- Turns out N2O, which is formed during anoxic processes, is 300+ times worse than CO2 as a GHG. How did that one get by without major publicity?
- The big white elephant always present at discussions on climate change seems to be nuclear power. If we upped our nuclear power use what impact does that really have on our GHG production and environmental toxicity?
- Biochar is a new tool for carbon sequestration. Can current incinerators be converted?
- Almost all renewable energy comes from the sun. Wind is produced by the heated atmosphere, wood from photosynthesis, photovoltaic, etc. (I guess geothermal and wave power are the exceptions). So the intrinsically most efficient renewable technology is photovoltaic. Why aren't we turning all our research guns on this? The current state of PV technology is deplorable, I say. if we could only come up with PV cells that are greener to manufacture and are 30% efficient we could probably switch to a PV energy society.
- If trains are so fuel efficient, why don't they put PV cells on the roofs of the cars? There is a lot of square footage there.
- Why are the new electric cars equipped with transmissions? There are lots of motors out there that can go from stall to 10K rpms, so why add this layer of inefficiency?
- WTF would someone pick West Point Campus to have a conference at? I had to have the car and bags searched. Similarly, why is security so tight at West Point? Would attacking West Point actually make a dent in our National Security?
David Korten's Keynote Presentation Now Online
15 years ago
Interesting ideas. I think you should apply for some grants and start working on solar powered trains.
ReplyDeleteRe: Nuclear. When I was at WWF, their publications said that enriching, and processing (?) uranium resulted in as much CO2 being released as fossil fuels. I don’t have a source for that now though.
Here (starting page 57) they talk about nuclear having an unacceptable risk/benefit ratio. They talk about how investing in nuclear may take away from options they approve of more and the lack of public support for nuclear (which is a silly argument given that WWF supports tons of things the public doesn’t).
Saw this article the other day about wind farms and found this part particularly interesting:
“The great river of wind that flows from Texas to the Canadian border is one of the finest renewable energy reserves in the world and the American Wind Energy Association estimates that it could power America twice over.”
Of course, who knows what that really means, and it is coming from the group meant to promote wind power.
Re: West Point…yeah. That was what living in DC was like every day. It has nothing to do with threats and everything to do with power and fear.