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Bruce Benson
I have avoided the controversial here but issues have arrisin that I have a great deal of personal interest in. I guess that my better judgement has been tripped.
Global warming is simply a fact. I have been in Alaska for 20 some years now and have watched as every glacier has receded at a faster and faster rate. I queried a very experienced Antarctic scientist accuatance, on an exploration that I participated in to Antarctica, about how he could prove global warming. His simple answer was with thermometers. The average temperature of the Antarctic has been rising since the 1940's.
The only real question here is what is causing the warming. Some 80% of scientist believe that the emissions created by man are causing it. That means some 20% of scientists do not agree with that conclusion. Someone can correct me on the percentages if they are better informed but the situation will still be the same. If you want to find a scientist who does not support the theory that humans are causing global warming, help your self. There are certainly some out there.
Just in case the large majority of scientists are correct, wouldn't it be wise to do what we can to attempt to reverse it? What if the majority happen to be correct?
Fossil fuels are a finite resource. Every drop, cubic foot or ounce that we use is just gone, never to return. We can start dealing with this problem or we can just let our grandkids tanks run dry.
What if we accelerated the development of alternate energy sources? That would help to reduce our emissions, just in case (you know the 80%) and maybe avoid a certain amount of culture shock for our, apparently already confused, younger generation
Electricity seems to be a workable alternativive. Generation choices are important but there are many non-fossil means to generate with. Nuclear is an option but the waste is definitely a problem in the long term. Sprisingly all of the waste created so far in all of the commercial nuclear plants in the USA amounts to a single football field full with the rods stacked 30 feet high. There is also an option of recycling and reusing those fuel rods. France is currently doing exactly that. Surely we could find some abandoned Friday Night Lights field in West Texas to store them in while we figure it out.
Solar Panels are another obvious choice About a 150 x 150 mile area would produce all of the electricity that we currently consume. Finding that much open space might be a problem. Wait, I remember that now, right outsiode the Roswell city limits sign. Storage is the problem here but we are seeing rapid progress both in development and actual installation of that technology.
Since we are here at the battery subject, i would like to cover the recycling of lithium batteries. These batteries are estimated to be from 85 to 95 percent recyclable and the appropriate facilities for doing so, at scale, are currently under active development right here in the USA.
We have all seen the wind thing and know all about the blades and the birds. Still, wind has done a big part of pushing Texas past 15% renewable energy sources. It works.
The sea is an area that I personally think we are very remiss on tapping. There is so much energy in the waves and in the tides. Add to this that the sea is right next to most of our population centers. It almost brings tears to my eyes each time i see the humongous tide leave and return to Alaska's Cook Inlet each day knowing that our electricity is generated using natural gas. Perhaps one of my granddaughters or grandsons can figure out how to harness that in a ecologically friendly manner.
So how about distributing all of this electricity? Well, first let me say that the vast majority of power used by electric vehicles can be scheduled for off peak Most people will charge their cars at home at the lowest possible rate times. That said, I take our class to be heavily weighted with capitalists. It would seem reasonable to say then that if folks are willing to pay for whatever service we can imagine, it will come as long as a reasonable return can be made. Our concern, since electric power can be monopolistic, should be fair regulation to protect both the consumer and the investor.
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IT KICKED THE HELL OUT OF ME.