Arfa Daily wrote:
"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...
I could point out that it's China's problem, not ours. Which happens
to be
true.
I find it hard to believe that "radioactivity [is] involved somewhere
in the
process" of extracting neodymium -- unless neodymium is commonly mixed
with
ores of radioactive material -- which it apparently isn't. According to
Wikipedia...
"Neodymium is not found naturally in metallic form or unaccompanied by
other
lanthanides, and it is usually refined for general use. Although
classed as
a "rare earth" it is no more rare than cobalt, nickel or copper, and is
widely distributed in the Earth's crust. The bulk of the world's
neodymium
is presently [sic -- currently] mined in China."
If it isn't particularly rare, then one might assume other countries will
begin or increase their mining of it, now that China has put export
controls
on it.
Wind power has the potential (sorry) for relatively cheap electricity,
using
hardware that is easily replaced as it wears out.
A long-term solution to food and environmental problems would require a
"population implosion" -- an across-the-board reduction in population to
1/10 or even 1/20 the current level.
"There's... antimony, arsenic, aluminum, selenium
And hydrogen and oxygen and nitrogen and rhenium
And nickel, neodymium, neptunium, germanium
And iron, americium, ruthenium, uranium..."
Well, I'm not sure that wind power actually has anything like the
potential to be worth all of its downsides, if you look at the figures
for what it's actually doing in terms of filling any 'holes' in the
grid. The latest figures are for what was actually produced, against
what could have potentially been produced at full capacity, during the
last cold spell that we had here a few weeks ago, and it doesn't make
very inspiring reading. There are two types of weather systems that we
get here in the winter in the UK. The first is, as my dear old high
school geography teacher used to tell us, "All the Ws", which is Warm
Wet Westerly Winds in Winter. This is typified by rather dull overcast
weather rolling in on fronts from low pressure systems that form out in
the Atlantic. They tend to be fairly quick moving, and have warm and
moist light winds. Not too bad for wind generation, but by the same
token, because of the temperatures, not really demanding in terms of
energy requirements on the generating authorities, because there is not
a great need for people to heat their homes too much. Right now, for
instance, it's the depths of the UK winter, its 5 o'clock in the
afternoon and well past sunset, and its 50 deg F outside.
The other type of weather that we get involves huge blocking high
pressure systems that sit over northern Europe, and prevent any weather
at all from coming in. These systems are typified by clear blue skies
and totally clear nights. Daytime temperatures are lucky to make it to
30 deg F, and night time temperatures plummet into the 20s or lower,
with sharp frosts. Winds are light to zero. This is very bad for wind
generation. The situation can last for several weeks at a time, as these
high pressure weather systems are huge and static. This is exactly what
we had here a couple of weeks back, and the energy demand for heating
was huge compared to normal. Wind power contributed almost nothing to
the demand, because there simply wasn't any wind. Realistically, what
use is a generating technology which produces power when you don't need
it, and next to none when you do ...
You also need to understand the commercial aspects of wind power here. I
don't know what the situation is west-pond, but here, there are all
manner of financial incentives for organisations to set up and run these
windfarms so, far from the belief by the eco-warriors that they are
making a difference by getting take-up on this technology, it's actually
a cynical exercise in taking piles of money from the government, by
companies that don't actually give a toss whether it's worth it in the
long run, or not.
Arfa
Similar reports from Texas - supposedly the largest wind power state.
Rolling blackouts during cold snaps due to lack of wind generation...
in 2008:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/...49522920080228
in 2011:
http://ktwop.wordpress.com/2011/02/0...-some-back-up/
So the choice the warmests offer is freeze in the dark.
That is assuming that CO2 actually is the cause of the latest warming
since the 1700s (really - it started back then with the end of the mini
ice age) and that humans are contributing to this CO2 increase by more
than a couple of percent.
Or be warm and well lit by fossil fuels/nuclear/Hydro...
If increasing CO2 actually is a problem - a premise of which I am
skeptical - I know what my choice would be: outlaw air conditioning and
keep folks warm in the winter.
John :-#(#
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