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Yep. And usually not appreciated by neighbors subjected to the byproducts. Better to just convert some coal burning process to one that is more efficient and call it done.
Carbon sequestering by a forest is minimal, and it is temporary. For every young tree growing today, the soil has a dozen that are in various stages of decay. Carbon is sequestered by trees, and carbon is being released at the same time.
Carbon sequestering by a forest is minimal, and it is temporary. For every young tree growing today, the soil has a dozen that are in various stages of decay. Carbon is sequestered by trees, and carbon is being released at the same time.
There are a lot of people who have formed very strong opinions without knowing the basics of the science involved.
Many don't understand that "burning" is just the quick oxidation of a fuel, while "rotting" is just the slow oxidation (maybe with many steps involved) of the fuel....and that century long difference in timing is not significant to MotherNature.
Even if we could, say, double the area of forests, it would take decades for co2 to be taken out of the air to form the new wood, and then eventually twice the growth would just result in twice the decay. Any "sequestration" would be very transient.
Nature operates under a system of dynamic equilibrium-- any change in one factor results in compensatory changes in the others. It's nearly impossible to cause a net change in the balance.
There's really not much we can do to change what's happening to the planet. Some even say we're actually headed for a new Ice Age. Some say solar wind is causing climatic change, and when that solar activity shifts, the Earth may shift with it, toward colder or hotter, who knows?
My wife is desperate to get a home equity loan and install solar panels, to save the planet. My stance is, we are nothing. We are ants sneezing in the wind. Even if 100 million U.S. households were to put in solar, it would make only a small difference to carbon emissions, because most of the pollution is happening outside the U.S. these days.
Nationally, our electricity is generated from these sources:
Other than coal, our electrical generation is pretty clean. Natural gas is the least carbon-polluting of the fossil fuels, and it's rapidly replacing coal in electric plants because of its rock bottom pricing.
So what's the real net impact of switching to solar? Negligible, and getting more so.
Everyone that I know who has gone 'off-grid' are all self-sufficient types of people. They do not want municipal services provided to them.
Not true.
It was a million dollars to run a power line and fiber four miles to our homes.
I would take electricity and fiber in a moment if I could get them for free installation!!!
I really don't care about the electricity, that I can make fairly easily, but for fiber I need the county to put that in!!! Wait, as long as the county is putting in fiber, they might as well run electricity to us as well.
It was a million dollars to run a power line and fiber four miles to our homes.
I would take electricity and fiber in a moment if I could get them for free installation!!!
I really don't care about the electricity, that I can make fairly easily, but for fiber I need the county to put that in!!! Wait, as long as the county is putting in fiber, they might as well run electricity to us as well.
That contribution in aid number is way off. Obviously the cost depends upon terrain, but $30-50 thousand is a reasonable cost for a mile of single phase line. You should be able to contract for that construction yourself and either maintain the line going forward or hopefully turn the line over to your local utility.
That contribution in aid number is way off. Obviously the cost depends upon terrain, but $30-50 thousand is a reasonable cost for a mile of single phase line. You should be able to contract for that construction yourself and either maintain the line going forward or hopefully turn the line over to your local utility.
At four miles, unless the poster has more land than Croesus, that would involve permits for a new R.O.W., land acquisition, and whatever governmental red tape that could be thrown, likely including approvals from various agencies used to working only with pros who know the rules and have lawyers to pave over rough spots. Materials and labor may only be a small part of large project cost.
There's really not much we can do to change what's happening to the planet. Some even say we're actually headed for a new Ice Age. Some say solar wind is causing climatic change, and when that solar activity shifts, the Earth may shift with it, toward colder or hotter, who knows?
My wife is desperate to get a home equity loan and install solar panels, to save the planet. My stance is, we are nothing. We are ants sneezing in the wind. Even if 100 million U.S. households were to put in solar, it would make only a small difference to carbon emissions, because most of the pollution is happening outside the U.S. these days.
Nationally, our electricity is generated from these sources:
Other than coal, our electrical generation is pretty clean. Natural gas is the least carbon-polluting of the fossil fuels, and it's rapidly replacing coal in electric plants because of its rock bottom pricing.
So what's the real net impact of switching to solar? Negligible, and getting more so.
Ultimately fixing climate change comes down to the consumer. It is all of us consumers who buy the products that are created in factories that are powered by fossil fuels, and it is us that drive cars and fly in airplanes and use A/C. So your wife has the right idea although you are right, unless everyone works together one person acting alone will have no effect on the problem. But we have to start somewhere and at some point politicians will put in place policies that will drive people to diminish their use of fossil fuels and diminish the purchase of products made in dirty plants. And when that happens you will be better off with your own power coming from solar because no doubt it will be cheaper than the alternative.
Ultimately fixing climate change comes down to the consumer. It is all of us consumers who buy the products that are created in factories that are powered by fossil fuels, and it is us that drive cars and fly in airplanes and use A/C. So your wife has the right idea although you are right, unless everyone works together one person acting alone will have no effect on the problem. But we have to start somewhere and at some point politicians will put in place policies that will drive people to diminish their use of fossil fuels and diminish the purchase of products made in dirty plants. And when that happens you will be better off with your own power coming from solar because no doubt it will be cheaper than the alternative.
Before the Industrial Revolution, people lived lives little better than our ancestors in the jungle. By markedly cutting down on energy usage, we're return to that primitive lifestyle which included high childhood mortality rates, frequent episodes of mass starvation etc etc.
How long would you last without your iPhone & computer?
I'm all for conservation for conservation's sake, but if we all cut down our electrical usage by the amount required to make "alternative sources" viable, we wouldn't have to turn to alternative sources in the first place.
Ultimately fixing climate change comes down to the consumer. It is all of us consumers who buy the products that are created in factories that are powered by fossil fuels, and it is us that drive cars and fly in airplanes and use A/C. So your wife has the right idea although you are right, unless everyone works together one person acting alone will have no effect on the problem. But we have to start somewhere and at some point politicians will put in place policies that will drive people to diminish their use of fossil fuels and diminish the purchase of products made in dirty plants. And when that happens you will be better off with your own power coming from solar because no doubt it will be cheaper than the alternative.
Ultimately, technology will solve most of these problems, as it always does. As soon as we have decent batteries, we'll all be driving electric cars with 500+ miles of range. Commuters will recharge from solar roofs at the office; home makers will recharge all day from the home solar. That's probably 50% of all pollution right there, fixed, finished, gone.
Eventually, oil and gas will be used where they're really needed: petrochemicals, plastics, jet engine fuel, etc.
No one doubts this future is coming. But politicians are the last ones to help move it along; all they can do is tax and regulate, and slow down economic growth, which reduces the money needed for R&D. I say, let's recycle all the politicians instead. Useless parasites.
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