Dominique De Munck

Innovation; Computer Science; Remote Sensing; Road Safety; Sustainable Mobility; Climate Change; Energy; Politics; Economy; -

[Dominique De Munck @DominiqueDeMunc]

Draadje om enkele schrijfsels terug te kunnen vinden...

[Glen Peters @Peters_Glen]

I hope this analysis by the IEA helps shift the obsession away from data centers and towards more important drivers of electricity growth, for example, climate change increasing the demand for space cooling (& all the others in the figure)!

https://t.co/8KRdt0weS2

[Florian Dierickx @FlorianDRX]

Enkele bedenkingen bij wat vandaag in @destandaard verscheen https://t.co/GUfApjW61C (& korter in @HLN_BE https://t.co/KpLF8jQQwM).

Kern van het probleem: het gebruik van vage definities en beweringen, die concreet inzicht (of weerlegging/bevestiging) onmogelijk maakt

1/n

[Pieter Vingerhoets @PieterVingerhoe]

'warmtepompen zijn niet beter voor het milieu dan gasketels'... De conclusies van dit onderzoek zijn klinkklare nonsens.

Heeft iemand de PhDtekst? Het lijkt me dat er verkeerde aannames inzitten over recyclage en emissies van koelmiddelen.
https://t.co/XASprOIrye

[Seaver Wang @wang_seaver]

"But what about the waste," solar PV edition.

Just as I have full confidence in our ability to manage and recycle spent nuclear fuel, I have no doubt that we can and will ultimately manage solar module waste far better than some folks fear/doompost.

[AukeHoekstra @AukeHoekstra]

It makes me sad that people like @aashisjo are so hell bent on stopping solutions that they bamboozle with numbers this way.
It's true that the amount of rock we dig up in order to transition away from renewable energy, can be almost the same as the amount of fossil fuel we burn.

[Sander Tordoir @SanderTordoir]

This @TheEconomist chart should really keep European and German policymakers awake at night.

China’s state-directed investment in ‘high-quality, productive’ forces is leading to massive overproduction that will reverberate in global markets for manufactured goods. 1/

[Chris Bataille @bataille_chris]

How do we trigger a fundamental change in steel, cement, & chemical production to net-zero that initially raises their cost, but drives global market share uptake while reducing costs to parity? A 🧵from 2 new reports, from @ColumbiaUEnergy & https://t.co/KzLIE2jf7p

[Simon Evans @DrSimEvans]

Plug-in hybrids are a massive 3.5x dirtier than claimed, meaning they barely cut CO2 vs pure petrol/diesel

Meanwhile, petrol cars are nearly 25% dirtier & less fuel efficient than claimed

– Real-world data published by European Commission

https://t.co/zqtPhZFQ1I

[John Burn-Murdoch @jburnmurdoch]

NEW: my column this week is about the coming vibe shift, from Boomers vs Millennials to huge wealth inequality *between* Millennials.

Current discourse centres on how the average Millennial is worse-off than the average Boomer was, but the richest millennials are loaded 💸🚀

[Greg De Temmerman @Gregdt1]

Nouvelle sortie contre ce projet d’extraction de lithium qui évite comme par hasard de parler des externalités négatives de l’extraction des énergies fossiles.
D’où vient cette idée qu’on pourra se passer de fossiles sans rien faire?

https://t.co/3t1LGvLwQ9

[Simon Evans @DrSimEvans]

Reminder: IMF says net-zero cld boost global GDP by 7%

"Transitioning…will have negative impacts on demand fr higher carbon prices & energy costs. But…lowering emissions will reduce physical impacts of climate change, which lowers macroeconomic costs"

https://t.co/2spcoqwdn4

[Assaad Razzouk @AssaadRazzouk]

World's largest EV battery maker says prices in 2024 will drop 50% to $56/kWh

This is gargantuan - and will accelerate EV cars, trucks, trains, ships, planes and BESS

Sit back and watch oil running for the exit by 2030

(chart via @RockyMtnInst)

https://t.co/jT8nDggPTD

[Dave Jones @CleanPowerDave]

Here's the new BNEF solar forecast.
2023 🤯, 2024🤯🤯

For context: I added the black line, which is the record coal power plant capacity that the world installed in one year (107GW in 2015).. ☀️

[John Raymond Hanger  @johnrhanger]

Spain's electricity keeps getting cleaner: For all of January 2024, it generated 78% of its electricity from renewables (54%) and nuclear (24%), Wind was Spain's top source of electricity at 26.5%.

What about fossil fuels? Down to 22%! Spain's economy ranks 15th globally.

[Dave Jones @CleanPowerDave]

Nuclear is the EU's biggest single source of electricity, providing 23% of EU electricity in 2023.

Yet there are a small number of people that want to shut nuclear plants prematurely.

I understand hesitation on building new nuclear - and to blindly extending old nuclear plants without due dilligence.

But what I see is the same arguments to not build new nuclear are blindly applied to argue existing nuclear plants should be prematurely closed. The arguments are that EU decarbonisation could somehow be quicker, cheaper and more reliable. Really?!

QUICKER: How can building new renewables be "quicker" than nuclear that's running today(!?)

CHEAPER: Some nuclear plant extensions may be super-expensive and ask for support, but generally they are not. The portfolio effect of EU's 24/7 nuclear fleet reduces the hourly/weekly/seasonal balancing costs substantially, compared to 100% RES, and this needs to be factored in.

MORE RELIABLE: Safety issues aside, I can't see how a system powered by 1/4 nuclear + 3/4 RES is less "reliable" than a system of 100% RES? Nuclear isn't 100% reliable, but nor is the wind and sun; and again, portfolio effect helps.

If nuclear is a "dangerous distraction" to decarbonisation by slowing the build rate of renewables, then I can't see how the answer would be to close the EU's biggest source of clean electricity. The only logic I see is if "100%-RES" becomes more important than "rapid decarbonisation".

I understand (but I don't agree) with those that want to close down all existing nuclear plants on safety grounds. If safety arguments are so powerful to demand a closure of existing plants, then focus on that.

If new nuclear is such a problem, then focus on that.

If there REALLY is a case to prematurely close nuclear closures to speed up decarbonisation, then please present some honest evidence specifically on this.

The evidence I see at the moment for this is confused with safety and confused with new nuclear, which do little to answer the question.

[Tim Latimer @TimMLatimer]

1/We @fervoenergy are excited to announce our new geothermal drilling results. We have achieved a 70% YoY reduction in drilling times, dramatically outpacing predictions, and are poised to unleash a new wave of geothermal decades ahead of schedule. THREAD. https://t.co/UJc0oojzou

[Prof Richard Betts @richardabetts]

A clear explainer by the authors of last week's AMOC shutdown paper

They propose a way that *may* let us spot when shutdown is imminent

NB they're *NOT* saying it is imminent or unavoidable (yet)

It would be devastating though - we must not risk it

https://t.co/q6vHor1Hxw

[AukeHoekstra @AukeHoekstra]

I used to love the @newscientist but what it (@alicevklein) has done here is SHAMEFUL

It has taken an implausible worst case scenario to sow doubt regarding the efficacy of cultivated meat. A super important tech. Just to get a few clicks?

I thought they were better than this.

[Jan Rosenow @janrosenow]

To ensure consumer confidence in heat pumps there needs to be a way for customers to seek redress when things go wrong.

Sweden has recognised this early on: in 1989 Sweden set up the VPN - an independent complaints board or 'Heat Pump Court' to protect consumers.

A thread 🧵

[Jan E @yo_ean]

Is U.S. LNG 'stopped' or 'throttled'?

No. The green part is halted. Orange and Yellow alone is enough for a doubling till 2030 and worth 3 Nordstream I pipelines or enough to satisfy all European import needs without tapping Africa, Australia, Middle East or the blue part.