Big oil spillz

[GenghisTron]

Originally Posted by uBeR

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/51

That was a great video, thanks for sharing it. I wish there was far more constructive dialogue along the lines of what was shown above, rather than listening to old talking points from industry insiders.

[stray kitten]

Originally Posted by Iggy

The problem with removing the dependence of oil(foreign or domestic) is that:

1. Oil based system is firmly entrenched in daily life
2. Replacement of an entire way of life is going to be costly for the end user
3. Renewable energy is not yet(!) portable enough for the demands of todays society
4. N.I.M.B.Y.

Right now, unless every well in the world went dry, it's not economically feasable(or even possible) to replace the current system. Even if they did, and society was forced by necessity to replace it, it would take years to do.

Imagine what would happen... Middle Eastern nations would no longer have a viable product for their customers, and if they refuse to adapt to the "new economy", they would do what they had to for their way of life to survive.... start a war.

Renewable energy is problematic in another way: NIMBY. Not In My Back Yard. It's quite possible to put windmill farms all over the place, but most people would consider them an "eyesore", tainting wherever they are placed. Even offshore. Nuclear plants do contain a danger, even though minimal with todays technology. I doubt another "Chernobyl" would happen, even though the "lowest bidder" would be doing the construction.

Technology IS marching towards miniaturization... and this includes batteries. What is needed is a battery that can not only hold a long-term charge(days vs hours), but produce enough energy that it can move a car at moderately high speeds, or a truck/bus/etc at all.

It would be difficult to fight a war with all the oil wells gone dry. Which would definitely spur an evolution in technology. It sounds harsh but look at the tech produced by WW2 and arguably the cold war.

On the battery front they was a breakthrough recently in the speed at which energy can be extracted. We are doing alot of research world wide. I would like to see more but a lot is being done all over the place.

[GenghisTron]

50% of our nation's R&D power is invested in the military...

[stray kitten]

Leave it to the military to develop nuclear subs that are efficient, mobile and high tech as hell. Not to mention satellites which go on for decades without a drop of oil.

More efficient fuels, light alloys etc.

[GenghisTron]

They've had 20+ years to do that, and still haven't. Instead, they're coming up with un-manned drones and bunker busters.

[stray kitten]

Drones are one of the current cutting edge of technology

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ned-drone.html

EdIT and maybe someone should add oil cleanup to cutting edge.

[Innoc]

Originally Posted by Bridget

ELECTRIC CARS MANNNNN.

They aren't there yet.

Yeah...we keep hearing that "technology is coming". It's slow though. Fact is Electric is a bad bet. Take a look at the power capacities and consumption of even something as small as the Chevy Volt. Now look at the average daily power consumed by the average 4 person home. Now contrast that with an existing power grid that appears to struggle with just meeting home/facilities demand... You can't add cars to that without crippling electricity production and delivery.

Whatever direction we take (when it's available and ready) it's going to be expensive.

In the meantime...how many oil skimmers are there in the world? Follow up question...how many of them are operating in the Gulf? Unrelated question...was there a regulatory failure associated with BP's violations? If so WTF good are new regulations going to do?

[Professional]

Originally Posted by Innoc

They aren't there yet.

Yeah...we keep hearing that "technology is coming".

I guess you haven't seen the film "Who Killed the Electric Car?" We were there and more. Hundreds of people had electric cars in California in the mid 90s through law, but the program was ultimately killed by a certain jealous industries.

[stray kitten]

If anyone was paying attention to the Detroit Auto show this year, there were a bunch of cool electric cars.

[reaper18]

In this day and age, technology will go where the money is

[Credge]

Electric cars are retarded. The premise that they are more green is kind of . It doesn't seem to come from any sort of factual basis but more around the idea that what comes out of your socket is MAGIC.

[GenghisTron]

Originally Posted by Credge

Electric cars are retarded. The premise that they are more green is kind of . It doesn't seem to come from any sort of factual basis but more around the idea that what comes out of your socket is MAGIC.

If the energy coming out of your socket is 'green' so is the energy going into the car, thus making it 'green'.

[Iggy]

Originally Posted by GenghisTron

If the energy coming out of your socket is 'green' so is the energy going into the car, thus making it 'green'.

This seems to be the major point most people just don't get.

Another point, is that I never hear people saying that it's cheaper to charge your car than to put gas in it.

[Credge]

Originally Posted by GenghisTron

If the energy coming out of your socket is 'green' so is the energy going into the car, thus making it 'green'.

Too bad having an electric car doesn't make your sockets a magical source of green energy, as if bestowed upon you like mana from the gods.

Too bad having electric cars doesn't change useful idiots minds about energy sources that actually produce large amounts of energy.

[Credge]

Originally Posted by Iggy

This seems to be the major point most people just don't get.

Another point, is that I never hear people saying that it's cheaper to charge your car than to put gas in it.

It's probably because the cost evens out due to the price of the electric car. Since it's primarily an environment driven buy, and chances are the majority of your power comes from shit like coal, it's not really that green an endeavor.

Edit: The big problem with electric is that you're not taking a vacation with them. The problem with hybrids is that you're not using the battery power on vacation.

If all anybody did with their car was drive around town electric cars would be bigger. A lot of Americans buy their cars with long distance driving in mind.

[GenghisTron]

Originally Posted by Credge

Too bad having an electric car doesn't make your sockets a magical source of green energy, as if bestowed upon you like mana from the gods.

Too bad having electric cars doesn't change useful idiots minds about energy sources that actually produce large amounts of energy.

That's the whole point of moving towards a 'renewable' energy.

[stray kitten]

If everyone stopped using electricity renewable energy just might work.

Otherwise all the renewable energy sources on the planet might power a football stadium for a season. Or a week, I would have to check.

[Professional]

What if all this development brought prices down on these forms of renewable energy (mainly solar) to the point where it was affordable to power your own house / property? We wouldn't have to lie on the traditional grid (infact, the power company has to pay you for any excess power you produce).

People with money are starting to do this, and its working for them.

[stray kitten]

People were using solar power in the 70s. It has come a long way. I see solar panels everywhere. I would wager, if the government wasn't so bloated, corrupt, unable to balance a spreadsheet and generally just fucking worthless bureaucracy eroding our freedom... they could give us a 100 percent tax break on the expense of solar and alternative energy sources.

But they are bloated, corrupt, unable to balance a spreadsheet and generally just a fucking worthless bureaucracy eroding our freedom, so that's not going to happen. And if it did, they would only give it to the poor because to do otherwise would unfair and a social injustice.

[squeek.]

Yeah, poor people get everything!