Weaning the world off fossil fuels will take some time, so finding ways to make energy generation more efficient is still important. Scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a new coating for steam condenser pipes that, if rolled out widely, could potentially add…
This is a minor innovative being overly puffed to get clicks.
The number came from “if every power plant in the world was 2% more efficient, this is how much CO2 we’d save”.
This will not be deployed globally and there’s a lot of 2%s to be found outside the condenser. Including 100% reduction by shutting down fossil fuel plants.
Don’t underestimate the 1% effects, they add up. I agree it is unlikely they will get rolled out at mass, but everything helps.
Don’t know why you were downvoted, it’s true. I don’t believe in fossil fuels being burned either, but you may as well reach the same goal by improving what otherwise isn’t realistic to entirely remove. We won’t get anywhere without compromises, and we should continue to try to invest in cleaner energy, even if that means improving the existing dirty energy.
This works for nuclear too, and possibly thermal energy plants.
If we invested in nuclear and the public were actually properly educated without all the scary media scorn on it, we would have invested without so much resistance and be in a MUCH better place by now as it would have taken coal and gas off the grid. Here in the UK we have excellent renewable opportunities for wind, but we didn’t invest enough, nor did we invest enough in our own nuclear. When the pandemic hit, and the oil gas crisis happened, we were using 50-60% of our energy from GAS. We can’t turn them off or we’ll have brownouts, so it’s an uphill battle to get rid of our dependency.
Because our government didn’t invest in nuclear or wind or solar, and they didn’t put pressure on private energy companies to use alternatives, all the country got hit with enormous gas and electric prices. We sowed our own fate by not protecting the environment and pioneering alternative energy, and now our wallets finally pay the full price.
Saying that, the oil gas companies are minted now… Maybe we should punish the energy companies for not meeting their goals or promises, and for not taking responsibility for investing. You’d think taxes, but or Tory government wouldn’t want to harm their best pals in the energy business. Screw the government for that one. My bills are killing me.
These small improvements help still.