Idaho News (Idaho Falls, Teton, Tetonia: heat pump, designers, propane)

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by dcisive

[/b]

I saw a very detailed premiere of the F150 Lightning due out next summer. The price alone is enticing but the interior and features in the cabin are mind boggling. Surely attractive to a wanna be pickup owner. And 0-60mph in 4 seconds should satisfy the older guys with the "boy racer" blood still intact. Yeah and near 300mi on a charge is a real $$$ saver. I already spoke to a farmer I run into at our local grill who said he's got a pre order in on one and has already installed a charge unit on the wall in his garage.

Yup.
As soon as Ford announced the truck, I knew farmers would be the first in line.

Folks don't realize how much fuel an Idaho farm uses in a season. Typically, during planting and harvest, a farm here can burn through 100 gallons of fuel a week. Or more.

Consider 3 tractors, each burning 2 gallons an hour, with each having 20 gallon tanks. Every tractor needs a service truck to keep it supplied, or to empty the crop into, and each is getting around 7 mpg when loaded.
Add on the self-powered grain and potato combines, all the motorized implements which have their own gas engines, the augers, the pickup trucks, the loading and unloading systems, and its always a LOT of fuel.
The farms also get a lot of fuel theft, too. All year long.

The days of winter as a time when farming stops are long gone. Modern farming as a 12-month job now, and has been all my life. Winter fuel usage decreases, but it's still much higher than in the city.

And on a farm, when fuel is needed, it has to be purchased. If the price of oil happens to spike, farmers have to bite the bullet and pay the cost. They have no option at all.

[dcisive]

YIKES! And I thought general travel costs of fuel were high. Yeah having a in garage charge unit could sure save some serious dollars. The price of the charge units is dropping as well so having several wouldn't even be bad. It sure will be interesting to see how things all change in the next number of years. I wonder if companies like John Deere are designing some changes in their lineup as well. It would serve them well to do so now rather than later.

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by dcisive

YIKES! And I thought general travel costs of fuel were high. Yeah having a in garage charge unit could sure save some serious dollars. The price of the charge units is dropping as well so having several wouldn't even be bad. It sure will be interesting to see how things all change in the next number of years. I wonder if companies like John Deere are designing some changes in their lineup as well. It would serve them well to do so now rather than later.

I don't know, but it seems realistic that John Deere (and others) would already be working on the technology.

All-electric farm equipment could be a lot different in the way the power is used in them than vehicles, but it seems to me that the propulsion could be the same. Speed isn't the big factor, traction is.
I'm no engineer, but it seems to be the transmission difference could be the biggest difference in a tractor vs. an automobile.

It would get more complicated with some implements; the modern implements combine several different functions that in the old days, were done by using one implement at a time.

A grain combine was one of the first multi-function farm implements- it combined cutting, threshing, and winnowing into one machine. Their first propulsion was literally horsepower, then caterpillar type tractors, and then they finally became self-propelled.

My great-grandfather owned over 200 head of draft horses and employed over 50 men to harvest with his combines, the very first available. My grand father used tractors, and his crew was cut to 18, an my father used self-propelled combines and his crew was cut to 6. All farmed the same ground.

[Syringaloid]

https://www.cityofboise.org/climate

The Goal:
Carbon Neutral by 2050
This past year, the City of Boise set a bold climate action goal to be carbon neutral by 2050. Carbon neutral eliminates greenhouse gas emissions by achieving the following benchmarks:

2030: 100% Clean electricity for City of Boise government facilities
2035:
Carbon neutral for City of Boise government facilities and operations
100% Clean electricity for the Boise community
2050: Carbon neutral for Boise community

https://www.kmvt.com/2021/09/01/moun...-river-valley/
Mountain Rides’ electric buses hit the roads in the Wood River Valley

KETCHUM, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — Mountain Rides is working toward gradually reducing its carbon footprint in the Wood River Valley, with the goal of being emission-free by the end of the decade.

https://idahonews.com/news/local/ful...gional-transit
Fully electric buses unveiled by Valley Regional Transit

BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — Valley Regional Transit unveiled four new 40-foot electric buses that will hit the streets in October.

“Battery-electric buses offer a quieter, smoother rider experience and a more sustainable transportation solution,” said Kelli Badesheim, Valley Regional Transit executive director. These buses can reach up to 65 mph and take about three hours to recharge.

[Heron31]

Originally Posted by Syringaloid

...100% Clean electricity for City of Boise government facilities...

That may be achievable for government facilities, BUT "clean electricity" in general is going to be a difficult goal based on where most of the U.S. electricity comes from:

Energy in the United States comes mostly from fossil fuels: in 2020, data showed that 35% of the nation's energy originates from petroleum, 10% from coal, and 34% from natural gas. Nuclear power supplied 9% and renewable energy supplied 12%, mainly from hydroelectric dams and biomass; however, this also includes other renewable sources like wind, geothermal, and solar. -- source

[Syringaloid]

Originally Posted by Heron31

That may be achievable for government facilities, BUT "clean electricity" in general is going to be a difficult goal based on where most of the U.S. electricity comes from:

Energy in the United States comes mostly from fossil fuels: in 2020, data showed that 35% of the nation's energy originates from petroleum, 10% from coal, and 34% from natural gas. Nuclear power supplied 9% and renewable energy supplied 12%, mainly from hydroelectric dams and biomass; however, this also includes other renewable sources like wind, geothermal, and solar. -- source

I fixed the link to the City of Boise info regarding the plan. It wasn't working for some reason.
Boise is most likely not the only city doing this, so I'm not sure how this plan will ultimately work out.

The nation needs to stop using coal. It looks like the dams on the Snake between Boise (Hells Canyon) and into Washington might be in danger of being removed, so we will see how that pans out.

Here in Southern Idaho, there are several wind farms scattered around and some are near Boise. There are also some solar farms in the Boise area with more in the planning stages.

Here is a link to one of the solar farms:
https://snakeriveralliance.org/2016/...outh-of-boise/

Boise is blessed with the nations largest geothermal system and one of the worlds largest which is used to heat homes and commercial buildings in and around downtown including the Capitol. This resource has been expanded in recent years across the Boise River to the BSU campus.

https://www.cityofboise.org/departme...ks/geothermal/

https://oemr.idaho.gov/sources/re/geothermal/

https://bwswd.com/


And this:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/09/c...ons-cop26.html
6 Automakers and 30 Countries Say They’ll Phase Out Gasoline Car Sales
Ford, G.M. and Mercedes agreed to work toward selling only zero-emissions vehicles by 2040.

[dcisive]

I can't imagine Idaho committing suicide by removal of the most efficient provider of our power, the Snake River dams. It's so nice and cheap now as well. That would be a financial disaster and I know even Idaho Power isn't in favor of it. There are millions of dollars already allocated to Idaho to further the infrastructure now of the charging network for EV's as well as other systems in place to promote electric vehicles. I would imagine that will be implemented in the next coming years as well.

[Syringaloid]

Originally Posted by Heron31

That may be achievable for government facilities, BUT "clean electricity" in general is going to be a difficult goal based on where most of the U.S. electricity comes from:

Energy in the United States comes mostly from fossil fuels: in 2020, data showed that 35% of the nation's energy originates from petroleum, 10% from coal, and 34% from natural gas. Nuclear power supplied 9% and renewable energy supplied 12%, mainly from hydroelectric dams and biomass; however, this also includes other renewable sources like wind, geothermal, and solar. -- source

I forgot to add in my previous post that Washington is looking into removal of the dams downstream from Idaho and that an Idaho lawmaker is supporting this. If this were to happen, it would take years for removal and wouldn't happen anytime soon.

https://www.nrdc.org/experts/giulia-...kle-snake-dams

https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/...255374081.html

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/20...ing-debate-ra/


https://www.hcn.org/articles/north-l...on-snake-river
Idaho Congressman proposes bold dam removal project on Snake River
The $33.5 billion plan seeks to restore salmon while funding new energy projects and compensating farmers.

[nm9stheham]

Originally Posted by dcisive

[/b]I saw a very detailed premiere of the F150 Lightning due out next summer. The price alone is enticing but the interior and features in the cabin are mind boggling. Surely attractive to a wanna be pickup owner. And 0-60mph in 4 seconds should satisfy the older guys with the "boy racer" blood still intact. Yeah and near 300mi on a charge is a real $$$ saver. I already spoke to a farmer I run into at our local grill who said he's got a pre order in on one and has already installed a charge unit on the wall in his garage.

Probably for trips to town and back. I wonder how he will feel when his 240 mile range drops to 150 or less on a 0 degree winter day due to the heater using up the battery power. Driving faster for less trip time doesn't solve the problem.
At least the newer F150 chassis retained a frame, but putting a load on it is not gonna work like a 3/4 ton or larger, and the range is gonna become even less. With a load, in winter, I bet you'll be on the edge or range for a round trip from, say, a Tetonia farm to Idaho Falls. And it won't go far at all towing a trailer.... the energy used in overcoming the wind resistance of a medium or large sized trailer trailer far exceeds the energy used to move the vehicle by itself.

[Syringaloid]

banjomike, you have probably already heard about this. I'm assuming this will be built at or near the INL?


https://www.businessinsider.com/bill...unding-2021-11

Bill Gates' nuclear-power firm will help build a $170 million experimental nuclear reactor in Idaho