The Rapid Response Institute

Tag: Houston

  • What About Today?

    What About Today?

    Why are we so worried about what the world will look like in 2050?

    In that year, this pundit will be 102 years old and most likely dead.  While not denying that our stewardship of the planet is an obligation, perhaps our focus is misplaced.  Climate Change, Climate Change, Climate Change has become the mantra for many.  But what about environmental damage done in the present?

    This author moved to Houston, TX in 1978.  For the next few years, you could smell the chemicals emitted from the refining and petrochemical sectors from the so-called ‘Ship Channel.’  Later, the odor dissipated as the environment was remediated.  Similarly, during that period the smog was so thick in the greater Los Angeles area that one could not see the mountains to the east.  That geography is now better as well.

    At least in the United States, we have shown that we can clean and sustain a decent environment.  Yet society is focused on a global long-term problem that by some accounts is not solvable.  Certainly as long as Asia continues its current energy practices.

    Almost Half a Century Later

    Now we sit at the precipice of the greatest environmental challenge since Love Canal (circa 1978), yet by all accounts “it is no big deal.”  Except to those living in and around East Palestine, Ohio.

    2050 is only 27 years away and we are told (2019)  the world as we know it will end in less than 12 years unless draconian climate steps are taken.  Call me a skeptic, but if we have not been able to stop local manmade environmental disasters, what makes us think we can fix the global climate?

    What Steps are You and Your Organization Taking to Fix the Here and Now?

    For More Information

    Please note, RRI does not endorse or advocate the links to any third-party materials herein.  They are provided for education and entertainment only.

    The author’s credentials in this field are available on his LinkedIn page.  Moreover, Dr. Shemwell is a coauthor for an in press book (to be released in Spring 2023) titled, “Smart Manufacturing: Integrating Transformational Technologies for Competitiveness and Sustainability.”  His focus is on Operational Technologies.

    “People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.” (Martin Luther King speech at Cornell College, 1962).  For more information on Cross Cultural Engagement, check out our Cross Cultural Serious Game.  You can contact this author as well.

    For more information regarding climate change models, check out Bjorn Lomborg ands his latest book, False Alarm: How Climate Change Panic Costs Us Trillions, Hurts the Poor, and Fails to Fix the Planet.

    Regarding the economics of Climate Change, check out our recent blog, Crippling Green.

    For those start-up firms addressing energy (including renewables) challenges, the author can put you in touch with Global Energy Mentors which provide no-cost mentoring services from energy experts.  If interested, check it out and give me a shout.

  • Reports of Fossil Fuels Demise Premature? – Renewables Remain Marginalized?

    Reports of Fossil Fuels Demise Premature? – Renewables Remain Marginalized?

    Who would have thought that in the summer with temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit the wind would stop blowing.

    According to NOAA, “The main cause of wind is a little surprising.  It’s actually temperature.  More specifically, it’s differences in temperature between different areas.”  With a major Atmospheric High Pressure parked over a large geographic area, no wonder the wind does not blow.

    Texas Heat

    July 11, 2022 was a true scorcher across the state of Texas.  According to the Dallas Morning News, “Wind speeds have fallen to extremely low levels, and that means the state’s fleet of turbines is at just 8% of their potential output.”  This resulted in this and other Texans receiving an email from the local electricity provider asking for help cut back on power use.

    Texas is major producer of wind energy with over 150 wind farms–total capability of 30,000 MW (2020).  This amounts to approximately, 33% of the state’s power–more electricity produced than any other state.  So in the midst of a major heat wave, less than 25% of the state’s (potential) power generation was effectively available.

    This Level of Unreliability is Unacceptable.

    Previously, we addressed this issue after the Texas Freeze of 2021.  It does not seem like this problem is going away.  Guessing, that like the freeze, lack of energy availability will continue to be mitigated by fossil fuel power production!

    German Cold

    According to the University of Illinois Chicago, “Patients who died because of cold temperatures were responsible for 94% of temperature-related deaths.”

    It gets cold in Germany in the winter.   While the temperature range may vary slightly, Germans need heat every winter.  Despite climate (warming) change, this is not likely to change this coming season.

    The news has reported that Germany has depended on Russian gas for some time.  With the hostilities in Ukraine, that energy source is in jeopardy.  This has caused the country to look to other, reliable sources.  Coal.  Framed as “painful but necessary,” the country had to restart coal based power production.

    Perhaps not desirable for some politicians and prognosticators, Germany has no choice.  Many will be happy with this decision on Christmas Eve.  Near term survival vs. long-term possibilities.

    Clean Fossil

    One day in the 1980s this writer left his hotel in Los Angeles for a morning run.  A few minutes later, I stopped and returned to my room.  The air was so thick with pollution I felt my heath would be better served by doing nothing as opposed to running outside.

    Flash forward to November 1987 when this writer was in Beijing, China for almost a month.  The air was so extreme that frankly my nose contained coal particles simply by breathing.  Moreover, Houston, Texas at the time had similar issues whereby the air actually ‘smelled’ in the industrial area.

    Today, the United States does not have these issues at least at this level (not true with other nations).  The US has ‘cleaned’ its act up so to speak.  Its rivers no longer catch on fire, as they once did.  All of this is the result of better stewardship of carbon based fuels.

    According to the US National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), “Coal-fired electricity generation is cleaner than ever.  NETL’s research shows that a new coal plant with pollution controls reduces nitrogen oxides by 83 percent, sulfur dioxide by 98 percent, and particulate matter by 99.8 percent compared to plants without controls.”

    It is possible to responsibly use carbon effectively, efficiently and cleanly.  This is missed by both sides of the climate debate.

    Demise–NOT!

    The humorist Mark Twain is credited with saying, “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”  One can make the same case about fossil fuels.

    According to one source, today there are 1.446 billion motor vehicles on the planet.  Reportedly, just under 284 million are registered in the United States.  Our ‘share’ represents less than 20 % of the global fossil fueled propelled transportation.  Note that this does not include aerospace and the multitude of critical uses of carbon based feedstocks.

    According to the US Energy Information Administration, only 12% of energy was provided by renewables in 2021.  Fossil fuels in aggregate provided 79% of the basket of energy sources.  According to another credible data provider, “The share of wind and solar is rising constantly (+1 point in 2021), reaching 10.7% of the global power mix.”

    This slow growth is over approximately 20 years.

    When the wind does not blow, sun does not shine or solar panels are covered with snow, power comes from dependable fossil fuels.  Moreover, according to experts, none of this linear climate change political response will most likely make a difference anyway.

    Energy Transformation is an uninvestable amount with uncertain returns.  In other words, high and undocumented risk.  So what are we doing?

    How is Your Organization Managing the Risk associated with the Energy Transformation?

    For More Information

    Please note, RRI does not endorse or advocate the links to any third-party materials herein.  They are provided for education and entertainment only.

    The author’s credentials in this field are available on his LinkedIn page.

    “People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.” (Martin Luther King speech at Cornell College, 1962).  For more information on Cross Cultural Engagement, check out our Cross Cultural Serious Game.  You can contact this author as well.

    For more information regarding climate change models, check out Bjorn Lomborg ands his latest book, False Alarm: How Climate Change Panic Costs Us Trillions, Hurts the Poor, and Fails to Fix the Planet.

    For those start-up firms addressing energy challenges, the author is a member of Global Energy Mentors which provide no-cost mentoring services from energy experts.  If interested, check it out and give us a shout.

  • Houston . . .

    Houston . . .

    “The Eagle has landed,” and fifty years ago mankind had accomplished the heretofore seemingly impossible.  Two men on the moon became a game changer and not in just the way most believe.

    Yes, technology advancement owes much to these early space pioneers traceable to the 1950s; realistically a long process going back much further.  Aerospace led innovation has ‘bled’ into all aspects of our 21st Century life.

    The challenge going forward—what is the next ‘small step that will lead to one giant leap.’  Return to the moon or even humans on Mars is not the next step for humankind in this writer’s opinion.  It seems that technology can readily enable those milestones; it is just a matter of spending and will power.

    Blue Marble

    As the astronauts on the moon looked back at earth, they saw our ‘blue marble;’ tiny in the cosmos.  The place we all call home is just a spec of dust in the overall physical universe—whose bounds (if they exist) have not yet been discovered.

    Explorers have always pushed the limits of the known.  Whether sailing towards the end of a ‘flat’ earth or sending robots out of the solar system (Voyagers I & II), learning about the unknown, albeit sometimes terrifying is integral to the human condition.

    In 1969, the information age was in its infancy.  One can make the case that the modern computing era began with the hypothetical Turing Machine in 1936.  However, computational power was centralized and only available to the very few.

    As a college senior majoring in physics (1969-70), I was one of a handful who had access to a time-sharing system sixty some miles away in Atlanta, GA.  Programmed using the then ‘new’ BASIC (Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code)—this was state of the art.

    Communications time was expensive, so we wrote our programs and transferred them to yellow tapes used to program the distant computer.  Only then did the iterative ‘debugging’ process begin.

    The 1960s and early 1970s saw the rise of the minicomputer and other independent devices that would become the so-called IBM Personal Computer popularized in the 1980s.  The current computing device technology of choice is over 12 years old—iPhone and its competitors.

    Some argue that this platform is aging, yet has the next stage been identified yet?  The current rage, Big Data, AI, etc. are but applications and database schemas.  Game changing compute power is not yet mainstream.

    Enterprise Digitalization is also a craze.  Transforming mere mortal organizations into future juggernauts that promise to change businesses if not humankind.  As with the Space Race of the last century, technology fallout and new ways of living will most like result in the year 2069 looking a lot different than the present.

    Neil Armstrong made an interesting comment when he said, “One small step . . . “  The late comedian Eddie Cantor is credited with saying, “It takes 20 years to make an overnight success.”  That is one heck of a lot of small steps!!

    “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”

    – Lao-Tzu.

    The computing sector is no longer in its infancy.  It could be that the next fifty years will become the century of something else.

    In any event, we did not get to the moon overnight and we most likely will not arrive at our next major milestone by leaping either.  Focus on your daily steps and who knows where your life long journey will take you.  Go ahead and step off the last rung of your ladder.

    How Will Your Next Small Step Become a Game Changer?

    For More Information

    You can contact the author more information as well.

    End Notes

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database_schema

      https://www.businessinsider.com/infographic-how-computing-power-has-changed-over-time-2017-11

      https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/eddie_cantor_309843

      https://www.libertyforrest.com/blog/2015/9/13/a-journey-of-a-thousand-miles

      https://www.techopedia.com/definition/13429/turing-machine

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASIC