The fundamental mistakes in decarbonisation

Not a lot is basically wrong with our current energy system.Internal combustion engines are pretty much optimised. Heating israther efficient and practical. The distribution systems of fuel andmethane are well established. Pretty much all appliances that can be meaningfully electrified are indeed already electrified. There’s only one problem: the entire system runs on fossil fuels.And… Continue reading The fundamental mistakes in decarbonisation

The role of BRIGID MSRs in the future of humanity.

The world is a mess, and politics are messing it up: wars, globalism, ecology. Instead of solving the world’s problems, preferably in a piecefull and democratic way, one could emigrate somewhere else and start from scratch. But where would you go? To the Moon? Gravity is really low. There is no water. There is no… Continue reading The role of BRIGID MSRs in the future of humanity.

Brilliant strategies: LTO of KCD-4 and CNT-3 as a bargain to cap the future cost of waste disposal

In 2003, the government decided to close down all nuclear power plants by 2023. That’s about just now. From 2003 till 2018, we were all fast asleep. Me too. Sorry for that, by the way. In a KULeuven University Seminar in November 2018 (*), ‘expert’ Prof. R. Belmans, electrical engineer, not nuclear engineer by the… Continue reading Brilliant strategies: LTO of KCD-4 and CNT-3 as a bargain to cap the future cost of waste disposal

Free as the wind…

We need renewables, because wind is for free and uranium is expensive? Sure about this? We need renewables, because wind is clean and uranium is filthy? Again, sure about this? Advocates of sun-and-wind argue that the primary energy sources sunshine, wind and hydro are for free, while oil, methane gas and uranium are costly. There… Continue reading Free as the wind…

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Hydro-electricity is not renewable nor sustainable?

One would suspect that hydro-electricity is a key example of renewable energy. Is it? And more important: is it sustainable? Belgium does not comprise mountains or fjords. Instead we use a pumping plant in Coo-Trois-Ponts.  It uses electricity from the grid to pump water from a low reservoir uphill to an elevated reservoir,  with the… Continue reading Hydro-electricity is not renewable nor sustainable?

And now for Something Completely Different… CRM

To most anyone in the world, CRM means Customer Relationship Management. For Belgian politicians, CRM is Something Completely Different.. CRM is a Belgian funding mechanism that uses tax money to fund the construction and maintenance of facilities to produce electricity. At first, that seems a weird idea. If you want to produce and sell shoe… Continue reading And now for Something Completely Different… CRM

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On the mysterious ways of ELIA

ELIA is the Belgian TSO (Transmission System Operator), responsible for the high voltage electricity transmission in Belgium. Although not a producer, when there’s a black-out, ELIA is to blame.  You would therefore think ELIA likes base load electricity production. However… Ever since the liberalisation of the European electricity market (2009), ELIA is no longer a government… Continue reading On the mysterious ways of ELIA

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