First, let me answer the question about Solar Energy that was asked.
At the present time, the solar panels are expensive, physically large, and heavy (people have to have their rooves re-enforced to hold the weight), so they are not yet practical for most people.
Secondly, we have yet to solve the intermittent sun problem, particularly in the Northern areas of our countries, which get significant cloud-cover and also snow. The sunlight would have to be able to get to the panels and the panels would have to be free of any surface debris in order to receive it.
Ok now something new for you all to consider.
A quote from Freeman Dyson's recent book - page 60 - "A field of corn growing in full sunlight in the middle of the day uses up all the carbon dioxide within a meter of the ground in about 5 MINUTES (emphasis mine). If the air were not constantly stirred by convection currents and winds, the corn would not be able to grow."
So here is my question to you - why don't we plant CORN along our ROADS? Not the type we might want to EAT afterward, but perhaps the type we could make bio-diesel out of, or let the animals eat and nest in freely.
It has been shown that increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere makes plant leaves small-pored (less water loss) and makes plants grow a larger root base. Roots hold topsoil, so that water and wind would not be able to take it away as quickly. And in Winter, molds and fungi live on the roots, creating more topsoil. If we increased the topsoil in JUST THE USA by 1/2 an inch, we might ELMINATE, world-wide, the current carbon dioxide imbalance caused by industry and car exhaust.
So why are we growing GRASS instead?
I am asking these as serious questions. If you know something more than I do, please, share it. But does it not seem to you that this might WORK?
Freeman Dyson's (inventor of the Dyson Sphere - Google it, folks - get smarter!) book is called "The Scientist as Rebel" c 2006.
I would also recommend we read two Russian authors that he mentions - I can't wait to get these myself! The first is "The Earth's Biosphere" by Vaclav Smil c 2002, and the second, and possibly more important, is "The Biosphere" by V.I. Vernadsky, published in English translation for the first time in 1998. Dr. Vernadsky is the inventor of the term "biosphere", from the late 1920's/early 1930's, and his book is said to contain a HUGE Bibliography of source material. That sounds worth a look to me.
Happy reading!
2 comments:
Solar panels are indeed heavy, and not practical for all the reasons you mentioned. Not terrestrially. But what about solar collectors in space? If we can put things in orbit to support everything from cell phones to Howard Stern, why not as a source of alternative energy? Granted, there's not really a feasible way to get it back down here, but at least it solves one problem. High-yield capacitors? Superconductor rings? Like you said, inventors are out there.
Growing corn along the roads would require the investment of the bio-diesel companies, who are currently small, scattered, and not a very large collective source of wealth. Also, it would raise the ire of the corn farmers, who would swear you were trying to steal from them, whether you had any intention of it or not. Remember, these are people who are paid not to farm simply to maintain the price of their product. It's a very incestuous, convoluted system and it's all backed by some very old laws. It would work, but probably not with corn - you need something that is NOT also a food crop, or not a staple one. Soy, canola, even sunflowers can also be used to produce biodiesel and probably cause a LOT less controversy.
It's a good idea whatever you choose to plant....so, why grass?
The same reason we bleach paper instead of having it off-white and drive fast ferraris instead of smartcars. The same reason we invest in finite dirty energy sources like nuclear power instead of stocking up on renewables. The same reason we use intensive pesticide farming instead of localised organic methods, the same reason we prefer a plentitude of cheap products instead of a few durable hand-made ones.
Quick money, thoughtlessness, ignorance and greed.
We can't do anything about greed, but at least let us try to fight the ignorance.
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