“on the verge of realizing that the sun, which already provides us light and warmth and photosynthesis, is also willing to provide us the power we need to run our lives. We are on the verge of turning to the heavens for energy instead of to hell. It won’t happen automatically, and I don’t know if we will do it, at least in the short window physics is giving us to deal with climate change.”
This is taken from the book I am listening to - the rise of energy from the sun and wind. China, India and Pakistan are the front runners. Solar panels and wind turbines now dot the landscape. And I know to some peeps on here this desecration of the land makes them angry. But the burning of fossil fuels has to stop, we have almost put an end to burning coal and with our reliance on gas from Russia, an unholy alliance which might bring Europe to its knees we have to explore other ways in getting the energy we need.
On many journeys in the past we drove past the great turbines with their blades turning slowly. Sometimes they were still, no wind the naysayers will say, what do you do then, but storage in the form of batteries I believe, will go somewhat to relieve that. I have seen them out to sea on the Norfolk coast, and there is the scheme of putting them up in the North Sea on Doggerland.
I must admit the taking of great chunks of farmland for the placement of solar panels is a bit daunting to contemplate but the future must be thought about for our children and those that follow.
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North Yorkshire Moors: I fell in love with this landscape years ago, you can see the brown of the heather. A vast waste land one could almost call it, until a farmer may decide to cultivate this difficult acidic soil. There are of course sheep roaming about eating at the patches of green grass that appears but you can see the ruined farmhouses around this area 'up top' on the moors to know it is an unforgiving landscape.
In the news clip it shows the result of a fire that has been going for quite a few weeks now on the North Yorkshire Moors and seems to have come under control now. The Langdale Moor near to the Fylingdales army station. The fire had retreated below ground through the peat and this of course means that the fire can continue. The moor land is just smoking at the moment and farmers take water tanks fixed to their tractors to dampen the area.
An investigation will go on as to why the fire started, it could have been a picnic, a deliberate attempt, or it could have been the drought we had through the summer.
We have to get it sorted out or become extinct within 500 years.
ReplyDeleteIncreasing CO2 levels to nearer what they have been in the past is one of the least pressing problems facing humans, in fact it is a significant contributing factor in increased agricultural yields. And with more humans to feed, taking agricultural land our of food production by covering with solar panels is particularly stupid, especially in the UK - listed as about the second worst region for solar electricity generation as a consequence of our climate.
DeleteI know Will you are a sceptic on this issue. But there is a price we have to pay. The fires in America and Australia, floods as well and the rest of the world where the continued heating of the climate is affecting people elsewhere on their small islands. Only this morning the news told of warming in the North Pacific Ocean which cannot be accounted for. So different methods should be tried, it worked with the ozone layer and we need to go forward not backward. What energy fuels would you recommend by the way ;)
DeleteBlair or any of his successors should have been building nuclear. France did that in the past, and at one point had 80+% emissions free electricity. However, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, Fukushima rather turned opinion against that, although with it's much smaller land requirements and alway-on nature, nuclear ought to have been the dream answer to the AGW cult prayers.
DeleteThere is always a great fear of nuclear though the French seem to have overtaken us in using nuclear. One of the things noted by the Chernobyl disaster, is that wild animals and plant and tree life have thrived without human intervention. AGW = Anthropogenic Global Warming, and whether you believe or not it is the other side of the argument. https://www.sciencealert.com/anthropogenic-global-warming.
DeleteSo your post made me wonder about solar panels on farmland and found interesting data on "Agrivoltaics " which is when they farm along side solar panels. Here is an interest article about the benefits for farmers:
ReplyDeletehttps://growingsolarmist.com/dual-land-use-growing-crops-solar-panels-for-farmers/
A very clever design I saw placed solar panels above parking lots. I believe that once the technology begins to be utilized more widely, we will see innovative placement emerging.
ReplyDeleteGateshead MetroCentre car park was, I think, one of the first to do this. Shame that their busiest times are in the run up to Christmas when there is almost no sun....
DeleteWe have to find the answers for our great-grandchildren's great-grandchildren.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments everyone. What will be will be.
ReplyDelete