Fighting global warming, well, will you?

I don't feel that solar power will be a viable alternative to conventional power for several years to come... likely decades. You might be able to generate a fraction of the power a household needs and save some energy/money by covering your roof with solar panels. However to power an entire city on solar, you would need miles and miles of fields filled with nothing but solar arrays.

I'm not a solar energy expert by any means though... if you can show me a viable and cost-efficient method of solar energy that would enable a person to get entirely off the power grid, I would be interested in seeing it and even consider using it myself (Say if it will last 20 years before it needs to be replaced, and will cost the same as two or three years of regular hydro). It should also be aesthetically pleasing... no giant black panels hanging off all over the house. Moreso, do you have any examples of cities that have already gone entirely solar?

The entire world cutting their military spending is a hopeful idea, but we all know it will never happen. We've gotten too far into it... the world is now like a gunfight gone bad, where everyone has got a gun pointed at another person's head. If one major superpower steps down and announces it's weakining it's defenses, all hell will break loose.

Pff if one nation stood down all its arms and declared it to the world i would have all respect for them, for they are truly braver than all of us who live behind our iron curtains.

Yarcofin- Im not suggesting that Solar power should be the only form of energy.

There should be a range of different powers all conglomerating.

1. Solar panels should be mandatory on a house, seriously, a few panels here and there to supplement your energy concerns would be a great boost

2. Wind generators should be built in out of the way locations like valleys where the wind is pushed through (of course not in all valleys, we dont want our natural life to be used like that)

3. Here in Sydney we are planning on building a Desalinisation plant to help our dwindling water supply (i dont think our resevoir has been over 50% in all my life). I think it should have solar panels and wind generators on it and then it should also have a tidal generator on the water which we are already pumping through (so no real loss) to power the station. Completly self sufficient.

4. A person should not be 'off the grid', the grid should just be powered by cleaner energies. Right now we are using old technologies and pushing them to the limit for our growing population. This, of course, should not happen. New technologies should replace old technologies no matter the cost.

Dont assume, Yarcofin, that a person needs to be off the grid and self sufficient to be clean. You just need to make the grid clean, it may take more money and effort, but it will be more effective in the long run, and i am always more concerned with the long run.

Ive always been considering a few unconventional methods of energy, im not sure if they would work though, such as adding mirrors to the sides of solar panels to increase the amount of energy they catch.

i also am no energy expert, but i know that what we have now is wrong. There is no dispute that what we have is wrong when talking on a personal and Ethical level. its only right in the economic level, which is much too influential for its own good.

I grow as much of my own food as possible given my circumstances and buy bulk at the local farmers market to can, dry and smoke. I used to ride a bicycle everywhere I went until my knee got so bad I couldn't anymore, now I ride a scooter that gets 70 mpg. All the bulbs are those spiral floresent bulbs and I recycle as much as I can and compost my garden remains. Given my situition I think I do pretty good.

Here are 2 links to threads I have started on this subject over the years.

21 solutions to save the world.

www.abovepolitics.com...


SO... What do you do for the Environment?

www.abovepolitics.com...

[edit on 6-8-2007 by grover]

the most prevalent and efficient "greenhouse gas" is water vapor. All other "greenhouse gasses" combined account for only a hundredth of 1% of the total gasses and a thousandth of a percent of the effiency of good old H2O. The "carbon footprint" scam is just a way for the UN to make a bunch of money, buying and selling "carbon credits". But as this is a thread about "fighting global warming", I'll bite---and suggest massive global cloud seeding, which not only reduces the H2O vapor, but scrubs the atmosphere of CO2, CO, methane, ammonia, particulates, and if done in the upper atmosphere, produces ozone to fix the "ozone holes".
Or to put it bluntly "chem trails".

Far from attempting to debunk the massive fraud, I am going with the flow, and finding ways to work with it.
Currently looking at purchasing several hundred acres of land (with gov't grants) setting it all up with solar and wind generators (with gov't grants) and planting several thousand trees (with gov't grants) and making a great income selling carbon credits at minimal expense to me for the whole shebang. It's a very nice world wide commodity, that I can sell to any country, so any time a Brit wants to fire up his backyard BBQ, he has to buy (last I heard) 10$ USD in carbon credits to do so. And if I plant something fast growing---like a hybrid poplar, in 10 years I can clearcut the whole forest, sell it all at my profit, and have the gov't pay to replant it.

I think most people just don't know what to do. or they feel overwhelmed. There are some simple things I have found that you can do everyday. These are for green beginners.

1. dry line your clothes. saves energy saves money. On hot days it dries a lot faster anyways and you can get more done.

2. wash your dishes at night. skip the dry cycle. just prop the door open and let your dishes air dry.

3. not prewashing dishes(and not needed with newer washes) can save 10k gallons of water a year.

4.Got all those freebie handbags hanging around? use them at the grocery store and stop using store bags.

5. By less packaged materials. And if you really don't need it, don't use it. For example, skip the bottled body wash and get an old fashioned bar of soap. It still works better.

6. Even if you have a small yard, you can start a compost bin just using a big storage container,punch holes in the bottom, and just put coffeegrounds,teabags, egg shells and bread in there and a container of worms or worms from your yard.

7. Put a pan underneath your air conditioner and use the water to water plants. It is almost pure water, even use it to rinse your hair.

8. Stop buying bottled water unless it is an emergency.Tap filters work just as well.

9. Insulate your water heaters. Saves a lot of money. Turn it down to 110 degrees. this is a safe temperature for kids anyways.

10. Got drafty windows in winter? Cover them with plastic.

11. Close and cover vents in rooms you don't use much.

12. Stop using chemical laden. toxic household cleaners,fabric softeners, and detergents. Fabric softeners are so bad for you and bad for the environment. Not to mention expensive. Got hard water? Use baking soda or oxyclean or borax.

13. Boiling something like noodles? Bring water to boil and turn the burner off. There is enough heat to cook the noodles.

14. You don't need to preheat the oven unless it is pastries. If using the oven for anything, turn it off ten minutes before the end of cooking time, there is still enough heat to cook.

15. You can use dryer lint for a lot of things. Put it in cardboard egg cartons with melted leftover candle wax and you can use them as firestarters. If you got a sewer in the house, it makes great pillow stuffing.

Originally posted by Yarcofin
I don't feel that solar power will be a viable alternative to conventional power for several years to come... likely decades. You might be able to generate a fraction of the power a household needs and save some energy/money by covering your roof with solar panels. However to power an entire city on solar, you would need miles and miles of fields filled with nothing but solar arrays.

I'm not a solar energy expert by any means though... if you can show me a viable and cost-efficient method of solar energy that would enable a person to get entirely off the power grid, I would be interested in seeing it and even consider using it myself (Say if it will last 20 years before it needs to be replaced, and will cost the same as two or three years of regular hydro). It should also be aesthetically pleasing... no giant black panels hanging off all over the house. Moreso, do you have any examples of cities that have already gone entirely solar?

The entire world cutting their military spending is a hopeful idea, but we all know it will never happen. We've gotten too far into it... the world is now like a gunfight gone bad, where everyone has got a gun pointed at another person's head. If one major superpower steps down and announces it's weakining it's defenses, all hell will break loose.

They have come out with more cosmetically pleasing panels. They now have panels that fit onto the roof like shingles, and blend it with the shingles.

1. Dry Lining? Done, always do it unless its raining outside (in Australia, when it rains it usually rains for 2 weeks or so before stopping)

2. Or you could hand wash your dishes, takes even less energy and you get them cleaner too

3. again, or handwashing.

4. Or tell your local stores to go the aussie way. www.woolworths.com.au...

Ive bought 5 of these bags and 3 insulated ones, i take it whenever i go shopping (for food) to save on getting plastic bags which fall apart and hurt to hold. Every Aussie supermarket stores these bags and i tell everyone to buy them. They hold more and are just better.

5. We have bottled soap, but we just buy refills, not whole new containers. not as good as a bar of soap, but alright i guess.

6. Unfortunatly because i live in a townhouse a small compost heap would take up 1/2 the yard, kill the cats and the smell would waft into my bedroom window

7. Dont have an air conditioner

8. Dont buy bottled water (then again, i dont drink enough water myself.)

9. My heaters arnt very powerful. I may consider adding a few fins just to manipulate the heat where its needed, instead of going straight up the stairs.

10. Thats quite a good idea, ill try that. Thanks!

11. hmm, im not sure we have any vents.

12. we dont have many of those things.

13. hmmm, i half disagree. But only because i do all the cooking and i am a perfectionist. With noodles, however, you are completly right.

14.Actually, preheating the oven is better when cooking most kinds of meat, a gradual increase in temperature leaves the meat abit less tasty (this is true, ive tried it many times) But you should turn it off before it is finished and allow any meat (ANY meat) to sit for around 2-10 minutes, depending on how big it is.

15. youve lost me on this one, sorry

Anyway, good list and most make good sense. Do i pass, though?

also, could you give me a link to the roof shingle Solar Panels? Im interested and intrigued.

@Gotrox, This thread has turned into something other than "Global Warming doesnt exist" and into more of a "What can we do to help the environment?" please dont take it down.

15. youve lost me on this one, sorry



LOL, my point being that you should try to reuse whatever you have and find another use for it.

I actually heard about the shingles on a radio discussion. But when I get a chance, I will look around for ya.