Oil is dead?

[RTK]

Net Zero homes - constructed without oil? Chuck you missed my point. People better wake up and realize killing every economic driver with protests and regulations will not end well; if you are to stupid to realize that then at least walk the talk and I will respect you, until you do that no respect for your convictions will be afforded by me...

[tweety]

I never read it , but let me guess
These net zero homes still wanna hook up to infrastructure that the rest of us pay for ? Or am i wrong ?

They pay transmission and distribution charges just like you do. You may very well be buying the power they generate, but that is your fault for having an in-efficient home.

[oneoff]

This thread and the Monsanto /glyphosate attack (elsewhere) demonstrate how personal firmly held beliefs may fit very well in with personal goals and agendas.

On the other hand; the hasty declared alternative may not even be immediately available; practical or sustainable.



But just declare the outcome; ignore the carnage; throw up lots of fairy dust fuel; ignored heating and cooling requirements and promised maginary organic production etc.
Stoke the fire and preferable stand back while the inevitable critical mass gets ready to explode.
Its the hypocricy that would disturb some more people if they knew a bit more of the "rest of the story". And when reality settles in; it will be realized that fossil fuel is essential for royalty checks; municipal taxes and even the existence of the very relatively miniscule organic food industry.

Not to mention all other advances that civilizations have been able to accomplish through harnessing fossil fuels in the last hundred years. I suspect who will miss things the most.

But I grant the promoters that the world may well get to experience some poorly thought out personal wishes and agendas.

[chuckChuck]

Fossil fuels are not dead. Far from it. But becoming more efficient and using less certainly makes sense from a business and environmental perspective.

Net zero houses are still built with fossil fuels and depend on the grid. But building much more efficient buildings and using less fossil fuels is one of the important steps to reducing fossil energy consumption.

Almost nobody in this world lives without using fossil fuels.

But that doesn't mean we shouldn't be designing and planning systems that use less resources efficiently in a finite world.

The transition away from using fossil energy will be a long process. Many countries have already made huge advances in using renewable forms of electricity. How long this will take and what this will look like? I am not sure anybody knows for sure.

Based on what the US Energy Information Administration said in January 2020 their forecasts show continued investment in solar and wind.

https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=42497 https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=42497

In its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), released on January 14, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that generation from natural gas-fired power plants in the electric power sector will grow by 1.3% in 2020. This growth rate would be the slowest growth rate in natural gas generation since 2017. EIA forecasts that generation from nonhydropower renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, will grow by 15% in 2020—the fastest rate in four years. Forecast generation from coal-fired power plants declines by 13% in 2020.

During the past decade, the electric power sector has been retiring coal-fired generation plants while adding more natural gas generating capacity. In 2019, EIA estimates that 12.7 gigawatts (GW) of coal-fired capacity in the United States was retired, equivalent to 5% of the total existing coal-fired capacity at the beginning of the year. An additional 5.8 GW of U.S. coal capacity is scheduled to retire in 2020, contributing to a forecast 13% decline in coal-fired generation this year. In contrast, EIA estimates that the electric power sector has added or plans to add 11.4 GW of capacity at natural gas combined-cycle power plants in 2019 and 2020.

Generating capacity fueled by renewable energy sources, especially solar and wind, has increased steadily in recent years. EIA expects the U.S. electric power sector will add 19.3 GW of new utility-scale solar capacity in 2019 and 2020, a 65% increase from 2018 capacity levels. EIA expects a 32% increase of new wind capacity—or nearly 30 GW—to be installed in 2019 and 2020. Much of this new renewables capacity comes online at the end of the year, which affects generation trends in the following year.

Forecast generation mix varies in each of the 11 STEO electricity supply regions. A large proportion of the retired coal-fired capacity is located in the mid-Atlantic area, where PJM manages the dispatch of electricity. EIA forecasts that coal generation in the mid-Atlantic will decline by 37 billion kilowatthours (kWh) in 2020. Some of this decline is offset by more generation from mid-Atlantic natural gas-fired power plants; EIA expects generation.

[Guest]

They pay transmission and distribution charges just like you do. You may very well be buying the power they generate, but that is your fault for having an in-efficient home.

let me guess , you have no power or gas in your home?
canada is cold , dont give a shit how much insulation you have
but your slip-up a while back shows you dont give a shit about our cold winters

[WiltonRanch]

When I built my house a decade ago I wanted to be as energy efficient as practical. Good double pane windows (triple pane cost vs savings don’t justify), extra insulation, placement of windows to let sun in etc. All my lighting is LED, low flow shower heads. I know full well I save cause I don’t burn a ton of propane but power bill is the bloody joke. Save all the electricity you want but they get you on everything but the watts used.

[furrowtickler]

When I built my house a decade ago I wanted to be as energy efficient as practical. Good double pane windows (triple pane cost vs savings don’t justify), extra insulation, placement of windows to let sun in etc. All my lighting is LED, low flow shower heads. I know full well I save cause I don’t burn a ton of propane but power bill is the bloody joke. Save all the electricity you want but they get you on everything but the watts used.

Agree , when I built in 04-05 I used spray foam on the entire house , built house on angle to capture as much winter sun as possible . No air conditioning, used house location to max air flow in summer with NW and SW winds .
In floor heat in basement/ garage with coil through hot water tank . Tried to be as efficient as possible at the time .
But according to some we all live in inefficient houses .... lol whatever .

[malleefarmer]

Building houses yeah.

We attempted to build energy efficient house but the authorities kept at us capturing light etc to wam the house. We said nah we want to put a. Veranda has all the way round to shade all times of the day.

Nope can’t do that you have to warm house in winter.

We said feek you jack it gets to 42 c here and some we want cool in summer.

Nope no.

We went ahead and built anyway against regulation nothing has happened. Effing greens.

[Sodbuster]

When I built my shop 2 years ago I spray foamed R20 on the walls plus 6” of fibreglass for a total of R40, ceilings got R60 of blown in fibreglass. Takes very little to heat shop until you open the big door. My house probably uses twice as much natural gas as my shop. Hopefully I can upgrade my insulation in my house this year once this province opens up again.

[chuckChuck]

Insulation is a very good investment that pays back many times over.

In Canada shading for summer sun and passive solar design principles allow for lots of sun in winter months and much less in summer.

Even the best windows are poor insulators, so good passive design requires a large thermal mass to stabilize temperatures.

Too many south facing windows relative to floor area will still cause overheating in summer.

But a well designed and well insulated house uses much less heating and cooling.