cars killing coral reef?

[archman]

Flippersail, one large problem I have seen firsthand with small scale wind/solar setups is the high degree of maintenance they require. Having lots of house or building-sized supplemental power systems would require a considerable infrastructure of skilled, "on-call" repair staff. The things would also all have to be installed, either hooked in to supplement the main grid or to boost local power. In a large scale system (i.e. town or city), the design and operation difficulties would be substantial, bordering on nightmarish.

It would be cost-effective and maintenance-friendly to follow the "one big power plant" model rather than the "many, dispersed little ones" plan. That's the trend in powerplant facilities. Takes less staff and logistics. Far cheaper in the long run.

In the case of wind/solar power, I would advise towards construction of localized, large scale farms, currently like many regions in the world have today.

 

[RonDawg]

the average North American family owns 5 four litre (or larger) vehicles

Mark, can you please back up this statement with a link or some other source?

As someone who lives in car crazy Los Angeles, I have never known the "average North American family" to own 5 cars, much less all of them being of the 4.0 litre and greater variety. 2 or 3 maybe, but certainly not 5. In many parts of the US auto insurance is very expensive just for ONE car, much less for five.

The following link shows what cars Americans bought the most of during the first six months of 2004:

http://autos.msn.com/advice/article.aspx?contentid=4021893&src=windowshopping

While there are some "gas guzzlers" in there, there are also several more economical vehicles; 6 of the 10 don't even have engine choices larger than 3.8L.

 

[chrisch]

While there are some "gas guzzlers" in there, there are also several more economical vehicles; 6 of the 10 don't even have engine choices larger than 3.8L.

Economical ? 3.8L?

Very funny.

Don't worry about pollution - the oil will run out soon.

Chris

 

[RonDawg]

Economical ? 3.8L?

Very funny.

Don't worry about pollution - the oil will run out soon.

Chris

Compared to the gigantic V-8's of the 1950's/1960's/1970's, yes 3.8L is quite economical. Besides that particular example was for the Chrysler minivans, which have an optional 3.8L engine. Many of the cars on the list come standard with 4 cylinder engines of anywhere from 1.6L to 2.5L.

I also pointed it out to show cancun mark that, contrary to his opinion, we don't exclusively drive "four litre or larger vehicles."

While I don't believe in driving a gigantic pickup or SUV unless I have a demonstrated need, I also won't trust my safety to a small car either. I'll drive something a bit larger (but not ridiculously sized) even if it means damaging the environment...or sucking up the oil quicker.

 

[chrisch]

I'll drive something a bit larger (but not ridiculously sized) even if it means damaging the environment...or sucking up the oil quicker.

Quite.

Who needs the environment anyway?

Chris

 

[RonDawg]

Who needs the environment anyway?

If I'm dead because the car I was driving was too small to properly absorb the forces of a collision, then I certainly won't need it either.

However, if you wish to drive a tin-can death-trap of a car "for the sake of the environment" that is certainly your right to do so.

 

[Kim]

If I'm dead because the car I was driving was too small to properly absorb the forces of a collision, then I certainly won't need it either.

However, if you wish to drive a tin-can death-trap of a car "for the sake of the environment" that is certainly your right to do so.

I can see your point. The small cars in Japan however are very well made. There is no evidence from crash studies that they fare worse than the larger cars. Of course if any car gets hit by a truck there won't be much left. The point in Japan though is that so many people drive small cars that small car vs small car accidents are quite common - and due to the much less mass involved, and built in safety features - strengthened internal cages/airbags/crumple zones etc- they are often not so serious. Actually I thought that America was quite strict about car design - wasn't that why VW had to make the Golf - because the US didn't consider the Beetle safe enough?

 

[RIDIVER501]

No Mark not a guilty conscious, just sick and tired having my country singled out as the only one responsible for the demise of our enviroment. We all live here it is everybodies' responsiblity. I am not going to get into a debate about who is messing up the planet becuase everybody is. doesn't matter where you live or what country you are from.

I was taking issue with archman quote that US tourist were mostly to blame. That is BS. I have seen French and German tourist treat resort areas like their own personal garbage dump, but according to AM the Americans are responsible. Not buying it.

 

[chrisch]

No Mark not a guilty conscious, just sick and tired having my country singled out as the only one responsible for the demise of our enviroment. We all live here it is everybodies' responsiblity. I am not going to get into a debate about who is messing up the planet becuase everybody is. doesn't matter where you live or what country you are from.

I think the US gets singled out 1. as it is so wasteful and 2. so the rest of us feel better about our own abuse of the environment!

Ridiver is correct - we all live on the same planet.

We need to end our love of oil as an energy source. Sadly many Europeans are looking at nuclear as a "solution". Now there's a problem that won't go away for several thousand years.....

If anyone has a clever idea please let Messrs Bush/Blair/Berlusconi/Chirac etc.. know.

 

[adshepard]

No Mark not a guilty conscious, just sick and tired having my country singled out as the only one responsible for the demise of our enviroment. We all live here it is everybodies' responsiblity. I am not going to get into a debate about who is messing up the planet becuase everybody is. doesn't matter where you live or what country you are from.

I was taking issue with archman quote that US tourist were mostly to blame. That is BS. I have seen French and German tourist treat resort areas like their own personal garbage dump, but according to AM the Americans are responsible. Not buying it.

Good points. Take the Caribbean for example. The majority of tourists in the Caribbean are NOT from the United States. Europeans, Canadians and others make up the majority of tourists. Additionally other tropical destinations where reef destruction is a problem are visited in even lesser proportions by US citizens. Pacific and Indian Ocean destinations are dominated by European and Asian tourists.

Don't get me wrong I don't take blame away from US tourists either just wanted to point out that we are not the majority.

My own pet peeve is the behavior of Japanese tourists which is atrocious.

DSDO

Alan