auditor0007
Gold Member
I believe climate change is real because scientists say it is. The majority of them, in fact. The people who say it isn't real are the big energy companies, and people who AREN'T scientists. But that is just what I feel and I know everyone isn't right. So, yes, to me there is a slim chance I'm wrong.
But what I do KNOW, is that fossil fuels will run out someday. They ARE a temporary resource no matter how you look at it. Some argue that they'll run out soon, as in the next 100 years. Some argue that it takes longer. No one really knows because technology keeps improving and hell, who knows, maybe in 50 years we will be able to extract minerals and resources from the core of the earth and live forever on that. We just don't know.
Back to what I was saying though. It is clear we need an alternative energy to address our current energy providers. Not only are they going to run out, but when they become scarce the price will increase dramatically and cause major problems in the world.
IT TAKES FOSSIL FUELS TO CREATE RENEWABLES!
My theory, even if you don't believe in global warming, I think everyone should support investing in renewable energy. We don't want to be the country trying to build solar arrays and turbines when gas is 9 dollars a gallon.
Look at what other countries across the world are doing. They are INVESTING in renewables.
I say INVESTING for a reason. All Renewables eventually have a pay back period. It may take many years, but eventually THEY PAY FOR THEMSELVES.
This is why I wouldn't have a problem with the government spending massive amounts of money in this area. To me there will be a positive return on investment no matter what.
Wind and solar provide ZERO energy on windless nights. Both have a limited geographical range of practicality. Wind is extremely flaky and unreliable with huge problems predicting which days of the week they will contribute if at all. Modern societies don't survive on iffy power systems.
Contrary to your assertion -- many countries are now severely backing off the huge investments that they've made in these technologies for the little increases they've achieved in powering their grids reliably.
And fossil fuel companies have NOT stymied the experiment of fielding wind and solar. In fact -- not too long ago -- BP was the world's leader in large scale solar installations until it proved too costly for them. Many other oil companies have HUGE investments in renewables.
The best applications for renewables is to use them OFF THE GRID for production of chemicals, desalinized water, hydrogen and other commodities that can be manufactured a variable rate to match the availability of wind/solar.
Wind/Solar are NOT alternatives -- they are SUPPLEMENTS. And we best accept the limits of their contributions and start planning for replacing obsolete EXISTING generators and future demand..
IF gas hits $9 a gallon -- it has virtually NOTHING to do with wind/solar since those are ELECTRICITY generators not transportation fuels. This general public confusion is frightening. We ARE energy independent right now for electricity generation, but NOT for transportation. And the best solution for energy independence in transportation is actually fuel cells, not batteries. Fuel cells that COULD run off (nat gas) or hydrogen made OFF LINE by renewables. Without creating a project for doubling grid capacity or complexity.
Wind and solar is most effective in a singular environment. In other words, if you have solar panels and a smaller wind turbine on your property, you take the electricity that is generated and store it in batteries for use on that property. Basically, the system is off the grid. Then any electricity needed from the grid is just used as backup. Trying to create massive amounts of electricity from windfarms does not work well, because those wind farms are usually too far away from where the electricity will be used. In moving the created electricity from the source to the end user, a great deal of it is lost over distance. This is what makes wind farms much less effective.