Reduction in consumption of fossil fuels

  • Thread starter Thread starter pattylou
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Reduction
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the rising prices of fossil fuels and the various strategies individuals and communities can adopt to reduce consumption. Participants share personal experiences and suggestions related to energy use, alternative energy sources, and lifestyle changes aimed at mitigating the financial and environmental impacts of fossil fuel reliance.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • One participant discusses personal changes made to reduce fossil fuel consumption, including installing photovoltaics, driving a hybrid vehicle, and growing their own food.
  • Another participant attributes rising oil prices to insufficient refinery capacity and notes the higher cost of wind power in the Netherlands compared to the U.S.
  • Some participants express curiosity about the reasons for the cost differences in wind power between countries.
  • A participant suggests practical steps for reducing energy consumption that are accessible to a wider audience, such as turning off unused lights and using energy-saving appliances.
  • There is a discussion about the challenges of changing attitudes towards environmental responsibilities and the effectiveness of small lifestyle changes.
  • Concerns are raised about the affordability of alternative energy sources compared to fossil fuels, with one participant citing the high cost of solar panel installation.
  • Another participant shares their experience with recycling and how community initiatives can significantly increase recycling rates.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of views on the effectiveness and practicality of alternative energy sources, with some arguing that they are currently more expensive than fossil fuels. There is no consensus on the best approach to reducing fossil fuel consumption, and multiple competing perspectives remain throughout the discussion.

Contextual Notes

Some participants mention specific costs and savings related to energy use and alternative energy installations, but these figures may vary widely based on location and individual circumstances. The discussion also highlights the dependency on local infrastructure and policies regarding energy production and recycling.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be useful for individuals interested in energy conservation, alternative energy solutions, and practical lifestyle changes to reduce fossil fuel consumption. It may also appeal to those concerned about environmental impacts and economic considerations related to energy use.

  • #61
oops... shouldn't have put that hour in there... but i think everyone understands what i meant.

Electrical generation has been screwing me up from day one. I couldn't figure out how the hell "kw/h" made any sense for the life of me until someone told me "are you sure you don't mean kwh?"
 
Earth sciences news on Phys.org
  • #62
Homepower as a forced-labor full-time hobby

Pengwuino said:
I was feeling really "build it yourself" lately so that's why i was into the wind thing.
You can do-it-yourself with solar by purchasing individual solar cells and using them to make your own solar panels. But even if you purchase all of your supplies prefabricated instead, you will have plenty of work to do installing your system and managing it.
physicsforums.com/showthread.php?p=510640&highlight=solar#post510640

--
The management category is critical for successful operation of institutional-size generating stations; it encompasses hard work and is stress-inducing. Management compensation packages reflect this by being huge. That all applies for homepower as well. If the management costs for homepower seem in given instances to be zero, it will be because the management is donating its entire compensation package back into the enterprises. This doesn't make management costs zero.
--
 
  • #63
... what does that mean? Sounds like you plopped down a page off a 'how to be a successful manager' type book.
 
  • #64
Pengwuino said:
Democrats are full of it. They tried to put a wind farm off of... one of hte 'Santa' cities and the rich hollywood crowd complained that it would screw up their view of the sunset so it was never built. Plus there mad that arnold is taking away their money so they are continually blocking crap. We have to have a special election because of them refusing to give up their little pet programs.
Well, now you're talking about a subset of elitest democrats.

There are weirdoes in Santa Monica, Santa Barbara, etc., everywhere. But the democrats in general would love to see renewable energy.

I am very very displeased with the special election. I did not sign one single petition. It is the legislature's job to figure this cr*p out, why we need to finance a speicial election is beyond me.

The petitions I saw which will appear on the special election, were right-wing issues. Notification of parents if a student requests an abortion, for example. No doubt there are left-wing issues too - but that's not what I see at the local Albertson's petition table.

So I don't shop there anymore.
 
  • #65
I don't care how they got the election, I am just glad they did. We got arnold in there because we were in debt up to our eyeballs and no one dared cut a program. Since the dems have just been criticizing and whining instead of doing their jobs, this is what happens; you have to waste money on an election to bypass them (although I am not sure how this will help since judges and the legislature have constantly by-passed initiatives we have voted on). Everyones just afraid to lose their jobs because they need to cut programs so instead, they just delay everything and this is what we get. Its cool for me though since i work at the elections so easy money :D.

Wait no its not easy money... i was the inspector at the 2004 elections and i wanted to kill myself at the end of the day. It was a small town too! We had people coming in who said they weren't sure what they were doing... the voting box arrived at the very last second... at the end our counts were off by 1 or 2 (depending on which time we counted) everytime. Oh and i got there at around 6:30am after abouta 45 minute drive to the polling location... and it was about 20 degrees... and the person with the key didnt arrive for another half hour... and was working until about 10pm or something... god those were bad memories yet i still want to do it.

Lets see where was i... oh yah, democrats suck, guys rule! woooo :P. But really, everyone wants to see renewable energies... democrats just don't understand what there talken about when it comes to renewable energies and republicans just... don't talk. I mean 33 million people and only 4 nuclear reactors? This wasnt the result of any republicans i can tell you that :D
 
  • #66
I think that an important issue that is often ignored with opportunity cost is inflation, the decrease in the value of a denomination over time. Basically, it means that for a loan, you will be paying with dollars/euros that are less valuable than the ones you borrowed at the initiation of the loan.

Investing in wind power is appropriate, because it provides an alternative to commodity electricity from the grid. The rising cost of conventional energy is a major contributor to the inflation that we have, and, in my opinion, will be the main cause of the higher rates of inflation that are coming soon. Money invested in wind power is an investment that protects you and your energy-dependent lifestyle from inflation.
 
  • #67
Everett said:
I think that an important issue that is often ignored with opportunity cost is inflation, the decrease in the value of a denomination over time. Basically, it means that for a loan, you will be paying with dollars/euros that are less valuable than the ones you borrowed at the initiation of the loan.
Interest rates are not normally lower than inflation rates.



Money invested in wind power is an investment that protects you and your energy-dependent lifestyle from inflation.
When you say wind power, are you talking about homepower?
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 39 ·
2
Replies
39
Views
15K
Replies
19
Views
4K
  • · Replies 15 ·
Replies
15
Views
5K
  • · Replies 20 ·
Replies
20
Views
4K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
5K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
3K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
3K
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
4K
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
7K
  • · Replies 27 ·
Replies
27
Views
7K