The Master wrote:There is a lot more that can be done immediately. My brother put solar panels on his garage and generates so much they don't even pay an electric bill anymore.
Yea people can do that, but I do not see it coming mainstream anytime soon...
Just like you can use canvas bags when you go shopping instead of get your goods in plastic bags, also some shops now ask if you want a bag, meaning a plastic bag. Interestingly I have now got about ten canvas bags that I have got free... I can see a small but growing new problem...
Qray wrote:Failure hazards, environmental damage, greenhouse gas emissions (the reservoirs of power plants in tropical regions produce substantial amounts of methane and carbon dioxide due to anaerobic decay), population relocation, and they're affected by flow shortage to name just some of the problems associated with them. In fact, there's so many problems that no one is building large scale hydroelectric plants anymore. Well, China is (19 in fact,) but China doesn't give a smeg about the enviornment (there's also one being planned for construction in the following countries : Venezuela, Argentina, India, and Burma.)
I know there are problems, with large scale hydro I was just giving a list...besides I never said large scale hydro, the word I used was "water"
There is Smaller scale micro hydro power.... no population relocation, small or no reservoir required, meant to have small effect on the impact on the surrounding ecology. Design correctly, should have no effect on local fish stocks.
http://www.alternative-energy-news.info ... -and-cons/Qray wrote:Now, as I stated, Hydroelectricity already accounts for over 20% of the World's electricity. Other Sustainable/Renewable energy sources such as Anaerobic digestion, Geothermal, Microgeneration, Solar, Tidal, and Wave can be added in and you might...MIGHT be able to cover the current electrical demand.
However, that just covers the current demand. It doesn't factor in the around 806 million cars and light trucks on the road today (the number according to worldometers.)
My original point "Do Not buy petrol or diesel, use electric, or go back to a house and cart... or walk...", did not offer any time frame for doing what I said. Heck how would everyone go back to horse and cart, talk about all the trees that would have to be cut down for the carts, I suppose you could use trees from tree plantations, and where would all the horses come from...???
Get back to electric, I know it would take time to build the power stations, to meet the demand...
Qray wrote:Another method of electric production needs to be looked at. Personally, I think we should look closer at nuclear.
That creates radioactive waste... countries have look for ways to get rid of it, including off loading it to other countries, by ship or train, or dumping it in the oceans... or are burying it..
However there could be a way to deal with it, using lasers... it needs to be scaled up...
However, physicists in the UK and Germany have now demonstrated a new laser-driven approach to “transmutation” by converting iodine-129, which has a half-life of 15.7 million years, into iodine-128. The half-life of this lighter isotope is just 25 minutes (K Ledingham et al. 2003 J. Phys. D36 L79).
More at:
Lasers tackle radioactive wasteand what of nuclear meltdown...
Unless you meant fusion, but you did not say...
Of course people are trying to develop nuclear fusion power....like what happens in the Sun, meant to not have the radioactive waste....
It always comes down to the almighty dollar. There is no excuse for blatanly ignoring safety measures. In Alaska I think it was, there were corroded pipes and the workers complained about it. Nothing was done.
