Wasting Time on Green Renewables ?

Warden Dios · 21-09-2004 3:47pm #1

Hi Folks !
Looking at global energy consumption and what it will expand to, with the massive populations of India and China consuming even more energy and resources, is the pursuit of green renewables dangerously wasting time in the fight to stem global warming?

narommy · 21-09-2004 4:06pm

I think that until the mass production of electrically powered personal transport vehicles commences we are fighting a loosing battle against green house gasses.

But once that problem is solved we have to find the power for these vehicles and to be honest I think that the Nuclear Bullet will have to be bitten!!

I would agree that this is not a very desirable situation. and not a very greeen outluck.

Capt'n Midnight · 21-09-2004 4:53pm

Developing technologies and strategies is always worth doing. Homes and buildings are better insulated and use less energy than before, solar heating is being used in sunnier climes. China and other countries will foll ow best practice eventually especially since they are going to be mass producing some of the equipment for export themselves. In the US one survey found that it would be cheaper to provide insulation for factories than to build a nuclear power station to provice the extra heating !

Personal transport - we already have electric cars - what we need are light, cheap and fast charging batteries/fuel cells. Fossil fuel scores big on the time to refuel chart and also it's kinda hard to cheat you can't water it down and most people know how big thier tank is so you'd get caught rotten if you tried anything more than skimming.

In an ideal world the budget for Kyoto should go to third world health care/education, but since no one is going to do that (would be like cancelling nuclear weapons and not spending the savings on conventional ones) ya might as well spend it on technologies that eveyone can use.

buggles · 22-09-2004 4:12am

Shouldn't we also be looking at population control??

Hagar · 22-09-2004 9:01am

buggles wrote:

Shouldn't we also be looking at population control??

Not necessary if we implement a proper recycling policy.
Surely there must be starving cannibals somewhere ?

bonkey · 22-09-2004 9:27am

Warden Dios wrote:

Hi Folks !
Looking at global energy consumption and what it will expand to, with the massive populations of India and China consuming even more energy and resources, is the pursuit of green renewables dangerously wasting time in the fight to stem global warming?

Arguably it is....if you consider global warming to be the only ecological issue worth concern.

jc

Warden Dios · 22-09-2004 9:46am

In theory it would be cheaper to provide insulation for factories than to build a nuclear power station to provide the extra heating !

But if you take Ireland as an example the levels of insulation for new housing though improved are still pathetic and so short sighted. The government decided to implement the increases in stages, the last stage been in 2002. This pandering to the construction industry (almost as powerful as the publicans) means that by the time an adequate level of thermal insulation is achieved there will be approx. 200,000 to 250,000 new housing units (since 2002) with insufficient insulation.
Developers will only install the minimum required by the building regulations and in reality using current concrete block construction the required ‘U-Values’ are rarely achieved.
I’m all for energy conservation and development of green renewables,
I live in a low energy house, walk to work etc. The reasonably low impact lifestyle I lead is really only a drop in the ocean.

We all know the Nordic countries lead the way in renewables. Sweden’s energy production is 40 percent oil, nearly as much renewable energy and 20 percent nuclear power.
That’s 40 percent from renewables, which is fantastic but what about the rest of the world. We will be taking a taxi ferry up O’Connell street by the time the rest of the world gets anywhere near these figures.

As much as hate to say it, because of the slow pace of change and development, nuclear power will have to play a part.

But the one thing that really gets my back up is the short slightness of governments. Surely these intelligent people can see regardless of the environmental issues that a degree of self-sufficiency in energy production would stabilise and protect our economies from the volatile oil market.

Shewhomustbe... · 23-09-2004 4:41am

Warden Dios wrote:

But the one thing that really gets my back up is the short slightness of governments. Surely these intelligent people can see regardless of the environmental issues that a degree of self-sufficiency in energy production would stabilise and protect our economies from the volatile oil market.

You'd think that now wouldn't you, but the problem is that none of them have a pair due to the stressing of trying to stay in office rather than doing, mmm I don't know, the best for the country's present and FUTURE.

I think we should minimum wage these positions so only people who REALLY want to do the best for the country apply for the jobs.
It's all gotten way TOO political :rolleyes:

narommy · 05-10-2004 11:23am

FFS.... I agree that renewable energy is the way to go but when anybody trys to put up a reasonably sized wind farm or the like the "environmental" campaigners are out in force. What a bunch of clowns. Protesting agains the only hope of improving the situation.

Same as protestin at new roads which could reduce emissions :rolleyes:

Victor · 05-10-2004 4:36pm

narommy wrote:

Same as protestin at new roads which could reduce emissions :rolleyes:

Road usage expands to fill the available space, so this isn't quite true.

narommy · 06-10-2004 12:17pm

People are going to get cars anyway because incoherent and illogical planning.

It's like in kildare the council and an board pleanala refuse many one off houses on the basis that it would be an extra car on the road to Dublin and the next day they give permisson for 200 houses in a small village with no transoport infastructure :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Wasting Time on Green Renewables ?

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