The myth of renewable energy

[Quantum Windbag]

I agree. Of course there materials used in solar panels that are not renewable. They aren't made of plants. Yet, the energy they are able to produce once they are established as infrastructure does not diminish any supply of potential energy with usage. There may be maintenance on the equipment and materials that have to be used which are non-renewable, but this is negligible in comparison to the what we use today that is non-renewable simply within a 24 hour period around the globe, and is no excuse to not convert to "non-renewable" energy sources. Oil is going to run out within 150 years tops, so we are going to have to make a conversion at some point. We should do it now.

It is amazing how few people can actually read.

" You need raw materials, real estate, and other things that will run out one day. You need stuff that has to be mined, drilled, transported, and bulldozed -- not simply harvested or farmed. You need non-renewable resources"

I didn't miss a thing. Don't be an asshole. This is far from an arguement against RENEWABLE energy. This is just another excuse for a lazy republican to continue to drive his SUV and feel good about it, or rather, not have to feel bad about it. "Let's just give up and continue to use oil until there is no more... then we will worry about it." Fucking morons. Have some consideration for future generations who are going to have to deal with this mess, and will have to deal with the escalated price of oil while trying to put into place an infrastructure of RENEWABLE energy.

Did you see the source I used? Are you aware that Dawn Stover is actually an environmental and science writer? Yet you dismiss this as an attempt by lazy ass Republicans to drive SUVs. What it is is an attempt by an environmentalist to get you to pull your head out of your ass.

 

[Bfgrn]

You better fire off a memo to China!

China pledges 'green' push over next five years

"We will effectively conserve resources and protect the environment. We will respond actively to climate change," Wen said in a speech to open the annual session of China's parliament, or National People's Congress.

The country will seek to reduce carbon emissions per unit of gross domestic product by 17 percent in the 2011-2015 period -- as part of its wider goal to reduce carbon intensity by at least 40 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels.

It will slash energy consumption per unit of GDP by 16 percent by 2015, and hopes to raise the percentage of non-fossil fuels in its energy mix by 11.4 percent from 8.3 percent last year, the premier said.

Wen said the country had made "genuine progress in energy conservation, emissions reduction, ecological improvement and environmental protection" in the 2006-2010 period, and had "vigorously developed clean energy" technologies.

Energy consumption per unit of GDP fell 19.1 percent over the past five years -- close to the original target of 20 percent, the premier said.

China pledges 'green' push over next five years - Channel NewsAsia



Green China? You'd better believe it

A recent report by the Pew Charitable Trusts shows that China was the world’s number one investor in green energy in 2010.

With a total investment of $54.4 billion, China was well ahead of second-ranked Germany ($41.2 billion) and the US in third place with $34 billion invested, not to mention Australia with $3.3 billion and ranked 12th.

In terms of installed capacity, China’s wind power sector alone doubled every year between 2005 and 2009. According to the latest statistics from the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), China added 18.9 GW of new wind power capacity in 2010, thus overtaking the US with the most installed wind power capacity in the world.

China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress (NPC), recently considered a 'New Energy Industry Development Strategy’ which is to be adopted as a major policy document by the State Council (some changes are expected due to the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster).

According to this proposed development strategy, during 2011-2020, China will invest about $800 billion in seven green energy areas, namely, wind, solar, nuclear, bio-energy, hydro, coal cleaning and smart power grid.

Green China? You'd better believe it - The Drum Opinion (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Did you read about all the pollution that is happening in China because of "green" energy?

Really? Worse than coal? Where's a link? The Chinese see the opportunity to lead the marketplace, we are still arguing over global warming.

The right wing regressives in America will find any excuse to cower to the dirty energy cartels.

Did you read about how coal actually COSTS Kentucky taxpayers more than they take in cowering to big coal?

Why are you regressives so fucking stupid?

The Impact of Coal on the Kentucky State Budget
Executive Summary

Rapid and dramatic changes in the world’s approach to energy have major implications for Kentucky and its coal industry. Concerns about climate change are driving policy that favors cleaner energy sources and increases the price of fossil fuels. The transition to sustainable forms of energy is becoming a major economic driver, and states are moving aggressively to develop, produce and install the energy technologies of the future. Long reliant on coal for jobs and electricity, Kentucky faces major challenges and difficult choices in the coming years.

These energy challenges come in the midst of Kentucky’s state fiscal crisis and sluggish economic performance. The gap between Kentucky’s revenues and expenditures makes it increasingly difficult to sustain existing public services. A recent University of Kentucky report notes that Kentucky ranks 44th among states in per capita income, just as in 1970, while other southern states like North Carolina and Georgia have out-performed the Commonwealth in recent years.1 Eastern Kentucky still includes 20 of the 100 poorest counties in the United States measured by median household income.2

In this critical energy, fiscal and economic context, it is increasingly important for Kentuckians to understand the role and impact of coal in our state. Coal provides economic benefits including jobs, low electricity rates and tax revenue. But the coal industry also imposes a number of costs ranging from regulatory and public infrastructure expenses to environmental and health impacts.

Coal and the Budget

The Impact of Coal on the Kentucky State Budget tells one aspect of the story of coal’s costs and benefits. The report provides an analysis of the industry’s fiscal impact by estimating the tax revenues generated by coal and the state expenditures associated with supporting the industry. We estimate for Fiscal Year 2006 Kentucky provided a net subsidy of nearly $115 million to the coal industry (see Figure 1).

Coal is responsible for an estimated $528 million in state revenues and $643 million in state expenditures. The $528 million in revenues includes $224 million from the coal severance tax and revenues from the corporate income, individual income, sales, property (including unmined minerals) and transportation taxes as well as permit fees. The $643 million in estimated expenditures includes $239 million to address the industry’s impacts on the coal haul road system as well as expenditures to regulate the environmental and health and safety impacts of coal, support coal worker training, conduct research and development for the coal industry, promote education about coal in the public schools and support the residents directly and indirectly employed by coal. Total costs also include $85 million in tax expenditures designed to subsidize the mining and burning of coal.

More

 

[Bfgrn]

The myth of renewable energy

Sometimes life hands you lemons, sometimes it hands you strawberry shortcake.

Sometimes men with vision, leadership and courage prevail, and sometimes the negative naysayers prevail...

Ironic, the OP is dated November 22nd. It was the last day America had a leader with vision, leadership and courage TO prevail...

But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?

We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win!

 

[waltky]

Usin' a volcano to turn water into steam heat...

Geothermal test will pour water into volcano to make power
22 Jan.`12 - Geothermal energy developers plan to pump 24 million gallons of water into the side of a dormant volcano in central Oregon this summer to demonstrate technology they hope will give a boost to a green energy sector that has yet to live up to its promise.

They hope the water comes back to the surface fast enough and hot enough to create cheap, clean electricity that isn't dependent on sunny skies or stiff breezes — without shaking the earth and rattling the nerves of nearby residents. Renewable energy has been held back by cheap natural gas, weak demand for power and lack of political concern over global warming. Efforts to use the earth's heat to generate power, known as geothermal energy, have been further hampered by technical problems and worries that tapping it can cause earthquakes. Even so, the federal government, Google and other investors are interested enough to bet $43 million on the Oregon project.

They are helping AltaRock Energy of Seattle and Davenport Newberry Holdings of Stamford, Conn., demonstrate whether the next level in geothermal power development can work on the flanks of Newberry Volcano, about 20 miles south of Bend, Ore. "We know the heat is there," says Susan Petty, president of AltaRock. "The big issue is can we circulate enough water through the system to make it economic." The heat in the earth's crust has been used to generate power for more than a century. Engineers gather hot water or steam that bubbles near the surface and use it to spin turbines that create electricity. Most of those close-to-the surface areas have been exploited. The new frontier is places with hot rocks, but no cracks in the rocks or water to deliver the steam.

To tap that heat — and grow geothermal energy from a tiny niche into an important source of green energy — engineers are working on a new technology called Enhanced Geothermal Systems. "To build geothermal in a big way beyond where it is now requires new technology, and that is where EGS comes in," says Steve Hickman, a research geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, Calif. Wells are drilled deep into the rock and water is pumped in, creating tiny fractures in the rock, a process known as hydroshearing. Cold water is pumped down production wells into the reservoir, and the steam is drawn out.

Hydroshearing is similar to the process known as hydraulic fracturing, used to free natural gas from shale formations. But fracking uses chemical-laden fluids, and creates huge fractures. Pumping fracking wastewater deep underground for disposal is suspected of leading to recent earthquakes in Arkansas and Ohio. Fears persist that cracking rock deep underground through hydroshearing can also lead to damaging quakes. EGS has other problems. It is hard to create a reservoir big enough to run a commercial power plant. Progress has been slow. Two small plants are online in France and Germany. A third in downtown Basel, Switzerland, was shut down over earthquake complaints. A project in Australia has had drilling problems.

MORE

 

[westwall]

Don't tell that to Germany and China.

Yep them Germans won't be using coal fired power plants ever again.....oh wait....oooops! They're building more coal plants? Can't be deanie says it aint so!

"The following is a guest post from Oilprice.com, republished with permission to R-Squared. For years many Germans warned that nuclear was the only way they could meet the energy needs of their population and reduce carbon emissions at the same time. Now that they have decided to shut down their nuclear plants, they are preparing to build new coal-fired power plants to help close the shortfall. The guest post below explains."

Germany Faces Sticker Shock Over Renewable Energy to Replace Nuclear

 

[usmcstinger]

"When Zapatero took a delegation to the White House on Oct. 13, 2009, Obama praised Spain as a model of green-energy-driven economic transformation."

Spain's Solar Deals on Edge of Bankruptcy as Subsidies Founder - Bloomberg
The above link tells the truth about green energy economics.

 

[whitehall]

What are "green jobs"? Radical lefties loved the cliche because it made them feel all warm and fuzzy about the world but it was (is) meaningless. Barry Hussein hired a communist former leader of an arson and looting rampage to be on his "green jobs" board so maybe there is something more sinister about the "green" concept. Maybe the "renewable energy" and "green jobs" myths are a continuance of the old left wing revolutionary movement. Barry and the democrats told us they don't want the US to be independent of foreign oil and we saw Solyndra go bust with taxpayer money. We know windmills don't work and solar energy is B.S. so what else is left co consider but revolution and an overthrow of the US government? The legitimate greenies will be dragged along by the socialist OWS and most of them won't know what happened until it's too late.

 

[Old Rocks]

Whitey, you are a certifiable looney.

43.5 gw of wind power installed as of September, 2011.

Wind Powering America: U.S. Installed Wind Capacity

 

[Douger]

Per populous I live in the greatest, greenest(kommie) nation on earth.
Here's a pic from the other end of my farm.

 

[Douger]

Yeah. Those old windmills are adorable.

 

[Douger]

Don't tell that to Germany and China.

Or me. The OP is an idiot.

 

[Douger]

Oh wait !!! These are fucking beaners !!! Gawd Blass murka !!! #1 !!!
Renewable Energy Recap: Brazil | Renewable Energy News Article

 

[Douger]

And these asshole, Marxist, socialist greenie weenies who don't even have wunna them thar milly_tariez.
Construction and Renovation: Costa Rica Is 99% Powered By Renewable Energy, Costa Rica forum

 

[Douger]

Even murkas messiah was headed here !
Rush Limbaugh Backs Out of His Promise to Move to Costa Rica

He found out I was here and determined it would NOT be a good idea.

 

[westwall]

Whitey, you are a certifiable looney.

43.5 gw of wind power installed as of September, 2011.

Wind Powering America: U.S. Installed Wind Capacity

Oh goody! Numbers to play with! So figure that the wind generators work about one third of the time and you end up with 14.5 gw that is actually produced, and the US uses how much electricity per year???? Hmmmm,,, oh, hear it is..wow, that's a pretty big number!

3,662,561 MwH/year

Yep, that wind power sure does have a major impact there!