Duck the MANN or throw in the towel?

OleBlackyLBZ

Active member
May 22, 2020
353
85
28
We should look at cargo ships if we want to reduce emissions. Or hell just manufacturing things here, bring back more jobs and reduce emissions all in one. But what do I know 🤷‍♂️
Idk man, either you are brilliant or they are really dumb.
 

2004LB7

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2010
6,982
2,145
113
Norcal
We should look at cargo ships if we want to reduce emissions. Or hell just manufacturing things here, bring back more jobs and reduce emissions all in one. But what do I know 🤷‍♂️
what if we have a few nuclear powered cargo ships? or even trains. look at how much cargo we could move without an oz of emissions
 

gmduramax

Shits broke
Jun 12, 2008
4,072
248
63
Nor cal
what if we have a few nuclear powered cargo ships? or even trains. look at how much cargo we could move without an oz of emissions
10 nuclear powered cargo ships would reduce as much emissions as every single car in the world if I remember correctly. But nah more money in messing with people who pull a cat off their car that runs e85 and still burns cleaner than it was factory
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2004LB7

Bdsankey

Vendor
Vendor/Sponsor
Feb 1, 2018
4,165
1,274
113
Larsen, Wisconsin
nope. many if not all cities have laws that prevent people from disconnecting from the grid. some BS about "standards of living"

you can do all the work yourself and reduce your electric bills but don't backfeed the grid unless you get the final approval from the utility company. some inverters will allow you to set the % sent back. set to 0% and you will likely fly under the radar unless you dropped the load too quickly. then they may think you are steeling power and come out to investigate. if everything was permitted and signed off there may not be anything they can do.

only real drawback is no net metering for further savings but with the way most new contracts are being written. there is little net metering advantage nowadays. most utilities are limiting the amount you can pump back into the grid with less and less payback the more you provide. utilities are hurting with small margins, high fuel costs, environmentalists, epa, wind and solar not penciling out as they where told, etc. they are now looking to limit as much payments as possible. unless you are grandfathered in to an old contract that gives good payback it's probably not worth it anymore

also getting any discounts or subsidies for the system also requires one of their "approved" contractors which often pocket much of the savings all while overcharging for the system. it's amazing how we can put the whole system in for a fraction of the cost without any government subsidies but can't get it connected or net metering unless you pay out the nose. it's a big racket for sure
And this is where the money grubbing problem lies. My main goal would be to reduce my own bill as well as lessen my personal tax on the grid at home, backfeeding and getting a "kickback" would be nice but not my overall goal. My issue is my power bill is only $185/mo now (including gas) so I don't have a ton to gain at this home whereas our next house would gain substantially as it would be built from day one to be energy neutral essentially.

I would love to employ a Tesla Solar Roof on my home but at 100k for a 2500sq-ft roof they can go suck a tailpipe.
 

2004LB7

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2010
6,982
2,145
113
Norcal
And this is where the money grubbing problem lies. My main goal would be to reduce my own bill as well as lessen my personal tax on the grid at home, backfeeding and getting a "kickback" would be nice but not my overall goal. My issue is my power bill is only $185/mo now (including gas) so I don't have a ton to gain at this home whereas our next house would gain substantially as it would be built from day one to be energy neutral essentially.

I would love to employ a Tesla Solar Roof on my home but at 100k for a 2500sq-ft roof they can go suck a tailpipe.
your best option is to install a second load center right next to your current one and power it from an inverter with a battery and solar setup. then move some of your smaller loads over and increase the batteries and panels as budget allows. then move more over as it grows. you wouldn't need to purchase a gid tied inverter. an Aims or victron inverter would do nicely. you could also wire it with the generator option but hook it to the original panel to get your power if the batteries run low or there is no sun for extended time, or power a separate charger from the original panel to use in that situation
 

2004LB7

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2010
6,982
2,145
113
Norcal
Short answer? $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Americans and Canadians can't and won't change until companies are forced by federal intervention to tailor energy needs for environmental benefit and NOT for maximum profit.
I'm not buying it. a nuclear plant, while slow to pay off the cost of constructing it will mave high returns on investment afterwards. it's a great long term investment that can make lots of money for it's owners.

currently operating plants are being shut down because their license is not being allowed to be renewed and the government is not giving out approval for new ones to be built.

A plant can be made even more profitable if it sells it's waste heat as hot water to a city. somewhat like New Yorks steam lines that run throughout the city.

unfortunately the very rare events of melt downs have solidified the idea in many people and particularly politicians and environmentalists that nuclear plants are going to destroy the planet. 3 mile island is probably what did it for the US. the incorrect initial reporting of the severity caused unnecessary fear. what many don't know is the facility continued to operate long after that incident with the last unit #1 being taken off line in 2019. if it was not making money hurting the environment it would have been shut down long ago. but it infact was doing both.

so in short, they are good for the environment and make money. it's the government right now that is holding them back. the government is not the solution but the problem
 

Bdsankey

Vendor
Vendor/Sponsor
Feb 1, 2018
4,165
1,274
113
Larsen, Wisconsin
10 nuclear powered cargo ships would reduce as much emissions as every single car in the world if I remember correctly. But nah more money in messing with people who pull a cat off their car that runs e85 and still burns cleaner than it was factory
And it's things like this where I think our govt is missing on the root cause of the problem. Sure, reducing emissions of vehicles will help reduce overall pollution levels (nobody can argue that) but if we're trying to clean up only one small contributing piece of the pie we won't get anywhere. If we can attack the biggest offenders (cargo ships and power plants) we solve the problem swiftly and quickly.

your best option is to install a second load center right next to your current one and power it from an inverter with a battery and solar setup. then move some of your smaller loads over and increase the batteries and panels as budget allows. then move more over as it grows. you wouldn't need to purchase a gid tied inverter. an Aims or victron inverter would do nicely. you could also wire it with the generator option but hook it to the original panel to get your power if the batteries run low or there is no sun for extended time, or power a separate charger from the original panel to use in that situation
That's not a bad idea. The next house will either have solar panels or something similar to the Tesla solar roof (assuming someone else comes out with a competing product) as well as a backup generator. It's not often that we get outages in my area but a few years back we had a tornado come through and some homes were without power for 2-5 weeks. We've also had issues on some more rural areas in the winter where a pole gets hit by a vehicle and causes a leg to go down for awhile. My goal is to be able to live off grid for 2-3 months assuming something major happens (EXTREMELY unlikely).

I'm the kind of person who would rather have that generator never kick on but be there. With those you use an automatic transfer switch to intercept the incoming line. I would then have to feed the output of the ATS to the solar inverter/charger.

Short answer? $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Americans and Canadians can't and won't change until companies are forced by federal intervention to tailor energy needs for environmental benefit and NOT for maximum profit.

I'm not buying it. a nuclear plant, while slow to pay off the cost of constructing it will mave high returns on investment afterwards. it's a great long term investment that can make lots of money for it's owners.

currently operating plants are being shut down because their license is not being allowed to be renewed and the government is not giving out approval for new ones to be built.

A plant can be made even more profitable if it sells it's waste heat as hot water to a city. somewhat like New Yorks steam lines that run throughout the city.

unfortunately the very rare events of melt downs have solidified the idea in many people and particularly politicians and environmentalists that nuclear plants are going to destroy the planet. 3 mile island is probably what did it for the US. the incorrect initial reporting of the severity caused unnecessary fear. what many don't know is the facility continued to operate long after that incident with the last unit #1 being taken off line in 2019. if it was not making money hurting the environment it would have been shut down long ago. but it infact was doing both.

so in short, they are good for the environment and make money. it's the government right now that is holding them back. the government is not the solution but the problem
I personally believe there is resistance to go after power/transportation from both fear as well as the amount of ties big oil/power have to political agendas. Fear in regard to nuclear. @gmduramax I think nailed it, why can't we build these large cargo ships to be nuclear powered? Yeah it's expensive up front but their fuel costs all but go away, their emissions all but go away (beyond the spent fuel), and their run-times remain the same or increase. It also means they likely could speed up shipping times as nuclear is more energy dense, they possibly could stuff larger turbines hp turbines into them to where they may pickup shaft hp over a diesel engine.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2004LB7

ZeroGravity58

Well-known member
Mar 23, 2008
1,401
51
48
38
Maryland
The biggest reason nuclear power plants are getting shut down right now is that they are not profitable. Natural gas and coal are so cheap that nuclear can't compete. Big companies only care about turning that profit. Believe me I work for one of the bigger ones and we sit through this stuff all the time. Read about Dresden and Byron nuclear plants in Illinois. They were almost shit down until the government stepped in and save them. They saved Byron by days from being shut down.
 

2004LB7

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2010
6,982
2,145
113
Norcal

2004LB7

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2010
6,982
2,145
113
Norcal
w
The biggest reason nuclear power plants are getting shut down right now is that they are not profitable. Natural gas and coal are so cheap that nuclear can't compete. Big companies only care about turning that profit. Believe me I work for one of the bigger ones and we sit through this stuff all the time. Read about Dresden and Byron nuclear plants in Illinois. They were almost shit down until the government stepped in and save them. They saved Byron by days from being shut down.
what's the overhead that these plants have to carry vs a gas or coal plant? short term I can see it but in the long run nuclear should win out
 

ZeroGravity58

Well-known member
Mar 23, 2008
1,401
51
48
38
Maryland
It doesn't, if you have ever worked in the plants you would see what I mean. Night and day difference with everything. The fuel is one thing, the regulations are another
 

Leadfoot

Needs Bigger Tires!
Dec 27, 2006
904
31
28
48
Western MA
www.matpa.org
Did Kori really tune 'The Beast'? One would think the gooberment would just get that direct from GM rather than a 'civilian tuner' like Kori.
He did. As for why Kory vs GM, I'm willing to bet Kory was able to customize the tune to compensate for the weight, gearing, transmission, etc better than a GM tech as he has been modifying tunes and dyno testing for a variety of different scenarios (drag racing, truck pulling, air boats, marine, etc, etc). He was probably the best tuner to make sure the Beast operated to it's fullest potential and do so reliably, not that a GM tech couldn't do it but it was more inline with Kory's wheelhouse. Plus GM wouldn't be on the line should something go wrong...
 

Bdsankey

Vendor
Vendor/Sponsor
Feb 1, 2018
4,165
1,274
113
Larsen, Wisconsin
problem with those is it would take a minimum of 400 amps to charge them. anything less and you get acid stratification which could ruin the batteries if left for long. that would be a very very big solar setup
Whereas the 10-12kw batteries from “Big Battery” are ~$2500-$3000 and are easily charged with any solar inverter.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2004LB7

N2BRK

Well-known member
Dec 31, 2009
2,054
371
83
2 more I've found out about getting hit at the DOT stops. $10k fine and replace OEM equipment for inspection or else revocation of registration.

Tomorrow I'm going to look at an 03 LB7 Crew Cab 6-1/2' LS with over 300k miles and 22k miles on a de-lipped/studded/rods built engine with trans from George at the same time, stock over 475 compound kit and 45 overs too. Pics look surprisingly good. The big question is price. Then I have to sell mine ;( After 14 years I'm having trouble even admitting thinking about letting her go.