Comments Solshapiro has made

  • A good avenue to look at, but...

    If we are truly worried about climate change, and not interpreting climate change to mean a sustainable energy base (a laudable goal), then we had better look at a short term solution.  Climate disasters will not wait the century needed to change the world's energy base.
    There is a process called "geo-engineering" which we can put in place to stop climate change.  In what I think is its most likely form, the world would emulate what happens when there is a large volcanic eruption which has been repeatedly shown to cool the Earth.  We would place long lived particulates (probably lifetime of about one to three years) into the upper atmosphere to reduce incoming solar flux by about 1 1/2 to 2%.  Study and possible deployment of geo-engineering has been edorsed by, among others, the president of the National Academy of Sciences in 2006 and Edward Teller, the father of the hydrogen bomb in 1997.
    The IPCC and the environmental community do not want to talk about geo-engineering and "sneer" at possible side-effects;  but are willing to sacrifice Bangladesh and other low-lying regions of the world as they look only at the laudable long range goal of a sustainable energy base.
    Sol Shapiro
    Somarl@msn.comOn On the energy potential of geothermal power posted 2 years, 2 months ago 25 Responses

  • Right On

    CSP - solar thermal electric generation should be the 800 pound gorilla of our renewables base.  On less than 10,000 square miles of the southwest, we can make all the electrical energy used in the U.S. and send it around the country on high voltage dc.  This is not to denigrated local use of cost effective technologies such as wind and geothermal.  But solar thermal electric generation now seems to be moving down to a cost in the order of 10 cents a kwh and will continue down as it is built out.
    Sol Shapiro (Somarl@msn.com)On Solar thermal power deserves more attention, due to its lower cost and relative ease of storage posted 2 years, 2 months ago 35 Responses

  • Central Planning and geo-engineering

    I agree that like nuclear where discounting the cost of waste disposal hides a real problem, the time constant and statistics of weather obfuscate what is global warming and what weather.  But I think we do face a serious long range problem which will require central planning;  and I can only believe that as we get to this planning, study of such geo-engineering fixes as emulating what happens when there is a large volcanic eruption as a global interim fix will become part of the mix;  and will serve to give us the century we need to change the world's energy base without compounding the disasters we will face if we ignore the use of interim fixes.  Study of geo-engineering has been endorsed by Ralph Cicerone, president of the National Academy of Sciences in 2006 and by Edward Teller, the father of the hydrogen bomb in 1997 among many others over the past 30 years.  The IPCC and the environmental community have been largely "censoring" its discussion with the public, to parphrase, "let it be used as an excuse to pollute;  but if the horizon for disaster is closing in, it is time to face it;  and central planning can help.On One economist says no posted 2 years, 3 months ago 58 Responses