Top all-time · #6015
Ben James
Personal blog · climate.benjames.ioscienceeconomics
Ben James's personal blog at climate.benjames.io covers science and economics. Since 2024, 13 different Hacker News readers have linked it 17 times, most often “The likelihood of unilateral solar geoengineering”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2024-12-20, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (6) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link Ben James's climate and energy explainers, covering UK electricity prices, solar costs, hydrogen and ammonia, and solar geoengineering. One commenter says the writing is readable for non-experts yet still interesting to people in the field.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 6 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Thoughts on climate by Ben James.
Most-linked posts?
- The likelihood of unilateral solar geoengineering3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2024-02-13
- AI will use a lot of energy. That's good for the climate3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2024-10-02
- Solar will get too cheap to connect to the power grid3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2024-09-03
- Why are UK electricity bills so expensive?2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2024-12-20
What Hacker News says?
> Even Scotland which either exports or curtails dirt cheap wind power most of the time gets to pay expensive gas rates for their power 1. window power is not "dirt cheap" because of the rates the wind farms get paid. As you said they get paid the wholesale rate, and IIRC it is the greater of the wholesale rate and a minimum rate they are guaranteed by the government. 2. the reason curtailment happens UK's is becaus…
Comment linking /uk-electricity-bills/
on “Why are UK electricity bills so expensive?”Submitted Why are UK electricity bills so expensive? as a story · 193 points
HN discussionThe same author wrote the blog post that was on the front page here recently about the plummeting cost of solar [0]. I really like his posts, readable by someone like me who is way below layman on the subject, but I think also pretty interesting to someone with experience in the field. [0] https://climate.benjames.io/solar-off-grid/
Comment linking /solar-off-grid/
on “Why are UK electricity bills so expensive?”Submitted Solar will get too cheap to connect to the power grid as a story · 120 points
HN discussion> “Having shade on the ground is a climate adaptation. I hate to say it, but I've kind of given up on the thought that we're going to fix climate change whatsoever,” said Komenik. “Climate change is going to happen. It's going to be rapid. It's going to be terrible. So we need to figure out how to adapt to that changing climate.” Only because geoengineering is off the table. If you take climate change seriously and…
Comment linking /someone-is-going-to-dim-the-sun/
on “In Colorado, a marriage of solar energy and farming”Submitted The likelihood of unilateral solar geoengineering as a story · 110 points
HN discussionPower so cheap that it did not have to be metered was the promise of Nuclear power but it got sidelined because of safety concerns. Given that climate change mandates a less polluting power source Nuclear power will get a new life which dictates that it become safe to operate. I predict that safety will increase over time. Even now there are experimental reactors that are fail-safe. It's only a matter of time before…
Comment linking /solar-off-grid/
on “'Three New York Cities' Worth of Power: AI Is Stressing the Grid”Submitted Solar will get too cheap to connect to the power grid as a story · 105 points
HN discussion> bandaids Exactly. They are temporary and reversible measures that can be taken until we get carbon emissions under control. > downsides SRM could have the same downsides as a volcano erupting, something that has already happened throughout human history. > easier It is actually much easier and more cost effective to deploy SRM. Check out this article: https://climate.benjames.io/someone-is-going-to-dim-the-sun/
Comment linking /someone-is-going-to-dim-the-sun/
on “Scientists Resort to Once-Unthinkable Solutions to Cool the Planet”Submitted AI will use a lot of energy. That's good for the climate as a story · 8 points
HN discussionFrom https://climate.benjames.io/ammonia/ > Japan currently imports a lot of LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) on big ships. They can’t use dirty natural gas forever - but they will still need to import some energy. Thus, they are placing bets that they will be able to import hydrogen and ammonia in the future. They've made some strong policy decisions to this effect. Korea and other smaller Asian countries aren't far beh…
Comment linking /ammonia/
on “Europe's ludicrous hydrogen bet [video]”Submitted Actually, we can deploy energy infrastructure quickly as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Big Guide to Zero-Carbon Jet Fuel as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted AI will use a lot of energy, and that's good for the climate as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted AI will guzzle energy, and that's good for the climate as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Big Guide to Hydrogen as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Big Guide to Fusion as a story · 1 points
HN discussion