Farmfresh said:
k0xxx said:
Farmfresh said:
We have lots of wind, solar and hydro electric options. Lets use them.
Unfortunately, these are not truly viable options on a national level.
YET!
What we need to change, is our populations' ideas of its' energy needs, usage, and conservation. We need to promote community level, small scale, green energy projects, as well as household level energy production. States need to mandate that utility companies purchase energy (at a reasonable rate) that comes from small scale and community level producers. Some do, but a lot either don't, or they put unreasonable restrictions on it.
The largest hurdles currently are the associated costs, especially the cost of energy storage. The good news is a lot of those costs are starting to decline. There's still a long way to go, but it's happening. While these won't solve our energy problems, I believe that they could definitely help.
I agree with your assessment. Lots of things have GOT to change. Little steps like making a more efficient light bulb, a more efficient battery and more thrift and awareness by the general public. We ARE taking baby steps in the correct direction at least.
Sometimes we are our own worst enemy as well. When we have people trying to protect our environment by protesting wind farms or tidal generators it just makes extra road blocks. :/
While this may seem "political" it is NOT taking any side of, nor position. What follows is my opinion of what WE, THE PEOPLE can do to help US, THE NATION and merely amplify what is written in the posts above by Farmfresh and K0xxx! The basic premise here is:
THE SQUEAKY WHEEL GETS THE GREASE Both of the posters above have said this in slightly different terms. Here is my addition to their position (which I share with them)
New technological advances are being invented and produced every day in this country. Many of these things already exist in a usable form. These technologies are currently in place and many are in the consumer market NOW. For instance, LED light bulbs are now to the point that they produce a significant number of lumens and work quite well. Some burn as little as 1/10th of a watt. Think about that. You could have 200 light bulbs in the house and burn only 20 watts.
Q: How much electricity would you need to generate that kind of demand?
A: very little!
What we have to consider are the actual NEEDS vs. WANTS in our society. What do we actually NEED to stay in the 20/21st Century?
My guess is really much less than we currently use.
If we look at the reality we find that modern living with electricity can be pared down to the basic necessities quite easily and still maintain the QUALITY OF LIFE we currently enjoy. It would reduce our carbon foot print and extend the life of our current infrastructure on into the future so our great grandchildren will manage to enjoy the quality of life they should inherit.
Things like:
1.
Refrigeration. Do we need 24 cubic foot boxes or could we get by with 10 cubic foot boxes that are much more energy efficient? Certainly THAT is an easy answer.
2.
Water. Currently most folks in the SS environment (probably) pump water from their own well or water source. This requires energy but that amount can be produced by a very few
solar panels Hot water (a great luxury in this life) is a sub topic of this and again, there are solar panels which would reduce the need for a NON-renewable form of energy to produce hot water. Why are these NOT readily available and reasonably priced so that the average home owner could afford their cost and installation?
3.
Light at night. We live in an age where we "light up the night" often for one of two reasons; advertising or security. WHile security is felt to be important, lets' think about WHY we should have a problem necessitating greater levels of security? Why is there so much crime? Why do we allow this? Is the justice system so overwhelmed that it just can't meet the demand or is it too lenient that crime is not deterred by the system of punishment? Putting folks in jail only costs society money and does not punish them as much as making them pay real dollars and cents RESTITUTION to the victim/state would punish them. Making them REALLY work instead of making license plates would get that point across real fast. Especially if they had to pay for their own food and clothing, etc.
That would make folks think more carefully about doing crime. We never had the crime rate we have now. WHY? We have to address the function of our justice system and figure out how to stop this ever increasing level of more blatant and heinous crime. Society should NOT have to carry the burden of supporting criminals financially.
Advertising on the other hand is simply wasteful and could be eliminated without serious loss to society; quite the contrary. Look at the amount of energy used for advertising. Why not legislate that advertising has to meet either certain energy use levels, or make their own with solar panels or simply not use energy at night?. You'd see them only during the day. (Hey, it's a thought)
If the merchant wants to use energy, they should be the ones who make it for advertising since that is discretionary rather than requirement energy use.
4.
Transportation: We all drive a car/truck etc. We all know that there are energy systems that have been invented that eliminate the need for fossil fuel to make the current designs work quite well. The problem comes from people NOT demanding the change.
We could certainly use hydrogen to work in all of our vehicles with only a very minor modification of the way they are designed right now. Why isn't that going on? We can also "grow" our fuel if we were so inclined. Any plant that has an oil containing seed can be used to make diesel fuel to power our engines. We can do this now.
We need to know WHY the cost of the independent energy is so prohibitive.
LED lightbulbs in my farm cost as much as $15 each. Why? 100 watt incandescent bulbs which burn as much electricity as 10000 times more energy than an LED bulb cost significantly less. WHY?
One, maybe two PV panels would be able to light an entire home in America with NO difficulty. Imagine the change in energy consumption with just that one adaptation.
The question becomes ARE WE REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT OUR ENERGY NEEDS/WANTS? Currently, the answer appears to be NO but with people like the SS type of folks, who are educated and concerned about being good stewards of their "talents" given to us, we can demand changes from those whose business is industry. If we demand, they will produce. That is one of the oldest "laws of business" that exist. WE, THE CONSUMER have to demand what we want by "voting with our purse" and the industry WILL RESPOND to our demands if they want to continue in business.
That way, we can show that we are good stewards of our Earth and our gifts and talents.
While I am sometimes regarded as not agreeing with certain of the policies of our current administration their policies in this regard are definitely a welcome use of our tax dollars. I am VERY AWARE that the
policies regarding energy independence have substantially IMPROVED and are being extended to help the general population. The industry folks are responding by raising the price of their product because the government is taking part of the burden away from the consumer...THAT is WRONG. But WE the consumer have to let industry know that "you catch more flies with honey than with Vinegar". If they want to sell their products they will have to price them within range of the entire spectrum of consumer. The government IS doing the right thing in subsidizing these purchases but the industry MUST respond to do THEIR part.
CHANGE in the way things are done in order to make our country safe, and secure will only come when the consumer/voter makes their voices heard. Write to your legislator and tell them what you want. Don't let them decide for you.
MY advice FWIW:
Vote every chance you get; at the polls and in the free market.
Dollars are still the most powerful ballot in the country and we have to make them count.That is the ONE single action that will make our country great once again.
And FWIW: I have taken the steps I recommend and discuss. I am NOT expecting others to do something that I have NOT done. One leads by pulling the rope, not pushing it!
