Hi Mike, > From: "Mike Carrell"
... > I think it remarkable how this discussion spun out of > control by misunderstanding the original post. And this > is a group that is supposed to be analysing new science > in a meaningful way. > > The original post was about mapping the wind at various > parts of the globe and estimating the energy contecnt of > that airflow, noting that extraction of a few percent of > it would satisfy man's needs. Not bad, something well > worth noting. This is a non-trivial datum. > > There has been a separate discussion about wind towers, > very high structures intended to generate forceful > updrafts at almost any location. This has little to do > with the wind energy map, which indicates places to put > windmill farms, a wholly different technology. > > It was millions of windmills, not millions of wind towers. > > As for distance from population centers, so are > hydroelectric dams whose power is distributed for > hundreds of miles. > > Mike Carrell > I respectfully disagree that this particular discussion thread has "spun out of control." There was no misunderstanding on my part. I deliberately and consciously started a brand new discussion thread specifically in order to distinguish the issue I wanted to bring up in Vortex from previous ones pertaining to global wind charts and windmills. Granted the original discussions may have focused on mapping global wind flow patterns and how best to harness that natural energy with windmills. However, as an artist I began to perceive a CULTURAL component worth discussing within Vortex. I specifically wanted to discuss the cultural, political and aesthetic ramifications of what the advantages (or disadvantages as Jed has suggested) in the feasibility of instigating a national goal (equivalent to the Apollo Program) of building a sufficient number of SOLAR TOWERS (not windmills!) with the ultimate goal of making our nation energy independent. Politically speaking, what might the pursuit of such a national goal do for our nation, and perhaps the entire planet on the longer run. Again I reiterate: This particular thread has more to with cultural, political & aesthetic considerations as it has to do whether the technology exists in the first place. Considering the latter I suspect the technology DOES exist assuming the nation was sufficiently motivated in the collective sense to pursue it on a national scale with the same fervor we showed for the Apollo Moon project. I suspect the spin-off technology alone that might result as we discover how to build stronger taller and stronger tower structures and wind turbines could generate positive ramifications in other sectors of our society, just as the space program did. I specifically chose SOLAR TOWERS (not windmills) because they would be HUGE in-your-face structures. Because they are TOWERS, their structural shape tend to represent strong psychic archetypes to different people and societies depending on cultural backgrounds. If these structures were built by the thousands they would obviously become some of the most pervasive monuments ever built in the 21st century - monuments of what our technology is capable of erecting. Would that be a good or bad thing? Jed has argued that their pervasiveness (if built by the thousands) would be aesthetically detrimental to the over-all health of societies being forced to live next to them. I, on the other hand, have continued to argue that I'm not as convinced as Jed appears to be. Never the less, I'm still open to suggestions! ;-) Regards, Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com
