Life is Not Renewable Nor Green (Edited)

 

Some Information:

1.      The average life of a Blue whale is 80-90 years, North Pacific 70.

2.      The average life span of an oil or natural gas well is 20 to 30 years[i]

3.      In Alberta alone, over the first 10 months of 2022, crude production averaged 3.7 million barrels per day[ii]

4.      The energy contained in a barrel of oil is approximately 5.8 million British thermal units (MBtus) or 1,700 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy.[iii]

5.      15kW Solar Kit: Up to 60 solar panels generate 1,600 kWh per month (varies by location).[iv] SunWatts, an American company provides information on a 30% rebate for qualified expenses. Canada offers a $5,000.00 rebate

6.      The average life span of a solar panel is 25 to 30 years[v]

7.      The typical life span of a wind turbine is 20-25 years[vi]

8.      A very basic asphalt shingle, 3-tab style, lasts between 15 and 18 years.[vii]

9.      While most of these [rare earth] elements are not actually rare in terms of general amount of these elements in the earth's crust, they are rarely found in sufficient abundance in a single location for their mining to be economically viable.[viii]

 

Some Thoughts:

·         Re-shingle your roof before you put on solar panels

·         1,600 kWh per month equals 53 and bit kWh per day, based on a 30 day month.

·         Finland and Alaska will always need gasoline, based on current technologies.

·         Around 2 barrels of crude oil makes 1 barrel of gasoline and that a ‘barrel’ is 42 gallons (about 159 Liters), we can do some math. The current US EPA rules require 49 mpg, 299 kpl, for passenger cars, meaning that 2 the barrels of crude oil will allow a car to travel 2058 miles or 3312 km.

·         One liter of gasoline weighs between 0.71 and 0.78 kilograms, depending on its precise composition, using 0.75 kg per liter as an average; a 70 liter gas-tank would weigh about 52.5 kg, or about 116 lbs. Yet, EV batteries typically weigh between 454 kg or 1000 lbs.

·         The median range for a gasoline vehicle is about 400 miles, or nearly 650 km.

·         An average EV consumes about 0.32 kWh per mile, and can travel around 300 miles or just over 480 km. To charge a mostly drained EV requires 75-100 kWhs to fully recharge.

·         How much strip-mining is going to be needed to build the panels, turbines, and batteries?

·         The EV consumption rate remains fixed as the battery weight never changes, while the internal combustion vehicle becomes more fuel efficient as the volume/weight lowers.

·        According to the New York Times, in early September 2022 California requested that people don’t charge their Electric Vehicles after work  in the days leading up to the Labour Day weekend.

·         Generac Holdings’ stock has risen 50$ per share YTD at the time of writing. (generator manufacturer)

 

 

Putting it All Together:

Brownouts have plagued California in the last decade or more, proving areas of that state have a weak power grid and a shortage in capacity. California Independent System Operator that manages that state’s power grid needs to be shoring up both distribution and capacity starting tomorrow if they have not already; else Californians will simply buy gasoline based generators to run their fridges, stoves, AC, and to charge their cars. If this idea comes to fruition we can reclassify an Electrical Vehicles (EV) as External Combustion Engine (ECE) vehicles.

 

London England is currently expanding the ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) areas, where Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles are recorded outside their local zone and the owners are sent an invoice for doing so; and the further away the larger the invoice. Additionally, most countries have a petroleum taxes that are there to pay for the maintenance of the roads, which EVE vehicles also use. And, while furniture stores and some grocery stores are keen on maintaining low prices, governments are not well known for mimicking this practice and so when the taxes associated with ICE vehicles are being removed, the ECE vehicles will be required to replace those monies by one means or another .

 

Helsinki Finland (60.2 Lat) in winter gets around 6 hours of sunshine per day. The 23.5° tilt of the earth means that anyone above the 66^th parallel does not see the sun set in the summer nor it rise in the winter, what will these people do when the wind doesn’t blow? Of course the easy answer provided is that batteries will be used to store the energy required, it seems to me that much of the Earth’s crust will have to be ground to dust to obtain these rare earth elements; and, just how much of that dust will be made airborne thus blocking the sun and depriving those precious solar panels of the most valuable ingredient.

 

Everything that moves needs lubrication in one form or another, which especially applies to wind turbines seeing as wind speed is not as predictable as a fuel driven motor. For example, a single phase 60Hz two pole generator rotates at 3600 rpm to provide the 120/240V output [(2 x 60 x Frequenz Frequency) / N°Pole]; thus showing that a wind turbine requires a very complicated gearing apparatus. Please keep in mind that everything that moves needs lube.

 

Linseed oil or flaxseed oil, it is the same-thing, and animal fats were used years ago as a water repellent, a lubricant, a makeup base, and a fuel; while the original products proceeded the era of petroleum some of these original materials are still the best option depending on the job at hand.

 

So, what is best: hunting whales and bears to render their fat, hydraulic fracking, crude oil drilling, strip mining, or a living standard that throws us backwards beyond the Bronze Age or even the wheel? To everyone who believes in a myopic solution, I must state that you are a willing participant in all of the rest of the problems you are knowingly ignoring. Some would say that the advantage mankind has over the other animals is the adoption of tools, others would put forth the idea that mankind’s plus is that we tell stories, except otters use rocks to open shells and whales sing to each other; so just wait.

Big problems, when examined, are typically just a collection of many, many small problems and when many small problems are allowed to pile up they will blossom into a big problem; by managing the small problems the big problems are reduced. Thoughts and skills used to be our social symbols of status; these talents have been replaced by commodities; short of murder, I doubt anyone could have ‘stolen’ Da Vinci’s thoughts and ideas. I’ll put forth this request to all of the people who wish to save the planet; please just stop littering and reduce your conveniences down to a more reasonable level.

 

The UN estimates that India’s population is currently around 1.43 billion, China’s population is about the same though slightly lower, and if you add in Russia it adds up to approximate 3.0 billion people; many of which live in poverty. I imagine the number of parents who would willingly let their child or children freeze to death is miniscule at best; while any normal parent would burn anything and everything to stave off the cold.

 

Considering all of the things this planet has been through, I don’t understand how a small handful of people really think they are going save this planet by slow-walking down the street while Tweeting images of the cars lined up behind them wasting gas at a near idle; what is needed is: clean, cheap (non-subsidized) and readily available energy to lift the impoverished out of poverty.

 

This planet due to its very nature will always win, at least until the Sun goes away.

 

 

Someone else’s opinion…

https://youtu.be/uDVvEPRvngE

Added August 2nd, 2023

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_heat_waves

 

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[i] https://www.capp.ca/explore/life-cycle-of-a-well

[ii] https://globalnews.ca/news/9374225/canadian-oilpatch-likely-surpass-2022-production-record/

[iii] https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/barrelofoilequivalent.asp

[iv] https://sunwatts.com/15-kw-solar-kits/

[v] https://www.forbes.com/home-improvement/solar/how-long-do-solar-panels-last/

[vi] https://insideenergy.org/2016/09/09/where-do-wind-turbines-go-to-die/

[vii] https://greatcanadian.ca/blog/keep-covered-know-your-roofs-life-span-by-type-great-canadian-roofing-siding/

[viii] https://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2016/finalwebsite/elements/ree.html

24 Hours of being The Philosopher King

The idea of the Philosopher King was laid out in Plato’s Republic. The Philosopher King would, in theory, be a man who uses his philosophical knowledge and temperament to guide his politics and accompanying power. Plato eventually abandoned this hypothetical mode of government in favour of one with a greater distribution, and by extension, a greater dilution of power for any individual.

As a member of the demos, a plebeian, a lowly peasant if you will, but definitely not a member of the political class, I’m going to put forth some ideas that if implemented might for at least some time, make a better world.

On politicians and politics

One of the problems in modern politics is a serious lack of ‘skin in the game’ for the politicians. In this age of the Internet/Information overload, politicians are often given a pass that the lowly peasants would at least get a stern talking to or a summons for; it used to be that with great power came great responsibility. The responsibility portion of that equation now seems to have been tossed out the window of a moving car, as if it was an unwanted puppy.

The obvious response is to re-install consequence, and here are some ideas up for consideration:

1.)    For each million, insert currency here, printed outside of the government’s budget each and every political representative pays 1,000 Dollars, British pounds, Euros, or whatever is applicable.

1.1)  So if a billion extra dollars are printed each and every representative would be out $1M.

2.)    Any proposed legislation that is struck down by the courts imposes a moratorium on that politician’s next submission, the length of which is still to be sorted out.

2.1)  This provides for an anti-SLAPP[i] (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) like imposition on each and every politician.

3.)    Interest rates, a literal double edged sword, must be minimized when inflation out-paces wage increases, as the week-to-week people will take a hit which can/will render them homeless.

3.1)  High interest rates, coupled with high inflation stagnates cash flow thus causing the crippling of any society.

4.)    Policies have long term impact and as such the pensions of politicians are to be inversely linked to interest rates.

 

Another slice of the political pie is the civil-service. The civil-service is more than just accountants, actuaries, file clerks, lawyers, and statisticians; civil-servants are also influencers of policy.

1.)    Much like the credits at the end of a movie, credit must be given where credit is due for civil-servants and as such each and every piece of legislation presented needs to list all civil-servant contributors.

1.1)  Consultants paid out of the public purse can be listed like the ‘best-boy electrician’ is.

2.)    Policies have long term impact and as such the pensions of senior civil-servants are to be inversely linked to interest rates; police, firefighters and other public facing works would be exempt.

 

Of course, in this the current year, politics and money often go hand in hand, and this must be curtailed. There are two simple steps regarding money and politics to disentangle these two items: A) only those citizens who can be incarcerated can vote and/or donate, and B) anyone who receives an income from the government is bared from voting and/or donating the tier of government for which they work. I’ll break this down in the next few paragraphs.

 

Americans, you are pretty much the worst, or the best example of item A. America has limits on how much a single person can donate to a politician/party. Then came the idea of the Public Action Committee, or ‘Super PAC’ which allows for independent expenditures on the behalf of a politician or party; please cut the crap and just call this donating.

 

Organizational based donations to the government are to be stopped. Organizations can be companies, trade unions, None Government Organizations (NGOs), or other lobbyists. For example, the leaders of a company may donate to a political party that will create regulations within the company’s vertical. A number of outcomes result from this practice, such as: regulatory burdens that stifle market entry for new companies, a slowing of innovation due to the lack of innovation, a limiting of wage opportunities, and the profitability of shareholders. In short, this practice promotes the monopolization of any sector of commerce.

 

Item B is a safeguard against an over indulgence in self interest at the unwilling expense of others. Once the civil-service, the body of government, becomes large enough and is coupled with a large enough portion of the population reliant on social handouts a pseudo-majority is formed due to the apathy of many citizens. Any person or party hunting for power will simply for the sake of power leverage this combined cohort in their pursuits.

 

On Education:

The final exam for every high-school student, GSCEs for you British types, is the same exam that immigrants need to pass in order to obtain citizenship. This exam can only be changed by a national referendum once per decade, where each question is maintained, dismissed, or introduced by popular vote. Equally, if a migrant can pass a Canadian exam for a post secondary degree then that person must be handed that degree; as this seems only fair.

 

Of all the subjects taught in high-school, and below, history is the one most open to contention as history is typically written by the victors, and typically with a ‘we were not the baddies’ perspective. Of course, who the bad guys were changes under a new regime. For example it is claimed that three to five hundred Conquistadors subdued the Aztec civilization, made up of thousands; rather than a mass slaughter carried by a propped-up neighboring tribe seeking revenge for a prolonged demand of human sacrifices.

 

In a close second, in this the current year, is human biology; here an effort will be made to avoid a rhetorical argument as the intent is to provide an argument against rhetoric. Rhetoric is often used in advertising to impress upon the audience a feeling of ‘post hoc ergo propter hoc’, more widely known as ‘when you buy this beer, you will get these attractive women’.  A more recent version of this argumentative technique is to shift the meaning of words to retroactively include something that the word never meant before; with the hope that no-one will notice or care. This can be seen in the abuse of the word ‘women’, as trans-women are now being crow-bared into the collective term ‘women’ at the expense of women.

 

Mathematics needs to be returned to pencil, paper and the blackboard for the junior grades. Additionally, PEMDAS/BEDMAS is both a lie and misdirection as it ignores juxtaposition; the equation ‘6 ÷ 2(1+2) = ?’ has raised controversy in that some people think the answer is 1 while others believe the answer to be 9. The basic question that needs to be made clear is if juxtaposition implies brackets or not; to test this, substitute X for (1+2) and use the two proposed answers on the right hand side of the of the equals sign and solve for X using the PEMDAS rules.

 

Still on mathematics, and this is a critique of society at large which started in my high school years with the introduction of calculators. Going back to the tantalizing conundrum of the equation, ‘6 ÷ 2(1+2) = ?’, when the equation is entered into Microsoft Excel it would look like ‘= 6 ÷ 2(1+2)’, Excel will suggests the rewrite ‘= 6 ÷ 2*(1+2)’ which unbinds the 2 from the parentheses. This is of course not the same if the 2 is bound to the parentheses by juxtaposition which in Excel would be expressed with the equation ‘= 6 ÷ (2*(1+2))’. The juxtaposition rule was provided to eliminate the need for writing brackets and now it appears that everyone is going to have to go back to writing brackets for the sake of having a clear mathematical grammar.

 

As for geography, someone once said something along the lines of: ‘America is in perpetual conflict to teach its people the geography of the world that they didn’t learn in school.’

 

Society and Socialization:

Politics was put first in this article due to its reach and power. Of course politicians can only derive their power from the society in which they operate. We have seen many times in history what happens when the people turn against the political; from Cesar, to the French revolution, Napoleon (twice), the Romanov family, Mussolini, Nicolae Ceaușescu, every Prime Minister ever voted out of office, and the occasional military coup.

 

‘Protected classes/characteristics’ in law, along with hate-speech laws are to be repealed[ii]. By creating protected classes a debatable hierarchy is formed and hate-speech laws simply seek to deny the ability for a person to show their true colours, all the while denying society the ability to know said person’s true self. Does anyone seriously believe that laws stifling a person’s speech will halt that person’s bigotry, or is it more likely to add fuel to that fire?

 

In law, all persons must be protected and no person may be more protected than others, thank you Mr. Orwell; children are exempt from this concept for they must be held with a special standing in society. Children are not allowed to drink, get tattoos, drive, or have consensual sex; as they are considered mentally innocent and therefore are by default to be protected due to lacking the ability to consent.

 

In addition, a penalty would be imposed for provably false accusations; a starting point would be the minimum penalty of the alleged crime being put forth for prosecution, once again the principle of anti-SLAPP comes into play. The dismissal of an accusation MUST NOT be taken as proof of a false accusation.

 

No organization self-identifying based on an immutable characteristic shall receive monies collected through taxation without ALL similar NGOs, of equal positioning, receiving an equal amount else the government be labeled ‘phobic’ and held to account. Tax exemption is, within the calculation of gross v. net monies and must positioned as an equivalent to tax money presentation, and as such must be treated with an equal non-bias consideration. The duty of any government is to serve and protect each and every citizen equally.

 

Beyond 24 hrs:

Andrew Breitbart is attributed with the quote, ‘politics is downstream from culture’ and yet it is the politicians who run the education systems, thus setting up an Ouroboros[iii] like situation. With regards to culture and therefore the politics, if Breitbart is to be believed, there needs to be a common underlying belief to maintain a cohesive and successful society, and this can’t be fixed in a day.

 

The introduction of a new belief or social narrative will upset the applecart of social stability and cohesion When a society’s narrative is lost the end of that culture is not far behind, or is that when a culture’s narrative is lost the end of societal collapse is not far behind; this chicken vs. egg problem does seem somewhat hard to crack.

 

In previous generations the narrative was ‘a better world for my children’ and now that message seems to be lost or least has taken a back seat to the much simpler ‘me’. This of course is not ubiquitous across all parents, for some have remained vigilant on behalf of their children, while others who in the past took an apathetic approach are now stepping up for various reasons; of course that previous parental apathy was the root cause for the reasons now under scrutiny.

 

Many countries and companies dedicate an entire month to celebrate in name what was once called a sin; social acceptance of this previous sin was gained under a moderate level of temperance by the original advocates is now facing social backlash under this new more zealous regime displaying public exhibitions that are well beyond affection. I posit that for those who held and still hold that original position of asking for normality and equality need to speak out against the zealots to keep the ground previously gained, and I can’t fix this at all.

 

Another choice that has been left to the adults in the room is personal health, as it should be; and yet so many of these adults who abdicated their responsibility towards self-health expect that others will makeup for their choices. While many people believe in progressive taxes based on wealth, I posit that clothes prices based on BMI would be the cause of many ‘mostly peaceful demonstrations’. Currently, demonstrations take the form of those showing their disappointment in the system do so by doing smash-and-grabs for jewelry, Nike shoes, TVs, and Louis Vuitton bags.

 

In short, as our society writ large and on some points individually, the Seven Deadly Sins[iv] have become the framing basis for our way of life in the West. In looking at the news I can’t help but see the 7-Sins on full display. For some reason I really like the word trebuchet though for metaphorical reasons the ballista is a better fit, as this machine of war is based on tension rather than gravity, as you will see.

 

Upon reflection, the duration of my life so far has seen an ever-tightening rope in society; and now it seems that rope has already been made wet to allow for more stretching thus creating more tension upon drying, which seems to be now; leaving me to wonder if our social/cultural ballista can withstand all the tensile forces being applied.

 

Tell me if you heard this before: massive public and private debt, high inflation, a shortage of housing, a shortage of an effective work force, declining population, and the ‘othering’ of identified groups; now decide for yourself what the near future will look like.

 

 

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[i] SLAPP suits – or Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation – are actions typically brought by persons subject to public criticism in an effort to silence or intimidate their critics.

[ii] June 29^th 2023, The SCOTUS repealed Affirmative Action for University entrance.

[iii] The ouroboros or uroboros is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail.

[iv] The deadly sin are Pride, Greed, Wrath, Envy, Lust, Gluttony and Sloth

The End of A Temporary Pleasure…

 

 All pleasures are temporary

He is amongst the hills and mountains, the fields and streams.

He walks with damp grass between his toes,

The smell of live flowers will fill his nose.

For my good friend has gone off to a better place.

Nature abhors a vacuum and his was strong, yet what was done isn’t wrong.

This concrete jungle appeared not for him,

His long term happiness seemed quite dim.

For my good friend has gone off to a better place.

Knowing what end was inevitable, I wore my best face.

This lack of company while making me sad,

The best choice was made and so I’m not mad.

For my good friend has gone off to a better place.

 

Good rewards come from hard choices and actions.

While this writing may sound like the death of a pet,

It is not, and so don’t you dare fret.

For my good friend has gone off to a better place.

 

We talked on topics far and wide: math, science, politics, philosophy, and more

Our time together felt for me like I was back in University,

While he seemed almost Italian; I truly did enjoy his diversity.

My good friend has gone off, to take a better stance, in his home that country called France.

 

Meilleurs voeux mon bon ami et vive la France!

NOTE: No Large Language Model (LLM) systems were harmed in the creation of this poetry.