Solar Power Passes 1% Global Threshold

bryant.coleman

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Quote from: Nameless Coin on December 23, 2015, 05:52:17 AM

People should just use solar cells for there lights, because I have seen that a lot of country there is no snow in the winter.
So that is not a good sign also for bitcoin is good power to have if you are a miner.

Looks good in theory, but very difficult to implement this in practical life. First of all, the solar panels are very expensive and solar energy costs as much as 5 times that of wind energy or hydro-power energy. Also, many of the developing nations are not technologically advanced to manufacture these panels on their own, which will force them to import the same from China or Malaysia, further increasing the costs.

MaxDZ8

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Big hydro is a problem nowadays. You will never have a chance at it unless you are a government.
Hydro can still get a lot smaller and distributed, see

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/jul/19/hydroelectric-turbine-energy-london

I would say that 350k for that is very expensive, I've seen bigger plants manufactured at much lower price.

Nameless Coin

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People should just use solar cells for there lights, because I have seen that a lot of country there is no snow in the winter.
So that is not a good sign also for bitcoin is good power to have if you are a miner.

bryant.coleman

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Quote from: faxmachine on December 23, 2015, 01:01:46 AM

The world needs to drasticly produce renewable energy as our time is running out, we need to move away from our dependence on fossil fuels. It's sad that the reason things are going so slow is because of the greed of fossil fuel corporations, their money wont be worth squat if the world is destroyed..

It is not economical to run automobiles on electric power. The Lithium-based batteries are extremely expensive, and they needs to be recharged after every 50 or 60 kms. This makes electric vehicles not suitable for long distance travel. So unless the technology improves, I don't have much hope about reducing the fossil fuel usage.

Vika NSFW

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I use solar power for heating water.

Non-Pressure Solar Water Heater 150 liter Proudly MADE IN CHINA (Mainland China) build and assembled in Europe by me.

galdur

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Quote from: faxmachine on December 23, 2015, 01:01:46 AM

The world needs to drasticly produce renewable energy as our time is running out, we need to move away from our dependence on fossil fuels. It's sad that the reason things are going so slow is because of the greed of fossil fuel corporations, their money wont be worth squat if the world is destroyed..

It is dirt cheap energy which world transports run on pretty much 100% and with it commerce. That won´t change much any time soon I guess.Then there´s electricity generation, fossil fuels account for probably two thirds of that. These are hugely important economic interests. Sudden major shifts mean increasing costs which probably isn´t welcome in a world drowning in debt. I doubt that anything meaningful will be done until there´s an uncontrollable runaway crisis that simply can´t be ignored anymore. Or maybe they´ll start WW3 at that point to paper over the mess. Maybe that even started years ago, or at least the prologue to it, at any rate we´ve seen desperate war scams and increasing chaos and there´s always this war DIN.

faxmachine

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The world needs to drasticly produce renewable energy as our time is running out, we need to move away from our dependence on fossil fuels. It's sad that the reason things are going so slow is because of the greed of fossil fuel corporations, their money wont be worth squat if the world is destroyed..

galdur

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Quote from: bryant.coleman on December 22, 2015, 11:07:31 AM

Just now I noticed that hydro-power was listed as a part of the renewable energy. Although I agree that hydro-power is indeed a renewable form of energy, it causes extreme damage to the ecosystem and environment. I have studied various hydro-power projects in the Brazilian Amazon, such as the Belo Monte dam. Millions of hectares of pristine forests are destroyed, and many of the rare fauna species will become extinct.

Yes. But conveniently these kind of expenses are difficult to quantify in financial terms which makes it easier to simply ignore them or at least discuss them as little as possible. And of course profit is always a much more interesting subject than expenses anyway. A glaring example is the weapons/war industry.

bryant.coleman

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Just now I noticed that hydro-power was listed as a part of the renewable energy. Although I agree that hydro-power is indeed a renewable form of energy, it causes extreme damage to the ecosystem and environment. I have studied various hydro-power projects in the Brazilian Amazon, such as the Belo Monte dam. Millions of hectares of pristine forests are destroyed, and many of the rare fauna species will become extinct.

galdur

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Quote from: MaxDZ8 on December 22, 2015, 10:24:39 AM

Quote from: cr7 on December 17, 2015, 09:49:14 PM

What about the environmental costs of the solar panels Huh

Is it worth?

The last models require as little as two years to pay back for the energy required to build them. Most materials are largely available and highly recyclable. Historically, the main source of pollution has been the lead used as solder but this should have been phased out completely by now. Most panels built in the 90s will be still churning out juice. I've seen one built manually in the 70s, the owner claimed it was still functional albeit at very low power.

Only two years? Well, then it should be about to take off in a big way I guess. Of course there are gigantic interests that probably aren´t too interested in giving up market share though.

MaxDZ8

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Quote from: cr7 on December 17, 2015, 09:49:14 PM

What about the environmental costs of the solar panels Huh

Is it worth?

The last models require as little as two years to pay back for the energy required to build them. Most materials are largely available and highly recyclable. Historically, the main source of pollution has been the lead used as solder but this should have been phased out completely by now. Most panels built in the 90s will be still churning out juice. I've seen one built manually in the 70s, the owner claimed it was still functional albeit at very low power.

bryant.coleman

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Quote from: darkangel11 on December 17, 2015, 11:42:22 AM

Good news. Maybe in 100 years we will be able to reduce the number of coal plants and the next generation will be able to enjoy clean air.

100 years is too far. If the current levels of pollution is not reduced, then within the next 100 years, humans will become extinct. Coal-powered electricity generation remains extremely important to many of the nations around the world, including Russia, China and India. IMO, these nations should focus more on nuclear energy.

BADecker

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Quote from: cr7 on December 17, 2015, 09:49:14 PM

What about the environmental costs of the solar panels Huh

Is it worth?

There are large areas in the Death Valley and many other Southwestern locals where there would be no damage to nature to set up enough solar to run the world. And think of the Sahara Desert.

One of the best places is the place that is often being used right now... the roofs and walls of buildings.

If you mean the pollution that might come from making solar, it would be little added to that which is being done through our modern, everyday living, and it would eventually reduce the coal pollution.

Right now, one of the biggest forms of coal pollution in America, comes from the coal ash chemtrails being sprayed throughout American and Canadian skies, intentionally. The reduction of coal burning for electricity would cut down on chemtrail pollution by cutting down on available coal ash.

cr7

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What about the environmental costs of the solar panels Huh

Is it worth?

Spendulus

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Quote from: galdur on December 17, 2015, 11:19:57 AM

It seems to be the installed capacity. Well, it´s still a microscopic market share and not really economically feasible since it has to be subsidized but maybe that will change.

Government bribes distort the market. IN the absence of those bribes, solar would in fact be installed where it was long term sustainable. In the presence of those factors, you have really stupid and insane decision making.

Tropical islands, for example. That's likely a good market for solar.

galdur

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Taken in May 1973

The George Washington Bridge in Heavy Smog. View toward the New Jersey Side of the Hudson River.
U.S. National Archives' Local Identifier: NWDNS-412-DA-5848

From: Series: DOCUMERICA: The Environmental Protection Agency's Program to Photographically Document Subjects of Environmental Concern, compiled 1972-1977 (Record Group 412)

Created by: Environmental Protection Agency. (12/02/1970 - )

Production Date: 05/1973

Photographer: Higgins, Chester, 1946-

https://www.flickr.com/photos/usnationalarchives/3679279416/in/set-72157620856436476

galdur

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Chinese buy up bottles of fresh air from Canada

Canadian company which started out bottling Rocky Mountains air as a joke has seen its product fly off the shelves in pollution-hit China, with first shipment selling out in four days

By Jennifer Pak, Shenzhen1:17PM GMT 15 Dec 2015

A Chinese woman wears a mask connected to a filter in Beijing Photo: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

A Canadian start-up company bottling fresh air from the Rocky Mountains has seen sales to China soar because of rising pollution levels.
Vitality Air was founded last year in the western Canadian city of Edmonton but began selling in China less than two months ago.

“Our first shipment of 500 bottles of fresh air were sold in four days,” co-founder Moses Lam says in a telephone interview with the Telegraph.
A crate containing 4,000 more bottles is making its way to China, but he says most of that shipment has been bought.

A 7.7 Litre can of crisp air taken from Banff National Park in the majestic Rocky Mountains range sells for roughly 100 yuan (£10), which is 50 times more expensive than a bottle of mineral water in China.

Shanghai

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/12051354/Chinese-buy-up-bottles-of-fresh-air-from-Canada.html

BADecker

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Maybe we should form a company to fight China smog. After all, this company needs competition - https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/chinese-residents-buying-fresh-air-from-canada-amid-suffocating-pollution-1292371.

galdur

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Could be ominous outlook for China´s ruling elite..

Mass Layoffs in China's Coal Country Threaten Unrest

New York Times-Dec 16, 2015
China has managed mass layoffs at creaky, state-owned businesses like ... The coal industry is hurting nationwide, as coal prices have fallen nearly 60 percent ...

With Coal Industry Under Pressure, Some See Long-Term Decline

New York Times-Dec 2, 2015
Coal is in trouble, and that could be good news for a warming world. .... Even China, which produced and consumed half the world's coal from 2012 to 2014, may ...

Snail2

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Quote from: darkangel11 on December 17, 2015, 11:42:22 AM

Good news. Maybe in 100 years we will be able to reduce the number of coal plants and the next generation will be able to enjoy clean air.

If you are not living in China or an other developing country then you can enjoy it today, as the modern coal plants (apart from the CO2 emission) are almost working as air purifiers

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Topic: Solar Power Passes 1% Global Threshold (Read 1190 times)