Subject: Re: [LPNY DISCUSS] Re: Energy policy--or why we shouldn't have one. Date: Sun, 28 Apr 2002 12:57:33 -0400 To: From: Bob Armstrong On Sun, 28 Apr 2002 02:40:15 -0400, G. Triest. wrote: > ... Thank you . Most of the basic facts you cite should be known by kids by the time they get thru grade school science class . It is perverse that most college grads ( and many profs ) don't know them . A couple of added points : >=A0Pennsylvania was one of the first "oil=A0boom" areas= because=A0people > found it simply coming out of the ground.=A0 I've always wanted to visit LA CA's La Brea tar pits ,= California's most famous oil spill . >=A0Well, first of all, how do you "store"=A0electricity? >=A0In a battery you say? In addition to having to carry the additional weight of the= matrix material of the battery , you have to carry around both sides of= the energy equation . Combustion ( or fuel cells ) consume a weight= of atmospheric oxygen comparable to the weight of the fuel . ( In= the case of H2 , 8 times the weight . ) ( This is why I am only= interested in gas powered motorboards . ) >=A0The key to decentralized energy production is co-generation,= i.e. > creating of heat and electricity at the same time. With such a > combination, even localized energy production becomes very= competitive > with grid purchased energy. An intrinsic problem with centralized electricity generation is= that a basic theorem of electricity implies that at most only .5 of= the energy ( heat ) created can be delivered to the load -- half= must be dissipated at the generator . ( Consider that all the current= that flows thru an entire power grid must be flowing thru the= generator coils . ) "Zero emission" vehicles increase , not decrease the= total energy production required . >=A0What about "global warming"?=A0.. Eco-freaks ... assert that= the=A0earth's > warming is caused by man's action.=A0=A0(Not by changes in the sun= or >=A0something else--which seems to be more likely, the more we= learn.) The earth's energy budget is totally determined by the Sun's= radiance and our distance from it . > I don't believe that the ozone layer is depleting . Where does the ozone ( O3 ) come from ? The late Dixie Lee Ray , past head of the Atomic Energy= Commission , pointed out that it is CREATED by ultraviolet interacting with= O2 in the upper atmosphere just like ozone generators they used to use= in hospitals for their germ killing properties . Where is the "ozone hole" ? Over the Antarctic in its winter= time . Duh ! See her Environmental Overkill: Whatever Happened to Common Sense? ,= 1993 http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0895265125/inktomi-bkasin-= 20/103-8196845-0049431 Collectivist tyranny in the name of pseudo-scientific= externalities is one of the great dangers to each of our individual liberty and= welfare . -- =A0Bob Armstrong -- http://CoSy.com -- 212-285-1864 http://CoSy.com/K/CoSy.htm : New Edition ! http://CoSy.com/Homes : Building Affordable Homes in NYC =A0 =A0 =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A02002/04/28 12:01:27 PM