That's a good ad for the petrochemical industry who paid for it.Google “ Have you ever heard of Unobtanium” on You Tube for the downside truth of solar panels, wind turbines, etc.
Yeah, the world as depicted in the Jetsons ain't gonna happen. Even with a few drones buzzing around there's potential chaos, and I don't mean chaos theory - real chaos." But probably after a lot longer than predicted"
I still have a couple of 50's era Popular Science with a cover showing an air craft in every suburban garage.
Still waiting,,,,,
Please define MMCC for this simple-minded fellow. (and no doubt some others) These bl**dy Drs and their abbreviations...Although much of the American public continues to have trouble accepting MMCC for the world at large there has been an acceptance with the resultant paradigm shift.....So to those who deny MMCC or say the world hasn’t accepted it as truth. At all levels of economic activity the world has and is evolving accordingly.
I installed both a panel on our sailboat and a solar water heater system for our home that payed for itself in several years..
Brett, how about just looking at the installation of a large PV system, (especially with a new build, like we did) as an investment in comfort, and ability to control one's personal climate, and yet also does contribute to the environment..?Therein lies one of the problems. As a business person, I'm not use to investing in things that take "several years" to pay for themselves when thinking "several years" is 7-12 years. I look at less than 3 years. So, to buy into solar, I must be convinced of the non-financial benefit, that it's better for the environment, for the world.
Brett, how about just looking at the installation of a large PV system, (especially with a new build, like we did) as an investment in comfort, and ability to control one's personal climate, and yet also does contribute to the environment..?
Our power provider pays us about $150 per month for what we put back into the grid over that used from the grid. That's how I justified it, rather than just an ROI issue. Enphase just advised me our contribution to decreasing CO2 was equivalent to 35 trees just for last month, and we've been running our aircon virtually 24/7 because it has been so hot here in Queensland. Because of that, this month's credit was only $131.48 Last month was $184.28.
Ultimately, when batteries become a more realistic cost, we will be able to be grid independent it we wished, although while they are paying us so well, why bother..?
However, if the feed in tariff dropped enough, batteries would become more worthwhile, and effectively would provide our house with an uninterruptible power supply. When you are very computer reliant business-wise that can be good. Works for me.
Even better: since the movement is lateral and northbound,So there is something positive! One can hope.
The last thing I EVER want to see in my lifetime is flying cars. Unless these vehicles are under a 'fool proof' automated traffic control system that is directly linked (making them flying automated transports - i.e. human only puts in destination) you'll have near constant shrapnel falling from the sky in urban areas. A significant number of people can't drive in 2D - and now you want to throw in the Z axis. They don't make helmets large enough for this future.
One of many problems that GFC overlooks is that some of his proposed solutions would only work if there were far fewer people, and others, like the ending of coal and oil, would fail immediately (many other products made from hydrocarbons), or fail through dis-economies of scale or of the sourcing of electricity.
American electric supply infrastructure, including generation, barely supports current useage.
Massive increases of demand (line-delivered wattage for electric cars vs BTUs of gasoline) can not be delivered to the end users without a complete overhaul / tripling of our electric distribution system, or the elimination of private transportation for most people.
GFC also glosses over the source(s) of the electric power needed. Currently, the production of much of the fuel rods used for nuclear power plants depends on a coal-fired power plant in Western Kentucky.
Many nice, but currently impractical to impossible, ideas here.
JohnS
Greetings,
Mr. G9. "...not enough raw materials...". Well, sorta "exactly". We're living in a throw away society. As I mentioned in my post (#51), the 3 R's would go a LONG way IMO to ease the sourcing and consumption of limited resources. Again, as I mentioned, global reset of our way of thinking.
I can see a time, perhaps in the fairly near future where garbage dumps will be mined for "lost" resources, primarily metals, I'm guessing.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/06/landfill-mining-recycling-eurelco/
IF done in an ecologically sound manner it might be cost effective in some cases.