Well I wasnt meaning to suggest that solar panels actually fail the equation I gave them, jsut that we always need to probe a little deeper to make sure the solutions arent more costly to the world than the original problem.
Its a time when enthusiasm is needed to stir the masses into action, and so some git like me pointing out that all that solar energy isnt free, and it will take a certain number of years for the panel to pay for itself in terms of carbon use, may be unwelcome. But on the otherhand it may help those who are skeptical about the 100% happy joy joy green hype & greenwashing that you point out is already here. I was born in 1975 and the energy/environmental crisis is at least that old. Its funny how much it was talked about back then, spurred on by events such as arab oil embargo's, and how it is even reflected in popular culture such as movies of the time like 'Soyent Green' (sp?) Anyway as a kid I remember TV adverts telling me to switch the lights off when I left the room, although this was more for energy cost/shortage reasons than the planet melting. Then there was the 'ozone layer' stuff in the 80's which finally got sorted, but again when I search the net it turns out people had identified the problem decades earlier. But somewhere along the way, the green energy stuff had a decade or so long rest, althoug other green issues such as organic foods and pollution reduction continued. Now in the last few years the energy part of things has reached feverpitch, and here in te UK most of the media and politicians are going on about this stuff nearly every day. Personally I dont disbelieve the climate change science but suspect it is energy considerations which are driving the current race towards sustainability. As I mentioned before, carbon offsetting is one of the areas I suspect is not helping as much as advertised, and is proving far too easy an option for carbon offenders to use to clain that 'they are carbon neutral' (Al Gore is a topical example). The other day a tabloid newspaper in the UK went through the bins of the leader of the opposition political party in thsi country, David Cameron, who talks green a lot, and discovered some stuff that was recyclable being thrown out with the trash. When politicians appear on TV show where the audience ask questions, they are getting attacked for their own lifestyles which inevitably involve a lot of flying. So far the media are doing an OK job of pointing out hipocracy, another DDavid Cameron incident involved the fact he was cycling to work, but then it turned out some large car was driving behind him carring his paperwork. He talked a lot about getting a wind turbine on his house, but so far as I know it hasnt happened, partly because they figured it would be a security risk, his house would be easy to identify. Still its easier to spot this sort of thing with individuals more than with companies, there are all sorts of ways of doing something green whilst carrying on making things bad in other areas. Business certainly uses a lot of energy, Ive found that any of my basic energy saving at home tactics are dwarfed by just gong round turning various things off at work before the weekend. Disposal of computers and other electronic devices is another part of the jigsaw. Again its not good, certainly in the EU manufacturers are now being made responsible for the cost of disposal of the goods they manufacture, once they reach end of life. This is in part due to llimits & increased costs on landfill disposal. Recycling in general is improving but I sometimes see disturbing pictures on the TV of waste that has been sent from here to India or China, where poor people melt it down and expose themselves to many harmful chemicals :( Steve Elbows --- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, "J. Rhett Aultman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Steve, > > The fever pitch, in a lot of ways, is already here, and it has been for a > while. Plenty of so-called "green" products are coopting the marketing of > "greenness" for the purpose of selling but are not green in and of > themselves. I actually think things have gotten better as people are > starting to take a "show me the money" attitude. > > Also, the USDOE has plenty of figures refuting that argument about solar > panels, and not all biofuels are bad. ;) > > -- > Rhett. > http://www.weatherlight.com/greentime > > > My biggest fear is that as talk of green & sustainable issues reaches > > fever pitch, there are going to be so mny things that sound good but > > are actually bad. Many of the carbon offsetting programs are murky and > > its hard to be sure how much genuine difference they are actually > > making. Its no use getting a solar panel if the energy used to make it > > is greater than all the energy the device will generate in a lifetime. > > And dont even get me started on biofuels. > > > > Cheers > > > > Steve Elbows > > --- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, "J. Rhett Aultman" <wlight@> > > wrote: > >> > >> > How green is video-blogging itself? > >> > > >> > Do personal computers and video cameras grow on trees? Or, are they > >> > made out of petro-chemicals? > >> > > >> > What is the carbon footprint of the equipment used to product a > >> > videoblog? Does that include the internet infra-structure? > >> > > >> > Where can I buy carbon credits to cover the electricity used in the > >> > making and distribution of my video blog? What is the > >> > carbon-unit-per-minute-of-videoblog rate? Could I win a prize on > >> > "Vlogging for Dollars" to cover it? > >> > >> Well... > >> > >> * There's a company offering wind-powered web hosting. We may > > transition > >> Greentime to them in the future, depeding on a few things. > >> > >> * Vloggers can, of course, be choosy with their equipment and buy only > >> what they need, ensuring low use. > >> > >> * Many utility companies now offer green electricity for a tiny > > extra fee > >> (here it's about $10/month). > >> > >> * Dell will let you purchase offsets for the computer you buy. > >> > >> * You can always charge the camera and laptop battery with solar. > >> > >> ...really, all this leaves is the electricity used in bandwidth > >> generation, and if you can quanitfy it, you could buy an offset. > >> > >> Oh, and if you covered this, we'd love to mention it or run an > > excerpt on > >> Greentime. > >> > >> -- > >> Rhett. > >> http://www.weatherlight.com/freetime > >> http://www.weatherlight.com/greentime > >> > > > > > > > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > >
