The Earth is our Grandma

by: Unenergy

Fri May 14, 2010 at 15:58:52 PM EST

I'd like to start off by saying thank you to all the brothers and sisters that've come here today representing this cause.

I've been asked by Mr. Ittok and the Tribal Council to speak to you and the members of the press about the injustice that's been brought against us by some government officials and big business.

Those Fish Belong to ME

by: Unenergy

Fri Apr 23, 2010 at 16:04:13 PM EST

Utilities, of course, were regulated monopolies that avoided competition and the free enterprise system, but Vennard wrapped them in the American flag while he attacked his public power opponents as socialists.
"And who'd want to leave a socialistic U.S.A. to his kids?

A pioneer in polling and public relations, Vennard hired George Gallup to discover phrases and images that would spur Americans to feel positively about private utilities and negatively about public power.
"Investor owned' rather than 'privately owned; and disliked 'government owned' rather than 'public power'.

Punk'd or Monck'd?

by: Unenergy

Fri Apr 16, 2010 at 18:36:31 PM EST

There is a common misconception, spread throughout the media, that Climate Skeptics have been intentionally ignored by the mainstream media in order to create the impression in the reader or viewers mind, that what they have to say is being supressed.

Our natural instinct once this framing became the conventional wisdom, was to see overcompensation within the media to 'give them equal air time', and for many individuals to become somewhat outraged, believing that something was being hidden from them.

The net result, many of these individuals became convinced of a conspiracy, hence increased malleability to accept on face value the statements of the well groomed media personalities which burst onto the scene just prior to Copenhagen with the pretense they were 'whistleblowers' and there was a concerted effort to keep them quiet.

However, things are not quite as they seem....

Arctic Ice Melt could cost 24 trillion by 2050

by: Unenergy

Sat Feb 06, 2010 at 21:51:59 PM EST

Arctic ice melting could cost global agriculture, real estate and insurance anywhere from $US2.4 trillion ($2.8 billion) to $US24 trillion by 2050 in damage from rising sea levels, floods and heat waves, according to a report released on Friday.

The research project involved more than 370 scientists from 27 countries who collectively spent 15 months, starting in June 2007, aboard a research vessel above the Arctic Circle. It marked the first time a ship has stayed mobile in Canada's high Arctic for an entire winter.

An Aussie Visiting America - A futurist for a week

by: Unenergy

Wed Dec 30, 2009 at 00:00:00 AM EST

Disruptive Solar technologies

by: Unenergy

Fri Dec 18, 2009 at 09:57:48 AM EST

Yesterday I wrote of a technology called concentrated photovoltaics, which if all goes well, may bring the retail cost of solar panels down from at present, $4.31 per watt, to 30c per watt.

Moore's Law for Solar - 30c watt in years to come

The technology I discussed was the concentration of the sun, using fresnel lens or mirrors like in a telescope, being able to reduce the area of active semi conductor material down to 1000th of that of Silicon to produce equivalent electricity.

Today I'd like to look at Silicon solar cells and what happens if we concentrate sunlight onto them.

Moore's Law for Solar - 30c watt in years to come

by: Unenergy

Wed Dec 16, 2009 at 12:54:36 PM EST

"We have an economy where we steal the future, sell it in the present and call it GDP (Gross Domestic Product)" Paul Hawken

The United States as of 2007, had approximately 1,087 Gigawatts of electricity generating capacity.

China had around 624 Gigawatts of Electricity Generation capacity.

Australia has approximately 48 Gigawatts of generating capacity.

India has 147 Gigawatts of electricity generation capacity.

Overcoming Apathy in Australia - Project Omelas

by: Unenergy

Sat Dec 05, 2009 at 11:09:24 AM EST

2006-07 Australian bushfire season
The 2006-07 Australian bushfire season was one of the most extensive bushfire seasons in Australia's history. Victoria experienced the longest continuously burning bushfire complex in Australia's history, with fires in the Victorian Alps and Gippsland burning over 1 million hectares of land over the course of 69 days.

January 2009
The early 2009 southeastern Australia heat wave was a heat wave that commenced in late January and led to record-breaking prolonged high temperatures in the region. The heat wave is considered one of, if not the most, extreme in the region's history. During the heat wave, 50 separate locations set various records for consecutive, highest daytime and overnight temperatures.

According to a Monash University study of funeral notices, more than 200 people died as a result of the heat wave. A 45% increase in the death rate was noted during the time. A subsequent report by Victoria's chief health officer, Dr John Carnie, put the final figure at 374.

An Aussie Visiting America - Boulder City Solar

by: Unenergy

Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 19:13:23 PM EST

During a trip in August, across the United States, one of the things I had planned was to visit a number of solar installations. Just out from Las Vegas, not far from the airport at Boulder City which flies people to/from The Grand Canyon, there is a substantial solar trough power station. Its output is 65 Megawatts, which using rule of thumb of 1,000 people per MW, can supply enough power for 65,000 homes whilst the sun is shining.

For a city heavily dependent on the Hoover Dam for its power and water, any means to potentially reduce water flow for power generation out of Lake Mead, makes sense. Particularly when you consider the drought and massive drop in water level in the lake since 1999.

It is estimated that by 2012, the lake's surface could fall below the existing pipe that delivers 40 percent of Las Vegas's water.

An Aussie Visiting America - Americas ingenuity

by: Unenergy

Sun Oct 25, 2009 at 21:33:11 PM EST

F.D. Roosevelt
President of the United States
White House
Washington, D.C.
Sir:
     Some recent work by E.Fermi and L. Szilard, which has been communicated to me in manuscript, leads me to expect that the element uranium may be turned into a new and important source of energy in the immediate future. Certain aspects of the situation which has arisen seem
to call for watchfulness and, if necessary, quick action on the part of the Administration. I believe therefore that it is my duty to bring to your attention the following facts and recommendations:

     In the course of the last four months it has been made probable through the work of Joliot in France as well as Fermi and Szilard in America - that it may become possible to set up a nuclear chain reaction in a large mass of uranium,by which vast amounts of power and large quantities of new radium-like elements would be generated. Now it appears almost certain that this could be achieved in the immediate future.

We knew how to profit, not how to protect.

by: Unenergy

Sat Oct 10, 2009 at 08:01:08 AM EST

An Aussie Visiting America - LA

by: Unenergy

Tue Sep 22, 2009 at 17:45:06 PM EST