Some people also believe that the dinosaurs died out because they never, for one reason or another, made it onto Noah's ark.Originally Posted by Don Ho
They cover large extents of the Arctic sea bed but collect in basin depressions where there is less current action. The hydrate makes small crystals distributed in the pelagic mud of the ocean floor. The whole mess has to be sucked up and the crystals extracted.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
A fine plan. Have you got a spare 100 billion dollars?
I'm short a few million ths week.
We could all sit outside on banana lounges discussing the best way to rebuild a 4WD transmission and agree, through shared stories of conquests supporting our assertions, that there is no basis to the proposition that those least assured of their persuasions are the first to condemn others for theirs.
Ah, so that's the price for humanity? In the long view; that could be a very well spent $100 billion dollars, yes?
Frederick Douglass: Find out just what any people will quietly submit to
and you have found out the exact measure of injustice
and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these
will continue till they are resisted with either
words or blows, or with both.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn;
“Don’t believe them, don’t fear them, don’t ask
anything of them.”
I attended a very interesting plenary session at the International Geologic Congress on energy and carbon. It covered what most of us that read the news and follow the carbon debate already know. That oil reserves are in decline but new technologies and increasing prices are making unconventional hydrocarbon sources viable and it is these that are filling the gap left by oil. Prospects are that we have several hundred years worth left of total hydrocarbon resources, which is bad news for reducing global warming and climate change. However research is ongoing into alternative and renewable energy sources like solar, wind, geothermal, wave and nuclear of which solar and wind have the most viable energy to investment ratio but these technologies are still 20% less economically viable than current hydrocarbon energy sources. The conclusion of the panel was that nothing is going to change until such time as these alternative energy sources become more economically viable than fossil fuels and therefore attractive to companies and governments for investment and development.
Wow, that's a lot more positive than I am at this point. I think we won't "act" until the last drop, BTU, calorie, and or Newton of hydrocarbon is consumed and gone. Finished, over, out, empty, completely exhausted!
But by then; it likely won't matter; that's how fucking stupid we are!
I believe the more appropriate term is "profitable"...
"You really want to save the planet?...the next time you see a hybrid car with a childseat... smash the window, remove the childseat and replace it with a box of condoms..." Doug Stanhope
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Every big energy resource company has an alternative energy department working on these new technologies employing researchers from the top universities around the globe. There is always going to be a market for fossil fuels but the developed nations will gladly switch over to a new energy if it is profitable to do so. I know of a geothermal research plant in the Cooper basin in central Australia that could provide 25% of the countries energy needs for 50 years, but it is many hundreds of kilometers from the nearest high tension power grid lines making the infrastructure to access that power untenable for now until the cost of oil becomes prohibitive. There is also an experimental solar farm in central Queensland trialing new photovoltic cells and experimental focusing dishes. The companies are not sitting on their hands in this matter by any means. Whichever one comes up with the viable technology first is in a prime position to leave its competitors in the dust. For them it's a numbers game but they are willing to change over as long as their profits are not threatened. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss...
That sounds pretty Hi-So.
Or, in short, until it's reasonable for those with the great wealth/international corporations figure out how to maintain the wealth, given the changing circumstances
Actually I'm envious.
O to be stinking rich!
“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”
―
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We've hit energy tipping point: FlanneryClimate change campaigner Tim Flannery says 2012 will be seen as a tipping point in the fight against rising carbon dioxide levels.
Advances in clean energy technologies, increasing global investment, the drop in price of those technologies and growing public support point to the dawn of the clean energy era, Australia's chief climate commissioner says.
"Global investments in renewable power and fuels has increased six fold since just 2004, standing today at about $257 billion," Professor Flannery told a Committee for Economic Development of Australia function in Melbourne on Tuesday.
"We're seeing investment in renewables now outpacing those of fossil fuels.
"Some of these trends have only become evident in the last 12 months. I don't think they're going to go away and I think we'll see this as the moment when things really started to move."
Prof Flannery said the 75 per cent drop in the cost of producing solar panels over the past four years, and the subsequent take-up rate in Australian homes was evidence of the change locally.
But he warned Australia needed a national plan to manage the transition from fossil fuels to renewable power.
"Unfortunately we don't see a lot of enthusiasm for that sort of approach in Australia," he said.
Prof Flannery also said businesses were demanding a bipartisan approach to energy policy.
"There's enough uncertainty out there in making major investments without having political uncertainty as well," he said.
"So there's an absolutely gold-plated case for having bipartisan support for energy policy at least, and that is an absolutely fundamental business requirement that we (the Climate Commission) hear again and again."
Prof Flannery said Australia had "some of the best clean energy resources anywhere on the planet" and needed strong leadership to capitalise on those.
"(Look at) Germany, with it's 25 gigawatts of solar power, where the very best sunlight you get in Germany is about as good as our worst here in Australia - we have huge potential in that area."
^ Re; Flannery, it's getting to the point of crying wolf. Peak oil, carbon dioxide tipping point, blah, blah, blah. I know it's true but; where's the visuals? Where's the evidence in graphic, picture, of the problem?
Hyperbole aside; I get it, but most don't, due to a lack of education (and I don't mean the fucking news) so we are fighting a battle with swords; we need goddamn nukes for this education program.
Yeah, yeah, sorry, I didn't exactly put the hyperbole aside; but you understand.
Last edited by THX 1133; 14th August 2012 at 18:24.
More Flannery:
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/...ction-flanneryLies told about climate action: Flannery
...
The Climate Commission on Tuesday released a report which suggests by next year 33 countries and 18 sub-national jurisdictions will have a carbon price in place.
...
Prof Flannery said even he was "astonished" to discover the extent and diversity of action.
The commission chief was surprised Japan has emissions trading in Tokyo and Saitama, covering 20 million people, and that South Africa will introduce a nationwide carbon tax in 2013.
He was also impressed by the extent of Canada and China's responses.
In Canada the provinces of Quebec and British Columbia have carbon taxes while Alberta introduced emissions trading in 2006. Quebec will follow suit in 2013.
The Chinese government will introduce trading schemes in seven cities and provinces from 2013.
The commission report also notes that China is a global leader in renewable energy.
"It's doing hugely well," Prof Flannery said.
"It's got half the world's installed wind capacity."
Too little too late?
Only time will tell.
Tim Flannery is a highly respected academic...but I read his latest comments as being watered down more than crying wolf...many environmentalists have claimed that by the time the world realises we have a problem it will be too late...I don't think the world realises that it has a problem yet...so maybe it isn't too late
No, I disagree; the world knows we have a problem. But the U.S., Canada, and Britain have done all they can to ensure the failure of climate change talks; as exemplified by the failure of the Doha conference on climate change.
It's there for all to see; shame, shame on the first world!!!
Because it is too difficult to fix...Australia in particular can't afford to stop exporting coal...the USA can't stop using oil...just a couple of examples
That's official then...it is too late to fix things
---Update---
Yep...but this wasn't dreamed up by some geek
---Update---
yes
ok then
Not because I say it is; but all the evidence points to exactly that.
Nice future we're leaving for the youngsters; and the rich think they can buy their way out of the catastrophe they have created.
When one thinks about it, it's hilarious, in a perverted sort of way...
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