Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard
Enough solar energy strikes the earth in one hour to power the entire world for a year.
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Two things:
First, what kind of environmental impact would covering 60,000 square kilometers of the Earth's surface have? And that is a minimum number assuming 100% conversion efficiency and no growth in energy usage. Oh, and that is also assuming that those 60,000 square kilometers moved with the Sun so they were exposed 24 hours a day.
Second, how much energy and natural resources would it take to create these 60,000 square kilometers of photovoltaic cells, interface them with the current electrical grid, and keep them up and running?
See, my big problem is with this concept of "renewable" energy is that its biggest proponents refuse to acknowledge its darker side (in this case, literal). I'm going to say this very slowly so all can understand: EVERYTHING we do has an environmental impact. The ecosystem of this planet is built around having access to every single one of these renewable energy sources, and every time we've try to bypass that, we've ended up impacting the environment in one way or another. Now, as members of this ecosystem, impacting the environment is our birthright, but as a species, we need to recognize our place and our role.
Screaming "renewable energy" is just a way of sounding holier than thou, and it results in nothing more than candy coating the fact that we as a species are putting ourselves and our needs above the rest of the environment. We've already pushed the environment far out of balance, and our arrogance -- our hubris -- makes us think that we can still push even further, or at least maintain this position (that includes this silly idea of differentiating between fossil fuels and renewable energy). Make no mistake, there will be a reckoning, and nature will push back... very, VERY hard.