Sustainable Energy - without the hot air

[DamonHD]

I'm on my way to the book launch for this "Without the Hot Air" book (which is available for free download from the author's site).  It's a good book, and I suggest that anyone not entirely repelled by numbers/engineering take a look, especially if you're in the UK.

http://www.withouthotair.com/

Full disclosure: my name's in the credits because I made a couple of tiny suggestions.

Rgds

Damon

[Phil Timmons]

THAT is some NICE work, Damon.

I R one of those engineer/numbers type, so I appreciate those "numbers, not adjectives" (great phrase, by the way).

Something I think I did see absent -- Solar Thermal Electric generation?

Is that because the book is British Isles focused and that is not considered practical in that setting?  (Low direct insolation).

The numbers end of Solar Thermal Electric Generation looks like it could eat just about every other option's lunch in the Southwest USA.

Here is some folks I have helped a little on it >>>

www.ausra.com

Again, great work, overall.

[SparWeb]

Many of my family members cringe when I rant on about how public debate and documentaries use very few facts, and even when they do, they don't actually present the fact itself, they present interpretations of it from this or that perspective.  They give up when a discussion revolves around measuring the effect and balancing cost, but they listen raptly when stakes are high and the forces of good strike a blow against evil.  I'm sick and tired of Al Gore's charts.  He's got a following that's emotionally motivated, so why doesn't somebody step up and use facts that will give them a direction to go?  Paying a few bucks per plane trip to plant some trees is equivalent to buying an "indulgence" from the catholic church hundreds of years ago.

Every time I come across a source of concrete information I cling to it tightly and absorb whatever I can.  This book has already caught my attention, and I look forward to reading the NUMBERS and ANALYSIS, as I go though it in the coming days or weeks.

The author's point of view is abundantly clear.  

[Bruce S]

SparWeb;

 I would love to debate Al, I even sent an email stating so. No response, but really didn't think he or any of his would answer. The best we can do is stay as truthfully informed and explain to others as calmly as possible.

If we step into the fray and use emotion against the nonesense then we are no better, but if we use facts and stay calm we not only look better, but people tend to listen more.

Cheers

Bruce S

[DamonHD]

The "solar in the (North African) desert" suggestion is where solar thermal mainly features along with domestic hot water (DHW).

The UK is not very well suited for concentrating solar power (CSP) for electricity.

Rgds

Damon

[Bruce S]

Damon;

 I have not read the entire PDF, but have already read the 10 page sym.

I liked his take on UKs solar and made a compared it to solar HW and how much better it would be.

His tongue-in-cheek humor helps to keep it from being a dry read too.

Very well done so far.

Look forward to the full read.

br

Bruce S

[valterra]

I agree with both of you.  It is why the title of this story caught my eye.  I made  a blog for my friends and family about my projcts.  Not much there right now, but the point was to present this stuff in a way people could (hopefully) unerstand, and completely leave all the emotional stuff out of it.

I personally like this stuff because I like the idea of being self-reliant.  If what I do helps lessen "carbon" or whatever is causing Global Warmi... er... Climate Change, then wonderful.  When all the lights in the neighborhood go out during a power outage, can I still turn mine on?  That is what I care about.

[Madscientist267]

Thats what I'm talkin about... Freedom from the 'powers-that-be'!

Personally, IMHO, Global warming is well, umm.. a crock? And if it is real, what's this about cow farts and methane being several times more potent than CO2 for 'greenhouse gas'? I don't buy this idea that humans and their toys are causing all of it. The earth as a whole is like everything else, cyclic. It will fix itself no matter what we do. The real problem is the humans alright; the ones in control of our current energy addiction source: OIL.

Energy independence will almost certainly need to be the way of the future, as gas prices clearly demonstrated this past summer. It isn't that we (as a human race) can't produce it, it is that we (as individuals) have no control over what it is going to cost us to use it. People keep crying 'we need to find alternative energy', but those same people aren't doing anything about it. If we are going to win this 'war on oil', we are going to have to quit using it.

2500 Watt homebrew windmills and rooftops covered in solar panels, with strategically crafted homes all angled and pointed in the right direction will be where its at. At the moment, I am as guilty as the next guy in my reliance on fossil, but that is changing. We can win, but I can't see it working if we rely on big brother to make it happen. Good example of this? What's this about city codes prohibiting the use of RE equipment? Ok, not only are we not going to be able to rely on big brother, we're gonna have to actively fight him!

Individuality; all of us, collectively educating ourselves in preparation to run more efficiently, so that when it comes to a head, the parts left over that we do still have to rely on in the near future (like gas for a car), won't hurt so bad in the wallet. Let's face it, some things just are more promising than others. But we have to start somewhere...

I'm not about saving the world either, I just don't want to be caught in the crosshairs when the goop gods decide to do us in.

Props (no pun) to all that have succeeded thus far in making a nice dent in the conversions - I'm right behind you, ready to join the fun! Keep rockin, this is good stuff!

Now if I could just solve that pesky cash problem . . . What a catch-22 haha

Steve