G'Day All, Craig you're absolutely right. Theres enough readily accessible renewable energy in the world right now in either wind or solar to run 5x humanities present usage. And many other alternative energy options: geothermal, geosequestration, energy management etc as well. Its a bit of a trap, however to put all of ones eggs in one basket. How would solar perform in the event of a major volcaic eruption? How would we cope with the "electrical variability of wind turbines when they reach more than 20% of baseload. Current thinking is to invest in a range of alternatives. And fusion reactors are just 50 years away again! Lightweight electric vehices can already be made - Anyone who uses an electric bike would understand the potential. I've been using one for years and cut down my petrol bills by two thirds and my doctors bills and blood pressure tablets by a half! Its not a big step to applying the technology to light weight cars. And if NY can be one of the most energy efficient cities in the western world it does provide hope for the rest of us BTW I did indeed see a kayak with an outboard electric motor the other day. It had about 3 hours of running time. Just enough to get it outside the South Australian nautical mile limit and it had a sail as well to get back if the wind was blowing in the right direction. Not sure what you'd do without the wind. Heavens you might have to paddle! Except the SA Government wuldn't allow that - hmmmm Of course I wouldn't dream of encouraging controversy or tangential topics :~) but if anyone wants to take this up off line! All the best ________________________________ From: owner-paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net on behalf of Craig Jungers Sent: Mon 19/10/2009 2:26 PM To: tord_at_mindless.com Cc: al.m_at_3web.net; paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] A last turn on Global Warning Wow... the resurrection of an old thread. There are several companies working on new (and much cheaper) methods of producing the materials to manufacture solar cells. The methods are proven and at least one plant has been built (right here in Moses Lake, as a matter of fact); more are being designed. I believe that widely distributed solar generation is the key to at least the power problem. Get enough panels so that every rooftop in the world produces a couple of kw of electrical power during daylight hours and you remove the problems with darkness, clouds, etc. This will drastically reduce the need for new power plants, at least. Needless to say, the utility companies will do everything they can - including spreading false information - to defeat this. The major problem in the USA is that political will is diluted by the need to collect money for re-election. If we could just overcome *that* hurdle we might actually make some real progress. Hence the Craig Jungers term-limits program: If you're in office, I vote against you. After six or seven cycles we can re-think the situation. By that time we might have politicians in office that will listen to the voters and not the lobbyists. Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA www.nwkayaking.net *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On Mon, Oct 19, 2009 at 12:31 AM, rebyl_kayak < rebyl_kayak_at_energysustained.com> wrote: > > Of course I wouldn't dream of encouraging controversy or tangential topics > :~) but if anyone wants to take this up off line! > > > I'm not at all sure it's tangential. Paddling itself is, after all, a form of alternative energy. Any, or all, of us could simply switch to some sort of engine other than the human one if we were so inclined. My wife and kids and I cruised on a sailboat for years that was powered by a combination of solar panels and one wind generator (as well as a Volvo diesel that could be hand-cranked to start). Of all those forms the wind generator was by far the most intrusive. The diesel was louder in decibels but would only need to be run an hour to do the same charge as 24 hours of that almost equally noisy wind generator. But the solar panels only needed to be repositioned a few times a day and never interfered with sleep! The hills around here are alive with wind generators.... gigantic things that would meet with a lot of resistance among one's neighbors if you tried to erect one. So I think that the only way we'll get completely distributed power generation is with solar panels. But other forms of generation will need to be in place as well. Yesterday (Sunday) I took the aluminum overcast (my Streamline trailer) up to Jones Bay on Banks Lake; about 60 miles north of Moses Lake for an afternoon of paddling. One nice thing about taking the trailer is that it gives me a private place to change into - and back out of - paddling clothes. Another is that I re-read John Dowd's book on kayaking while I was eating my lunch (and just before my nap). The edition I own is probably not the latest but I was amazed to see how much has changed in kayaking over the past ten years or so. Greenland techniques, for one. Navigation, for another. I suspect we all have GPS units now. Most of us carry some form of communications when we paddle: VHF or cell phone (or both), most likely. Thinking about power comes naturally when paddling around the rocky islands of Banks Lake because it's an integral part of the Grand Coulee Dam system. I was paddling only about 9 miles away from the great dam itself. Interestingly enough, hydroelectric power in this state (Washington) is not considered "green" power. I suspect that it's because we're probably tapped out in dam construction and there is so much of it in place here now that the powers-that-be are probably encouraging other alternatives. So I paddled the F-1 a few miles (lots of work... next time I'm taking the Express) accompanied by my Garmin Colorado GPS and my Apple iPhone (both consuming power) and then I relaxed in the Overcast listening to jazz on the stereo while reading a book on kayaking. I guess I'm not exactly a purist, huh? Anyway, I'm going to put a solar panel on the Overcast and carry one for the kayaks. I remain a big fan of distributed solar because it seems so much easier to be ubiquitous; lots less obtrusive, almost certainly cheaper, and the technology is about to change readically. I'll worry about volcanoes later (Mt. St. Helens is less than 300km WSW from me. Yikes! Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA www.nwkayaking.net *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Craig Jungers wrote: > On Mon, Oct 19, 2009 at 12:31 AM, rebyl_kayak < > rebyl_kayak_at_energysustained.com> wrote: > >> Of course I wouldn't dream of encouraging controversy or tangential topics >> :~) but if anyone wants to take this up off line! >> >> >> I'm not at all sure it's tangential. Paddling itself is, after all, a form > of alternative energy. Any, or all, of us could simply switch to some sort > of engine other than the human one if we were so inclined. > > My wife and kids and I cruised on a sailboat for years that was powered by a > combination of solar panels and one wind generator (as well as a Volvo > diesel that could be hand-cranked to start). Of all those forms the wind > generator was by far the most intrusive. The diesel was louder in decibels > but would only need to be run an hour to do the same charge as 24 hours of > that almost equally noisy wind generator. But the solar panels only needed > to be repositioned a few times a day and never interfered with sleep! > There was an interesting article in the local newspaper (Ottawa Citizen) the other day. A gentleman in Ottawa had undertaken, at considerable expense, to install solar panels on his roof in order to power his own systems and to sell the excess to Ontario Hydro. While everything is working as he planned, as far as the equipment itself is concerned, the Ontario government changed the rules (possibly in reaction to the USA's "Buy American" policies) and now claims that they will not pay for his excess power because an insufficient percentage of the hardware is of Canadian origins. So he gives the excess power away -- and they don't seem to be complaining about getting it. This same gentleman attempted to install a small wind turbine in his back yard. The city, while encouraging "green" ventures, refused him a permit because the structure was tall enough that, if it fell over (despite being anchored VERY solidly), some part of it would encroach on a neighbour's yard. It would certainly seem, from this particular gentleman's experience, that governments large and small are not as "green" as we'd like them to be. (Which also ties in, in a way, with the thread about PFDs and offshore kayaking in Australia. Elected officials may know how to get elected, but it seems they run out of knowledge right after the votes get counted.) -- Darryl *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Darryl Johnson wrote: > The city, while encouraging "green" ventures, refused him a > permit because the structure was tall enough that, if it fell over > (despite being anchored VERY solidly), some part of it would encroach on > a neighbour's yard. Umm, the word "tree" comes to mind. Also "ham radio." Steve -- Steve Cramer Athens, GA http://www.savvypaddler.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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