Author |
Message |
Kajin
|
Post Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 10:39 pm |
|
Gatekeeper of Niftiness |
|
Offline |
Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2008 12:16 am Posts: 9081
Location: Praise be to the sticky elastic bands of the Healing Gauze
|
Some things need to be cut. Others don't. As far as the military budget is concerned I'd like to see a budget sheet that details exactly how much is being spent on what. If possible I'd like to divert some of the military budget away from some things and into others. Namely, renewable sources of energy. What's even better is that we could still claim it's being used for military use as renewable energy would be a great strategic resource.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jorodryn
|
Post Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 1:22 am |
|
Joined: Wed May 13, 2009 2:42 am Posts: 1959
ICQ: 8854007
Yahoo Messenger: jorodryn
Location: Well since the universe expands infinitely in all directions, The center of the universe.
|
Seems most of the money that has already gone to renewable energy was wasted since the companies went bankrupt. But I'm all for the government buying and installing solar in my house ;).
|
|
|
|
|
Kajin
|
Post Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 1:40 am |
|
Gatekeeper of Niftiness |
|
Offline |
Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2008 12:16 am Posts: 9081
Location: Praise be to the sticky elastic bands of the Healing Gauze
|
I'd like that to happen in a lot of houses, really. As far as I've been thinking, there are two things I've wondered about. First of all, if we attach a treadmill to a power generator, how much electricity would a human be capable of producing if he or she works out for an hour on said treadmill? Second of all, how much electricity would be generated if we rigged an electric car with tiny wind turbines that fed power directly into the car's battery?
How expensive would these setups cost? How much power would they generate? Are they economically and environmentally feasible? ... Maybe we should start a thread on wacky theories for generating power for our nation's power grid. Seems like an entertaining thought experiment.
|
|
|
|
|
Passiflora
|
Post Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 3:50 am |
|
|
Offline |
Joined: Tue May 21, 2002 12:00 am Posts: 12406
Location: The things, they hurt
|
A lot of American solar power companies went out of business because it recently became so damn cheap to make solar cells in China. They were a victim of renewable energy's success, really. Oops. As for wacky power generation ideas, several countries already use a mechanism called feed-in tariffs to encourage renewable energy generation. The government doesn't pay you to install solar panels on your house. You do that yourself. What it does is sign a 15 or 20 year contract with you to buy any extra energy that you generate for a fixed price. The price is set high enough to make sure you can earn a bit of profit after your costs of installation. However, this is lowered over time to encourage green energy producers to become more cost effective. Eventually it shouldn't cost any more than electricity from conventional sources. In some countries the government pays small renewable energy generators. In others, far as I can tell, no government money is involved. I think in Germany they avoid using tax funds by requiring utility companies to purchase the electricity generated by small renewable producers. Since utility companies are usually monopolies in any case, this has the added benefit of introducing competition into the power generation business.
|
|
|
|
|
Grillick
|
Post Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 7:47 am |
|
|
Offline |
Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2006 9:09 pm Posts: 5432
Website: http://grillick.blogspot.com
WLM: [email protected]
Yahoo Messenger: Giltaras
AOL: Giltaras
Location: Brooklyn, NY
|
Jorodryn wrote: Seems most of the money that has already gone to renewable energy was wasted since the companies went bankrupt. But I'm all for the government buying and installing solar in my house ;). That is such BS. Seriously, you need to stop drinking the Fox News Kool-Aid, and start basing your arguments from a factual foundation. I know the truth has a well-known liberal bias, but that doesn't mean you can ignore it.
|
|
|
|
|
Jorodryn
|
Post Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 4:09 pm |
|
Joined: Wed May 13, 2009 2:42 am Posts: 1959
ICQ: 8854007
Yahoo Messenger: jorodryn
Location: Well since the universe expands infinitely in all directions, The center of the universe.
|
Sorry I thought the little ;) at the end of my comment would indicate the tongue in cheek nature of it.
|
|
|
|
|
drachefly
|
Post Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 5:21 pm |
|
Member of the Fraternal Order of the Emergency Pants |
|
Offline |
Joined: Mon Feb 18, 2002 12:00 am Posts: 3167
AOL: drachefly
Location: Philadelphia, PA
|
I thought that was aimed at the solar-buying, not the going-bankrupt.
|
|
|
|
|
Jorodryn
|
Post Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 7:12 pm |
|
Joined: Wed May 13, 2009 2:42 am Posts: 1959
ICQ: 8854007
Yahoo Messenger: jorodryn
Location: Well since the universe expands infinitely in all directions, The center of the universe.
|
It was for the whole line, but I understand the confusion.
|
|
|
|
|
|