05-29-2007, 03:34 PM
Solar power isn't all bad. Sure, it is not perfect. Yes, it is expensive. Or it can be. But it has some good spot applications.
Solar powered water heaters, solar powered engines that turn fans and water pumps, little applications like those have made my solarium a very, very nice place. And heat the water in my home. Passive solar heating, which heats up water very quickly in the day light hours and circulates it through pipes in the tile floor keeps temps stable in the winter.
I live completely off the grid now. I have a variety of devices to generate power. Several windmill type things sit down in the gully where the wind always seems to be blowing. I have hydro-electric power by harnessing the creeks that run through my property. Solar. And I have been tinkering with a genny that runs on moonshine. I'd really hate for that to catch fire though, cause you would never actually see the flames.
All of my graywater gets multiple uses, and my blackwater is recycled and treated here on property. Nothing is wasted.
The way most people run their homes, with all of their fancy shmancy electric appliances and what not, no, solar and alternative energy isn't going to cut it. People and all their got damned creature comforts. People believe they are delicate little hothouse flowers and they simply must have this and that, and all this rampant consumerism, and the power to run their miserable pathetic lives defined by the junk they buy and spend their lives slaving away to have enough money to buy more junk and pay the electric bills to power it.
I got my self off to a good start by throwing out most of my electric appliances. Microwave? That annoying wheezing beeping pain in my ass monstrosity, it had to go. The big tv? It went. Lots of things got downsized... Other things, well, I have long used wood burning stoves for cooking. Trees are a renewable resource, and I have plenty. Dishwasher? What do you think they make wives and little kids for? :P
Lots of things went, even my really nice stereo equipment. I am going to miss that. I have even ditched a lot of my computer equipment.
Now, I use far less electricity than I make. Sustainable living. I am even thinking about knocking the house down and building an earthship or a geodesic dome maybe.
Now, if I could just figure out how to turn kudzu in to a fuel source, I'd be set.
Sustainable living is possible, and solar has some applications. But it is not the answer.
Solar powered water heaters, solar powered engines that turn fans and water pumps, little applications like those have made my solarium a very, very nice place. And heat the water in my home. Passive solar heating, which heats up water very quickly in the day light hours and circulates it through pipes in the tile floor keeps temps stable in the winter.
I live completely off the grid now. I have a variety of devices to generate power. Several windmill type things sit down in the gully where the wind always seems to be blowing. I have hydro-electric power by harnessing the creeks that run through my property. Solar. And I have been tinkering with a genny that runs on moonshine. I'd really hate for that to catch fire though, cause you would never actually see the flames.
All of my graywater gets multiple uses, and my blackwater is recycled and treated here on property. Nothing is wasted.
The way most people run their homes, with all of their fancy shmancy electric appliances and what not, no, solar and alternative energy isn't going to cut it. People and all their got damned creature comforts. People believe they are delicate little hothouse flowers and they simply must have this and that, and all this rampant consumerism, and the power to run their miserable pathetic lives defined by the junk they buy and spend their lives slaving away to have enough money to buy more junk and pay the electric bills to power it.
I got my self off to a good start by throwing out most of my electric appliances. Microwave? That annoying wheezing beeping pain in my ass monstrosity, it had to go. The big tv? It went. Lots of things got downsized... Other things, well, I have long used wood burning stoves for cooking. Trees are a renewable resource, and I have plenty. Dishwasher? What do you think they make wives and little kids for? :P
Lots of things went, even my really nice stereo equipment. I am going to miss that. I have even ditched a lot of my computer equipment.
Now, I use far less electricity than I make. Sustainable living. I am even thinking about knocking the house down and building an earthship or a geodesic dome maybe.
Now, if I could just figure out how to turn kudzu in to a fuel source, I'd be set.
Sustainable living is possible, and solar has some applications. But it is not the answer.
All alone, or in twos,
The ones who really love you
Walk up and down outside the wall.
Some hand in hand
And some gathered together in bands.
The bleeding hearts and artists
Make their stand.
And when they've given you their all
Some stagger and fall, after all it's not easy
Banging your heart against some mad buggers wall.
"Isn't this where...."
The ones who really love you
Walk up and down outside the wall.
Some hand in hand
And some gathered together in bands.
The bleeding hearts and artists
Make their stand.
And when they've given you their all
Some stagger and fall, after all it's not easy
Banging your heart against some mad buggers wall.
"Isn't this where...."