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Renewables. The new religion

Article by Roger Lovejoy TMHR

Renewables? Fantasy or Fact

Well given the hype that it will solve human resource problems it's a sick fantasy, especially for all the other living being that are tortured and sacrificed to make way for our ever increasing demands. (Watch out for 'Cows per Mile')

There are some facts however and it is these that I hope to investigate, with your help.

As a basis for our 'energy' consumption, apart from any residual heat and mineral we can exploit from this planet all our planetary input, with the exception of the small amounts of cosmic rays and dust is limited to the solar rays.

Solar energy has been heating this planet since they both shared this relative location and has produced a quantity of bio-fuels, fossilised into coal and gas. There is also old peat, and the growing biomass in trees and food etc.

Only the growing bio-mass can be called renewable.

The idea of something which is renewable, evokes the idea of some continuing effort on our part, tree and crop planting and harvesting seems to fit this. The passive exploitation of secondary solar energy in wind, waves and tide or the primary use of solar rays for heating, electricity production does not require the same concern. However growing biomass requires the use of some of the solar input and so there is an overall limit to what we have available. True this availability can be augmented but lets think about what we already receive.

Bio Fuels - The devil in disguise

We can knock bio-fuels on the head straight away as regards renewables. As although it is the best representation of a renewable, there is not really enough land to provide food and fuel. Although in the short term bio-fuels may seem to provide an alternative to fossil fuels, it is a limited and disastrous road to go down.  Bio-Fuels - The Living Scam 

The Only Sensible Resouce.

Solar radiant power in it various forms.

Direct absorption

• Heat - Agitation of matter - Direct warming via dense solids or heating water.
• Atom disruption - Photovoltaics for Electricity.
• Plants - Food - Bio Fuel(See link above)

Indirect exploitation

• Rain (Evaporation largely directly from heat but some via wind.)
  • Hydro Power - via dams on larger scales, and straight from rivers for more personal use
  • Water Wheels - Little used today but can still be a usfull source for small local enterprises and homes.
• Wind (Convection due to gases expanding upon being heated.)
  • Electricity generators
  • Wind Mills
  • Sailing Craft
  • Evaporation via reduction of pressure
    (drying clothes - cooling water)
• Waves (Fluid response to wind.)
  • Electricity generators
  • Boat tail motors

Options not dependent upon solar activity

• Geo Thermal - Earth generated by mass - gravity - pressure and heating. Or is it just left over from hot origins.
• Tidal Motion - Largely attributed to the moon. This is fact a fallacy. Although without the moon there would be little or no tide (Given the sun has some aspect) the tides are as much a function of the fluidity of the water and the mass of the earth and water.

Sub Atomic Resources

• Well this is mostly down to nuclear activiy. Whereas there has been some 50 years of commercial development in nuclear fission (the splitting of the atomic nucleus) we are still in the development stages of nuclear fussion (the joining of atom nuclei).
• Anti Matter - not the fantasy it used to be. 1 Kilo of anti matter could take a ship 70,000 light years. Thats, 70,000 X 186,000 X 60 X 60 X 24 X 365 miles. However to say it's development is in its infancy would be an understatement. Development is not even embrionic, more a matter of a few anti electons.

Ok that's a breakdown of what I think we have to play with and here's a summary of the ideas.

• Renewability is a creative process, which biology has a patent on.
• We cannot create a source of energy.
• Sustainability is a prefered word, with limited meaning.
• It is an action on our part and cannot apply to a resource.
• Sustainabilty is a considered use of a limited resource for a defined period.
• Individually we know what that means, keep something for a rainy day. Reuse and recycle there's no space or time for rubbish.

So what would you like to do?  Discuss this issue?  

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