Just a little off-topic, but regarding the bit about Amazon prices in the post, some years ago a small office supply store in our neighborhood closed. The owner told me that his wholesale costs for many items (based on the relatively small quantities he purchased) were more that the retail prices at the nearby office supply “superstore”.
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Hey now, I didn’t mean to boost things to Beijing level!
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If its not a jerb that the existing jerb makers will make money from, then they are not jerbs at all…
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Interesting. Where did you find that map?
How much of the world’s supply of rare earths would it take to build that solar array?
How do we get the sun to stay in place over Utah 24 hours a day?
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Amazingly, I still see people arguing that regulation is to blame for the lack of coal mining jobs, not say, automation or the total lack of demand for coal because most of the coal fired plants are long since gone…
Reality is not in their favor, but Trump doesn’t concern himself with reality at all, so…
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Current PV solar panels don’t use appreciable quantities of rare earth elements. Some of the next gen ones do:
https://www.c2es.org/technology/factsheet/solar
Fortunately, rare earths aren’t actually that rare (cerium, for instance, is abundant as copper). With reserves already identified in 14 states, the US has plenty if it needed to use them. The market has been distorted by the Chinese producing large amounts of rare earths which meant many Western sources couldn’t compete with below-cost prices being offered by China. That flood is now dissipating as China improves the conditions under which the mines operate, and China’s stranglehold is weakening now other sources from Vietnam to Cornwall are either operating or being considered for mining.
Your second question is better grounded, either we have to look at better storage technologies, or perhaps mix PV with solar thermal where heat can be stored either as high pressure steam or in vats of molten salt allowing the plant to run 24 hours a day.
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What is Trump going to do? Why does he have to do anything? He never said anything about coal or jobs or bringing back coal jobs. I’m not sure where you’re getting this, but I’m pretty sure it’s fake news. Trump’s administration is proving to be the most efficient and wise administration since President Jabrabanski’s.
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::sigh:: Trump could really, actually do something good that would make many factions happy by simply declaring his own FDR-esque CCC analog by hiring the soon-to-be steady supply of laid-off coal miners for the labor of reclaiming the lands spoiled by coal – reclaim the removed mountaintops, clean up the retention and sedimentation ponds (and extract the metals from them), restore creeks and streams, rebuild the smaller dams, replant oodles of acres, and give tourism a huge boost…but he’ll pbly just launch a campaign to “Make Black Lung Great Again.”
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“Causes air pollution” is understating the problem to an extreme degree. We’re at “decarbonise immediately or die”, and have quite likely already left it until too late.
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Similar factors killed my Dad’s hardware store.
Of course, the big discounts disappeared as soon as the local competition was eliminated.
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Anyone who hasn’t yet read the linked post by @Wanderfound above:
I’ve been a BB reader since 2003 and an active BB user (read: chatterbox) since 2013 and it really is one of the best user submissions I’ve ever read.
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The almighty dollar reigns. Coal is dead for now because it’s so damn expensive. The only thing the gov’t can do is to make it cheaper via subsidies, or (but probably not) by easing regulations that have made it more expensive. I don’t have the knowledge in front of me, but I really do not think there are enough regulations to drop that’ll make it cheaper in a meaningful way (unless you want to go full on deregulation and forget we have OASHA etc).
Even then, natural gas is cheaper and easier. And as a result many of the electric power plants have already been converted, making it even harder to find enough customers for coal.
Deregulating the fossil fuel industry would drive it to bankruptcy that much quicker. We already have too much supply for demand, so the price is in the toilet, and making it even cheaper to pull out of the ground will cause the small wildcat companies to rush in hoping for a payday. The major oil & gas companies have cut back on their wells, both working and planned, and are already heavily investing in renewable energy because they know it’s the only way to stay solvent.
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So the gov’t can do nothing that’ll actually work and help consumers without burdening tax payers – correct?
Coal is dead because China, India and others have flooded the market making coal cheaper than it has ever been. These mining operations in other countries do not use union labor or pay any attention to environmental laws or regulations. Kind of a Republican wet dream really. You’re right that it is expensive to mine but U.S competitors have found a way around that.
BTW China is kicking ass in mining operations around the world. They have the expertise and are winning contracts.
http://www.mining.com/feature-chinas-scramble-for-africa/
Trump should offer to train and then send miners worldwide to help the US compete in other types of mining that doesn’t involve coal. Makes sense since they, the miners and their Republican overlords, don’t approve of renewable energy at home.
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Supporting research and development of renewable energy technologies would be quite helpful indeed. Too bad one such investment didn’t happen to pan out, so apparently that means we can never try again. /s
I’m being dramatic, it wasn’t quite that bad, but now all bets are off for the foreseeable future.
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I meant to save coal. Nothing can Trump do …
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He can enslave the miners and make them work for nothing. He’s already working on killing EPA regulations to get rid of ANY overhead associated with mining. It still will not help the poor bastards. The coal ship has sailed.
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