The inventor of the Apple Computer (and much more) is interviewed in this interesting article
He is thinking deeply about energy use...
He is thinking deeply about energy use...
KeithO said:Kevin, I think you summed it up right. Irritation is the key factor. I am particularly sensitive to "celebrities" who think its ultra cool spending a fortune on their "green power" and pose as "models" for how it should be done. It is yet another elitist brigade, in my books right next to the playboys who throw lavish parties full of scantily clad women and the yuppies with their porche's. Ideally, the ultra expensive "green power" instalation is in an exclusive neighborhood where homes cost upwards of $500k to several million and the monthly association fees are bigger than my mortgage. This is not a model that is going to get the attention of the regular Joe, its about bragging rights more than anything else. Then, while being so green, they jet about in their Leers burning hundreds of lbs of Jet A an hour and when not in the Leer, they are in the "commuter" Bell Jetranger avoiding the traffic jams in the cities that they so love. Ann Arbor is full of Elitist "greens" in their plush neighborhoods with the big SUV's parked in the driveways.
KeithO said:As long as the price of solar panels can be kept high, why should manufacturers try to get into a rat race low margin production scenario ? It makes business sense, but not ecological / environmental sense and ultimately will result in the technology reaching broad adoption pehaps 50-100 years later than would originally have been possible. Why do all (most) of the panels need to come from Japan ? What is the reason behind not manufacturing them in the USA ? If there were to be a hiccup in the world energy market tomorrow, the worldwide supply would dry up instantly and we in the US would have nowhere to turn for supplies.
KeithO said:The ultimate cost to business when cheap oil runs out will be much greater than if renewable energy were turned into a "commodity" now with less profits in the next few years, but a vast reduction in dependency on foreign oil, a reduction in defense spending, which could in turn fund targeted R&D;and "commercialization" projects for renewable energy. There is a great opportunity for alternative energy that will be wasted if greed takes over and the alternative fuels mirror price trends of conventional fossil fuels.
The politicians are simply being directed by the "established" energy lobby and are not giving alternative enrgy any significant breaks other than a few pieces of "token" legislation. Taxpayers should get a break for investing in technology that reduces consumption (insulation, efficient appliances and lighting, PV generation, wind power etc). Most of the current breaks are pretty small compared to the investments required. There should also be a focus on total energy consumption. There should be no need to plan ones home etc so badly that one needs to use $400-$2000 worth of energy/month for heating or cooling in the first place. This is about treading lightly on the earth and the size of the footprint that one leaves behind.
KeithO said:Whatever the man may have done that was technically brilliant, it doesn't apply to the black magic "miracle wood" mentioned in the article. Nor do the bunglows made of this magic material appear to be value for money. No degree of fame whatsoever excuses the kind of garbage written in this acticle. If a readily available species of wood had such special powers, mankind and engineers would have figured it out a long time ago. I don't see any way whatsoever that ANY kind of wood has the ability to do what is said in the article. The heat capacity of wood will not permit the absorbtion of the amount of energy required to maintain the temperature differentials quoted. Period. In fact, even water, which has a terrific heat capacity couldn't do what is expected in this acticle even for cooling, let alone heating.
KeithO said:Craig
Whatever the man may have done that was technically brilliant, it doesn't apply to the black magic "miracle wood" mentioned in the article. Nor do the bunglows made of this magic material appear to be value for money.
engineers would have figured it out a long time ago.
PAJerry said:I finally got time to read this thread in full, and you have it right, wrench. Most of what works well and is practical has been done in the past somewhere. A visit to Greenfield Village in MI is a good place to learn about what worked. They have house examples from most of the ethnic groups that came to early America. Economic standing played quite a role, as well as climate. A striking example was the contrast in heating between an English house and a Scottish house. English were more wealthy and had access to more wood so they put fireplaces on outside walls at the ends of the house. The Scots were poorer and had less available wood, so the fireplace was in the center of the house to capture all possible heat from the hearth and chimney. I think that sometimes, to find the best efficiency, you need to take a hard look at the practices of the people living on the edge, barely getting by. All people are innovators in their own situation. The wealthy have the means to tinker with things but the poor have to come up with things that work - or perish.
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