Russ Conser
@russconser.com
Energy | Agriculture (esp soil) | Tech | Science | Carbon | Climate | Innovation | The Lessons of History | Practical Pathways for Creating Impact at Scale. Engineer by education.
I think we're all failing to appreciate the full implications of this. A more electrified economy is not only cleaner, but cheaper (gen/stor tech), smarter (2-way dynamic mgmt), and can grow much faster (cheaper multi-scale infrastructure). China energy propulsion just kicking in.
This chart is incredible, have used it myself in the past. www.ft.com/content/f867...
May 12, 2025 at 1:30 PM
I think we're all failing to appreciate the full implications of this. A more electrified economy is not only cleaner, but cheaper (gen/stor tech), smarter (2-way dynamic mgmt), and can grow much faster (cheaper multi-scale infrastructure). China energy propulsion just kicking in.
💯. As a participant in the @davidenergy.bsky.social VPP in Texas, it's a clear no-brainer value add to anyone with solar + batteries. In 1st 5 months, I am netting ~$68/mo for 100% net negative power bills compared to 2 years when I was just selling power back to the grid at moments of excess.
Read --> Why #VirtualPowerPlants are a Climate Solution for Our Divided Times 👀💡🔋 via @jefftheyoung.bsky.social www.newsweek.com/why-virtual-... #energysky #climatesky #rooftopsolarisnonpartisan
Why Virtual Power Plants are a climate solution for our divided times
Virtual Power Plants use the combined energy from rooftop solar and home battery systems to cut costs and emissions, creating bipartisan appeal.
www.newsweek.com
May 9, 2025 at 3:52 PM
💯. As a participant in the @davidenergy.bsky.social VPP in Texas, it's a clear no-brainer value add to anyone with solar + batteries. In 1st 5 months, I am netting ~$68/mo for 100% net negative power bills compared to 2 years when I was just selling power back to the grid at moments of excess.
A metaphor from high school physics is on my mind today: if you polarize light both ways, no light gets through. Hope we can get past this polarized light phase of society, and back to the wonders of broad-spectrum illumination of every topic including and respecting every color and shadow.
April 30, 2025 at 3:42 PM
A metaphor from high school physics is on my mind today: if you polarize light both ways, no light gets through. Hope we can get past this polarized light phase of society, and back to the wonders of broad-spectrum illumination of every topic including and respecting every color and shadow.
Is this a good time to point out that this is faster than ERCOT in Texas during Uri, and Centerpoint in Houston after Beryl?
Still curious to read honest after-action reviews, but kudos to the teams who pulled off the repowering of Spain & Portugal last night.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Still curious to read honest after-action reviews, but kudos to the teams who pulled off the repowering of Spain & Portugal last night.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
How Spain powered back to life from unprecedented national blackout
However diversified Spain's energy mix is, the blackout required an enormous effort to get back up and running.
www.bbc.com
April 29, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Is this a good time to point out that this is faster than ERCOT in Texas during Uri, and Centerpoint in Houston after Beryl?
Still curious to read honest after-action reviews, but kudos to the teams who pulled off the repowering of Spain & Portugal last night.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Still curious to read honest after-action reviews, but kudos to the teams who pulled off the repowering of Spain & Portugal last night.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Glad/sad that others are coming to the same conclusion...
The destruction of American science by Trump and the GOP is a far more important story and will be remembered in history far longer than his screw-ups on the economy with tariffs.
April 28, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Glad/sad that others are coming to the same conclusion...
100% agree. Not the time to be investing in better sails! That this is where we would be heading with better tech has been clear to me for >20 years. We turn back to nothing but our own loss.
If the U.S. backpedals on clean energy and EVs, the rest of the world will move on without us, he says.
'We Lose The Auto Industry': LG Energy Chief's Warning If America Backs Off EVs
If the U.S. backpedals on clean energy and EVs, the rest of the world will move on without us, he says.
insideevs.com
April 21, 2025 at 8:25 PM
100% agree. Not the time to be investing in better sails! That this is where we would be heading with better tech has been clear to me for >20 years. We turn back to nothing but our own loss.
Great thread on wide opposition to Texas Senate Bill 819 that threatens our energy transition leadership. Focus is on rural economic development and property rights. Hope politicians got the idea that sunshine and wind are energy resources as compelling today as oil and gas have been to our past.
I’ve watched energy hearings in Texas for over 20 years. The hearing on SB 819 was unlike anything I’ve ever seen for an energy bill.
50+ Texans spoke up to oppose the bill, including this rancher from Armstrong County: "Y'all don't realize what small counties need." 1/5
50+ Texans spoke up to oppose the bill, including this rancher from Armstrong County: "Y'all don't realize what small counties need." 1/5
April 14, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Great thread on wide opposition to Texas Senate Bill 819 that threatens our energy transition leadership. Focus is on rural economic development and property rights. Hope politicians got the idea that sunshine and wind are energy resources as compelling today as oil and gas have been to our past.
Profoundly insightful, and in the end, darkly hopeful. Not a mea-culpa at all as the headline suggests. Proposes a recovery following post-Jacksonian analogy involving the rise of neo-Whigs as a cultural, civic and political force.
Do read this:
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
Do read this:
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
I Should Have Seen This Coming
When I joined the conservative movement in the 1980s, there were two types of people: those who cared earnestly about ideas, and those who wanted only to shock the left. The reactionary fringe has won...
www.theatlantic.com
April 7, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Profoundly insightful, and in the end, darkly hopeful. Not a mea-culpa at all as the headline suggests. Proposes a recovery following post-Jacksonian analogy involving the rise of neo-Whigs as a cultural, civic and political force.
Do read this:
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
Do read this:
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
Most important new idea to throw in the mental hopper for watching current events unfold in the coming days. TL;DR: disagreement about remedies to a financial crisis amongst previously supportive elites is the likely trigger of authoritarian regime collapse.
So. I wrote a dissertation on how economic crises can lead to the breakdown of authoritarian regimes.
Here are three key point to keep in mind as you watch the news this week 🧵
Here are three key point to keep in mind as you watch the news this week 🧵
Economic Crises and the Breakdown of Authoritarian Regimes
Cambridge Core - Asian Studies - Economic Crises and the Breakdown of Authoritarian Regimes
www.cambridge.org
April 7, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Most important new idea to throw in the mental hopper for watching current events unfold in the coming days. TL;DR: disagreement about remedies to a financial crisis amongst previously supportive elites is the likely trigger of authoritarian regime collapse.
Reposted by Russ Conser
my parents were born in a Great Depression and it looks like I may grow old and die in one
April 7, 2025 at 11:33 AM
my parents were born in a Great Depression and it looks like I may grow old and die in one
Come on, Texas - don't be stupid! This would be a terrible self-inflicted energy wound - going from runaway first place in building a smart, clean and affordable grid of the future to suddenly being in the back of the pack. Destroys economic value. Just bonkers.
With renewables & storage winning in Texas's competitive electricity market, fossil gas companies are asking the legislature for preferential treatment. The TX Senate is on board. Will the House choose protectionism at expense of clean and affordable electricity? www.canarymedia.com/articles/ene...
Texas Senate passes bill to upend energy market, spur gas over…
The legislation would require half of new power plant capacity come from dispatchable sources other than batteries. Solar and wind developers would pay…
www.canarymedia.com
March 24, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Come on, Texas - don't be stupid! This would be a terrible self-inflicted energy wound - going from runaway first place in building a smart, clean and affordable grid of the future to suddenly being in the back of the pack. Destroys economic value. Just bonkers.
Important to understand that this is entirely driven by technology and market forces - has been from the beginning. The political noise about both killing or saving coal is just that - noise.
Wind and solar now produce more than coal in the US.
Coal is only going one way.
Coal is only going one way.
March 21, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Important to understand that this is entirely driven by technology and market forces - has been from the beginning. The political noise about both killing or saving coal is just that - noise.
New business opportunity idea: Climate Change Speakeasies.
[AI-generated]
[AI-generated]
March 21, 2025 at 1:29 PM
New business opportunity idea: Climate Change Speakeasies.
[AI-generated]
[AI-generated]
My home virtual power plant stepped up to help an apparent brief crunch period in ERCOT this morning: ~9.5 kW outflow for ~14 minutes. Price didn't spike that high, so not gonna get rich, but nice to help balance the grid and make a little bit of coin on the side.
#VPP #DER
#VPP #DER
March 10, 2025 at 4:16 PM
2/3/25: That troubling day when you actually hope that everything you learned in Econ 101 and the Federalist Papers is wrong, but you're pretty sure they're not. At least I rest in comfortable confidence in the laws of thermodynamics, but I fear entropy will not be our friend in the coming days.
February 3, 2025 at 3:09 PM
2/3/25: That troubling day when you actually hope that everything you learned in Econ 101 and the Federalist Papers is wrong, but you're pretty sure they're not. At least I rest in comfortable confidence in the laws of thermodynamics, but I fear entropy will not be our friend in the coming days.
2/3/25: The end of guacamole and pancakes in America as we know them.
February 3, 2025 at 12:44 PM
2/3/25: The end of guacamole and pancakes in America as we know them.
Not sure it's actually "elementary", but sure would have lost points for failing to recognize the detrimental effects of tariffs on my freshman economics exam more than 40 years ago ["Economics" (Mansfield, 1977)]. And bordering on clairvoyant that America is about to become an island.
February 3, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Not sure it's actually "elementary", but sure would have lost points for failing to recognize the detrimental effects of tariffs on my freshman economics exam more than 40 years ago ["Economics" (Mansfield, 1977)]. And bordering on clairvoyant that America is about to become an island.
Reposted by Russ Conser
When you flood the system with cash and call it speech, don’t be shocked when the only voices left are the ones that can afford the microphone.
#CitizensUnited #DemocracyForSale #FollowTheMoney
#CitizensUnited #DemocracyForSale #FollowTheMoney
February 2, 2025 at 12:25 PM
When you flood the system with cash and call it speech, don’t be shocked when the only voices left are the ones that can afford the microphone.
#CitizensUnited #DemocracyForSale #FollowTheMoney
#CitizensUnited #DemocracyForSale #FollowTheMoney
Well, since history is on such a rhyming run, maybe the Arab Oil Embargo of the 70's needs a relevant redux that today's culture might actually notice?!
LEGO should refuse to sell in the US until we get rid of this madman.
Denmark in ‘crisis mode’ after ‘horrendous’ phone call
The US president reportedly became “aggressive” during the call and threatened to impose tariffs on Denmark.
www.smh.com.au
January 25, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Well, since history is on such a rhyming run, maybe the Arab Oil Embargo of the 70's needs a relevant redux that today's culture might actually notice?!
Loving my new "Terra" backyard bird bioacoustics sensor that finally arrived over the weekend. Setup was easy. Doing a good job picking up lots of species I know are there, and flagged a few not clear whether false ID or not yet? Owls were busy overnight!
www.terralistens.com
www.terralistens.com
January 7, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Loving my new "Terra" backyard bird bioacoustics sensor that finally arrived over the weekend. Setup was easy. Doing a good job picking up lots of species I know are there, and flagged a few not clear whether false ID or not yet? Owls were busy overnight!
www.terralistens.com
www.terralistens.com
History rhyming like a limerick right now.
A robber baron in the Gilded Age was a term used to describe a wealthy industrialist who amassed their fortune through ruthless business practices exploiting workers, manipulating markets and sometimes engaging in corrupt political tactics to gain an unfair advantage during the late 19th century
December 29, 2024 at 3:34 PM
History rhyming like a limerick right now.
I'm not an academic, so publishing papers is not a personal goal, but am proud to have been part of this one now out. "Money chart" below shows large differential impact of grazing methods on grassland bird populations. #itsnotthecowitsthehow
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
December 17, 2024 at 2:53 PM
I'm not an academic, so publishing papers is not a personal goal, but am proud to have been part of this one now out. "Money chart" below shows large differential impact of grazing methods on grassland bird populations. #itsnotthecowitsthehow
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Finally, an explanation that makes sense. 😂
December 16, 2024 at 8:24 PM
Finally, an explanation that makes sense. 😂
Humans are wired to see what we believe. "Peer review" and "null hypothesis" are processes that help control resulting false-positives. But now we need better processes to avoid false-negatives that otherwise slow progress. Hidden unexplored assumptions are just as deadly as accepting untested ones.
December 15, 2024 at 2:06 PM
Humans are wired to see what we believe. "Peer review" and "null hypothesis" are processes that help control resulting false-positives. But now we need better processes to avoid false-negatives that otherwise slow progress. Hidden unexplored assumptions are just as deadly as accepting untested ones.
I know, it's blasphemy - cows doing good things. Although often exaggerated, solid science is still welcome. A solid case study from UK where "AMP Grazing" improved water infiltration, carbon sequestration, biodiversity, business results and even worker satisfaction.
8point9.com/emissions-co...
8point9.com/emissions-co...
Emissions 'completely offset by sequestration' in McDonald’s FAI AMP grazing project - 8.9ha
[…]
8point9.com
December 13, 2024 at 2:04 PM
I know, it's blasphemy - cows doing good things. Although often exaggerated, solid science is still welcome. A solid case study from UK where "AMP Grazing" improved water infiltration, carbon sequestration, biodiversity, business results and even worker satisfaction.
8point9.com/emissions-co...
8point9.com/emissions-co...