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