In a fantastic post at ShrinkWrapped, Owen Johnson gives the first part of his essay on Reasons for Optimism. It's a cogent and essentially positive analysis of the current state of play in the `War on Terror'.
What makes me so angry when I hear people in the UK, who should know better, say `dumb Americans', is that they can happily ignore people like this, who write with cogency and intelligence. Actually, of course, `dumb Americans' usually just means `citizens of a superpower, who are richer than me', but what the hell, feelings of cultural superiority keep you warm.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Qualification for the Watcher of Weasels
As you may or may not already be aware, members of the Watcher's Council hold a vote every week on what they consider to be the most link-worthy pieces of writing around... per the Watcher's instructions, I am submitting one of my own posts for consideration in the upcoming nominations process.
Here is the most recent winning council post, here is the most recent winning non-council post, here is the list of results for the latest vote, and here is the initial posting of all the nominees that were voted on.
Here is the most recent winning council post, here is the most recent winning non-council post, here is the list of results for the latest vote, and here is the initial posting of all the nominees that were voted on.
And to follow...
This! Note that Drax provides 7% of the UK's electricity! We clearly hate coal as well as oil. Hurry up with the ethanol and sunlight!
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Do we need a new Manhattan Project
to develop alternative sources of energy?
“Manhattan Project came along when the new energy source had been discovered and described and defined, and all that left was a massive motivation of money and manpower to bring it to fruition. That's the point at which a government push can be helpful. That's not where we stand with alternative energies.”
In particular: " Declining manufacturing costs (dropping at 3 to 5% a year in recent years) are expanding the range of cost-effective uses. The average lowest retail cost of a large photovoltaic array declined from $7.50 to $4 per watt between 1990 and 2005. With many jurisdictions now giving tax and rebate incentives, solar electric power can now pay for itself in five to ten years in many places. "Grid-connected" systems - that is, systems with no battery that connect to the utility grid through a special inverter - now make up the largest part of the market. In 2004 the worldwide production of solar cells increased by 60%. 2005 is expected to see large growth again, but shortages of refined silicon have been hampering production worldwide since late 2004."
And before you ask, yes, silicon can be derived from sand and yes, sand is found in deserts just like the oil but let's not be childish about this.
“Solar Power
Solar cells can presently convert around 15% of the energy of incident sunlight to electrical energy. If built out as solar collectors, 1% of the land today used for crops and pasture could supply the world's total energy consumption. A similar area is used today for hydropower, as the electricity yield per unit area of a solar collector is 50-100 times that of an average hydro scheme. Solar cells can also be placed on top of existing urban infrastructure and does then not require re-purposing of cropland or parkland. The German government currently has a huge photovoltaic energy initiative, which is being watched with interest by other countries."