Official Off Topic Discussion Thread #1

[Deadliestviper7]

I think electric cars are a) worse for the environment than the gas ones, due to their batteries,and b) Not the future. Biodiesel, Hydrogen, or H-fuel cell is the future for cars and taxis.

If you own your house and cut down your shade trees, and take out a $20k home equity loan, the money you can save from the solar panels will likely be more than the loan payments.

You can actually make money on solar now,so in truth it's a negative cost.

We do however need advancements in battery technology,as they aren't very biofriendly,are heavy and aren't that effective at storing energy long term.

We need to slowly convert to solar,wind etc, much like Germany has done

 

[Deadliestviper7]

Hello; I begin to see that you have incomplete knowledge about the natural cycles of the world.
I do not wish to go into a lot of detail which might take many pages.
Lets take one example for water. Under several mid-west states is a giant aquifer. I think it called the ogilalla (sp). It apparently took many thousands of years ( maybe tens of thousands of years) for the rain water to trickle down into this large underground reservoir.
Some decades ago farmers developed what is called center pivot irrigation. That is where a well is drilled and at the well head a strong pump is attached powered by in some cases a V-8 engine. The pump sends water out thru pipes for hundreds of feet on a scaffold like structure on wheels. The whole water system pivots around in a large circle. This has allowed for the productive cultivation of some less desirable land and a big increase in the yields for many decades.
Years ago the early shallow wells began to go dry. The farmers had to go deeper. Then the deeper wells began to go dry. It is my understanding they are using up the aquifer at a rate many , many times the rate it can be naturally replenished. Bear in mind this is a part of the American bread basket and has been a big part of the world's supply of food. That aquifer will eventually go dry and the land will then only be able to produce food based on annual rainfall.

Not to mention the water tends to get saltier the more we draw out,and the fact these farms have a ton of topsoil erosion causing giant dust clouds, basically were at risk of a new dust bowl

 

[Deadliestviper7]

Hello; I begin to see that you have incomplete knowledge about the natural cycles of the world.
I do not wish to go into a lot of detail which might take many pages.
Lets take one example for water. Under several mid-west states is a giant aquifer. I think it called the ogilalla (sp). It apparently took many thousands of years ( maybe tens of thousands of years) for the rain water to trickle down into this large underground reservoir.
Some decades ago farmers developed what is called center pivot irrigation. That is where a well is drilled and at the well head a strong pump is attached powered by in some cases a V-8 engine. The pump sends water out thru pipes for hundreds of feet on a scaffold like structure on wheels. The whole water system pivots around in a large circle. This has allowed for the productive cultivation of some less desirable land and a big increase in the yields for many decades.
Years ago the early shallow wells began to go dry. The farmers had to go deeper. Then the deeper wells began to go dry. It is my understanding they are using up the aquifer at a rate many , many times the rate it can be naturally replenished. Bear in mind this is a part of the American bread basket and has been a big part of the world's supply of food. That aquifer will eventually go dry and the land will then only be able to produce food based on annual rainfall.

Not to mention the water tends to get saltier the more we draw out,and the fact these farms have a ton of topsoil erosion causing giant dust clouds, basically were at risk of a new dust bowl

 

[PYRU]

I don't know of "everything fell apart", but you may be alluding to something I know nothing of.

WInd is unreliable. However, I helped someone build a series of turbines for his house out of old sheet metal, wire and harddrives that could put out 10kw FREE. It is CHEEP! (If I had a choice, we would've used old motors, but I didn't even get to see it finished. Just helped an old guy out for a day while I was in highschool.

Your solar numbers are old. It is now approx. $50/MW. The price is falling.
http://www.businessinsider.com/solar-power-cost-decrease-2018-5

I do not think any one thing will save us, and I don't think it'll be easy, but it is DOABLE.
Using geothermal heat, a wood furnace, a fan and a funnel to heat/cool your house, cutting down on countless little losses you have around the house, using lead acid batteries or hydrogen to store power, all these little things can add up to the point in which you rarely need to use fossil feuls in your life. That is enough.


If you haven't the credit or cash for panels, maybe it's not good for you, but that doesn't mean it's not feasible for many, or that there aren't things that could help you. Even a lone 100w panel maybe could put a dent in your bill, or maybe you could boost your insulation.
I got a working 150w someone threw out for some reason that I can't figure out what to do with LOL. (inverters are expensive.)

That's all you took from that? Decided to overlook the complete an utter failures and bad investments. You know reading that reminded what happened to all these green energy jobs that were promised?

Here's some more info for and against your ideas.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_...s_phasing_out_its_solar_power_subsidies_.html

https://energy.mit.edu/research/future-solar-energy/

https://greentumble.com/most-efficient-solar-panels-on-the-market/

 

[jaws7777]

You would have to have a lot of proof to demonstrate bias because of political beliefs.

What I don't like about his various works is that he doesn't understand or is pretending not to the fact that the political beliefs of a party can and will shift over time. It is unfair and dishonest to draw a parallel between modern democrats and democrats from over a century ago like Wilson and Jackson. He ignores the southern strategy used by the republicans and in general the last half century.

He didn't go to jail by the way, he went to a half way house for 8 months near his home, got a 30k fine, and was on probation for 5 years until he got pardoned among others like Martha Stewart and Scooter Libby by Trump.

Nope, I think there were better people then Obama for the Peace prize.

I don't see this in his work. I'm he's showing how hypocritical the Dems can be with all the race talk when they're roots stem from it. Maybe if they left the race talk alone he would have done the same.
If I remember correctly Hillary called young black men predators and her husbands crime bill was one of the harshest on the black community.

Halfways house is the same as jail.

 

[*ROCK*]

Lol, @ low IQ Maxine Waters. You know you're doing your job well when you illicit a response like hers. Lmao!

 

[jaws7777]

You would have to have a lot of proof to demonstrate bias because of political beliefs.

What I don't like about his various works is that he doesn't understand or is pretending not to the fact that the political beliefs of a party can and will shift over time. It is unfair and dishonest to draw a parallel between modern democrats and democrats from over a century ago like Wilson and Jackson. He ignores the southern strategy used by the republicans and in general the last half century.

He didn't go to jail by the way, he went to a half way house for 8 months near his home, got a 30k fine, and was on probation for 5 years until he got pardoned among others like Martha Stewart and Scooter Libby by Trump.

Nope, I think there were better people then Obama for the Peace prize.

Rosie odonell did it
https://nypost.com/2018/05/05/rosie-odonnells-campaign-donations-to-dems-went-over-legal-limit/

 

[jaws7777]

"Both donors and candidates are legally liable for contributions over the limit. But it’s unlikely O’Donnell or her benefactors will be penalized for breaking FEC rules. Contributions over the limit can be refunded or counted toward a different election, and married donors can attribute the money to a spouse.

“Donors are rarely fined for excess contributions and then only if they are hiding the donations from the recipients,” prominent D.C. campaign finance lawyer Jan Witold Baran said"

 

[skjl47]

My point is they will be replaced with methods that are far more productive.

hello; Being as farming is a business and that if these "more productive" methods were workable then that would be what a lot of farmers would be doing already. I know there is a fix in for corn to some degree with the prime example being corn ethanol being used as part of a mix for gasoline. The numbers use to be a very small net, if any, gain in energy with this use.

OK. What is the solution for farm/crop land acres being lost constantly. Every year many acres are buried under housing developments, roads, business buildings and such. I know of many acres of what use to be farmland in my local area back when I was a child that is now residential or business or under a new road. That productive land in gone effectively forever in terms of our use for food production.

Not to mention the water tends to get saltier the more we draw out

Hello; your are correct. One mechanism by which this happens is that as the ground water is constantly being spread on the surface it evaporates. This evaporation leaves behind salts. over time the topsoil becomes too salty for the more common food crops. I saw such land in Texas back in the mid 1990's. Big circular areas of whiteish ground where no more crops can be grown. Maybe some other salt tolerant plant like switchgrass might be grown for it's high oil content as a bio-fuel.

Hello; I really wish your optimism and zeal was going to be enough. I get that such dire predictions are hard to swallow. Sorry to be such a downer.

 

[imabot]

How helpful is pumping water into the aquifers? I think they began doing that in California.