O
Odin
Guest
@JimG
Yes the potential energy is pretty much endless. That is a bit beside the point.
-Nuclear Fission has its problems (a bit risky and long term storage of waste) and, what I didn’t know until recently, the amount of easy to mine uranium is also pretty limited.
-Solar power is not the best option for countries further from the equator. Although solar panels have gotten better and cheaper, if you do an honest calculation of the energy balance (energy created over the life of the solar plant/farm minus the energy put in to make all the stuff) you have to calculate in the energy it took to make all the mounting stuff and the energy put into and the energy loss associated with buffer mechanisms (batteries or pumping water up a hill on sunny days and letting it flow down on cloudy days). At that point the energy balance is not so good. Its a lot of investment up front for a third world country. Calculating in the energy used to dispose of or recycle the batteries or some of the electronics drives the energy balance further down.
-Wind is a pretty good option, although you also need a buffer mechanism the energy balance is much better at this point. However people seem to not like windmills in their backyards (I find them pretty myself) and its not windy everywhere. As soon as you start transporting energy over long distances you have more infrastructure investments and more loss.
-Nuclear Fusion is still a few decades away. It does seem to be the Non plus ultra of energy generation but were talking 2050 for the first plats and long after that before all our power comes from that source. Its a long way off.
So my point remains, third world countries are hurt by our mass consumption of energy. Not just with regard to Global warming but also with regard to energy prices and food and other cost of living prices which are tied to them.
@Cracker Mom
There is nothing wrong with Exxon per say, defiantly nothing wrong with working for them. They have a large economic interest in clean fair alternative energy not being developed and countries which have oil which is not owned/controlled by them to be instable (fighting or sanctions) keeping supply down and prices up. Nothing wrong with that either per se, companies have interests people have interests. My problem with them is that they donate money to people who push their interests in immoral ways. Like drumming up support for illegitimate wars, usually with lies and half truths, and not only in this country. They give money to organizations and make deals behind closed doors that in trade this or that topic will be left out. They also have played a big role in trying to illegitimize global warming which will most likely end up costing many lives and which one could argue has already cost many lives (e.g. drought in poor countries).
Yes the potential energy is pretty much endless. That is a bit beside the point.
-Nuclear Fission has its problems (a bit risky and long term storage of waste) and, what I didn’t know until recently, the amount of easy to mine uranium is also pretty limited.
-Solar power is not the best option for countries further from the equator. Although solar panels have gotten better and cheaper, if you do an honest calculation of the energy balance (energy created over the life of the solar plant/farm minus the energy put in to make all the stuff) you have to calculate in the energy it took to make all the mounting stuff and the energy put into and the energy loss associated with buffer mechanisms (batteries or pumping water up a hill on sunny days and letting it flow down on cloudy days). At that point the energy balance is not so good. Its a lot of investment up front for a third world country. Calculating in the energy used to dispose of or recycle the batteries or some of the electronics drives the energy balance further down.
-Wind is a pretty good option, although you also need a buffer mechanism the energy balance is much better at this point. However people seem to not like windmills in their backyards (I find them pretty myself) and its not windy everywhere. As soon as you start transporting energy over long distances you have more infrastructure investments and more loss.
-Nuclear Fusion is still a few decades away. It does seem to be the Non plus ultra of energy generation but were talking 2050 for the first plats and long after that before all our power comes from that source. Its a long way off.
So my point remains, third world countries are hurt by our mass consumption of energy. Not just with regard to Global warming but also with regard to energy prices and food and other cost of living prices which are tied to them.
@Cracker Mom
There is nothing wrong with Exxon per say, defiantly nothing wrong with working for them. They have a large economic interest in clean fair alternative energy not being developed and countries which have oil which is not owned/controlled by them to be instable (fighting or sanctions) keeping supply down and prices up. Nothing wrong with that either per se, companies have interests people have interests. My problem with them is that they donate money to people who push their interests in immoral ways. Like drumming up support for illegitimate wars, usually with lies and half truths, and not only in this country. They give money to organizations and make deals behind closed doors that in trade this or that topic will be left out. They also have played a big role in trying to illegitimize global warming which will most likely end up costing many lives and which one could argue has already cost many lives (e.g. drought in poor countries).