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| Economy |
| Fossil Fuels Will Save the World |
| 2015-03-16 |
| h/t Jerry Pournelle The environmental movement has advanced three arguments in recent years for giving up fossil fuels: (1) that we will soon run out of them anyway; (2) that alternative sources of energy will price them out of the marketplace; and (3) that we cannot afford the climate consequences of burning them. These days, not one of the three arguments is looking very healthy. In fact, a more realistic assessment of our energy and environmental situation suggests that, for decades to come, we will continue to rely overwhelmingly on the fossil fuels that have contributed so dramatically to the world's prosperity and progress. In 2013, about 87% of the energy that the world consumed came from fossil fuels, a figure that--remarkably--was unchanged from 10 years before. This roughly divides into three categories of fuel and three categories of use: oil used mainly for transport, gas used mainly for heating, and coal used mainly for electricity. Over this period, the overall volume of fossil-fuel consumption has increased dramatically, but with an encouraging environmental trend: a diminishing amount of carbon-dioxide emissions per unit of energy produced. The biggest contribution to decarbonizing the energy system has been the switch from high-carbon coal to lower-carbon gas in electricity generation. |
| Posted by:g(r)omgoru |
| #5 Obviously none of these tin hats truly understand climatology on a macrolevel. We get all of this panic and hand wringing over rising ocean temperatures when the truth is that rising ocean temperatures would be good for humanity. EVERY and I mean EVERY desert is fronted by either a cold water ocean or a cold water current. Sahara, Kalahari, Atacama all of them. In Chili they have the Antarctic express, an extremely cold current running from Antarctica to the Ecuadorian border, the entire Sahara is faced with the Mediterranean which contrary to all of those lovely pictures from Cannes and Costa Del Sol is very cold. And of course the Kalahari and the Arabian peninsula washed by another deep cold water current from Antarctica. A warm Mediterranean would feed millions, if not billions of people. The same for the Kalahari and the Arabian Peninsula. They act as if millions will drown if the water levels rise, forgetting that man is smart enough to move to higher ground... You are right they are ignorant of science but have an agenda cloaked in voodoo match, manipulated data, and junk science...and of course the media never misses a chance to stir up mass hysteria. |
| Posted by: Bill Clinton 2015-03-16 20:05 |
| #4 Also please don't refer to anybody who is a climate change freak as an "environmentalist" They don't care about the environment or about science they are about only one thing: dragging down western capitalism |
| Posted by: anon1 2015-03-16 10:21 |
| #3 it takes more energy (from coal fired power plants) to produce solar panels than they give out during their life the whole paranoia is a scam. carbon dioxide will save us, we need more of it. Plants love it. We are going into a cold snap: according to the sunspot cycles. Guess what? That big flaming ball in the sky can affect climate. And so can the earth's orbit. Keep pumping out carbon dioxide it is good for us. |
| Posted by: anon1 2015-03-16 10:19 |
| #2 At the time of the end of the last ice age, man was largely confined to Africa and the ME. Since that event man has adapted from the Arctic to the equator, from deserts to islands, from mountains to jungles all over the planet. We have adapted very successfully. Communities and civs may have had problems, but the species as a whole has thrived. Hot or cold is not the problem. There are other events far beyond human control that are a more dangerous threat and worthy of appropriate attention than the Chicken Little machinations of the Left. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2015-03-16 09:17 |
| #1 Saw an interesting Discovery Channel show yesterday about Catastrophic Climate Change. Seems that ~4200 years ago the Old Kingdom in Egypt crashed due to a prolonged famine caused by Climate Change........................it got colder. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2015-03-16 08:24 |