Han wrote:

.... snip

Renewables are simply stop gaps and niche products and often
expensive....

Not so. I signed up for electricity delivery from renewable sources, and
I hope I am not hoodwinked. The info and bills say I am getting 100% of
my electricity from wind and water, all for ~$4/month more. OK, on a
$50/month electric bill it is by percentage a lot, perhaps, but not much
in impact on my pocketbook.


But are you really paying 100% of the cost of the difference for those
renewables, or it this where you are paying for one of those "green watts"
programs where you donate a certain amount per month for so development of
so many kilowatt hours of wind or solar?


Conservation makes a good sound bite but no one ever
rationed themselves to prosperity. Possibly worthwhile for getting
through hard times but never for solving hard times. Rod

Conservation can be as easy as walking to the post office 200 yards away,
instead of starting up the car from cold,

Not sure that many people would actually drive that short a distance and
even those who do are using miniscule amounts of energy in so doing


just for getting a few stamps.
Or turning off the lights when not needed. Conservation need not be a
measure of last resort, but is just a showing of respect for natural
resources.


If you are doing it to save money, that's one thing. If you think you are
saving the planet, you've been hoodwinked.


All in my opinion, of course! And I do leave my computers on too much
grin.


One of the biggest wasters of resources is the idiotic "sleep mode" on
copiers and printers at places of business. It takes on the order of
minutes for those things to wake up while the person using them has to
wait. When you compute the cost of the person's time vs. the electricity
savings, the electricity savings pale in comparison. That's a real drag on
productivity and output

--
If you're going to be dumb, you better be tough