Global Warming

[Teamcasa]

There will always be extremist (both ways), moderates, concerned and the indifferent. They all have some validity in their opinion somewhere. I feel a solution will fall somewhere near the middle and will no doubt be a technological solution. Just think, if a new clean fuel energy source is discovered, the need for many carbon based fuels becomes a minor part of energy program. The oil producing nations fall out of the headlines. Time passes and the new clean fuel has produced a new side effect no one considered and the cycle begins anew.

I’m headed in the direction of recycling waste to energy. This way, both problems get solved.

 

[Hank49]

Just think, if a new clean fuel energy source is discovered, the need for many carbon based fuels becomes a minor part of energy program. The oil producing nations fall out of the headlines. Time passes and the new clean fuel has produced a new side effect no one considered and the cycle begins anew.

]

Bio diesel becomes the fuel of the future and all the world will come after the bread basket of the US, Argentina, Australia, where it'll be produced...the new Saudi Arabias of energy supply.
But you're absolutely right. Many of the significant side effects of any big change are unforseeable.

 

[Eris Lucan7*]

More warm means more rain more snowmeadling in the spring,more storms,and i

will not forget more cold with some suny periods in the wintter but teribel much

water...E.L.7*

 

[Cacia]

Bio diesel becomes the fuel of the future

I just read that biodiesel will have a big impact on the pH of ocean due to all the water contamination with fertilizer, crop run-off, etc (which is a bigger problem for reefs than even the temperature shift)

I got a brochure on this car in the mail the other day....they must have me mistaken for somebody. It is a very cool car, if H2 was just easier to produce. Nuclear production..maybe.

KickingTires: BMW Readies Hydrogen 7 Series for 2007

I keep seeing the goober on TV that has this car that runs on water that he made in his garage...anybody seen that guy? I think it is on U-tube too.

 

[Teamcasa]

Frankly I see Bio-Diesel as an interim fix. It, being carbon based, it still pollutes albeit less than gasoline. I see car/trucks moving to a more organic fuel like alcohol or alcohol/electric hybrid. Besides, with existing technologies, cars and truck emissions are being reduced considerably.

The big energy users/consumers/polluters are power plants and ships. This is where a safe alternative fuel source needs to be focused.

A promising idea is plasma power plants. In addition, using small, safe nuclear reactors for commercial shipping would also go a long way in reducing emission and carbon consumption. The down side is what to do with the waste. This too is a potential new market. Imagine a company that has figured out a method to remove the radioactive activity of nuclear waste. The other big issue is how do you give/sell this technology to hostile governments?

 

[Warthaug]

There is a third possibility ...

c) We are right, and there ain't jack we can do that's going to significantly alter the course of events.

But we will never know if we don't try. And when you think of the course of action that could make an impact, it isn't exactly challenging. For example, over the past few years I've made kinda-enviro sensitive decisions:

1) When my old car went to the giant scrap heap in the sky I bought a fuel-efficient car to replace it.

2) I've been replacing my incandescents with miniflouros, as the incadencet lights burn out

3) I'm moving at the end of October, and made a point of getting a place close to my work (no more f*&%%$#ing commutes, just a short bike ride away)

So my life is now cheaper and more convenient, and yet I've managed to cut my CO2 release by over 60%.

Obviously some of those are more difficult for most people (i.e. moving), but at the end of the day all three of those things save me money and time, and also cut CO2. Win-win for everyone.

We're right, we take action, and the outcome is the opposite of the goal

If the problem is excess CO2, then reducing CO2 reduces the problem. We are now at the point where climate change is considered inevitable. All we're trying to do is limit the extent of the problem.

Take biofuels (to hijack another part of the thread). The carbon in those fuels comes from the CO2 in the air, so in a perfect world your net CO2 is zero. It doesn't work out this way, but at least for biodiesel you should end up releasing less CO2 then if you use regular diesel. Not a perfect solution, but it does have the effect of limiting CO2 release while we look for a better solution.

Bryan

 

[Jon C]

But we will never know if we don't try. And when you think of the course of action that could make an impact, it isn't exactly challenging. For example, over the past few years I've made kinda-enviro sensitive decisions:

1) When my old car went to the giant scrap heap in the sky I bought a fuel-efficient car to replace it.

2) I've been replacing my incandescents with miniflouros, as the incadencet lights burn out

3) I'm moving at the end of October, and made a point of getting a place close to my work (no more f*&%%$#ing commutes, just a short bike ride away)

So my life is now cheaper and more convenient, and yet I've managed to cut my CO2 release by over 60%.

Obviously some of those are more difficult for most people (i.e. moving), but at the end of the day all three of those things save me money and time, and also cut CO2. Win-win for everyone.



If the problem is excess CO2, then reducing CO2 reduces the problem. We are now at the point where climate change is considered inevitable. All we're trying to do is limit the extent of the problem.

Take biofuels (to hijack another part of the thread). The carbon in those fuels comes from the CO2 in the air, so in a perfect world your net CO2 is zero. It doesn't work out this way, but at least for biodiesel you should end up releasing less CO2 then if you use regular diesel. Not a perfect solution, but it does have the effect of limiting CO2 release while we look for a better solution.

Bryan

Bryan,

I commend your efforts and have adopted similar measures, however I could not reconcile the problem of the mini-flours going into the local dump, breaking and leaching out mercury into the watertable. Being a diver, as you are, I am sensitive to the pollution that ends up in the ground and ultimately the ocean. I am not sure we haven't just diverted from one energy using convenience (incandescent lights) to a potentially more deadly alternative (flouro's) for the sake of feeling better about ourselves. Then there are the conspiracy theories that GE is pushing the flouro's to make big bucks, right?

I sure wish I hadn't polished up all those dimes with mercury when I was a kid!:11:

Jon

 

[Kim]

For example, over the past few years I've made kinda-enviro sensitive decisions:

I posted earlier about our solar adventures. The simple truth is that it doesn't actually cost a penny to do it, in fact you win a little where I live with the cost of energy as it is here.

The same is true for light-bulbs - they use less energy so are cheaper.....

Fuel efficient cars - less fuel......cheaper....

That's why it's strange to read the constant claims that the whole global warming thing is just a scare tactic.

The only scare tactic I can see is the one that is trying to tell people that doing things about your own carbon choices is going to cost you money.

Talking directly from experience I can say that that is pure rubbish.

 

[Warthaug]

Bryan,

I commend your efforts and have adopted similar measures, however I could not reconcile the problem of the mini-flours going into the local dump, breaking and leaching out mercury into the watertable.

Here (Canada) free disposable is available in most cities. Its just a matter of taking them in, rather then chucking them in the trash. I have a box where I toss my old batteries, miniflouros, etc, and when I get enough to make a trip worthwhile I take them in for proper disposal.

Bryan

 

[Warthaug]

I posted earlier about our solar adventures. The simple truth is that it doesn't actually cost a penny to do it, in fact you win a little where I live with the cost of energy as it is here.

Unfortunately, solar isn't as good here in Canada. Some people heat water with it, but that's about as far it goes.

Fuel efficient cars - less fuel......cheaper....

No kidding, my new car cost about 1/3rd what replacing my truck would have been. The new one has a tank 1/2 the size of my old truck, and goes a tad farther off of one fill. The odd time I need a truck I now rent one - with the amount I'm saving I could rent a truck every weekend and still come out ahead.

Bryan