Like everybody else over the past week I've been watching news and reading reports about the disastrous leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. It seems to me the whole idea of drilling in sea beds is the worst solution to our energy problems the resource exploiters have come up with yet and they really have devised and implemented some rotten ones. I probably don't have to give you any for instances to make the point.
Anyway, it seems to me while they're down there trying to divert the gusher into their silly looking but hopefully not ineffective containment device we'd all be better off if they were considering using the ocean waves themselves to generate power rather than having powerful waves drive oil into areas that are ecologically vulnerable. Covering more than 70% of the Earth's surface, the ocean is the world's largest untapped, renewable energy resource. From what I've read I've been able to understand that experts believe 0.2% of the ocean's untapped energy could power the entire world. What a deal that would be.
Human beings have been practicing ocean power technologies for many years (hundreds or perhaps thousands if we take sailing into account) and understand the principles of hydrodynamics as well as mechanical and electrical engineering. Ocean energy is an abundant, predictable and renewable resource, guaranteed to deliver high output pretty much forever. It's also non-polluting and doesn't contribute to global warming.
Three quarters of the world's electricity needs are met by burning fossil fuels such as coal or natural gas, methods that generate vast quantities of greenhouse gasses. Hydropower is fine but damming rivers has nasty side effects for people and ecosystems. Wind power and solar are fine alternatives but so far haven't provided a significant dent in current energy needs and there are problems too with land use.
Portugal was participating in a project designed to provide a significant percentage of their electricity from wave power using Pelamis generators. Unfortunately, the economic downturn left them without funds to revise and extend the system but I enjoyed seeing this video of it in action.
I rather like the Anaconda. . an entertaining way to ride the waves to say the least. Besides, it's time for something more productive than huge oil spills and all the rest. We really can do better as a species.
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Absolutely. Big Oil has had their way long enough. And there certainly seems to be enough disasters lately to prove that point.
ReplyDeletei keep wondering how many times these disasters are going to have to happen before enough people figure out they have to put money where there mouths are....this has to stop and what they're doing down there will not stop it's happening again...those rigs are getting old, you know? i doubt they've even a plan in the works for when one goes over....ah hell, it's too depressing sometimes but this thing and the article was interesting and, believe it or not, the wus i am, it made me seasick....now tell me, dear friend, just how are you making these little things...first the clear heart and now the umbrella...such a show-off are you, so tell me!! ;) really, i'm serious, i NEED to know the trick to it....life is driven by the little things, you know?
ReplyDeletejust for that, here's this-♥
nancy - I think they're still trying to downplay the level of this outrage in the media but people know more now and are becoming much more difficult to to mollify.
ReplyDeletelinda - I read that they didn't have an internationally accepted valve in place and besides that, Halliburton may have poured bad cement. You're right this stuff is getting old in every sense of the word. Sorry you got seasick :-)
As for the symbols they're just a little extra I happened to find in my text edit program (after using it for three years) ✄ ☜
Wow.... the picture you have used is very beautiful
ReplyDeletehttp://www.expertsfromindia.com
These look very cool - particularly the Anacondas, since they could be out of the way of shipping. We are definitely building the doing the wrong things so much of the time...
ReplyDeleteOf course it's the worst solution. All those sea monsters in the briny deep!
ReplyDeletei deleted the question marks because the poem was too beautiful to be marred by questions. hugs.
ReplyDeletei predict
ReplyDeletethere will be an idiot
standing barefoot
in water to his ankles
trying to plug his toothbrush
into an ocean wave
and complaining about
being shocked
when it doesn't work.
steve - It's all so crazy and so very sad. Worst of all, it's unnecessary but greed rules.
ReplyDeleterandal - Kraken please take them.
sera - Thank you :-)
sera - Yes, you're probably correct ∞ ❥
what i JUST read, was so beautiful, i wept...thank you, sometimes i let myself forget...
ReplyDelete♥