Forms of Pollution:
Global Impact of Sources of Energy Generation:
Remember, even in the year 2000, Coal burning dominated the way the US generates electricity and production is increasing!
Every form of energy generation has environmental fall-out.
However, this basic fact continues to elude people who somehow think some forms of energy generation are benign (only nuclear fusion is benign).
What about Energy Storage?
Options:
We need better batteries, (also for electric vehicles): US is investing in this
Pumped Hydro:
Wind energy coupled with advanced battery design has real promise and that promise is now being turned into real implementation. Wind power does exist. We are in the middle of a Wind farm boom! doubling the output of electricyty produced by wind roughly every two years!
With the development of the Advanced Gas Turbine energy cogeneration at biowaste facilities becomes possible. Moreover, the AGT provides a viable alternative to coal fire steam plants, using natural gas imported via pipeline from Canada.
Conclusion from Grid and Beat It...
As long as power can be transmitted readily on the interstate
energy grid, the largest population centers will be tempted to rely
on more sparsely populated areas such as Lane County, Oregon,
to generate their power. The subjugation of smaller communities
to generate power for larger communities is antithetical to sus-
tainable land-use planning. Incentives for conservation disap-
pear when a remote airshed bears the burden for excessive
consumption of energy in a large city. Transmission of electricity
over a long distance results in incremental losses that require the
burning of more fossil fuel per kilowatt of energy produced.
Subversion of local autonomy jeopardizes the most important
framework for sustainable land-use planning. A preferable re-
gime would require each community to shoulder its own load—
and only its own load—in order to meet the rising demand for
electricity. The grid is not inherently exploitive, but it invites
abuse if local governments cannot influence the siting of power
plants within their boundaries.
OTEC, Ocean Thermal provides a truly large scale solution but may be too expensive to ever implement what does this tell us about our priorities? Ocean Wave technology may work well, but the environmental impacts may be too great.
Solar PV may be economically viable on the large scale. On the small scale, improvement in solar shingle technology, remote area applications, 3rd World development are areas for applications. Remember that the third world population has also not developed our bad habits!
Look at the price of gas at the pump, approaching $4.00 a gallon and oil companies want to make more money! Not much incentive to develop new technologies. Perhaps price can make conservation again be fashionable.
Development and incentives to use renewable Resources must be led by the community. Government tax breaks, research support, would help the process of the change that is inevitable for our future. Marketing a change in lifestyle would do much to help. After all, General Motors gave us the suburbs and dependence on the automobile. Now living in a city center is again having appeal. Market the wonders of riding a train where you can work on your laptop, play with the kids, arrive in the center of a destination instead of an airport 20 miles from the center of town. We can be sold anything, we just need to market different ideas and priorities, and focus the talents or our engineers on these problems instead of designing ....well look at what engineering is bringing everyday, but we are still burning large amounts of fossil fuels to get a soda at a 7-11... Also think about this. You stop at a gas station and fill up and pay $3.50 a gallon for the gasoline. You also purchase a 16 ounce Snapple Ice Tea for $1.79. That Ice Tea costs over $6.00 per gallon. Basically, dried tea leaves soaked in water.... And people complain about the cost of gasoline. What about the cup of coffee....$2.75 for 12 ounce Latte... That is over $12.00 a gallon!!!
THINK ABOUT WHAT IS AROUND YOU EVERDAY! Rock on and have a good life.
Once it was said that religion is the opiate of the people. I propose to change the word "religion" to "comfort", or "materialism" ... The main drive today seems to be constant entertainment. So market the changes that need to be made into entertainment, and we may be on to something.
Observe what is around you. Question Authority! Corporate, Government and others who tell and sell.
Turn off the TV and Think, Develop, Dream, and DO !!!!!