Articles | Stuffthatcounts

Geoff Russell

Dec 22, 20229 min read

Hard to decarbonise: Diesels Part II

I posted about decarbonising diesel engines a while back and it’s time for part II: solutions. But “approaches” is definitely a more...

211 views

Geoff Russell

Dec 5, 202211 min read

Hard to Decarbonise: Diesels

This is the start of a series on hard-to-decarbonise parts of the global economy. The first part will be diesel engines and it will take...

897 views

Geoff Russell

Nov 23, 20225 min read

The great Australian greenwashing scam

One of the less frequently reported events at COP27 in Egypt was the presentation of a UN report on Corporate Greenwashing. At least I...

152 views

Zali Steggall and Australia's cargo cults

Geoff Russell

Nov 7, 202217 min read

Zali Steggall and Australia's cargo cults

I vaguely remember learning about cargo cults at school. Are they still in the curriculum? Perhaps there is so much competition in the...

342 views

Geoff Russell

Oct 20, 20225 min read

Murray flooding, 4,000 at risk in Kimba

I imagine the inhabitants of Kimba South Australia would have a little chuckle if the ABC ran a story with the headline: “Murray...

105 views

Geoff Russell

Oct 18, 20223 min read

The methane is hitting the fan

Back in 2009 I wrote a book, CSIRO Perfidy, about the most environmentally destructive diet on the planet … the Commonwealth Scientific...

90 views

Deliver us into evil, for gas is the glory, hallelujah!

Geoff Russell

Sep 30, 20225 min read

Deliver us into evil, for gas is the glory, hallelujah!

The global energy market is becoming transfixed by gas. Without adequate gas supplies, people in cold climates will be dying, or very...

254 views

Part IV: How nuclear power can reduce electricity costs.

Geoff Russell

Sep 24, 20227 min read

Part IV: How nuclear power can reduce electricity costs.

Abbreviations: AEMO: Australian Energy Market Operator ESB: Energy Security Board GENCOST: Gencost GSOO: Gas Statement of Opportunities...

238 views

Distributed electricity generation? Groundhog day, again.

Geoff Russell

Sep 20, 20229 min read

Distributed electricity generation? Groundhog day, again.

[This post is a short holiday from the serious series on nuclear costs.] Over the past decade or so I’ve heard numerous people extol the...

110 views

Part III: Is nuclear power expensive or just much better?

Geoff Russell

Sep 12, 20229 min read

Part III: Is nuclear power expensive or just much better?

Part III: Is nuclear power really expensive, or just much better? Abbreviations: AEMO: Australian Energy Market Operator CCGT:...

268 views

Part II: Is nuclear power really expensive, or just much better?

Geoff Russell

Sep 2, 202212 min read

Part II: Is nuclear power really expensive, or just much better?

Abbreviations: CCGT: combined-cycle gas turbine, this is the top-of-the-range gas turbine CCS: Carbon Capture and Storage GENCOST:...

883 views

Is nuclear power really expensive? or is it just better?

Geoff Russell

Aug 26, 202210 min read

Is nuclear power really expensive? or is it just better?

[This is Part I in a series of posts on nuclear costs, they are companions to the post on nuclear construction times. Some of it is...

707 views

Postscript: On glacial renewable construction rates

Geoff Russell

Aug 17, 20225 min read

Postscript: On glacial renewable construction rates

There were some tweeted objections to my build post that I wanted to respond to in more detail than Twitter allows. I won’t name names,...

194 views

Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant; a potential disaster? Or an actual one?

Geoff Russell

Aug 12, 202212 min read

Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant; a potential disaster? Or an actual one?

[Further update: 26th August 2022 ... New York Times reporting the reactors are back on the grid. Wonderful news! Still reporting just 2...

191 views

Nuclear may (or may not) be expensive, but it's much faster to build than renewables!

Geoff Russell

Aug 6, 20227 min read

Nuclear may (or may not) be expensive, but it's much faster to build than renewables!

This is the first of two posts, and deals with the speed of building nuclear reactors. The next post will deal with costs. Build speeds...

3,575 views

Geoff Russell

Aug 1, 20225 min read

Mining Australia for meat

I don't remember the year, but it was shortly after the 2005 release of Jared Diamond's "Collapse: How societies choose to fail or...

86 views

Geoff Russell

Jul 27, 20228 min read

Renewable gas

[N.B. Longer article on Grid Capacity, promised last week, has been delayed a little ... but is still coming] I keep seeing news reports...

73 views

Grid capacity and keeping the lights on (prelude)

Geoff Russell

Jul 20, 20224 min read

Grid capacity and keeping the lights on (prelude)

[ This is just a taste of a longer post to appear later this week ]. How do you climb a mountain? Do you look just 50 metres in front of...

112 views

Geoff Russell

Jul 19, 20223 min read

Stop Press: Germany's nuclear plants

Finally, the pounding of rationality has opened the great oak door of German energy policy by a centimetre or so. Germany may look at...

453 views

EU Sustainability Taxonomy ... why allow solar PV?

Geoff Russell

Jul 14, 202213 min read

EU Sustainability Taxonomy ... why allow solar PV?

The EU sustainable development rules are in the news again. I wrote about them back in January, but there have been some developments. ...

234 views