Wednesday, June 16, 2004

Environmentalism

I have three main reasons why I have embraced environmentalism. The first is that I've become convinced that anthropomorphic Climate Change(a.k.a. Global Warming) is real. I'm not convinced that it will necessarily be a disaster, but I'm cautious enough to want to stop it just in case. The second reason is Energy independence. If you factor in the two Iraq wars and various American military actions in the Middle east, as well as the cost of time and resources the extreme security measures we now must take, it seem to me that any and all methods we can use to remove funding from terrorist Muslim a**holes and their supporters seems justified. The third reason is that I have a geek's fascination with alternative energy sources.

There are two articles today in Salon that show some of the things we could be doing to alleviate our need for fossil fuels. The first article is about more efficient lighting. The sheer volume of energy wasted as heat in regular lightbulbs is astounding, though current replacements emit less aesthetically pleasing light. I've actually started using some fluorescent light bulbs at home, and I am planning for almost total replacement in the future. The second article is about a couple who decided to go all-solar and what they went through to accomplish it. These folks are wealthy, so obviously most of us can't do what they have done, but I think the direction of the California legislature is the right way to go. Encouraging solar in residential homes over a wide area would start the ball rolling to where we all get some of our electricity this way. While solar, since sunlight doesn't shine on us all the time, is not a 100 percent solution, there is enough power out there to cut our need for fossil fuels in half easily.

Another idea I like, though it is impractical from a cultural point of view, is to bury our homes. The soil temperature is a constant 50 degrees Fahrenheit or so, and a fully enveloped home can be climate controlled with a much lower amount of energy. Combine this with solar power, more efficient lighting, and other more efficient appliances, and you can see how the energy required for the average home could drop substantially. Plus you'd never have to paint the house's exterior, have the roof repaired, etc.

While I'm dreaming here, I might as well go for the whole thing. The one problem not solved by the underground home idea is transportation. You still need cars and gas to get around. I've talked about to the idea of using a bicycle for personal transportation. I think you could achieve decent speed by combining the recumbent bicycle with an aerodynamic shell and a small efficient electrical motor and battery. The basic idea is that you use human power to drive the vehicle, but enhance it slightly with the battery. You could also build in regenerative braking, to recharge the battery, and give the vehicle a longer range. I'm fully aware of the impracticality of this, of course, but I can't think of any scientific reason why it wouldn't work. Also, we'd no longer be arguing about fat and carbs, because we'd be burning them off. Cheeseburgers could be alternative energy. Mmmmmmmm... Cheeseburgers.....

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