> Lastly, what happened to the energy question? Are fossil fuels soon
> running out? Are alternative energy sources viable given a chance?
> :-)
The energy question always runs up against a wall of ignorance, I reckon. As
the question is actually (as Mark never tires of telling us) more like: 'is
energy available at current requirement projections at environmental costs
most people can stand and at market prices compatible with those particular
requirements within a capitalist context', it is rather a difficult nut to
crack - lots of room for error and all that. That we're going to need the
contribution of fossil fuels to humanity's energy budget to go down
significantly over the next twenty years seems obvious to me. I predict the
comeback of nuclear reactors, myself, but that probably won't get any of us to
or from our designated production and consumption zones from and to our
designated dormitory zones. In that crucial respect, a sudden surge in prices
or the intensity of urban inversion blankets (I was on the apex of Sydney
Harbour Bridge a few months ago, and glamorous Sydney, only a mile away, was
quite invisible in its turd-like shroud - quite scary to drive into, even for
an industrial-strength smoker like me) could be hard to handle, short of a
retreat to government transport systems. Talk of alternatives should
encompass something affordable to put under my bonnet (hood) that takes less
energy to make and less energy to run. Coz, like most outside the US, I shall
go through life without ever being able to afford to replace the old steed
(who drinks and smokes more than I do) with something new. Haven't heard
anything convincing in that line yet.
Cheers,
Rob.
