyone on board, even if it's not for what we consider the right reasons. Even if it's only to save money on car and utilities!
Good point, I think reframing it as a sexy manly NatSec issue, rather than about saving the earth from climate catastrophe, might appeal to "conservatives." We need everyone on board, even if it's not for what we consider the right reasons. Even if it's only to save money on car and utilities!
@echanda
Right. I don't like it either to be honest. But I came to thinking that everyone that likes renewables already supports.
And the people not yet supporting it will probably not be convinced by the argumentation that hasn't convinced them in the last decades.
And in fact, it's not even a lie to call it independent. It's just another aspect that's becoming increasingly important nowadays.
This article about Uruguay made me think about it.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2025/10/19/uruguays-renewable-charge-a-small-nation-a-big-lesson-for-the-world/
Toni M.RE: https://mas.to/@BruceMirken/116259684353001020
Unfortunately, politicians are very bad in hearing wake-up calls.
Especially when they are paid for by a lobby.
🤷
K_L_Cooper@BruceMirken
Iran seems to DEPEND on those "renewable energy" WIND turbines for good reasons❗️
🖕🏼🟠 tRump ❗️❗️❗️
Iran seems to DEPEND on those "renewable energy" WIND turbines for good reasons❗️
🖕🏼🟠 tRump ❗️❗️❗️
CressIronic Trumpie was so pushing the MAGA rhetoric on "fake climate news" then leaving Paris Accord and digging up yet more sequestered carbon for his industry buddies.
I am really making a personal effort to go 100% non-carbon energy, its expensive to do, but now I had enough of the fossil industry (corruption).
I think I am about 60% free so far.
@CressSalad My home uses no fossil fuels other than for the water heater. My local power company is increasing its renewables, though it's still not close to 100%. I traded in the last gas-powered car I'll ever own 6 years ago.
@BruceMirken Thats great, my energy company is about 40% renewable as they tap wind and solar farms. I have solar myself, but not enough and need a battery backup to even the consumption. Then my big one will be moving to an electric car. Thats this years task. And then a heat pump of some description. I think I could get to 80% eventually myself and then use a green energy contract for the remainder. I bike a lot so that already helps.
dasra
Cornelius Flynn@BruceMirken
They need to stop calling it the ‘Iran War’, but otherwise, yes - fossil fuels are at the root of their issues.
Billionaires are heavily invested in them, and want to control the world energy market and economy through them. Sickening really.
Scotland powers itself completely with renewables for large chunks of time, but Westminster hold the reins and make sure we pay the highest price for enenrgy based on their “fossil fuels index” costing. (While sucking the ‘free’ power South and charging Scotland for the cost of doing so)
We are an occupied colony of England. Unsurprisingly, we also have oil reserves. Coincidence, surely?
PS. “Illegal US/Israel War” 😉
quixote@BruceMirken About time!
Although in NZ, except for us lunatics on Mastodon, is still all dinosaurs on about fossils and yammering Oh-what-shall-we-doooo?-What-^shall^-we-dooooo?
(In Bart Simpson there's a priceless scene where Homer's place of work offers a huge free glass of beer for everyone who gives up the company health care plan. Everybody lines up, all smiles. Homer, too, of course, but he keeps hearing a little voice repeating,
"Lisa needs braces. ... DENTAL PLAN."
"Lisa needs braces. ... DENTAL PLAN."
"Lisa needs braces. ... DENTAL PLAN."
It's like they're in my head. All I can think is, "Rooftop solar. EV battery storage. Rooftop solar. EV battery storage. Rooftop solar. EV battery storage." Distributed (unsabotageable), local, limited only by stupid governments who make it hard to install.)