tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11932117.post8881985698537088418..comments2023-12-11T16:47:48.512-06:00Comments on Three O'Clock in the Morning: Crude awakeningFletcherDodgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00870340800475532887noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11932117.post-10663967260575343832010-05-15T11:50:59.083-05:002010-05-15T11:50:59.083-05:00Thanks for the plug.
It really has to be combinat...Thanks for the plug.<br /><br />It really has to be combination of things, methinks, but government needs to get out of the way and let smallish entrepreneurs and engineers come up with solutions, supporting what's promising and jettisoning what's not quickly. <br /><br />I happen to believe private finance is better able to gauge successes and failures more quickly than bureaucrats.<br /><br />BTW, spidey powers are overrated, plus the web-crap sticks to everything. To wit: forget ever reading a paper again.<br /><br />Cheers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11932117.post-48592378833426070842010-05-15T10:27:39.735-05:002010-05-15T10:27:39.735-05:00Some people say that every little bit helps. My pe...Some people say that every little bit helps. My personal philosophy is that "every little bit" is still just a little bit. When you have a system that you describe that requires enormous collectors to capture just tiny amounts of intermittently available energy, you have to make very large capital investments that do not pay back the investment because of the low number of "turns" or the low "capacity factor".<br /><br />Think of economic value of a restaurant that uses solar cooking. They might have low energy costs, but they cannot cook much food or serve very many customers quickly. They would have to invest in a LOT of tables that will be filled up with customers waiting for their food to be delivered instead of customers who get fed, depart and provide space for other paying customers.<br /><br />I used to operate those small nuclear power plants that have been powering ships at sea ever since the Nautilus reported that she was "underway on nuclear power" on January 17, 1955. They provide all of the power we need to run ships, supply electricity, distill water, and even produce new oxygen. They respond rapidly to changes in load. <br /><br />Who needs a bunch of small solutions when we know how to make big changes that can make many fossil fuel applications obsolete?<br /><br />Only the oil, coal and gas companies stand to lose out in a rapid shift to nuclear energy. Perhaps that is why they have been providing funds to the nuclear opposition for at least 4 decades.<br /><br />Rod Adams <br />Publisher, Atomic Insights<br />Host and producer, The Atomic Show PodcastRod Adamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03652375336090790205noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11932117.post-16482173794326272082010-05-14T14:23:34.162-05:002010-05-14T14:23:34.162-05:00Love that idea! Sign me up :)Love that idea! Sign me up :)Mayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15687511936160956984noreply@blogger.com