Thread: Fracking ban.
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Old 09-28-2018, 12:39 AM   #39 (permalink)
jcp123
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I can't get on board with a fracking ban. The evidence is growing that it has more negatives than previously thought, but renewable energy has been somewhat slow to develop into as reliable a source as we need from a system which expects base load generation to be as flexible and available as it is now. Renewables can and should be used to edge out electricity production on the margins, and so far it is doing just that.

In the meantime, base load has to be carried by fossil fuels. Nuclear holds some promise, but barring a coherent policy for disposing of waste and a massive shift in funding guarantees, nuclear power will wane as a percentage of electricity production.

On the transportation front, this is relevant because I believe we are at the real beginning of shifting to EVs. Offloading the energy demand to the electrical grid will have consequences.

Ethanol is troublesome in that it isn't efficiently produced, and uses foodstuffs for energy instead.

Basically, we are going to burn fossil fuels for a good while before we figure out better energy. And in that meantime, I'm all for the ability of fracking to not only lower my bills, but also free up cleaner resources like natural gas. It's a bridge we are walking in, and if the slow pace of renewable expansion is frustrating, I also don't think it will be reversed.
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