Greta Thunberg and the climate

You could, like some other bike riders, remove your engine, and fit an electric motor, and batteries ....:)

That’s quite possible. I will keep some IC vehicle(s) around. Just won’t be using them much. Just like my example of the horse, which some of you carried on about like adolescent school boys.
 
Mid to high 50's projected for entire month of March in NYC.

20 degrees higher than normal.

Great for motorcycling, but definitely troubling...


Pete ... wish some of that warmer air would trickle up our way it 0 degrees Celsious right now and blowing a gale , which started last night , I'm on record with our local Ducati forum (ECDC) saying we all be out on 2 wheels by March 25th , might have to buy a few beverages in my defeat ....
 
A ride buddy of mine pays to board his wife’s horse which she rides on nice Saturday mornings only .... he say cost of horse and upkeep far out distances his cost to buy and keep his BMW 800 .... also I switched from burning hardwood for home heating to a propane appliance last year while the propane is more costly than the wood , it is cleaner, less work than wood plus it less than using electric heat here , although I do have electric baseboards installed as backup / supplemental heat .... too bad North America decided against Nuke generated power ....


Most think opposite re: nuclear power.

A nuclear power phase-out is the discontinuation of usage of nuclear power for energy production. Often initiated because of concerns about nuclear power, phase-outs usually include shutting down nuclear power plants and looking towards fossil fuels and renewable energy. Three nuclear accidents have influenced the discontinuation of nuclear power: the 1979 Three Mile Island partial nuclear meltdown in the United States, the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the USSR, and the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.

Following Fukushima, Germany has permanently shut down eight of its 17 reactors and pledged to close the rest by the end of 2022.[2] Italy voted overwhelmingly to keep their country non-nuclear.[3] Switzerland and Spain have banned the construction of new reactors.[4] Japan’s prime minister has called for a dramatic reduction in Japan’s reliance on nuclear power.[5]Taiwan’s president did the same. Shinzō Abe, the prime minister of Japan since December 2012, announced a plan to re-start some of the 54 Japanese nuclear power plants (NPPs) and to continue some NPP sites under construction.[6]

As of 2016, countries including Australia, Austria, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, and Portugalhave no nuclear power stations and remain opposed to nuclear power.[7][8] Belgium, France, Germany, Spain and Switzerland are phasing-out nuclear power.[
 
I hear you on the waste issue , were not ,all 3 big accidents eventually described as a result of human error .... guess if they can get good work rules sorted and find a way to solve waste issue , maybe becomes an option as we killing the planet every day by standing pat .... hydro makes a real mess as well , guess some say it okay as it usually affects the more marginalized folks in North America read: first peoples .... mostly just wondering on my part , I have no cure for any of it ....
 
I hear you on the waste issue , were not ,all 3 big accidents eventually described as a result of human error .... guess if they can get good work rules sorted and find a way to solve waste issue , maybe becomes an option as we killing the planet every day by standing pat .... hydro makes a real mess as well , guess some say it okay as it usually affects the more marginalized folks in North America read: first peoples .... mostly just wondering on my part , I have no cure for any of it ....


Renewables! Renewables! Renewables! NO NUKES!
 
Not only are nukes inherently dangerous, it is abjectly immoral to pass the wastes on to generations 25,000 years into the future.

Slick

Absolutely right.. Once at lineside waiting for a steam engine to go past,had this conversation with a retired Electricty power station fireman.. he said the most terrifying experience of his life had been attending a fire in a steam turbine hall.. And all he could think at the time was thank God its not nuclear .. Yes there was equipment and procedures to deal with such supposedly remote likelihoods but the equipment was frankly a joke.
 
.. guess if they can get good work rules sorted and find a way to solve waste issue , maybe becomes an option as we killing the planet every day by standing pat .... hydro makes a real mess as well , guess some

Two cases of failed work rules:

TOSCO refinery Martinez, CA
https://www.csb.gov/tosco-avon-refinery-petroleum-naphtha-fire/

One of the four killed was an ironworker I had worked with a week before. Poor bastard lived for 3 days before succumbing to severe burns.

A
nother:

An electrician I know was in a trench repairing a buried 440 volt line. He had locked out the supply. Had the only padlock key in his pocket. He had the insulation skinned back ready to make a splice when KAPOW! Big ass arc! Coworkers told him a superintendent cut the lockout padlock The sparkie crawled out of the trench, grabbed a nearby shovel, hunted down the super and wailed the shit out of him.

When push comes to shove, production trumps work rules every time.
 
SOLAR, WIND, TIDES, HYDRO. (well, maybe not hydro as it whacks the shit out of salmon and steelhead spawning waterways.
But flood control is a good thing)

Wind is whacking the shit out of birds ...... literally!

Let's face it ..... solar and wind are supplements to electric power generation, they cannot and will not replace or phase out an equivalent fossil fuel plant.

Hopefully, technology will rescue us before the fossil fuel runs out. Until then, we should all practice conservation.

Slick
 
Wind is whacking the shit out of birds ...... literally!

Let's face it ..... solar and wind are supplements to electric power generation, they cannot and will not replace or phase out an equivalent fossil fuel plant.

Hopefully, technology will rescue us before the fossil fuel runs out. Until then, we should all practice conservation.

Slick


Renewables will soon replace all but a small portion of electricity generation. It’s only a matter of cost. Once the cost of renewable produced energy is less than that of fossil fuel, energy companies will drop those old fossil fuel plants like a bad habit.

Not long ago the automobile was a supplement to horse driven transportation.
 
Renewables will soon replace all but a small portion of electricity generation. It’s only a matter of cost. Once the cost of renewable produced energy is less than that of fossil fuel, energy companies will drop those old fossil fuel plants like a bad habit.

Not long ago the automobile was a supplement to horse driven transportation.

Agree! That is, except for the word "soon".

Alas, the technology is still far off.

Slick
 
Agree! That is, except for the word "soon".

Alas, the technology is still far off.

Slick


Like wireless personal communication. Very few at the start. Once the price dropped, billions of cell phones were sold and cell phone infrastructure more or less covered the world.
 
What I see as a sensible, efficient way to produce and distribute electricity is to build hundreds of thousands solar and wind generation plants. Every home self providing. Decentralize! No more cross country grid to be hacked. No more storm outages. Many homes today have and maintain their own water and sewer. Why not your own power generation?
 
this is total BS. i know the only ones that have there own water and sewer are out side of the reach of municipal utilities. the state of Fl. is on a push to get houses off of septic systems.also the last i heard Fl. will not give a certificate of occupancy if you are not connected to the power grid.

Many homes today have and maintain their own water and sewer. Why not your own power generation?
 
this is total BS. i know the only ones that have there own water and sewer are out side of the reach of municipal utilities. the state of Fl. is on a push to get houses off of septic systems.also the last i heard Fl. will not give a certificate of occupancy if you are not connected to the power grid.


Certainly not by choice, Bill. I was only using it to point out the viability of individual, decentralized power generation by solar and wind. Not BS at all.

As for no CoO, Florida is not exactly known for forward thinking. Florida legislators are quite well know for backward thinking, protecting the interests of business over that of individual citizens.
 
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What I see as a sensible, efficient way to produce and distribute electricity is to build hundreds of thousands solar and wind generation plants. Every home self providing. Decentralize! No more cross country grid to be hacked. No more storm outages. Many homes today have and maintain their own water and sewer. Why not your own power generation?

Agree that decentralized is more efficient, at least in regard to employing current technology in solar panels.

Decentralized residential solar or wind can easily satisfy most residential lighting requirements, but heating, cooling, and cooking (assuming electric) are bigger issues. Who can, or would want to, go days without heat, cooling or cooking? Or even overnight? Battery backup? Not yet cost effective or practical.

Why not generate your own power? Because it is not reliable!!!

Even if you could convince Wal-Mart to put solar panels on the roof tops of all their stores, even if it were more economical than being on the grid, a commercial establishment will opt to have backup power available, either as the grid or a diesel gen-set. No one will shop a store that is dark. And hardly anyone these days can earn a living without reliable power.

Solar often fails us when we most need it. Consider a home in the extreme latitudes where, in winter, the sky is overcast 8 days per week. Heat is the need, and getting it from stored energy is not practical, either from batteries, or from water which is the most practical way to store renewable sourced energy.

I designed my own home. I considered all the energy saving technologies available circa 1995. In the end, I decided to forsake "getting off the grid" strategies and went with conservation strategies. I cool a 2400 square ft home in the Texas heat with 2 tons of air conditioning. My annual propane consumption for heating is typically 300 gallons per year (includes hot water and cooking).

Perhaps, in the next several decades, technology may offer new strategies to consider. That will be too late for me, likely you as well, but we can hope our grandkids will utilize them.

Slick
 
to live as MOST people today live with a total electric home in Fl. it would take a huge investment in solar and wind generators along with a massive battery bank and inverter to power everything most people use so IMHO it is not cost effective, unless you want to live about like the 1930s. using a wood stove to cook on and heat water and no air conditioning to name 2. i wont argue with you about how Fl. is but you cant fight the gov. on this. also i can partialy agree on the water well issue near the coast. as the population has grown salt water intrusion has become a greater problem and will only get worse. no i dont have the answer but it is a fact that has to be dealt with but how do you limit growth???

Certainly not by choice, Bill. I was only using it to point out the viability of individual, decentralized power generation by solar and wind. Not BS at all.

As for no CoO, Florida is not exactly known for forward thinking. Florida legislators are quite well know for backward thinking, protecting the interests of business owner that of individual citizens.
 
to live as MOST people today live with a total electric home in Fl. it would take a huge investment in solar and wind generators along with a massive battery bank and inverter to power everything most people use so IMHO it is not cost effective, unless you want to live about like the 1930s. using a wood stove to cook on and heat water and no air conditioning to name 2. i wont argue with you about how Fl. is but you cant fight the gov. on this. also i can partialy agree on the water well issue near the coast. as the population has grown salt water intrusion has become a greater problem and will only get worse. no i dont have the answer but it is a fact that has to be dealt with but how do you limit growth???


The costs you speak of are today’s costs. Prices for solar equipment has dropped dramatically and will continue to do so. Years ago it was way too expensive for most homes to even consider electrifying. Kerosene for light, wood for cooking. That was it and those that couldn’t look into the future saw no change coming.
 
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