Brudaimonia’s Recent Comments

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  Agree about there being no one Holy Grail, or Silver Bullet...pick your symbol. My comment was directed towards the article's use of the term specifically for the solar energy industry. There inevitably will be lifestyle changes, but *at best* they will be gradual. Through smart planning they will not involve unbearable hardship. However, if the "complacency or panic" dichotomy of the public and political landscape stays in place, we may unfortunately see (and are already starting to see, I would argue) the "hard", unprepared-for lifestyle changes. What we need is to plan for as soft of a landing as possible.On SolarReserve's 24/7 solar power plant posted 1 week, 2 days ago 97 Responses

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  It's good that several commenters mentioned water. That will be the linchpin for whether this technology will be scaled up out west, no matter who's the financial backer or how many rocket scientists they employ. How much of the steam is recycled through the system? If a closed system, how much water loss is there? How will new water be delivered to the desert? Can it use reclaimed water? Is that cost-effective? And so forth. Until these questions are answered sufficiently I don't think anyone can be completely comfortable with this technology being the Holy Grail of renewable energy.On SolarReserve's 24/7 solar power plant posted 1 week, 3 days ago 97 Responses

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  Hopefully, someone introduced the person who asked that question to permaculture (though Joel Salatin and Will Allen are pretty strong examples).On Pollan shoots down organic myths at Grist event posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago 25 Responses

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  Clifford,

  A former professor used to say, "All models are wrong, but some are useful."

  If the question is, "Are the GCMs 100% accurate?" then the answer is, "Of course not.  They're models."

  But the important question is, "Are the GCMs accurate enough to warrant GHG reductions?"  It certainly looks that way.  Let's remember that the models are based largely on physical laws and that there are a number of validations that test their fitness (see here).

  Even given the models' complexity, climate assessments such as the IPCC's give ranges, rather than one value, for their predictions.  For example, the AR4 gave a sea level rise range of 0.18 to 0.59 meters over this century.  This range encompasses smaller ranges for each of six emissions scenarios.  So if the media throws out one value, it's because the media is more interested in getting your attention than being scientifically meticulous.

  Finally, we have observations of what has already happened.  It doesn't take a model to know that 11 of the 12 years from 1995-2006 were the warmest in the instrumental record, as the AR4 reported.  It doesn't take a model to see the coral reef bleaching that has already occurred.

  And it doesn't take a model to accept basic, undeniable facts: some gases have the property of letting through solar radiation but trapping infrared radiation.  These gases, some of whose atoms had previously been buried in the Earth, have been emitted into the atmosphere nonstop since the Industrial Revolution and are now in higher concentrations.

  It's just a matter of people accepting reality and taking responsibility for their actions, even if that might not be the most politically expedient thing to do.  Even if it means that they have to admit that they were wrong.

  On No, Jeff, there's not a debate about the science of climate change posted 4 months, 2 weeks ago 13 Responses

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  Actually, most hydrogen these days, for transportation at least, is produced through steam methane reformantion, which uses a ton of energy, not to mention any methane that happens to escape into the atmosphere.

  
  Also, I'll refer you to my earlier comment about the link between natural disasters and climate change.

  On Climate bill negotiations stall in House posted 5 months ago 35 Responses