Why Renewables Can’t Save the Planet

Might I recommend you avoid using the term "Ignorance"?

 

The very second you disconnect, you help solve the problem you seem terribly worried about....

 

You certainly have insight into disconnection, but I am not worried as I will be dead before it gets really bad.

 

That's right, and most are not aware of this. They think that the global economy will continue to grow indefinitely, not realizing that crises which will trigger those events have been taking place.

 

Today's humans have severe limitations...it's on display every day...

 

Ok, so what keeps you on the grid, sucking down the resources that you castigate others for being greedy because they use them? If, as you have said, you think the end is nigh, why aren't you doing something different? Doing your part as it were?

I think, when pressed, most every liberal will acknowledge that they never expect to have to adopt the draconian changes they profess certainty at having to enact on others. You simply demonstrate that point.

 

It's not my intention to castigate others, to call them greedy, or to do "something different." All I'm saying is "the end is nigh," and only because there will be no "draconian changes."

 

The most awesome news of the day.. while you believe that, the rest of us will endure. Cheers.

 

Anyone who talks or thinks in terms of "saving the planet" has disqualified themselves from any serious discussion.

 

How does that endurance take place?

 

Been doing some reading and it looks like there is another aspect to renewables that we in the developed nations with a vested interest in our existing fossil fuel infrastructure are missing entirely.

The cost of infrastructure is massive and maintaining it is a burden. Take a look at what has happened to land lines after cell phones came along. That infrastructure has stagnated and will eventually become redundant. In developing nations cell phones do not need that infrastructure because they are based on wireless towers which can be powered by renewables like solar.

This explains why developing nations are looking at alternatives to national energy grids which are expensive to build and maintain.

Now take that to the next logical step. Developing nations that have to import fossil fuels have negative balance of payments while they have abundant wind and solar sources. That means that when EV's become cheap enough these developing nations are going to be a massive growth market for them.

In essence developing nations are going to use renewables as a means to wean themselves off of their addiction to fossil fuels and hard wired infrastructure that the western world depend upon. They will reduce their imports of fossil fuels while raising their own standards of living with clean air and water.

For developing nations renewables are a win-win.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-...ls-china-india-costa-rica-afghanistan-albania

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamese...-energy-trends-to-watch-in-2019/#30416a524a1f

https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/11-countries-leading-the-charge-on-renewable-energy/

https://sustainablebrands.com/read/cleantech/the-developing-world-is-taking-over-renewable-energy

https://www.eniday.com/en/technology_en/africa-leader-in-renewable-energy/

 

Renewable energy components have low energy quantity and quality because they require oil for mining, manufacturing, and transport, especially across extensive supply chains. This does not include the oil needed for infrastructure such as grid systems, roads, and facilities for consumer goods.

Overall, in order to increase standards of living, the global population will need an ecological footprint that exceeds biocapacity. That population is expected to increase to 9-11 billion, and both ecological damage plus the effects of global warming will have an effect on available resources, which means per biocapacity will decrease further.

On top of that, the businesses that are financing renewable energy initiatives are mostly for-profit, which means they expect resource and energy consumption to rise considerably so that they will get higher returns on investment. That means a growing global middle class with an ecological footprint far greater than biosphere limits.

 

At our residence we have cell phones, Internet microwaved from a hilltop repeater station five miles away, TV entertainment from a satellite signal, a 20 kW backup generator, and when we install solar and battery backup we won't need public utilities. BUT, we have not yet given up our land line! First it was to keep the FAX machine alive...then there was too many friends and businesses who still use the land line number...then we are cautious about personal/critical information being transmitted over cell lines...so now we're waiting for some impetus to finally terminate the land lines. The US infrastructure, whether phone lines, or power lines, or data lines, and including fossil fuel use, even though people complain about these services, people are still embedded in their use...paradigm shifts are required to move us along to newer and better things. Unfortunately, older people don't like change, many people refuse change, many people lack the intellectual curiosity to consider change, all change is perceived to cost more, etc. so it's no surprise to me why nudging people and society to renewables is both difficult and time consuming...

 

Most of the entities you're worried about can spy on your landlines without you noticing just as well as they can cell signals.

 

Depends a lot on motivation and while I am about to provide an anecdote it explains motivation. My MIL is 93 and entirely deaf in one ear and not doing too well with the other. Still mentally sharp but frustrated by needing to have the dog bark to tell her that the landline phone is ringing. She was provided with a smartphone recently and shown how to use Whatsapp. Now she is in constant contact with her family sending and receiving messages. She even learned how to take photos and send them. IOW her ability to communicate went from shrinking as her hearing declined to expanding as she discovered another means of staying in contact.

She is no exception either. In a coastal area where a lot of people retire and the maintenance of landlines and even utility services is less than optimal the majority of them all use smartphones and Whatsapp to stay in constant contact with each other and their family and friends.

Ultimately landlines will be more valuable for the copper in the wires than for the communication needs they serve IMO. FYI you don't need a fax machine any longer since a printer with a scanner can send and receive faxes via the internet.

 

We gave up the fax a few years ago once we could scan documents on the printer. We're hanging on to the land line until we know for sure we will always have cell service. We happen to live about 70 miles north of SF and we have those pesky fires and cell service was lost in many areas. I know the land line is vulnerable as well in these fires. Lots of people in our area have large bandwidth data lines for home use. Great for your MIL!!