Oil Theology

[bonnie]

Originally Posted By: GreatLakesGramma

Our farm is leased to a Canadian power company for evaluation for wind farm development. According to the information they gave us, the actual ground space each wind generator takes is quite small, and the fields could be farmed around them. And for the amount of space each one takes up, the income is many times that of raising crops.

They do this in Alberta with great success. It's not a perfect energy system; but it does help a lot with the problem. Certainly; I would not call it "a joke."

I live three miles from our nuclear power plant. The transmission lines go for miles,take up a great deal of land and are massive.

There are many large potato farmers around us with huge fields.

The farmers are not at all happy having to farm around the massive transmission lines

[SivartM]

A former neighbor of ours designed and built his own home. Solar power,not a power line to his property.He was very anti everything that had to do with government,power plants etc.

He has since moved to MT and heads a militia out there

He had closets in his home with solar batteries. I can't tell you how it all worked but it was quite the setup. Unbelievably expensive.Behind his house he had a huge gas generator.Solar alone did not give him the power he required for his home.Most of us could not afford to have the solar power energy he had.

There are people who have gone completely off the grid. And they were not rich.

[Bravus]

Combined, not one-size-fits-all. It's really not a difficult concept.

[bonnie]

Originally Posted By: bonnie

A former neighbor of ours designed and built his own home. Solar power,not a power line to his property.He was very anti everything that had to do with government,power plants etc.

He has since moved to MT and heads a militia out there

He had closets in his home with solar batteries. I can't tell you how it all worked but it was quite the setup. Unbelievably expensive.Behind his house he had a huge gas generator.Solar alone did not give him the power he required for his home.Most of us could not afford to have the solar power energy he had.

There are people who have gone completely off the grid. And they were not rich.

I am sure it can be done.Hopefully we will be shown how by all that want to do away with drilling.

Have no problem with that.Would be interesting to see all those that push oil free energy live by their convictions.

If it can be done and is not expensive I can't see any reason that this is not being done.

[Bravus]

I'm not sure anyone here is pushing 'oil free', just 'reduced oil'. As you said above, oil does a huge number of things very well, and has driven our development. But it is a large-but-finite resource, and every barrel we save now is a barrel for our descendants. So nuclear, yep, definitely. And solar, and wind, and hydro, and tidal and wave and geothermal, and on-going research into fusion.

People here are saying 'solar is not efficient', but it's gone from something like 5% to 20% efficiency in the past few years, and is still improving. And solar is, if not infinite, far in excess of our requirements. Enough sun falls on the earth in a day to provide all our energy requirements for a year. Solar (both photovoltaic and solar concentration for use in generators) is not *the* solution by itself, but it's part of the solution.

Oil is amazing stuff, and it has let us be quite lazy. There is simply not a single, simple solution that will slot in as a direct replacement. That's why it's smart to conserve what we've got.

[bonnie]

I'm not sure anyone here is pushing 'oil free', just 'reduced oil'. As you said above, oil does a huge number of things very well, and has driven our development. But it is a large-but-finite resource, and every barrel we save now is a barrel for our descendants. So nuclear, yep, definitely. And solar, and wind, and hydro, and tidal and wave and geothermal, and on-going research into fusion.

People here are saying 'solar is not efficient', but it's gone from something like 5% to 20% efficiency in the past few years, and is still improving. And solar is, if not infinite, far in excess of our requirements. Enough sun falls on the earth in a day to provide all our energy requirements for a year. Solar (both photovoltaic and solar concentration for use in generators) is not *the* solution by itself, but it's part of the solution.

Oil is amazing stuff, and it has let us be quite lazy. There is simply not a single, simple solution that will slot in as a direct replacement. That's why it's smart to conserve what we've got.

What I don't understand is the lack of the willingness to stand by your(general) convictions.

If solar is feasible and provides all one needs with sunlight,who here has gone solar. If not why not?

Do you drive only when absolutely necessary? Who restricts all other energy uses to just the necessary use?

With all this concern over fossil fuel I would think like minded individuals would be leading the way

[Overaged]

What I don't understand is the lack of the willingness to stand by your(general) convictions.

If solar is feasible and provides all one needs with sunlight,who here has gone solar. If not why not?

Do you drive only when absolutely necessary? Who restricts all other energy uses to just the necessary use?

With all this concern over fossil fuel I would think like minded individuals would be leading the way

I think what people are trying to say is that we should, where possible, try other things. It does make sense to use alternative energy; but not everyone can do it. For eg., if one lived in a crowded condo, it would not be possible. I think it's good that people are beginning to try other things.

[Bravus]

I ride a motorcycle rather than commute in a car, and I moved closer to my work to reduce the commute. If I owned my home I would be looking very seriously at installing solar, but I rent, so I pay a small premium to get electricity from renewable sources. I'm doing some, and could do more.

But individuals doing bits and pieces won't get it done, it also needs policies and investment. Oil is subsidised in most Western countries (although also taxed), and is not sensibly priced to include its environmental impacts.

My point throughout has been that in these debates we need to be clear about what is and isn't being advocated.

[Dr. Shane]

Those that drive big cars should be taxed heavily. Many people are driving big trucks and other vehicles that only business need to be using. It is very bad stewardship to use more of a finite resource than one needs to.

[GreatLakesGramma]

What I don't understand is the lack of the willingness to stand by your(general) convictions.

If solar is feasible and provides all one needs with sunlight,who here has gone solar. If not why not?

Do you drive only when absolutely necessary? Who restricts all other energy uses to just the necessary use?

With all this concern over fossil fuel I would think like minded individuals would be leading the way

If we had the money, we'd have solar & wind power, but it's expensive. I drive only when necessary, and use a clothesline for my laundry whenever possible, wash all my laundry in cold water only, and do everything possible to conserve energy. I would love to be able to get off the grid, and I'd even be willing to go without running water to do it. But my electrician husband is not agreeable to that kind of life. And so long as I live with him, I probably couldn't keep up with it anyway. He's very good at making extra work for me on a daily basis.

[SivartM]

http://inhabitat.com/2010/06/09/solar-glass-generates-power-through-your-windows/

[Kountzer]

I saw another article similar to this. I see it all leading to a sunday law..

[karl]

I saw another article similar to this. I see it all leading to a sunday law..

Yep. We can conserve one seventh of fossil fuels and save the planet just by knocking off on Sunday. What's wrong with you stupid Sabbath keepers? (Uh, we're willing to work on Sunday so that the rest of you can have running water.)

[nuff sed]

[Can't visulize a windmill on the back of my car.

The windmill does not go on the 'back' of your car, it goes on the front. On the front there would be one large ducted fan flanked by two smaller ones. They would either be where the radiator is now or molded as part of the shape of the front of the vehicle. The fans would not be powered but would turn as the car moved forward (powered by an electric motor to get it moving and actually run the car) generating power to storage batteries. Each wheel would have similar power generators. The roof of the vehicle and hood would have solar-power units. I wish that I had the money to develop the idea. 'nuff sed

copyright 6/15/2010

[Dr. Shane]

It is impossible to develop a perpetual motion machine. The machine will always use more energy than it will generate.