Here’s a video on a new approach to solar PV that claims to double the efficiency from about 18% to 36%. But I can’t see how anything these people say could possibly be true (beginning with the current efficiencies, which are in the 20s). (more…)
A self-described conservative on Facebook admonishes a fellow conservative who had majored in broadcasting in college and is now telling the world that climate change is a hoax: I think those of us on the right make a mistake when we try to argue the science of global warming. (more…)
Those of us who think of themselves as “people of peace,” might variously define that notion as: treating all people respectfully and fairly, standing up for a wide variety of human rights, and doing everything possible to avoid war. More interestingly, however, there seem to be two distinct flavors here:
• “Militant peacemakers,” which, though it sounds oxymoronic, means people (like me) who get seriously peeved when we see injustice, unfairness, stupidity, indifference to human suffering, support of violence, etc.—and do everything we can to fight it.
and
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Here’s an interesting article on the future of energy from Kansas City-based Fritz Maffry. I agree with every word, FWIW.
My associates and I take extreme exception to the KCPL (Kansas City Power and Light Company, an electric utility company serving the Kansas City metropolitan area) contention that the best way to curtail rate increases in the future is to increase scale. (more…)
2GreenEnergy super-supporter Gary Tulie sent me this incredible article on the falling cost of light over the millennia.
My first thought when I saw it was that I would skim through it, since the subject matter may seem fairly obvious. But I found it extremely worthwhile, not only for its helping us understand exactly how artificial lighting went from something too expensive to use to something too cheap to care about, but also for its economic analysis that shows the difficulty in measuring large-scale changes (like this one) on an apples-to-apples basis. Great stuff.
Though these folks seem to have an unnatural enmity towards renewable energy, they make many excellent points about the future of fossil fuels, outlined very nicely here.
A commenter from Australia raises an interesting issue, noting: Go ahead, protest vigorously, make as much raucous dissent as possible, but don’t be surprised when you find support for your opponents strengthening.
You bring up a good point about people with divergent opinions emboldening each other’s positions, and I don’t think there is any doubt that this phenomenon exists to some degree. (more…)
On yesterday’s post on global warming, frequent commenter MarcoPolo notes: “Climate change has been occurring since the creation of the planet.”
This is true, but irrelevant. Equating a phenomenon that’s occurred over 4.5 billion years to one that’s happened in the last century is meaningless; it’s an example of paralogizing (today’s word of the day on Dictionary.com) (more…)
As mentioned, Cameron Atwood sent a series of political memes he created, including the one below on climate disruption.
I wish there were a way to communicate this concept to everyone on Earth; it’s certainly one that I sneak in wherever I go to speak in public: the fact that there is some level of uncertainty about the timing and full effects of climate change is not a valid argument for ignoring it. (more…)
Cameron Atwood sent me 8 – 10 political memes he created, including the one below. Of the entire group, the one that meant the most to me appears below. Coincidentally another friend had made this precise point to me just yesterday: progressive values tend to expand under administrations that people of compassion find most repugnant, as there is a force to fight. (more…)
