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Friday, June 1, 2007
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Solar Power - Use or Abuse?
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A dialog between a boyfriend and a girlfriend.
5 years ago:
Girl - Hey... wanna go to this new movie? I heard it is full of crap
Guy - Why not. Sounds cool!
Today:
Girl - Al Gore is gonna talk about global warming. Wanna watch him on TV with me?
Guy - Absolutely!
I'm not sure how much this global warming is heating up the earth's atmosphere but it is sure enough barbecuing everyone's brain. While people fight, politicians argue and all of us through a million tons of shit into the air everyday, let us add some flavor to it here.
Based on my earlier blog "We don't, but birds do!" our good friend anonymous suggested he prefers solar panels to windmills. So let us see how this Sun dude is going to be of any help to us.
Here is a list of ways in which we can use Sun's energy
1. We can throw in some solar panels onto the laptops. Say, the top cover and the keyboard. This way it charges itself whether it is open or closed.
2. Make solar-cell skins for cellphones
3. solar panel rooftops (I think people are already working on this)
Do you have anything to add? Don't worry about practicality. Many great ideas are thought to be impractical initially because people lack that "vision" ;-)Labels: atmosphere, fossil fuel, global warming, green house gases, pollution, solar, solar cells, solar energy, windmills |
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posted by bachi
15:24
 
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I have no idea what this Brazilian (right?) dude wants me to do. I just got a gist of it. Thanks to the online translation websites. Anyway, thanks bro!
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Anonymous Dude here:
1st: So Same guy/girl five years later?
It's interesting to note how many people either don't care about global warming or still feel "it is full of crap".
I don't have a preference for source of energy: e.g. wind vs solar panel. But I do feel what ever source is used should be "green" and cost effective.
Seems wind energy is in favor now,
see http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070606/ap_on_go_co/wind_energy;_ylt=AinC_V9sa3Vhl__gmWTMkExp24cA
When politicians are involved so is money.
The U.S. auto industry is complaining about making cars more fuel efficient, see http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070606/ap_on_go_co/fuel_economy;_ylt=AmbwQ.FRtZbaNNqXyBWEETNp24cA
Detroit has had over 15 years to catch up on this. Instead what they pushed was SUVs, Hummers, and less efficiency.
If you are on the railroad tracks and see the train coming logic dictates to move or you are going to get smacked.
Many ideas that are impractical today need not be impractical tomorrow. In the early 1900's travelling from the US to Europe by plane was impractical.
Solar panels / wind energy did not have much of a return value in the 1970s.
I don't know if the same could be said today.
We all share the Earth's resources.
This issue cannot be accomplished by a few. Yes the economy and jobs are impacted. Unfortunately for our leaders to lead they need to think long term. (And the election period is short.)
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Hey anonymous... Answer to your question:
Q. So Same guy/girl five years later?
A. They will be history. Did not survive global warming ;)
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I think we'll have to have a little talk about global warming, Bachi. Until that time, think about this: If it be true that earth's climate is not chnging, which would you prefer--warming or cooling?
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Hi Flipowitz - I'm not sure I understand your question. In case you want to know if I prefer the earth to cool down or warm up due to climate change, I really don't have a preference because neither is going to help me.
On a side note, a lot of people think I don't care about "global warming". That is not true. I believe it is happening and I'm equally concerned. Only thing is that I say - man may have a part to play in it but he is not responsible for all of it. There may be a million other factors we have no clue about.
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Sunday, May 6, 2007
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We don't, but birds do!
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Just now I read this article that says windmills are posing threat to birds and other wildlife.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-wind4may04,1,4228015.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
The study shows that the huge blades and the turbines pose a potential threat to night migrating song birds and other hunting birds. I totally agree with them. The poor things obviously had no idea a couple of days ago that there would pop up a 100 ft tall thing that would slice them within the blink of an eye.
But evolution is a wonderful thing. How many things haven't changed in the past couple of million years that living things didn't get adjusted to? I would guess that is what is going to happen with this too. If these birds survive the advent of windmills without getting extinct, then there is a very high chance that they learn how to co-exist (I know how unfortunate this is) with the developing world.
I'm afraid only man has a difficult time adjusting with things around him. We don't seem to learn from our past mistakes. But I'm confident the birds would.Labels: birds, electricity, fossil fuel, global warming, green house gases, melting ice caps, wind energy, windmills |
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posted by bachi
21:30
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I read the same article about birds and windmills. I too agree that most living things have some intelligence. But should nothing be done and let the environment get worse? Will the birds be better off? I don't think so.
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Nope! We do not want the environment to get worse and hence need windmills. That is exactly my point. When one shows so much concern about the birds... I think there are a lot of other ways we can stop doing things that kill birds. One good example - hunting for the selfish pleasure of man.
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BTW - I'm not against windmills. But living in the East Coast area and reading about the propose expenses for the windmills but I'm not sure this the most efficient approach. Wouldn't using the same budget and installing solar panels on peoples homes be a better return? Over 100K homes could be outfitted. 500K if the government refund could be used. This would help the birds, the environment, and homes that need their roofs replaced! See http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzwind255185937apr25,0,6114263.story?coll=ny-business-print
for proposed windmill costs.
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Hhhmmm... Let us save the birds and the money. Go solar!!!
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Wednesday, May 2, 2007
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The Inconvenient Truth about "An Inconvenient Truth"?
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After trying hard to restrain myself from watching the documentary till I read the book, An Inconvenient Truth, I finally gave up. I saw the movie recently and I should say I'm impressed with it. Now that I did not do so much research in the field of Global Warming, I have to take the information provided by Mr. would have been President on his face value. Assuming all the information provided by him is accurate, it scares the hell out of me to imagine what the world would be like in a couple of decades (or sooner?) if our attitude towards the mother nature does not change.
Having said that, I could not help but notice the following inconvenient truth.
1. Through out the movie, the Sr. Bush administration and the dubya administration have been blamed for not acting on the issue. I wonder where the Clinton administration went. That was an impressive 8 year jump made by the, "I invented the Internet", guy.
2. Having mentioned that every individual's contribution is essential and makes a difference does not seem to consider himself as an individual. Why am I saying this? Have you observed the guy driving an SUV in the movie? Well, I did! Also I would be foolish to believe that he pays attention to energy conservation with regards to the amount of gas and electricity his houses consume. Now don't tell me he is breeding solar panels in his backyard or that there is a windmill on his rooftop.
Sniffing on the Internet for some statistics regarding his lifestyle, I gathered the following information.
He has a 10,000-square-foot, 20-room, eight-bathroom home in Nashville, a 4,000-square-foot home in Arlington, Va and a third home in Carthage, Tenn http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2006-08-09-gore-green_x.htm.
His Nashville home alone devoured an incredible 221,000 kilowatt-hours in 2006 putting his utilities bill at a modest $30,000 http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=nation_world&id=5072659.
This is all bullshit since it is not from reliable sources. Right? Not really. It may not be accurate but I think it is close enough.
OK! Enough of blaming the poor guy. He is just trying to help the humanity. But I can't stop here as still there is something quite important (at least according to me) that I want to share. Let us try throwing light on this subject from a couple of different angles.
1. The statistics, those impressive view graphs with all those peaks and valleys in the movie pop out of an equation that Al Gore put together. When I say equation I don't really mean a mathematical equation. Rather a logical one. I mean, he took into consideration only a few things that he thought are causing this problem. How do I know if there are a million other factors missing from here? To give an example, what if the Sun is actually behaving funny with its mighty rays and that is in fact causing this problem? Scientists may figure this out after 20 years from now while we keep mudslinging. How did the previous ice age occur? There were no gas guzzlers or atomic fuel plants then.
2. Another perspective. May be the only factor is population? If we control the population, the demand for everything the greedy man wants will go down right? Don't you think that itself should impact every other negative element in Mr. Gore's equation? Say, like the need for cars, electricity at home, cutting down trees for houses etc.?
Dear liberals, if you are still reading (still haven't ripped your computer screen, or thrashed the keyboard), I want to make one thing clear. I'm not anti-democrat and absolutely not pro republican. This blog is not for a political debate. It is more of a logical and common sensical thing. Well... I'm an engineer and hence, obviously, cursed with the disease, logico-mania.Labels: al gore, an inconvenient truth, global warming, green house gases, melting ice caps, nobel peace prize, pollution |
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posted by bachi
12:13
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Oi, achei teu blog pelo google tá bem interessante gostei desse post. Quando der dá uma passada pelo meu blog, é sobre camisetas personalizadas, mostra passo a passo como criar uma camiseta personalizada bem maneira. Até mais.