Check out this map of solar energy available
Sometimes when I stop and look at the big picture I have to ask WTF are we doing? And those numbers are from using photovoltaic cells, the worst of the bunch!
This rant came from my big plans with Kevin to build a stirling engine generator in the silo. I love wikipedia.
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Seems so simple, doesn't it. All we have to do is completely pave over Nevada with solar panels!
ReplyDeleteLooking at this map, I have to wonder a lot of things... - ie - how much equivalent land area is dedicated to energy production now? How much equivalent area of Biomass would be needed to achieve the same goal, or how many nuclear reactors, etc. We definetely need to diversify the sources of our energy.
Could we even make that many solar panels, and if so, what are the externalities of that process? I think I remember a Charlie Hall lecture where he mentioned that the manufacture of solar cells involved lots and lots of gallium arsenide, which is a highly toxic and nasty chemical.
And oh so many more....
The stirling generator sounds pretty cool... What are you going to do with it?
Yes I too remember Charlie Hall's pontification against PV manufacturing. Certainly there are better ways of getting electricity, but in the grand scheme of things with all that energy coming from the sun why do we panic about the end of the oil supply? Media frenzy I suppose.
ReplyDeleteStirling engine is for net metering. Time to use the good energy laws instead of bitching about the bad ones.
I think the main reason that we panic about the end of the oil supply is because of the potential for economic devestation, and the thing is, we don't need to run out of oil before we can get to a "very bad place" economically, we only need to get past peak production, which may or may not have actually happened already, and at the same time still have an increased global demand, which we definetely do.
ReplyDeleteThe resulting price increases that will happen lead some to anticipate "very bad things" happening to the global economy, even while there is still a ton of oil in the ground.
See "Hubbert's Peak" and "Peak Oil".
The biggest problem is that to avoid very bad things, we probably need to have an infrastructure in place to be able to exploit energy diversity BEFORE the production peak, or at least shortly thereafter, and also, we may have already passed the peak, we don't really know, but the Saudi oil field is declining in output by 3% a year, and the Alaskan oilfields are declining even more. and what else do we have in place right now? Bubkiss.
I just pray that we can find some leadership in industry and government that can take some action on this before it's too late.
When I see that some of the people behind the Iraq war driving hybrid vehicles, I become a bit scared.
It's not just energy, but all of the better living through chemistry type things that we take for granted, from pharmaceuticals, to pesticides for our agriculture, to bubble wrap, and nearly every product lying on my desk right now including the keys I am typing on.
Don't panic about the end, panic about passing the halfway point.
Don't just panic... do something about it in your own life. Government takes way too long. Vote in the elections but also with your everyday decisions.
ReplyDeleteand we, as individuals, have collectively united against big business interests (ie the stability of the economy and prolific wealth creation for those already wealthy) to bring about the environmental reform of the 1970s. there are signs that things are happening today again, with CA doing its own thing for global warming/co2 capping as well as the mainstreaming of hybrid cars, green buildings, etc.
yes, i am idealistic but it gives me some hope.