Prompted by "Earth Day," I compiled some online references and wrote
the following...
Below are some articles that I have found to be of relevance to the
"energy crunch" problem coming to human civilization in the 21st
century. This problem occurs as the intersection of two issues.
First, "third world" countries around the world have been
industrializing and substantially increasing their energy consumption,
in line with other countries such as the United States, Great Britain,
and so on that have had such higher energy consumption for many
decades. So the demand for energy is increasing substantially.
Second, by far human civilization has come to rely on oil to produce
the majority of the energy we use, but oil is a nonsustainable
(nonrenewable) energy resource, and numerous experts in the oil
industry and other analysts estimate that we will be reaching "peak
oil" status within the next 10 to 20 years (the point at which, due to
the relatively fixed amount of oil, it will reach maximum production
but then production will decline after that point).
Demand increasing. Supply dwindling.
I don't happen to be one of the doomsayers, but this is an issue that
people really should become increasingly aware of, in terms of (1)
simply being personally conscious about ways in which to reduce their
consumption of energy (energy conservation), (2) making
social/political choices implementing social policies that reward more
efficient uses of energy, and (3) also making social/political choices
rewarding experimentation, development, and implementation of methods
of producing energy that do not use oil.
By the way, in terms of energy consumption efficiency, I'm not
thinking in terms of top-down government dictated social mandates, but
more in terms of bottom-up economic choices. In other words, if it
really is more energy efficient then it should be cheaper and people
will buy it precisely because of that. These things can be very
simple, such as using more energy efficient light bulbs. If you're
only going four or six blocks, just walk instead of driving the car.
(And I note that people are beginning to think along this line more,
with gasoline approaching $4 a gallon.) On a government level, such a
simple decision can have very significant consequence, such as when a
city implements a policy to, over time, when a street light burns out,
simply replace the street light with a more energy efficient light.
I have no personal vested interest in any particular energy producing
method. I simply am aware of the fact of what oil is, and the fact
that it really is going to run out over time over the next 100 to 150
years *or so*. (No one needs to quibble with me about the number. If
you want to say it's 200 or 300 years, that's fine, my point remains
the same.) I also happen to think that for me personally this is not a
major issue, because I'm going to die an old man before it becomes a
truly major problem. But I'm smart enough to realize that in the long
term we need to consider what should be thought about and done now to
help deal with the problem over time, for human civilization in
following generations.
Also note that I have particular disdain for government boondoggles,
wasting tax money giving handouts to wealthy big business agricultural
interests Note that this doesn't just waste tax money, but more
importantly it actually *diverts attention and effort away from
methods that really work*. I'm not saying what I'm saying here because
I have any bias against biofuels, because I don't. (Indeed, in the
online references below you'll see me refer you to another example of
biofuel production that I am led to believe is far superior to corn
ethanol.) It's just that I've never read anything over the last twenty
years that has ever led me to judge that the corn ethanol projects
have been anything more than a waste of time and tax money.
Also, it amazes me how much so many people are confused about hydrogen
fuel cells and the so-called "hydrogen economy." This is NOT an
alternative production of energy. (Note that here I'm not referring to
atomic fusion.) The idea of hydrogen use has to do with another issue
entirely, which is coming up with ways to reduce our impact on the
environment with our high energy usage. Hydrogen is ONLY an "energy
carrier." You can think of it like a battery - you have to put energy
into the battery to get it out. Hydrogen has nothing to do with
thinking about energy production, but is only tangentially related in
terms of coming up with methods of consuming energy more "cleanly."
(And it's debatable whether hydrogen is even, or can be made to be, a
feasibly efficient energy carrier.)
There is no one solution to this problem. There are many solutions
will grow and evolve in combination in terms of scientific and
technological development, and economic feasability, as our societies
are forced to move away from our primary dependence on oil, since
ultimately we really don't have any choice about it. The oil isn't
going to run out in 20 or 30 years, but it *is* going to run out. It
is not a sustainable energy resource in the long term, and we all know it.
With all this in mind, I provide you with some recent online
references, about a variety of ideas concerning energy production
besides oil.
Geothermal Heat Pumps
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/geothermal/heatpumps.html
U.S. Leads World in Wind-Power Growth
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/
080421-wind-power.html
[link is line-wrapped]
"Grass Gas" Shows Promise as Superefficient, Clean Fuel
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/01/
080108-switchgrass-ethanol.html
[link is line-wrapped]
Tapping tidal energy: the wave of the future
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/
2003931009_wavepower07m0.html
[link is line-wrapped]
A Solar Grand Plan
(Scientific American, December 2007)
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=a-solar-grand-plan
ITER Project (Fusion Energy)
http://www.iter.org/
Glenn Morton's Oil Crisis Page
http://home.entouch.net/dmd/Oilcrisis.htm
What in the world is happening to energy?
http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/2008/apr/16/
what_world_happening_energy/
[link is line-wrapped]
The Hydrogen Economy
http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/08-03-12.html#feature
------------------------------------
*****************************************
Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh
http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm
*****************************************
Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf
*****************************************
MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.
*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm
*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm
*****************************************
Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/
*****************************************
MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari
http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm
*****************************************
German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm
*****************************************
Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm
****************************************************
VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/
****************************************************
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
-Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:mukto-mona-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:mukto-mona-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
mukto-mona-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: