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Comments
If they had any care for their land or people, they would implement changes and tell us the labor is going to cost more. But just like our own treacherous corporate scum, they have little vision of the future, and very little ability to innovate, so they don't. It's all about profits with consequences be darned, along with the thought of now only.
Sadly, the profits have long been made for China to be a threat, and with no respect for IP rights, and no western nation willing to hold the copycats responsible, nothing will change.
The pollution and abuse will continue forever.
Wal-Mart is China's distribution agent so to speak.
If the USA stopped consuming, the world economy would collapse into a smoldering heap of chaos, civil unrest and starvation.
And yet, energy is running out, and the earth is suffering the effects of massive environmental damage as we get hungrier and hungrier for "stuff".
As the old saying goes
MOTHER NATURE: "we have a problem. Either YOU fix it, or I fix it. If I fix it, you aren't going to like it".
I'm just waiting for the idea of a global nuclear war to rise up again...that oughta do it.
Report Says One Million Annual EV Sales By 2020 (AutoObserver)
You put a $30,000 EV on the lot with a REAL-WORLD/COLD WEATHER/HOT WEATHER/SNOW/RAIN/WHATEVER ABSOLUTE MINIMUM 200 mile range, and you'd sell a ton of them.
My estimate would be about 5-8 years to get to that milestone.
Range Anxiety has to be removed from people's minds.
http://www.gizmag.com/lithium-ion-battery-breakthrough-mit/11244/
http://gizmodo.com/5482913/panasonics-new-silicon-battery-technology-could-yield- -30-capacity-improvement
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/hybrid-technology/5-hybrid-battery- -pack-improvements.htm
http://gm-volt.com/2011/03/16/battery-powered-vehicles-where-do-we-go-from-here/-
Tell me this. If this is true and plausible, why would anyone in their right mind buy the current outrageously priced EVs. They will be WORTHLESS if a new EV comes out with just such a battery. And the 3 grand you spent on a charger will be money down the toilet. I'll wait and see myself.
At this point the researchers have only tested the cells to 50 cycles but have noted no degradation. They have made a small prototype cell which can be fully charged in 10 to 20 seconds, compared with six minutes for cells made in the standard way.
This new ability to charge and discharge lithium-ion batteries within seconds blurs the distinction between batteries and ultracapacitors. Besides being able to charge one’s cellphone in seconds, this will have a major impact on electric cars. If electric grid power was available, an electric car with a 15kWh battery could be charged in five minutes. This would require the delivery of 180 kw of energy in that time frame.
Two companies have already licensed the technology one of which includes A123 Systems. Because it involves a new approach to manufacturing lithium-ion battery materials, rather than a new material, it could be ready within two to three years.
http://www.reveo.com/us/reveofiles/reveofiles/Acrobat%20Document-zinc.pdf
http://www.physorg.com/news176034001.html
http://www.green-energy-news.com/arch/nrgs2009/20090017.html
https://www.llnl.gov/str/pdfs/10_95.1.pdf
http://www.evworld.com/news.cfm?newsid=24209
https://www.llnl.gov/str/pdfs/10_95.pdf
LIVERMORE, Calif. (KGO) -- A technology born in the Bay Area could revolutionize electric cars. Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories are experimenting with a common metal that shows great promise.
Researcher John Cooper is working on what he believes could be the future of transportation.
"It's a power source for refuel able electrical vehicles you can use 24/7 if you wish," Cooper said.
Cooper spent decades at the Lawrence Livermore lab developing a fuel cell battery that uses the common metal zinc to generate electricity.
"It's low cost, it's non-toxic and as a natural resource it's essentially inexhaustible, there's enough zinc around the world to convert most of the world's cars to electric driven," Cooper said.
Unlike the batteries in hybrid vehicles like the Toyota Prius, the zinc-air fuel cell is designed to be refilled like a gas tank.
When the pellets are placed in the cell, they trigger a chemical reaction. Electrons migrate from one side to the other creating a charge.
After a few weeks, the battery is drained and refilled and the zinc recycled.
"It's an environmentalists dream," Cooper said.
This month, a Montana company announced plans to take the zinc battery to the commercial market.
Zinc Air Vice President Craig Wilkins believes a system for low powered delivery vehicles could be developed in a few years.
"I think the intent is to put it into useable market as quickly as possible and scale the battery so we can use it in fleet vehicles, like the Postal Service," he said.
Wilkins says another strategy would pair the zinc fueled cell with the metal batteries used in today's electric cars. Those batteries are more powerful and provide better acceleration but take hours to recharge.
In a two battery system, the driver could fill up with zinc in about 10 minutes, allowing one battery to keep the other charged.
"I could have an existing electric car, but if I wanted to drive from SF to LA or across country the ability to use the fuel cell to extend range of that electric vehicle could come quickly," Wilkins said.
And if the vehicles do become reality, the battery's inventor expects the non-polluting zinc to cost about half as much as gasoline.
"That would propel car at about 4 cents per mile," Cooper said.
Several other batteries are also in development using materials like lithium. But Cooper says much of those materials are mined overseas and the U.S. has abundant supplies of zinc domestically.
http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/37635/
General Electric announced on Thursday that it's designed a gas-fired combined-cycle power plant that can start up rapidly. The goal is to help electricity grids adapt to the variability of renewable energy.
With a small but growing proportion of electricity in Europe being supplied by wind and solar power, grid operators need new ways to deal with fluctuations in supply. The supply from solar drops dramatically at night, while wind installations only provide power when the wind is blowing. GE's new plant can ramp up electricity generation at a rate of more than 50 megawatts a minute—twice the rate of current industry benchmarks. The plant can start from scratch in less than 30 minutes.
GE is testing a pilot plant at its facility in Greenville, South Carolina, but the plant won't come into operation any earlier than 2015.
The plant will have a base load fuel efficiency of 61 percent, higher than other gas combined-cycle power plants. A base load power plant is one that's dedicated to providing a continuous supply of energy. Nuclear and coal plants commonly provide base load power. Such plants offer relatively cheap energy, but they can take hours or days to start up, which isn't fast enough to meet fluctuations in supply from renewables.
GE's 510-megawatt plant design is the result of a $500 million investment by the company. It features new, more efficient gas and steam turbines, as well as a new integrated electronic control system.
Paul Browning, vice president of GE Thermal Products, said at Thursday's announcement that the plant uses nickel-based super alloys, which are used in aircraft engines, because they can withstand the high temperatures inside the plant. The new turbines can ramp up quickly, much as a jet engine can ramp up quickly to provide thrust for takeoff.
GE estimates that the new technology could save some power utilities $2.6 million a year under typical operating conditions. The company also says the plants could cut annual carbon-dioxide emissions by more than 12,700 metric tons, with an annual fuel savings of 6.4 million cubic meters of natural gas.
The new plant has a power frequency of 50 hertz, meaning it can be built in Europe and many other parts of the world, but not in North America. GE says it will announce a 60 hertz version for the U.S. market at a later date.
Jim Watson, director of the energy group at Sussex University, says he's impressed by the enhanced flexibility of the plant. "This is just the kind of plant we need," he says. "It's not a low-carbon technology, but it could be part of a low-carbon system."
http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/thinking-tech/us-energy-secretary-20000-350-mile- -per-charge-electric-car-only-a-few-years-away/7270?tag=nl.e660
The high costs and limited driving range of electric car vehicles are two of the most cited reasons why Americans have been reluctant to ditch their gas guzzlers. But give it few more years and these “deal-breakers” may be a non-issue.
That bold prediction was made by none other than U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu during an event on May 13th in Los Angeles, where he and city mayor Antonio Villaraigosa were on hand to christen the 500th electric-vehicle charging station built by Coulomb Technologies, a major milestone as the company continues to expand their ChargePoint America network.
Here’s what he said, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times:
“Because of increased demand, we’ve got to think of all the other things we can do in transportation. The best is efficiency,” Chu said.
Batteries are the ”heart” of electric vehicles, he said, adding that the Department of Energy is funding research that will drop the cost of electric-vehicle batteries 50% in the next three or four years and double or triple their energy density within six years so “you can go from Los Angeles to Las Vegas on a single charge,” he said. “These are magical distances. To buy a car that will cost $20,000 to $25,000 without a subsidy where you can go 350 miles is our goal.”
Yes, you did just hear that. Chu is envisioning practical, long-range and affordable electric vehicles coming to the market as early as the year 2017. And in order to help make this scenario a reality, he also outlined a couple key policy moves that should lower the barrier for consumers interested in electric cars. These include:
Offering a $7,500 rebate for electric vehicle purchases, instead of a $7,500 federal tax credit so that consumers wouldn’t have to wait until they file their tax returns to pocket the discount.
Scaling up battery production. Three years ago, less than 1% of all advanced batteries were produced in the U.S. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has secured investments that should lead to 30 new U.S. battery manufacturing plants.
And:
http://www.autoobserver.com/2008/06/battery-tech-may-add-200-miles-to-drive-rang- e.html
A North Carolina company has announced a development in automotive electric battery technology that, according to its inventors, will "significantly increase operating voltage range and energy density."
With the new technology, electric powered vehicles will be able to travel in excess of 200 miles -- a big leap over current benchmarks in the vicinity of 120-140 miles, Superlattice Power said in a statement Monday.
The development responsible for the improved efficiency lies in a new cathode material that will be used in lithium-ion polymer batteries in automotive applications.
The cathode material is a in the form of a superlattice (shown above), with alternating strands of material to give the battery wider voltage range, the company said, as well as make it non-toxic and disposable.
The technology is still in testing, but early results look promising and could attract automakers... A range of 200 miles will allow for much longer commutes than General Motors' Chevy Volt, for example, which has a 40-mile range.
Things are happnin' and will keep happnin' in this arena.
The new plant has a power frequency of 50 hertz, meaning it can be built in Europe and many other parts of the world, but not in North America. GE says it will announce a 60 hertz version for the U.S. market at a later date.
The other countries NEED backup systems MORE right now that we do, because they rely more heavily on renewables right now that we do.
Once they "perfect" this system overseas, it will make the technology and the processes for the U.S.A. plants EVEN better.
I got no issues with any of that.
The problem I have with it is money wasted on W&S here before the whole concept is viable. You have denied all along that it was a money losing situation. So now you say the EU needs first because they realize they screwed up getting the alternative cart in front of the horse.
Once they "perfect" this system overseas
I agree, once they perfect the whole system of W&S with fast backup then is the time to implement it here. Not the hodge podge money wasting way we are doing it here. By the time they get that backup system working nicely our W&S will be so far out of date they will want to tear it all down and put up the newer generation. If you cannot see the waste here you are far from a conservative.
http://www.goodcleantech.com/2011/05/luna_ring_beaming_solar_energy.php
A Japanese firm is looking into outer space to help alleviate our energy problems, by putting solar panels on the moon.
Shimizu Corporation has proposed a solar set-up that would include a ring of panels extending across the surface of the moon, essentially creating a solar belt called the Luna Ring. These panels would absorb solar energy that would then be sent back to the Earth, using both microwave and laser power.
"Virtually inexhaustible, nonpolluting solar energy is the ultimate source of green energy that brings prosperity to nature as well as our lives," reads the company's website. "Shimizu Corporation proposes The Luna Ring for the infinite coexistence of mankind and the Earth."
To add to the sci-fi feel, the solar concept would also be both built and maintained by remote controlled robots.
http://ecogeek.org/component/content/article/3516
On the lovely Puimichel plateau in Les Mées, France, two solar farms that are currently generating 18.2 MW are expanding into a much larger solar park capable of generating about 100 MW by the end of the year.
The solar arrays take up 89 acres, but will end up covering 200 hectares. This is the largest solar farm project so far by the builder, Belgium-based Enfinity, and will be the largest solar array in France.
What makes it unique is the way the arrays are being built without the use of concrete foundations so the local sheep can still graze in the area. This design is not only friendly to the sheep, but makes for a strikingly beautiful appearance as well (see a great photo here).
via Treehugger
http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/science-scope/top-10-solar-power-advances-to-wat- ch/1509
So here’s a round up of the Top 10 most recent developments in solar power:
Pokeberries: The red dye from pokeberries can be used to coat fiber-based solar cells. It’s a good absorber and helps the solar cell capture more sunlight to turn into solar power. Pokeberries can be grown in any climate, so people living in developing countries can easily cultivate the plant and make affordable solar power possible.
Thin-film technology: This tech uses micro-reactors to reduce waste and lower costs.
Cow brain protein: Why not? An abundance of an important protein provides the framework for better batteries and solar cells.
Highly-efficient solar concentrator design: A new design collects more rays with thousands of small lenses on a single sheet.
Silicon ink-based solar cells: Startup Innovalight set a record for efficiency at 19 percent conversion efficiency. The company has more than 60 silicon ink-related patents.
Solar fuels: These use concentrated solar radiation to drive high-temperature endothermic reactions to improve efficiencies.
Giant gravel batteries: Such batteries could be used to store energy when the sun goes down.
Concentrated solar power plants: As mentioned above, highly photovoltaic solar cells can generate electricity. It can also supply the need for renewable sources of desalinated water.
The largest solar-power tower in the world. This structure runs on the sun and air and does not need water to generate electricity. Thanks, Brayton cycle!
Eco-etiquette. Solar power isn’t that perfect. Several startups are working to eliminate inefficiencies in it.
Also, the world’s first solar airplane just took flight — which just goes to show that solar cells aren’t only destined to be planted on the ground. (Plus, Japan is sending a solar-powered “sail craft” into space.)
The only thing limiting the application of solar cells? Our imagination.
World's largest solar-powered yacht reaches milestone in record voyage
(CNN) -- After almost 250 days at sea, the world's largest solar-powered boat has made it half way around the globe to the shores of Brisbane, Australia, propelled by nothing but rays from the sun.
The 31-meter "Turanor", which more closely resembles the "Starship Enterprise" than a practical yacht, set sail from Monaco back in September 2010 on its voyage to become the first fully solar-powered vessel to circumnavigate the world.
Why didn't Al Gore with his Millions build a solar powered boat, instead of a biodiesel boat where no biodiesel is available?
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innovation/06/03/solar.powered.boat.australia/
(CNN) -- After almost 250 days at sea, the world's largest solar-powered boat has made it half way around the globe to the shores of Brisbane, Australia, propelled by nothing but rays from the sun.
The 31-meter "Turanor", which more closely resembles the "Starship Enterprise" than a practical yacht, set sail from Monaco back in September 2010 on its voyage to become the first fully solar-powered vessel to circumnavigate the world
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innovation/06/03/solar.powered.boat.australia/
gagrice, are you heading to the other side and joining larsb in his greeniest form now? But look at the article, their "motor" never went lower than 20%! Do they mean that it never went down lower than 20% capacity, as in 80% used up? Or that it never even went down 20% lower than full? Either way, this is huge.
Large, anyway. 100% of it's motor power was/is from the sun? Am I missing something important here, guys? Oh, I know. The average Joe Sixpack won't be able ta benefit from this technology because we won't be able ta afford it.
How can the average/sch-maverage Dallas Maverick kind of man tap inta this technology? Can he/she/us/we/them tap in and...enjoy the...benefits? Should we? Why shouldn't we? Should the very rich and powerful pop us all down into submission and hold us back? Why the hell should he be allowed to hold you back from having a part in this?
Oh, I forgot. There's this thing called money. Forgot.
Yeah, right.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
More green news - run your tires bald:
Carmakers Boost Mileage Where Rubber Meets Road (AutoObserver)
http://ecogeek.org/component/content/article/3522
Canadian firm Thin Red Line Aerospace is working on the first test deployment of its energy storage system for use with off-shore wind turbines. The Energy Bag provides power storage as "undersea compressed air energy storage" (CAES) to store compressed air deep underwater, and then release it again to drive generators when more power is needed. Storing power for peak load demand or for periods of intermittent wind are an important part of developing a responsive wind generation system that can effectively contribute to the grid at all times.
The process is conceptually straight forward: Wind turbines fill the balloon-like underwater bags with compressed air that later drives electrical generators on demand. While initial application is ideally linked to floating wind turbines, excess electricity from the grid—or from clean energy sources such as tidal and wave power—can also be used to drive compressors to fill the energy bags. The technology is especially suited to countries with relatively deep waters near their coasts.
Instead of engineering a heavy pressure vessel to store large amounts of highly compressed air, the Energy Bag uses a deep water location to serve as the pressure vessel to store the compressed air at extremely high pressures. The prototype Energy Bag itself weighs only 75 kilograms (165 pounds), but is able to displace 40 tons of seawater. It will be located about 600 meters (2000 feet) below the surface, where pressures are 60 to 70 times atmospheric pressure. The power storage in just one bag can be considerable. "At depths of around 600m, there will be enough pressure in one 20m-diameter bag to store around 70MW hours of energy. That’s around the same as 14 hours of energy generation from the largest offshore turbines currently in operation."
The Energy Bag has the potential to be orders of magnitude less expensive than industrial battery storage systems, and even just a fraction of pumped hydro storage systems. Not every location has deepwater locations suitable for this power storage, but several areas in Europe in particular have both good wind potential and deep water close by offshore as potential locations where this could be implemented.
California's attempts to switch to green energy have inadvertently put the survival of the state’s golden eagles at risk.
Scores of the protected birds have been dying each year after colliding with the blades of about 5,000 wind turbines.
Now the drive for renewable power sources, such as wind and the sun, being promoted by President Obama and state Governor Jerry Brown has raised fears that the number of newborn golden eagles may not be able to keep pace with the number of turbine fatalities.
The death count along the ridgelines of the Bay Area’s Altamount Pass Wind Resource Area has averaged 67 a year for three decades.
The 200ft high turbines, which have been operating since the 1980s, lie in the heart of the grassy canyons that are home to one of the highest densities of nesting golden eagles in the US.
‘It would take 167 pairs of local nesting golden eagles to produce enough young to compensate for their mortality rate related to wind energy production,’ field biologist Doug Bell, manager of East Bay Regional Park District's wildlife programme, told the Los Angeles Times. ‘We only have 60 pairs,’ he added.
Nationwide, about 440,000 birds are said to be accidentally killed at wind farms each year, as well as thousands more bats. With the government pushing for more wind energy farms, that statistic is likely to rise.
Another recovering species, the California Condor, is also said to be at risk from the giant blades.
‘We taxpayers have spent millions of dollars saving the California condor from extinction,’ Gary George, spokesman for Audubon California, told the Times.
‘How's the public going to feel about wind energy if a condor hits the turbines?’
Open up the National parks to GeoThermal. I would bet that would more than make up for the piddly amount we get from wind generation. Wind is just a government scam to pay back debts to corporations like GE anyway.
How is that any different than the fools who chained themselves to trees trying to save the Northern spotted owl?
Man, these conservatives will use ANY excuse to try and stop green progress.
Coal exhaust kills PEOPLE. Wind farms don't to THAT.
I'm not against Geothermal at all. But how do you propose to "get that going?" You are opposed to stimulus money and guvmint grants. How are you going to convince private companies to spend billions on large Geothermal installations?
And you know it would never happen in the National Parks.
Cars kill people along with coal generation. You want to eliminate cars? And EVs do little to help. If anything it raises the demand for coal generation at night to charge up all those EVs. If you have asthma my suggestion is to not live near a coal plant. Though I did not notice any bad air in Indiana with all those coal plants going full blast. It was a lot cleaner than LA with all the rules put out by CARB. I would imagine that pollen is a bigger killer than Coal generation. What have the Feds done to eliminate POLLEN? Ragweed pollen and mold kills people. Life is filled with things that kill.
And yes companies do and have spent $billions on R&D for electrical generation. When I look for an alternative it has to be a viable alternative. All the pie in the sky schemes to store energy from Wind and Solar to offer 24/7 power are FAR from viable as an alternative. They are designed for one purpose, to extort tax dollars from you and I. I really wanted to like wind generation. And in some places it may be viable. If we have to maintain backup systems for when the wind is either too strong or too weak, it is not VIABLE. People want power 24/7. Not when the sun shines or the wind blows. If we have to have coal or gas plants sitting at the ready it costs us more for electricity than it should.
And in the mean time we have dropped the ball on the best and cleanest energy of the them all, Nuclear. It can be built safe. And reprocessing nuclear fuel can add years of clean energy to the grid. Without killing all the raptors. Wind generation is the DDT of the 21st century for Eagles and hawks.
That's what they were saying 40 years ago.
At least when a wind tower collapses, it doesn't contaminate the soil for a 18 mile radius.
What's going to happen is this:
1. More clean power will replace dirty power in coming years and decades.
2. If we need some "left over" dirty power to pick up slack, then that will happen.
3. Technology marches on, to the point that clean power will get cheaper and better and better.
4. Geothermal will make inroads.
5. Nuke-You-Ler will remain stagnant, thanks to the awful lesson from Japan.
6. Tax money will continue to be spent in droves on all of this.
7. "Pie in the Sky" schemes will become reality.
8. Wind will get more specialized, in that we will smarten up about the best places and the best ways to use it.
9. Solar will proliferate like wildfire, and solar power efficiency will keep rising every year.
All that's gonna happen, Amigo. Might as well get on board and stop fighting it.
I have never been a follower. At 68 years of age, I don't plan to start. Wind and solar have been around close to 40 years and we are still getting over 50% of our electricity from Coal. Just like Hydrogen powered cars. They will be viable in 10-20 years. The same story I have heard since a teenager. The same goes for W&S. $Billions are wasted as corporate welfare and we are no closer to becoming free of fossil fuel energy than we were when it all started. I just feel for my grandkids having to pay for all our foolish wasteful spending. You may not care about your kids future. I do. They are more likely to be buried in debt that drives them over the brink than die of coal pollution.
Your "wind and solar have been getting better for 40 years" statement holds no water in today's world.
Because today, they ARE REALLY getting better.
I'm subscribed to a lot of technology e-mails, and things are cracking every day in these areas. More computer hardware and smarter engineers are tackling these issues 24x7 around the world.
It's a little off-putting to hear you say that stuff about not caring about my kids and grandkids. I'm pretty sure I care just as much as you do.
I don't like "wasteful" spending either....but your definition of waste and mine are different. I think using tax money to advance clean energy is smart and good for the future - not bad for it.
The debt issues will be worked out. What can't be worked out without a serious effort is making sure the air they have in 50-100 years is safer to breathe than it is right now.
Today, people can get solar panels on their homes with ZERO down from a lot of companies. THAT has never happened before.
Energy things, they are a-changin', and for the better.
I think home solar is a decent option. If it was cost effective for me, I would do it. Our power company is not solar friendly. Costs them too much to cover me when the sun don't shine. It would probably pay me if I used the AC a lot like you have to. We have not turned it on this year yet. We are in a mini ice age in CA. Averaging a good 10 degrees below normal. I had to turn on the furnace a week or so ago it got so cold in the house.
As far as your children, I am sure you care about the present. If you can justify the waste of this Federal government, you are not thinking of their financial future.
But I think clean energy tax spending is a drop in the bucket compared to the overall debt....
"If the idea of converting diesel trucks to natural gas and installing new fueling stations along the interstates is so viable, Pickens should be courting private industry such as Mac and Kenworth. He should be working with the network of truck-stop owners and trucking companies. Instead he is tempting Congress with what appears to be a juicy apple. Sadly, with subsidies for wind energy, solar power, and ethanol, the playing field is not level—a true visionary cannot compete as government deals favors for its friends (like Jeffery Immelt and GE)."
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The climate changes every single day and any weather disaster is result of "global something", hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, too much rain/too little rain, tsunamis, snow and etc, etc..
Once you get the climate hotshots on the Govt. payroll the bad news never ends and tomorrow could be the "end"...Windmills, solar panels, mercury light bulbs, blah, blah, blah, never stops..Do you think the Govt really cares or that it's just an agenda to reshape your lifestyle??? Changing your life is the result, not bettering it, controlling it is the keyword..
Look at history, Europe went down that road in the 30s..
If you think the Govt can control our weather, please look how the Govt runs its itself and always tells the truth...
Spent 68 yrs in the Midwest states, 4 great seasons, and Fla is great, for we experience "global warming" every day...
There used to be little restaurant north of Toledo, Ohio that served "turtle soup" tasty stuff, and also had great walleye dinners..It was off I-75...Turtles this time of year are really a hot item on the shores of Florida for they come ashore and lay their eggs, and the committed turtle folks stake off the nest area, post signs, and within a few months during the night those new baby turtles run for the gulf...I walk the Venice beach every morning, couple miles to keep the body in shape and the turtle season seems to be starting well..It went well last year in spite of the BP belch..
Our govt is well on its way of ruining the automobile as an appliance of any usefulness..I probably did 2 1/2 million miles of driving over the years. for I never lived close to my customers which covered 4 states and part of Ontario..
Absolutely true. Our political system is run on favors for favors. You help get me elected and I will push business your way. If it looks green we can squeeze more out of the tax payers. They all like to see green stuff.
T.Boone got shot down on wind by regulations and red tape involved getting the electricity from the windy areas to the demand. His gas ideas are good. Just not sexy like ethanol, wind and Solar. And he has supported the wrong party. That could explain a lot.
Same here, but we are in the north Idaho panhandle region. One thing it is in our old stomping ground, Arizona, is hot and windy and now...on fire.
I remember taking a day trip up to Eager and Springerville, and now they're evacuating them due to the 2nd worst wildfire in Arizona history. Believed to have been started by a campfire gone bad.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Looks like the Feds should pass some laws against camping. It causes GW. :shades:
Just read in the Smithsonian a bit about Pinatubo. It erupted 20 years ago this month. "The volcano's gas cloud lowers global temperatures by a degree for three years"
And the AGW cultists are worried about raising the temp by 6 tenths of a degree over the next 100 years. What am I missing?
You are missing the free ride, at our expense, those "studying the problem" are getting !! Tends to cloud their perspective !!
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
Greed trumps integrity most of the time.
Temporary vs permanent change is what you're missing.
Also keep in mind that volcanic eruptions and wildfires were happening long before humans were burning fossil fuels. The latter had just accelerated the process.
Man is merely a blip on the Earth. If the planet has been here billions of years. What is Man in that time frame?
Before the Industrial Revolution, not much. Since then? Name-your-illions amount of pollution.
The Earf has never had to support this many people and their polluting ways.
This many people have not polluted it this much ever before today's times.
In that context, man means plenty.