Are we doomed by our own destruction?

So do I

That's unusual.

In the UK the government pays big money to turn the inefficient things off as soon as it gets a bit windy.

Link>>> Windfarms get £300,000 to switch off...in high winds

Thanks for misquoting me Dave..

Thanks.. Thats a hell of a lot of reading!

The Germans say that their nuclear reactors will be shut down by 2022 and I believe them.
They also reckon they can depend on renewable s to provide 80% of their power needs by 2050..
I think that they will get very close to 100% by then as the technology is evolving pretty quickly..
All this is good IF they can deliver the power to their consumers cheaply..
I would rather depend on myself to provide all the power I need for my home and business using Germany`s example..
Im in no mood to wait for the Government to guide me, whether its in the UK or the R.P.
Panels are cheap here now and with products like Tesla`s Powerwall I could go completely off grid for less than 10 grand.
As you know,my motivations for doing this are nothing to do with saving the planet and if the powers that be were serious about reducing co2 emissions to save us all,they would encourage the millions of potential consumers like me to do just that..(instead of spreading fear and blame in order to tax us to death!)
Instead of employing Scientists to invent complicated theories that most of us do not understand (or believe) they should give them something more useful to do like help the more positive scientists that are trying to develop uses for stuff like Graphene.
The powers that be should also help protect these fantastic new ideas/inventions from being purchased and copyrighted and shelved by oil companies etc.
Apart from the Germans,I don't see them doing this which makes me feel even more skeptical towards them..
If they are not part of the solution then they are INDEED..The problem.

Forgot to say..A big thank you to TESLA!! Not only have this company invented and produced what looks like a GREAT solar battery solution..They have also made the technology OPEN SOURCE!!
Let the games begin.

One thing that Elon said which got my attention was that "The sun does not shine at night"..
Actually..It does. On the other half of the planet obviously with varying degrees of intensity..
If we could hook up the dark parts of the world with the brighter and hotter parts with huge and very long electrical cables and conduits under land and sea then there would be no need for batteries at all.. How simple or impossible would that be? No idea.
Asia could get its power from the middle eastern solar array at night,and then return it all the next day from their own solar arrays..And so on.. In essence,a world power grid.
Food for thought.

Or farm the suns rays from the moon 24/7 and have them beamed down to earths battery points.

"Why collect solar power on the moon? The answer is that all the factors that make life impossible on the moon (no atmosphere, wind, rain, fog, clouds, or weather of any kind) make it an ideal place to collect solar energy. The moon is exposed to sunlight constantly, except briefly during a rare lunar eclipse. If that energy could be harnessed, as Criswell describes, and sent back to earth in microwave form, it could supply energy far more efficiently than solar panels in even the driest earth desert."

http://sciencenetlinks.com/science-news/science-updates/solar-power-from-moon/

And....the zero carbon house in the UK...

"Designers at Cardiff University say they have constructed the sort of house George Osborne once described as impossible.

The chancellor scrapped a requirement for new homes to be zero carbon by 2016 because he said it would prove too expensive.

But Cardiff University say they have built a house that exports more power to the grid than it uses.

And crucially they say the cost fell within the normal budget for social housing.

A government spokesman said house builders needed to be given more time to develop low energy homes."

It goes on to say:

"The Bridgend house has glazed solar photo-voltaic (PV) panels fitted into the south-facing roof, allowing the space below to be naturally lit.

This reduced the cost of bolting on solar panels to a standard roof.

The house uses solar generation and battery storage to run both the combined heating, ventilation and hot water system, and the electrical power system, which includes appliances, LED lighting and a heat pump.

The solar air system preheats the ventilation air, which is also warmed by a warm water store.

Professor Phil Jones, who led the project, said: "Using the latest technology, innovation and design, it is indeed possible to build a zero carbon house at low costs, creating long-term benefits for both the economy and the environment."


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-33544831

Not so sure about batteries per se. Too costly at present.

Also producing such stuff with non green materials (hazardous in some respects) which ultimately adds to the end of life cost doesn't appeal to me. Its like building a Prius and saying its a green car, it's not green at all. The energy used in the production costs are unrealistic for the final product compared to its supposed green credentials.

http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/6/8561461/when-will-teslas-home-battery-make-financial-sense

http://m.reviewjournal.com/life/technology/the-tesla-home-battery-worth-the-cost

Not forgetting geothermal...

In the News
13 July 2015

GEL announce first deep geothermal single well heat site near Crewe, UK

"Geothermal Engineering Ltd (GEL) is pleased to announce that it intends to develop a deep geothermal single well heat system at the Crewe Campus of Manchester Metropolitan University.

The project is being led by Geothermal Engineering Ltd (GEL) and will demonstrate how a cluster of buildings can be heated by geothermal energy using a single 2km well system. This is a system that has been developed by GEL over the past two years and was successfully trialled in 2014. It will deliver and connect the first deep geothermal single well heat system in the UK and would be a watershed for the renewable energy industry. The project is part funded by the Innovative Heat Network Fund (Department of Energy and Climate Change)."



http://www.geothermalengineering.co.uk/news.php

http://www.geothermalengineering.co.uk/about.php

Our own council has led the way in solar installation on council homes. It only stopped doing it once the govt took away funding (or reduced its viability).

However it has now pushed on:-

http://www.wrexham.com/news/work-begins-constructing-wrexhams-first-solar-farm-52621.html

The idea that the land can also be utilised for grazing is good

Renewable energy is there for the taking. Mindsets need to be overcome. It isnt a matter of if but a matter of when. In fact it seems to be happening now. And evolving rapidly. We have already started along the path to the Green Age of Man.

We have had the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, the Iron Age, the Oil Age and now for the Green Age.

Yep for sure. Lots more can be done but definitely a step in the right direction.

It seems to be going on everywhere, one way or another. I forsee a Britain where a variety of renewable sources are being harnessed simultaneously displacing the huge reliance we have had on hydrocarbons.

And in Cheshire....

Cheshire Basin project could provide UK geothermal power


http://thenantwichnews.co.uk/2015/01/06/cheshire-basin-project-provide-uk-geothermal-power/

And not just Britain. A collective is required everywhere for the sake of our kids. Reduction on fossil fuels even in the wife's city is being discussed, though generally private enterprises rather than govt.

http://www.philstar.com/cebu-news/2014/06/06/1331694/veco-pushes-use-solar-energy?nomobile=1

Nobody employs scientists to invent complicated theories.

Science is science for good or for bad or otherwise.

The complicated theories that arise are complicated. Hence most people dont understand them. Cant do much about that except try and make it easier to understand to the layman.