Vince sent me an interesting article on this by PM a while ago. If anyone's interested I can PM it to you. It is in laymans terms and spells out what a crock Global warming...sorry climate change is all about....money making!
Global climate change is natural. Yes we possibly have accelerated it but not to the degree that the whole industry would like us to believe.

solar works on a small scale. In my most humble opinion it should be mandatory to put solar heating in a new house as it costs not a huge deal iIF you do it at that stage and the power savings are huge. My big sister did it and has a near zero power bill for water heating during the summer and very little during winter. all things in moderation. if you generate it where it is needed you dont have to transfer it.

Elvis wrote:

all things in moderation. if you generate it where it is needed you dont have to transfer it.

We dont do distance moderation very well over here. They normally tried to locate the power stations where coal and water were available.
Now they've decided coal is bad, dont want to go nuclear and that leaves natural gas which is very limited in supply for the massive quantities needed.
Solar, good idea in theory but you need base load to keep the average voltage in the system within limits, base load = power station.
The other problems with solar are, doesnt work at night and the majority of the existing power grid is not designed to accept power from home solar power stations.
They also have a "hot rock" idea as there is a place where less than a km underground the rock is 120 deg C, the only problem is getting the water there and NO-ONE wants to build 1400 km of power lines to access any power they do make.
I do like this idea;
www.cfcl.com.au/bluegen/
What I dont like is the current price of around $40,000 although with the greedy pricks running the energy companies and the carbon tax, it is becoming more affordable and a very attractive idea to take oneself OFF the grid and tellem to stick their bill.

dhc4ever wrote:

I do like this idea;

Very interesting, dhc4ever. I wasn't aware of this technology. I had a little problem with the link for some reason. Here is another one for those interested.

www.bluegen.info/

BlueGen® is the world's most efficient, small-scale electricity generator, delivering up to 60 per cent electrical efficiency.

At peak efficiency, BlueGen delivers approximately 13,000 kilowatt-hours of low-emission electricity per year. That's more than enough for the average home.

Optional waste heat from BlueGen can be recovered to provide 200 litres of domestic hot water per day. This increases total efficiency to approximately 85 per cent. Installable inside or outside, BlueGen is virtually silent. It has a wide operating range and can be used to balance electricity from intermittent renewable sources such as solar and wind.

A few years ago I priced a solar powered system for my home (about 1600 square feet). It was about $65,000! My current power bill is $160/month (equal payment plan, I pay the same every month based on previous usage). At 0% interest it would still take almost 34 years to pay it off. The benefits vs. cost just isn't there yet.

Here's the deal:

There's no such thing as "renewable energy". Once you use it it's GONE. End of story.

GREEN energy is a joke as a stand alone for 90% of the populus. Low yeild, high cost, spotty availability.

There's no such thing as Zero Footprint. Get over that crap right now.

This planet was born of fire, so are we. The Sun is made of it. The planet was once in a molten state. Might be again someday, might be covered in ice again someday too, and, people need to get over themsevles thinking "they" can do something about that cuz short of poisioning this place to death we aint even a fart on the radar of this planets life cycle. We've been burning things since DAY ONE, so has our Earth Mother and guess what: when the dams come down, the power plants get banned and all lights go out for good something gets burned for heat, light etc. i.e.: you strike a match. Fire IS us. W/o it we are just another animal. You can slice this any way you like but- unless we burn something sht aint happening. Period.

Live RESPONSIBLY, avoid unnecesarry waste, live within your means and tread lightly and we'll all live long happy healthy lives.

Enviro-libs are the best to argue with. They are usually between 25-38, as dumb as they come and always right- and, they say the same exact thing the person standing next to them do. They also have zero life experience and only know what they've read in online chat rooms. I love getting in their faces and going toe to toe with this idiots.

STUPID LIBERALS!!!

I cheap..That makes me a conservationist.

I cheap cheap cheap... does that make me a canary????

Pumpkinslinger wrote:

A few years ago I priced a solar powered system for my home (about 1600 square feet). It was about $65,000! My current power bill is $160/month (equal payment plan, I pay the same every month based on previous usage). At 0% interest it would still take almost 34 years to pay it off. The benefits vs. cost just isn't there yet.

I was talking solar for hot water generation as that takes care of about 60% of our power costs/usage over here.I can see a solar powered battery powering led lighting working well... come to think of it why arent we using leds for home lighting yet??? they burn batteries so much slower than old bulbs they must be much more efficent. Im told 5-$7000 NZ for the hot water solar install.

I use propane to heat my water. I just had them put 300 gallons in my tank ($600 US). This will last me around 2 years. Why do I want a bunch of panels on my roof that I'll have to continually clean the oak leaves out of. I spend enough time gettin' them out of my gutters. Not to mention the limbs that seem to find my roof.

Howzbout runnin a line out to the barn fer me an them hayburners...its frezzin' out here!

Frezzin'?? It's only gettin' down to 52* at night. Whadda ya mean frezzin'?? I gave ya an extra blanket!!

Just can't get decent hired help these days.

Bushy, Stovey has his own TANK now, let him buy his own propane...

Bushmaster wrote:

Why do I want a bunch of panels on my roof that I'll have to continually clean the oak leaves out of. I spend enough time gettin' them out of my gutters. Not to mention the limbs that seem to find my roof.

Or the limbs you might break if you fell off the roof trying to keep the solar panels clean.

Elvis wrote:

come to think of it why arent we using leds for home lighting yet???

I heard HomeDepot advertizing LED bulbs for the home on the radio this morning. Guess they are here.