Girl is working on her homework Looking for New Ways to Make Electricity #3384 Nonfiction Reading Comprehension-Grade 4 by Teacher Created Resources, Inc. This paper stated that we will probably run out of fossil fuels in 40 years so we'd better come up with better ways to make electricity. The paper listed two ways: wind and solar. I had to explain that there's enough fossil fuels in Alaska to last at least 100 years and there's enough fossil fuels off the coast of California to last 100 years as well. We just can't use them because the environmentalists sue everyone. The essay question was Which do you think is the best way to generate electricity? After she and I talked her answer was hydroelectric and nuclear. Oh gosh, the paper she read didn't even talk about those. I don't think the teacher is going to like her answers. Now don't get me wrong. I think solar is great but the school shouldn't be telling lies to brainwash the kids.
I like solar (PV), I like it a lot. I first got my hands on a couple of small solar cells in the mid 50's from a military surplus store. I learned a little from those small PVs. Over the years they have been promising a breakthrough in cost and efficiency. There have been small improvements in both but the simple fact is that they are too expensive and too inefficient. I don't see that changing soon if ever. I have 45 watts of PV mounted on the top of my motor home and it will, in good sunlight, charge a battery enough in a day to give me a couple of hours of use of my laptop. I might go for 200 watts but considering the price and poor efficiency that would be the upper limit. I would advise everyone who wants to prepare to have some solar (PV) but not a lot unless you are rich.
ReplyDeleteSo, you are willing to sacrifice other natural resources (california ocean commerce and Alaska's natural habitat) just so you can drive around in your gas guzzler and use pesticides(pesticides are made with oil)?! Peak oil is here, the amount of oil used in the world has become greater than the new fields found... If more people realize that oil production is NOT the answer, the alternative sources of energy will become a more reasonable option. You should teach your children not that their teachers are liars, but that they need to demand alternative energy resources by not supporting "big oil".
ReplyDeleteCheck out my blog for more info on peak oil and other energy alternatives
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www.beewench.blogspot.com
Sarah, I'm saying that their school work should not be stating fact when it isn't. If the worksheet said that even with new drilling, the amount of oil needed to fuel the world's energy needs would not met if no other sources of energy were used, then that would be a true statement. So would having the discussion of why some people think offshore drilling and drilling in Alaska isn't wise. Facts and opinions are not the same, and the schools shouldn't be promoting opinions as facts. There are pros and cons to each energy source. Even large solar fields have their downside. The paper said the solar fields were placed on unused land. Tell that to those who see the desert as a very biologically diverse locale. Or where I live, solar companies are leasing land from people to put in 1/2 acre lots of solar panels. They denude the land below and keep it completely clear of everything so as not to impede on their system. That's not a better system than drilling, only a different type of impact in a different location.
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