Hoarding is exactly what the government is doing right now by filling the SPR, and frankly it's the best thing that could happen. It drives prices up. High prices encourage demand destruction. They also finance new well development. The hoarded oil gives us a buffer to fall back on once shortages become more prevalent. High prices are what we need in order to adapt to what's coming, and the sooner they happen, the better.
DaimlerChrysler is about to shutdown its main plant in Sindelfingen to save 500mio Euros, outsourcing its A-Class and C-Class production to South Africa. Since January 2004, German car makers have been hit hard by a sharp rise in energy costs and a sharp drop in car sales within Germany. Looks like xporting white and blue collar jobs out of 'Corporate Germany' is the way to go these days. Probly that's the word in all of the G8 countries right now.
Heavy industry is reeling under the high coal and crude oil prices, unemployment rate in the Ruhr Valley is expected to rise up to 18% this year.
On the other hand state-fund renewable energy investments are handed out left and right by the goverment to corner possible energy problems in the private/small business sector, resulting in a sudden shortage in solar panels this year. Middle class people ordering renewable energy systems at an alarming speed. E.g. at the moment one have to wait up to 9 months for delivery of a decent set of Solar Panels.
It pretty looks like the begin of a combined disaster of failed socialist-green politics. No wonder, Red and Green don't match as colors either!
Face the music, it's 'after-Peak' time, what do you expect? _________________ Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
Joined: May 21, 2004 Posts: 158 Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2004 5:05 am Post subject:
Andy wrote:
I will repeat again, if future civilization is to be sustainable, nuclear fission in particular has to be banished from the face of the earth. Scaling up the indistry to the levels required especially at a time of distress would increase the radiactive load on the environment over the long term to the point at which higher lifeforms are compromised in ability to survive.
Your URL was temporarily unavailable.
But regarding the central claim of radioactive waste being such a huge problem, please remember that it's a tiny fraction of all the radiation we're exposed to. Right now, there are cosmic rays zipping through you from above, and gamma rays from the various radioactives in the ground below you zipping through in the opposite direction.
Nuclear energy is actually one of our last, best hopes of surviving and adapting to Peak Oil.
Joined: May 21, 2004 Posts: 158 Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2004 5:42 am Post subject:
AA wrote:
Wind is a net energy loss throughout its lifetime.
Radiation is not that dangerous, only at high levels is it dangerous. We
Your first statement above - source? Actually, don't bother: the whole EROTI thing is a nonsense concept anyway.
You're right about radiation, though. In fact, when animals are taken away from the natural background radiation and put into an unnaturally radiation-free environment, they suffer a range of health problems. It seems that small doses of radiation are not only harmless, nor even beneficial, but essential to keep the body's self-repair mechanisms stimulated.
What is the optimal dose of radiation? We don't know. There are levels that are considered 'safe', and upper permissible limits beyond which it is no longer considered 'safe'. So the optimal dose is probably something greater than zero and less than the maximum permitted limit.
Joined: May 21, 2004 Posts: 158 Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2004 5:47 am Post subject:
OilBurner wrote:
To produce enough energy to replace coal and/or oil will require an ulmost unbelievable number of turbines.
Therefore, although wind power does have promise, it's certainly nowhere near the complete solution.
Thats right. It's the sheer numbers more than anything else.
Wind can help. So can solar - both PV's and the solar themal technologies (I'm watching with interest to see how that big tower thing near Mildura pans out). They complement each other quite well, since generally windy days are cloudy days and there also tends to be more wind at night (but night usage is generally outside peak periods anyway).
Coal will be around for a while yet but should be scaled down over time. Oil and Natural Gas shouldn't be used for power generation - they're too valuable as transport fuels.
I think the ideal combination is nuclear, wind, solar and hydro - the last being particularly useful for spikes in demand when it happens to be cloudy or the wind isn't blowing.
Joined: May 21, 2004 Posts: 158 Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2004 5:53 am Post subject:
Andy wrote:
NO RADIATION IS ABSOLUTELY SAFE. ALL RADIATION CAN TRIGGER HEALTH PROBLEMS RIGHT DOWN TO THE LOWEST POSSIBLE DOSE.
Nothing in life is absolutely safe. However, the risks of radiation levels below 1000 whatever it was are generally considered 'safe' or at least acceptable.
Note also my other post: the complete absence of ionizing radiation has its own set of health issues. The level of radiation for optimal health is not known, but it is not zero.
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