Big Bill wrote:
>On Tue, 19 Oct 2004 20:45:06 GMT, Jack Dingler <[email protected]>
>wrote:
>
>
>There I have what?
>You don't really think that's it as far as searching for alternative
>means of energy, do you?
>If so, you're more stupid than I thought.
>
>
>>But I'll call you bluff, what energy source is waiting in the wings to
>>replace the raw BTUs from oil and gas, and can be put into production
>>now? What fuel is it that can produce more power than all the systems
>>producing eletricity in the US today?
>>
>>
>
>Ah, moving the goalposts. Did your doom & gloom (D&G for short, as
>we'll probably use that term a lot) friends tell you to add that?
>Why can't you think for yourself instead of merely repeating what your
>D&G friends tell you?
>Why does it need to be an exact BTU replacement? Why can't we also
>work on conservation & waste reduction?
>And why "now"? Aren't you paying attention? Oil isn't running out by
>the end of November. Or even next year. There's time to do this right.
>
Moving the goal posts? What the heck are you talking about. The crux of
my argument hasn't changed. Did you get my posts mixed up with someone
else's? Or are you not reading what I write?
How much time do you think it takes? I think we're in for a fifty year
decline. During the decline, I think it will be impossible to build the
infrastructure required to replace oil. The best I think we can hope for
is small community changes in midst of chaos.
At this time, global oil production might be past it's peak. We may be
in the decline now. The short term numbers are adding up that way. But
only a historical assessment a few years down the road will tell us for
sure.
And in the future, if there's one well, pumping a few pints a day, then
clearly we haven''t run out. There's a great deal of fun in playing with
semantics on the topic. Since some of the oil will always be
unrecoverable, we'll never run out. We won't have any, but the planet
will. Just like the world never ran out of dodo birds or passenger
pigeons. There's still some stuffed ones in museums. See, we never ran
out! Word games in the oil mythos are cool!
>>Your argument seems to be based on some fantasy that there's some secret
>>scientific group working on an exotic power source. I don't buy it.
>>
>>
>
>I never even hinted that it's secret.
>I will say, though, that it's obviously a surprise to you, because you
>haven't been even trying to see if your D&G friends are right.
>
>Here's a start:
>http://www.google.com/search?q=alte...ient=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official
>Or, because you seem to have trouble actually using the internet:
>http://tinyurl.com/53uxc
>
>
>>And of course, I can't prove a negative. I can't prove that something
>>doesn't exist, doesn't exist.
>>
>>
>
>You just make the claim, though.
>You claim that there's no research being done, because *you* don't
>know about it.
>Have you put yourself in a position where those doing the research
>report to you? I seriously doubt that.
>Learn. Educate yourself.
>
>
>>Jack Dingler
>>
>>
Dude, those aren't going to keep civilization growing past the oil age.
They can't be scaled to that degree. You're still arguing that a
janitor's pay can give someone a Donald Trump lifestyle.
And no, I never moved the goal posts. My argument has stayed the same.
There is no ready replacement for oil waiting in the wings. There is no
energy source, even the old tried and true wind and solar technologies,
much less some science fiction option, waiting in the wings, that can
replace the BTUs in oil and provide the 2% per annum growth that oil
once enjoyed.
If you think the technologies you've linked above, solar, wind, biomass,
can be scaled to replace oil, then you have no idea what that scale is.
If these people are really reporting to you, if you really employ these
people, then get them to educate you on energy conversion units. I've
never been a mid level manager, I've always been a math, sciences and
engineering guy. Unlike you, I don't need other people to do my homework
for me. I have skills to do the math and conversions myself.
As an experiment, have one of your engineers, draw up the rough
calculations for how much one of these systems would have to be scaled
up to produce that same energy as is consumed in oil and natural gas
everyday.
Jack Dingler