Anyone who remembers Jane Fonda’s outstanding performance in China Syndrome knows that nuclear power is dangerous. Very, very dangerous. It’s a damn killer is what it is. In fact, the only thing more dangerous than a dose of radiation is a dose of perspective.
James Delingpole, an oasis in a desert of political correctnes
British columnist James Delingpole explains what we mean:
Nuclear fatalities in the last ten years: 7
Wind farm fatalities in the last ten years: 44.In those ten years nuclear provided thirty times the energy of wind. This means in the last decade, nuclear has been around 200 times safer than wind on an energy produced/accidents basis.
Note: Wind farm statistics include neither birds killed by turning blades nor eco-wackos killed by the turn of events.
Source: James Delingpole
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Ha, Ha!!!
Hilarious!
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Delingpole, one of the better writers in the UK press, and outspoken critic of the AGW lunacy and all that it entails.
More strength to his elbow, and may he continue to fight the fight against the miserable ecotardfascistgreenieloonies.
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I currently live (and have for fourteen years) in a very remote part of the Bahamas. I’m currently putting the finishing touches on a house I’ve built, myself, for my wife and I.
It has been my career since leaving private yacht captaining, to be an “island manager”. That means being the “caretaker”, or, as known here, the Owners Representative. The islands my wife and I have run are between 40 and 100 acres, and completely off-grid (there is NO grid to tie TO). Most are owned by the unknown Uber-Wealthy, but I DID do a seven year stint on the private island owned by…a VERY popular…umm…Pirate (confidentiality, you know…) Primary power is via diesel generators, but on two of the islands our focus was advancements and integration of cutting edge alternative energy. I’ve installed over a $700,000 dollars worth of solar panels, batteries, inverters, and yes, windmills. As such, I’ve formed the following relatively well-informed opinions:
Alternative energy is the mutts nuts. Especially solar panels. IF you’ve got the $$ for ‘em, and there is NO grid power available. They just …SIT… there… producing POWER. They don’t do it efficiently enough, yet, to do so on your cul-de-sac, but when faced with having to fire up “Mr. Stinky” (the generator), they rock! Windmills appear, on first inspection, to be the perfect adjunct to panels–the wind blows at NIGHT, and if it’s windy, it’s often overcast. Alas, they are phukin’ DANGEROUS! They remind me of the “definition” of a helicopter–a quarter-million moving parts, all trying desperately to get AWAY from one another! They are maintenance-intensive, and once you’ve seen even a small 5kW unit go kaddi-whumpus in a storm, you gain enormous respect for ‘em.
Solar WATER heating is an absolute no-brainer, especially where one doesn’t have to contend with heat exchangers, freezing temps, and circulating pumps. The “progressive tube water heater” (google it) is the simplest idea in the world, and it WORKS.
None of this stuff rivals the efficiency of good ‘ole Diesel, and Diesel pales compared to even expensive, unreliable grid-power (as we have here on Long Island, Bahamas…).
I believe hydrogen sequestration is a strong contender. Mike Stryzkie (google him) has been to the island, and I’ve been to his hydrogen powered home in Hopewell, NJ. Thing is, when we mention “Hydrogen”, people instinctively go, “OHHH!! THE HINDENBURG!!”. Well, that’s complete bullshit. I ask you, which scenario is more inherently dangerous: you are in an auto accident, and your gas tank has been ruptured. Or, you are in an auto accident, and your hydrogen tank has been ruptured. In the first case, the extremely volatile fuel just sits, RIGHT THERE, WAITING for SOMEthing, ANYthing, to piss it off, at which time, it all goes, “BOOM”! However, hydrogen’s entire being is fixated on GETTING THE HELL OUTTA HERE! It, upon release, goes UP, away-away-oh. IF something “pisses it off” before it CAN escape then, yes, it flash-fires, not unlike oxygen.
We, as a civilization, have come to treat ALL fuels with a modicum of respect. Hydrogen demands a certain respect as well. And it’s a slightly different respect, and therein is the problem. It’s alien to most people, so they don’t trust it.
I could go on and on, but my fingers are tired, and probably no one’s gonna read it anyway.
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Trouble with hyrdrogen is that it takes so much power to make. You can’t just drill a hole in the ground and pump hydrogen out of it. Once you’ve got it, though, I agree it’s not nearly as dangerous as people think. And let’s not forget: the aftereffect of a hydrogen explosion is a bunch of water, which is a helluva lot nicer than the aftereffects of a gasoline explosion.
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You don’t just pump gasoline or diesel out of a hole in the ground either. Refineries are rather expensive installations, and use a LOT of power. They also need lots of expensive maintenance.
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Apples and oranges. Compared to the amount of useable fuel you get from hydrocarbons, the refinery’s energy use is miniscule. If you took all the gasoline taxes out of the equation and all of the government support for idiotic alternate energy sources, the market price for our beloved hydrocarbons/gasoline would be so far under the other energy sources it would be humorous.
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I’m not downplaying the usefulness or economy of oil, not at all. Just mentioning that it doesn’t just get pumped out of the ground and straight into the cars. In addition to what you’re talking about to lower the prices, how about producing it here in this country, without overly restrictive regulations, at the same time putting Americans to work? Such a novel idea.
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ENTROPY, takes more energy to convert to pure hydrogen than you can get out of it. Much like ETHANOL, takes almost 2 gallons of oil to make one gallon of corn fuel.
Leftist logic: 1+1=POTATO
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So the answer the answer is to throw all the worthelss hippies into a pot to transestrify into bio-diesel feed stock? Win, win = winning!
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yeah, the hydrogen itself is not a conventional fuel, as such. Think of it more as a storage medium–it’s a catalyst. When it makes mad passionate love to oxygen, the result is HEAT, which is tapped for it’s energy potential (and, as mentioned, water). the hot lick is, as in Stryzkie’s system, you have an overabundance of solar panels–enough to 1) run all your needs, 2) keep your (smaller) battery bank full, and 3) and most important, have an excess of panels that electrolyze a water source, sequestering the hydrogen (and oxygen, if desired), for night-time or even seasonal use. consider it like cutting cords of firewood…
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upvote for entertaining and enlightening prose, sir
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If anyone’s still reading:
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/9zqge/i_am_a_private_island_caretaker/
a Q&A about my island experiences.
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My farts are natral too. But I cant run my car or warm and or cool my house with them (smell them up though). If wind farms are so grand an idea was dont those pushing wind as a fuel alterantive convert their homes to it. What say you Robert Kennedy Jr? Time to turn those big family compounds into wind power. Lead by example you frauds. Then I might look into wind.
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