Hey guys. Anyone on facebook might be interested. I made a "Green" page for eco-friendly information to help save you cash and save your environment. Click HERE to view the page. Please become a fan of the page if you have a profile on facebook and are interested in learning more about green stuff.
Also worth seeing: http://www.treehugger.com
-Slink
P.S. Also see scar3crow's Blood facebook page: viewtopic.php?t=1218&highlight=facebook
My "Green" facebook page
Moderator: General Discussion Moderators
The "green" question is kinda fun. I remember doing a report a few years ago for a college English class that argued the benefits of pursuing more nuclear fusion as an effort to help over all world demand for power.
In the past couple years, we've witnessed the economic growth of China and have felt it at the pump. This is not to say the whole oil thing wasn't artificially inflated, because it was, else oil would still be over $70 a barrel regardless of the economy. But it does speak of what we could have in store.
Until recently, 70% of all energy produced on the planet was spent in the US for one thing or another; industry, transportation, heating etc. Now think of the rest of the world needing that much energy to come up to American "standards"
There are more efficient ways of doing things. America just happens to have it's infrastructure already in place. China and India still need to build a lot of roads to their more remote locations, let alone power lines and plumbing. Concrete is already starting to feel the crunch for instance. Once that is done, we will REALLY start to feel pressure. It's this type of growing pains that will lead to wars if left unattended.
Funding energy projects like nuclear fusion (read Wiffelball, not Chernobyl/3 Mile Island) makes sence to me. Bussard's Wiffelball project (search for "Should Google go nuclear") seems like it has a few things going for it, and by that I mean Navy funding, thought it is currently in a holding pattern until they work out the test results finished last September.
In the past couple years, we've witnessed the economic growth of China and have felt it at the pump. This is not to say the whole oil thing wasn't artificially inflated, because it was, else oil would still be over $70 a barrel regardless of the economy. But it does speak of what we could have in store.
Until recently, 70% of all energy produced on the planet was spent in the US for one thing or another; industry, transportation, heating etc. Now think of the rest of the world needing that much energy to come up to American "standards"
There are more efficient ways of doing things. America just happens to have it's infrastructure already in place. China and India still need to build a lot of roads to their more remote locations, let alone power lines and plumbing. Concrete is already starting to feel the crunch for instance. Once that is done, we will REALLY start to feel pressure. It's this type of growing pains that will lead to wars if left unattended.
Funding energy projects like nuclear fusion (read Wiffelball, not Chernobyl/3 Mile Island) makes sence to me. Bussard's Wiffelball project (search for "Should Google go nuclear") seems like it has a few things going for it, and by that I mean Navy funding, thought it is currently in a holding pattern until they work out the test results finished last September.
-
Slink
Not to be a dick, but...
- Posts: 1904
- Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2004 04:42 am
- Location: Niagara County, NY
Speaking of concrete, one of the new MAJOR sources of concrete that just makes more sense is "fly ash" concrete. It is composed of (SURPRISE!) flying ash from coal power plant smokestacks!
This concrete is inexpensive as a concrete component, makes STRONGER, LIGHTER concrete, and reduces waste from those disgusting coal plants. Also, FLY ash does not produce so much carbon dioxide as standard concrete does.
http://www.toolbase.org/Technology-Inve ... h-concrete
This concrete is inexpensive as a concrete component, makes STRONGER, LIGHTER concrete, and reduces waste from those disgusting coal plants. Also, FLY ash does not produce so much carbon dioxide as standard concrete does.
http://www.toolbase.org/Technology-Inve ... h-concrete
-
Tchernobog
- Tchernobog's Love Child
- Posts: 1407
- Joined: Tue May 27, 2008 07:30 am
- Location: Rural Alberta, Canada
- Contact:
I agree with a lot that you are saying Slink, but I personally hate the term "Green". People, if you are going green please go to the doctor immediately. Or at least have a toliet nearby...
Here is a message to some people who say farms are ruining the earth. This is what I, as a farmer, are doing:
1. Having trees captre CO2 emissions. Most of our Forty Acre farm is trees!
2. All our light bulbs are florescent, except for heating bulbs for farm use.
3. We are phasing out our CRT Monitors, but it is slow mostly we dont have money to buy new monitors.
4. Our next Televison may be L.C.D (Again, depends on Cost)
5. When we get a new car we intended it to be low on gas.
6. My family may have to drive longer distances, but Highway driving is more efficient than city driving.
Also on the plus side:
1. Our Farm is habitiat for many wildlife, included some rare ones.
2. We feed you. Live with it!
Here is a message to some people who say farms are ruining the earth. This is what I, as a farmer, are doing:
1. Having trees captre CO2 emissions. Most of our Forty Acre farm is trees!
2. All our light bulbs are florescent, except for heating bulbs for farm use.
3. We are phasing out our CRT Monitors, but it is slow mostly we dont have money to buy new monitors.
4. Our next Televison may be L.C.D (Again, depends on Cost)
5. When we get a new car we intended it to be low on gas.
6. My family may have to drive longer distances, but Highway driving is more efficient than city driving.
Also on the plus side:
1. Our Farm is habitiat for many wildlife, included some rare ones.
2. We feed you. Live with it!
A quote from the recent Convergence08 conference:
The first part of technology update relates to energy, and energy is the foundation of civilizations economy. Currently the world uses 15 Terawatts. The United States uses 4 Terawatts of electricity. Each person in the United States uses about 11KW. The world population in 2040 will be about 9 billion. For everyone in the world to be at the current average US level would take 99TW in 2040. For everyone to have five times the current average US level would take 500TW. This would be a minimum lack of scarcity situation. It would be getting everyone up to the energy usage level of an Obama defined rich person with $250,000/year and 55KW. Even if there was double the energy efficiency that would still be 250 TW. Factory mass produced deep burn fission power would require
One million reactors producing 250 MWe. If they were 50% efficient at converting heat to electricity and could burn 730 GWd/ton. 250,000 tons of Uranium or Thorium would be needed each year.