There are really no alternatives

Post #137,773 by deSitter 1/26/04 8:31:38 AM Reply	There are really no alternatives Solar and wind power are pipe dreams, limited by chance and any foreseeable technology, as well as physical limitations on amount of power available. The best possibility, beaming microwaves down from synchronous orbits, is too far in the future to be of any use for the next century. But, by one of those fortunate "accidents", we have an effectively unlimited energy source that we are too chicken to use. And this does not concern you? Here is a direct solution to two of our most fundamental problems - environmental damage from fossil fuels and ensuring sustainable energy production - that only require the will to implement them, and we are too afraid of boogey men to do it. This is cause for optimism? Whoever is managing the reactors right now, is doing a fair job. France gets 3/4s of its electricity from reactors and has never had a significant problem. No, I don't trust "bizness" to handle this. Energy is a societal concern as much as sewage is, and should be treated that way. -drl
Post #137,797 by inthane-chan 1/26/04 10:55:52 AM Reply	There will be foxhole conversions... ...when the cost of oil skyrockets. I have a blue sign on my door. It says "If this sign is red, you're moving too fast."
Post #137,805 by tuberculosis 1/26/04 11:21:50 AM 8/21/07 12:41:20 PM Reply	You're not looking Solar and wind power are pipe dreams, limited by chance and any foreseeable technology, as well as physical limitations on amount of power available. Bull. If you design for it, you can design a modern house that collects all the energy (and water if you like) it needs from the environment and only raise the cost of the house about $20k. By way of illustration let me point out that my uncle's passive solar home in Parker will reach 90 degrees inside on a subzero sunny day - he leaves the front door open all day in winter, and convection effects in summer keep the place a cool breezy mid 70's on the hottest day. Of course, you'll have to force the rapists - er property developers to build this way. They won't do it on their own because they compete on price and it raises the cost a bit (not much - but enough). If you want this stuff to become adopted, it has to start with government regulation and incentives. [link\|http://www.eere.energy.gov/erec/factsheets/passive_solar.html\|http://www.eere.ener...assive_solar.html] [link\|http://www.sbicouncil.org/home/index.html\|http://www.sbicounci...g/home/index.html] [link\|http://www.thenaturalhome.com/passivesolar.html\|http://www.thenatura...passivesolar.html] [link\|http://www.homepower.com/\|http://www.homepower.com/] "I believe that many of the systems we build today in Java would be better built in Smalltalk and Gemstone." -- Martin Fowler, JAOO 2003 Edited by tuberculosis Aug. 21, 2007, 12:41:20 PM EDT Expand All History
Post #137,957 by Ashton 1/26/04 5:35:17 PM Reply	Re: There are really no alternatives - in haste Gotta run.. MUCH of the confusion about alternative energy ideas is embodied in yor ref. to "small nuke package" (with its huge hidden overhead all along the route of fabrication). This is akin to the blindspot of say, "buying that new car": The solvents, energy, toxic waste created yet not amortized. Yes, the building/selling creates a few jobs but YES: the overhead is best seen by comparing (minutely) the hidden costs to all of that New Var vs maintaining an existing one, extending its lif so that payback comes to cancel out the First Cost in depletion and sewage. Yada Yada - this is both CPA-level accountancy and plain fucking PHYSICS, damn it. Amory Lovins - one who HAS this imagination [AND the NUMBERS], but is rarely heeded by the movers/shakers/PHBs/Neocon jellofolk.

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