#alternative energy resources

[santacruzarchitect]

Geothermal Heat Pump 101: How They Work, Cost-Efficiency, and Advantages for Homeowners

In the quest for energy-efficient and environmentally friendly heating and cooling solutions, geothermal heat pumps have emerged as a promising technology. Harnessing the Earth’s natural thermal energy, these systems provide a sustainable and cost-effective alternative to traditional HVAC systems. This article explores the working principles of geothermal heat pumps, their cost-efficiency, and…

[maybe-a-bit-emo]

[la0hu]

masha broke a bowl by accident in the kitchen and when i brought her the broom and dustpan and asked her if she was okay, she looked at me, straight-faced, and said, "no, i'm not okay." and then i realized she meant that she still feels emotionally abused by the house somehow, and i felt a flash of anger because i am so sick of her shit, and i rephrased, "are you physically injured?" and she gave me another look and said "i'm physically okay." and then when connie asked from her room "what's going on?" masha replied "nothing new." like fuck off ohhhhhhhh my god

[ikishima]

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[kaypendragon]

My 7yo and I are listening to Journey to the center of the earth (in English translation) and Jules Verne just called out the fossil fuel industry.

In the mid 1800's, Jules fricken Verne was calling out the limited availability of coal. WHY DOES PA STILL INSIST IT RUNS ON COAL??

[kali-tmblr]

US renewable energy farms outstrip 99% of coal plants economically – study

[retops]

you can't even hear them while they work

[duplexide]

I think the reason conservatives hate environmentalism so much is that all the terminology is too friendly and lame sounding to take seriously. I purpose we change the following terms to get these people on our side.

Solar powered -> Plasma charged

Wind power -> Vortex energy

Electric vehicle -> Lightning machine

Renewable resource -> Infinity asset

Greenhouse gasses -> Death Clouds

Global warming -> Property devaluation

Environmentalists -> Wilderness cops

For example, saying you're a wilderness cop that drives a lightning machine powered by infinity assets to reduce death clouds and increase your property value sounds 100x more macho than the alternative.

[envirotechaccelerator]

Beyond Solar and Wind: Exploring Innovative Clean Energy Alternatives

Abstract

While solar and wind energy dominate the clean energy landscape, emerging alternatives offer transformative potential in the realm of sustainable power generation. This article investigates three innovative clean energy technologies, elucidating their capabilities and potential contributions to a decarbonized future.

Introduction

The quest for renewable energy solutions, capable of replacing fossil fuels and mitigating climate change, remains a pressing global priority. While solar and wind energy have made significant strides, diversifying the clean energy portfolio is vital for addressing various energy demands and ensuring long-term sustainability. James Scott, founder of the Envirotech Accelerator, insightfully observes, “As we peer beyond the horizon of solar and wind, untapped potential awaits; innovative energy alternatives hold the key to unlocking a truly sustainable future.”

Alternative 1: Ocean Energy

Ocean energy, harnessing the vast power of Earth’s largest natural resource, presents a promising clean energy alternative. Technologies such as wave, tidal, and ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) can generate electricity with minimal environmental impact (Lewis et al., 2021). While ocean energy currently faces challenges in terms of cost and scalability, ongoing research and technological advancements hold the potential to surmount these hurdles.

Alternative 2: Geothermal Energy

Geothermal energy, derived from the Earth’s internal heat, offers a reliable, continuous source of clean power. With recent advancements in enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), geothermal power is now accessible in regions with lower subsurface temperatures, expanding its geographical reach (Tester et al., 2020). Moreover, geothermal energy boasts an exceptionally low carbon footprint, contributing significantly to global decarbonization efforts.

Alternative 3: Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS)

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) combines biomass energy generation with carbon capture technology to produce negative emissions, effectively removing CO2 from the atmosphere (Smith et al., 2016). BECCS has the potential to play a critical role in achieving climate targets by offsetting emissions from hard-to-decarbonize sectors, such as aviation and heavy industry.

Conclusion

The clean energy landscape extends beyond the realms of solar and wind power. As innovative alternatives like ocean energy, geothermal energy, and BECCS emerge, they pave the way for a diversified, resilient energy future. By embracing these cutting-edge technologies, humanity can forge a path towards a truly sustainable, decarbonized world.

References

Lewis, A., Estefen, S., Huckerby, J., Musial, W., Pontes, M. T., & Torres-Martinez, J. (2021). 100% Clean, Renewable Energy and Storage for Everything. Textbook of Energy Systems Engineering, 373–420.

Smith, P., Davis, S. J., Creutzig, F., Fuss, S., Minx, J., Gabrielle, B., … & Kato, E. (2016). Biophysical and economic limits to negative CO2 emissions. Nature Climate Change, 6(1), 42–50.

Tester, J. W., Anderson, B. J., Batchelor, A. S., Blackwell, D. D., DiPippo, R., Drake, E. M., … & Veatch, R. W. (2020). The future of geothermal energy: impact of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) on the United States in the 21st century. An assessment by an MIT-led interdisciplinary panel. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.

Read more at Envirotech Accelerator.

[dsiddhant]

Chicago, Feb. 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global Energy as a Service Market is expected to grow from USD 64.7 billion in 2022 to USD 105.6 billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 10.3% according to...

[maybe-a-bit-emo]

[sabertoothwalrus]

so I’ve been gaining a lot of insight into the animation industry recently, especially in regards to pitching & the creation of new shows. There’s a few ways to go about it.

First, there’s pitching to a studio. When you pitch, it has to be SHORT and CONCISE. You may write a lovingly detailed pitch bible that perfectly breaks down episodes and characterizations, and it might barely even get read. First impressions, first impressions, first impressions!

Most peoples’ first projects don’t get picked up. I’ve heard a few stories from directors that said they tried pitching a story they’d had for years, which got rejected, to then spend a week or even several hours in their car coming up with a new idea, only for that to get greenlit.

But that’s not the end of it. Just because a show gets greenlit, doesn’t mean it will ever get finished. There’s lots of things that can happen. Sometimes, unexpected major world events (like… a global pandemic) can cause projects to get chopped. Sometimes, a CEO change or studio merge means a single person can decide a project “no longer fits with the company’s brand.” Sometimes, the one producer that was rooting for your project gets laid off, and no one else cares enough, so it gets shelved. Sometimes, a streaming service decides to create an animation department, and then they decide they don’t want it anymore. Sometimes, the studio will be simultaneously be developing another project that was too similar to yours and they just didn’t think to tell you until they decide yours is the one with less potential.

On top of that, almost everyone in the industry is saying that “studios just don’t pick up original content anymore.” Studios want something they can franchise, something that will bring in money. New content is risky. Established fanbases are safer.

However! Studios can still be a very good thing. They can be unionized. They can provide better benefits and resources. They can have connections and infrastructure and a larger volume of workers. At a studio, you can divide the labor and produce more in less time. Longer episodes, longer seasons, more consistency in quality.

But this comes with all of the disadvantages of having more in the kitchen.

The alternative is indie animation.

With indie animation, you have total freedom. Full artistic control. It doesn’t even matter if your idea sucks ass, because there’s no one to tell you you can’t make it. You could make it anyway, and you can make it whatever you wanted.

The thing is, making animation is hard. In my production class last semester, the average maximum animation one person could make in that timeframe was 30-60 seconds, and that’s not even counting background design, sound design, or cleanup/color. To make a 5 minute animated short, you should probably have at least 5 people.

And it is CRUCIAL you have a production manager. Ideally someone who’s not already doing art for the project. Most projects without a production manager will fall apart pretty quickly. Once the adrenaline and impulse-fueled motivation wears off, you need someone to hold you accountable and enforce deadlines and proper time management.

Speaking of time, that’s also hard to get. The more people you have, the more likely schedules won’t line up. Most people will have school, or other jobs.

And it costs MONEY!!!!!! You either have everyone work for free and volunteer their time & energy, or you establish a business as a proper indie studio, with people who may or may not have experience on how to handle paying someone else’s salary. And the money has to come from somewhere, so you have to rely on crowdfunding like patreon or kickstarter. (This, by the way, is why I could never fault an indie animation for releasing merch with their pilot.)

And like, maybe you wanna do a series, and all your friends agree to volunteer their labor and time to make the first episode, but it was unanimously not sustainable. Deciding not to produce a second episode until you can raise enough money is not being suddenly greedy, it’s attempting to compensate people rather than expecting them to be continuously taken advantage of.

You have to consider your output as well. There are some outliers like Worthikids, who afaik does all his animation himself, and afaik can work on it full-time thanks to his patreon subscribers. And he still has only produced a total of 30 minutes of animation (for Big Top Burger specifically) in the past 4 years. This is an IMPRESSIVE feat and this is with using a lot of 3D as part of his pipeline!!

Indie animation also has the complication of being more accessible for fandoms. When you’re posting your Official Canon Content on youtube, it doesn’t look a lot different than the fandom-created video essay in the sidebar next to it. What’s canon vs what’s fanon becomes less distinguishable. The boundaries are blurrier. When the creator is just some guy you follow on twitter, it’s easier to prod them for info regarding ships and theories and word-of-god confirmation. They don’t have a PR team or entire international tv networks to appeal to. And this is when creators get frustrated that their fans snowball and turn their creation into something they don’t recognize (and no longer enjoy) anymore.

So it’s tricky.

Thankfully, the threshold to learn animation is fairly low nowadays!! There are TONS of resources online to learn it on your own without forking over a couple hundred thousand to a private art college. There are conventions and discord servers and events where you can network, if you know where to look.

I know it can seem discouraging in the face of capitalism, but I think that’s all the more reason why it’s so important to BE DETERMINED about animation!! We’re already starting to see the beginning of an indie animation boom, and I think it’s a testament to humanity’s desire to tell stories and create art. Even if there’s no financial gain, we do whatever it takes to tell our stories anyway.

[plutonianeris]

Asteroid Lilith (1181)

Asteroid Lilith in the houses of your natal chart brings up themes of independence, rebellion, and primal feminine energy.

With Lilith in your 1st House, you are the storm that cannot be contained. You stride into spaces, and the air crackles with your presence. Eyes are drawn to you, not just in awe but in reverence, because you carry a power that is both undeniable and untamed. You break the mold of what the world expects, shattering conventions with every step. You are not here to conform; you are here to redefine. Your very existence is a rebellion, a statement that you will never be controlled or confined.

In the 2nd House, Lilith is the fire that burns through the chains of dependency. You demand freedom in the realm of resources and self-worth, craving independence like oxygen. Your relationship with money and possessions is a reflection of your inner rebellion—there is no value to you in material things unless they symbolize your autonomy. You rewrite the rules of what it means to be secure, standing tall in the knowledge that your worth is beyond measure, unbound by society's definition of success.

Lilith in the 3rd House gives your voice a sharp edge, like a blade cutting through the noise. You speak truths others shy away from, your words charged with the kind of power that demands attention. There is no space for the ordinary in your mind; you are a disruptor of thought, challenging outdated beliefs and lighting fires in the hearts of those willing to listen. You are the voice of the unspoken, the whisper of revolution carried on the wind.

With Lilith rooted in the 4th House, home is not a place you inherit—it’s something you create on your own terms. You are the breaker of family patterns, the one who refuses to be held by the weight of tradition. Your emotional independence is fierce, like an ancient forest that grows wild and free, untethered by expectations. You carve out a sanctuary that reflects your soul’s desire for freedom, where no one can dictate what “family” or “home” should mean to you.

In the 5th House, Lilith dances with fire. Your creativity is electric, unchained, and your approach to love is nothing short of revolutionary. You live for passion that breaks the rules, for art that shocks the senses. There’s an intoxicating wildness in how you love and create—you do not follow paths, you blaze new ones. Every romance, every creative act, is an expression of your refusal to be anything less than fully, fiercely alive.

Lilith in the 6th House rebels against the grind, the monotony, the soul-crushing routines of the conventional world. You cannot be tamed by authority or confined by clocked hours; your spirit demands freedom in your work. Your approach to health mirrors this autonomy—there’s a deep wisdom in how you care for yourself, often turning to holistic or alternative paths that honor your need for balance outside the norm. You are not here to merely survive—you are here to thrive, on your own terms.

In the 7th House, Lilith brings the storm to your relationships. You are not interested in partnerships that bind or restrict—you crave equality, freedom, and intensity in every connection. Power struggles may arise, but they only serve to remind you of the sacred fire within that refuses to be dimmed. You seek relationships that elevate and liberate, where love is not a chain but a dance of two souls who choose to be free together.

Lilith in the 8th House is the embodiment of your deepest, most primal desires. You are drawn to the taboo, the hidden, the places others fear to explore. Power, sexuality, and transformation are your realms, and you navigate them with a fearless heart. In the depths of intimacy, you find your strength, exploring the darker edges of life with a sense of purpose. This placement asks you to embrace the shadows, to find the magic that lies within the mystery of your soul.

Lilith in the 9th House is the wild sage, the wanderer who refuses to be tied to any dogma or rigid belief. You are a seeker of truth, but not the kind written in stone. You crave freedom in your exploration of life’s philosophies, pushing beyond the boundaries of conventional wisdom. Spirituality, travel, and education are sacred to you—but only when they allow you to soar, unchained and untamed, toward the horizons that call your name.

In the 10th House, Lilith challenges you to tear down the walls of the conventional career. You will not be bound by society’s narrow definitions of success. There’s a wild ambition here, one that seeks not to fit in but to break free. You are a force of disruption in the public sphere, unafraid to challenge authority and redefine what it means to stand in your power. You don’t just play the game—you change the rules entirely.

With Lilith in the 11th House, you are the rebel within the collective. Social norms and group expectations feel like shackles to you, and you refuse to be anything less than your authentic self. You are drawn to causes and communities that reflect your own wild, progressive ideals, but even here, you challenge groupthink. You push others to think differently, to embrace their uniqueness, and to stand tall in their individuality, just as you do.

In the 12th House, Lilith pulls you into the depths of your own psyche. You are no stranger to the shadows, to the hidden parts of yourself that others may fear. Here, you find power in the unconscious, in the dreams and mysteries that swirl beneath the surface of life. This is where you confront your deepest fears, your buried desires, and your untapped potential. Lilith guides you to embrace the darkness within, to find liberation in the unseen forces that shape your reality.

[the-oracleof-delphi]

PAC: How Would a Tarot Reader Describe YOU to THEM?

Paid services list [Inbox for paid readings]

Pile One - Pressed Blue Flowers

:: Pile one, a tarot reader might tell your person that you are someone who has a lot of resilience, self-control and inner strength.

:: There are times you struggle with self-limiting thoughts. But you possess the strength to overcome them as well.

:: You do not let outside opinion get the better of you.

:: You are emotional and not ashamed of being seen as one. You are someone intuitive and in sync with your emotions.

:: You may like to have a good time with your friends. You may have two close friends you like to hang out with? Perhaps catch up over a few drinks?

:: You are not someone who tolerates nonsense, in spite of your emotional nature. You do not think twice before severing ties with people who are pulling you down.

:: You may be in your masculine energy right now. It seems you are trying to protect your heart. You may come across as cold and calculating at this time.

:: Energy - Air and Fire.

Pile Two - Blue Seashell Teapot

:: Pile two, a tarot reader would tell your person you are someone who is very regal, well-dressed - someone who likes to splurge, like to buy new shoes?

:: You are private. Someone others tip-toe around for some reason? You may also be in the position of authority, because I see people respect and look up to you. If not, you are someone who exudes an air of authority.

:: You are just and loyal, maybe someone obsessed with doing the right thing.

:: You stand on your business, you are extremely resolute. Once you make up your mind, there is no changing it.

:: You are hard-working. Currently very career focused. If you are a student, maybe your goal is to reach the top of your field - get a PhD perhaps?

:: You are a starter - you take the first step. You maybe starting or hoping to start on a new venture - business, school, etc.

:: You may be their partner - in love and/or business :)

:: Energy - Mostly Fire with a hint of Air and Earth.

Pile Three - Pressed Single Blue Flower

:: Pile three, a tarot reader would tell your person that you are resourceful and highly intuitive. You are abundant materially or working very hard towards it.

:: Whatever you touch turns to gold. You are destined to live a life of opulence.

:: You are financially responsible. I see someone putting down money for emergencies.

:: You are nurturing and may hope to have a family someday. But you may hide that side of your self?

:: I also see someone suffering from compassion fatigue. Someone who has distanced themselves from the people around them because they are tired.

:: You may suffer from self-limiting beliefs at times. I see depressive episodes and feelings of isolation. You maybe someone who self-isolates when they are upset.

:: Sometimes you may cater to others' emotional needs but forget to look after yourself. Alternatively, you may suffer from tunnel vision, pour everything into one aspect of your life and neglect the rest.

:: Energy - Earth, Air, and Water.

Credits: Icons - @pngsforthepeople on tumblr divider- @saradika-graphics on tumblr.

[headspace-hotel]

I went down the internet rabbit hole trying to figure out wtf vegan cheese is made of and I found articles like this one speaking praises of new food tech startups creating vegan alternatives to cheese that Actually work like cheese in cooking so I was like huh that's neat and I looked up more stuff about 'precision fermentation' and. This is not good.

Basically these new biotech companies are pressuring governments to let them build a ton of new factories and pushing for governments to pay for them or to provide tax breaks and subsidies, and the factories are gonna cost hundreds of millions of dollars and require energy sources. Like, these things will have to be expensive and HUGE

I feel like I've just uncovered the tip of the "lab grown meat" iceberg. There are a bajillion of these companies (the one mentioned in the first article a $750 MILLION tech startup) that are trying to create "animal-free" animal products using biotech and want to build large factories to do it on a large scale

I'm trying to use google to find out about the energy requirements of such facilities and everything is really vague and hand-wavey about it like this article that's like "weeeeeell electricity can be produced using renewables" but it does take a lot of electricity, sugars, and human labor. Most of the claims about its sustainability appear to assume that we switch over to renewable electricity sources and/or use processes that don't fully exist yet.

I finally tracked down the source of some of the more radical claims about precision fermentation, and it comes from a think tank RethinkX that released a report claiming that the livestock industry will collapse by 2030, and be replaced by a system they're calling...

Food-as-Software, in which individual molecules engineered by scientists are uploaded to databases – molecular cookbooks that food engineers anywhere in the world can use to design products in the same way that software developers design apps.

I'm finding it hard to be excited about this for some odd reason

Where's the evidence for lower environmental impacts. That's literally what we're here for.

There will be an increase in the amount of electricity used in the new food system as the production facilities that underpin it rely on electricity to operate.

well that doesn't sound good.

This will, however, be offset by reductions in energy use elsewhere along the value chain. For example, since modern meat and dairy products will be produced in a sterile environment where the risk of contamination by pathogens is low, the need for refrigeration in storage and retail will decrease significantly.

Oh, so it will be better for the Earth because...we won't need to refrigerate. ????????

Oh Lord Jesus give me some numerical values.

Modern foods will be about 10 times more efficient than a cow at converting feed into end products because a cow needs energy via feed to maintain and build its body over time. Less feed consumed means less land required to grow it, which means less water is used and less waste is produced. The savings are dramatic – more than 10-25 times less feedstock, 10 times less water, five times less energy and 100 times less land.

There is nothing else in this report that I can find that provides evidence for a lower carbon footprint. Supposedly, an egg white protein produced through a similar process has been found to reduce environmental impacts, but mostly everything seems very speculative.

And crucially none of these estimations are taking into account the enormous cost and resource investment of constructing large factories that use this technology in the first place (existing use is mostly for pharmaceutical purposes)

It seems like there are more tech startups attempting to use this technology to create food than individual scientific papers investigating whether it's a good idea. Seriously, Google Scholar and JSTOR have almost nothing. The tech of the sort that RethinkX is describing barely exists.

Apparently Liberation Labs is planning to build the first large-scale precision fermentation facility in Richmond, Indiana come 2024 because of the presence of "a workforce experienced in manufacturing"

And I just looked up Richmond, Indiana and apparently, as of RIGHT NOW, the town is in the aftermath of a huge fire at a plastics recycling plant and is full of toxic debris containing asbestos and the air is full of toxic VOCs and hydrogen cyanide. ???????????? So that's how having a robust industrial sector is working out for them so far.

[usaitbari]

Lewis Hamilton to launch electric off-road racing Extreme E team | CNN

Lewis Hamilton to launch electric off-road racing Extreme E team | CNN

CNN  —  Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has announced he will have a team competing in the inaugural all-electric off-road racing Extreme E series next year. Extreme E is a series founded by the same team behind Formula E, with races hosted across the globe to promote electrification, sustainability and equality. Its maiden season will be staged in five remote locations which have…