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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Necessary for what? For affluence?  No.  There are plenty of college dropouts, even high school dropouts, who went on to become incredibly rich as entrepreneurs.

But what about folks atop the corporate ladder with their six- and seven-figure annual compensation packages?  What about the investment bankers with five homes and yachts?

More importantly, let’s stop measuring the value of college in terms of dollars.  Let’s think about the totality of life’s joys and rewarding experiences: art, music, reading, understanding of math and science, and so many others.

I don’t mean to say that college is necessary to appreciating art, etc., but I think we can agree that it helps.  I believe that college should be free, paid for by tax dollars as it is in the rest of the developed world, and that all kids should be encouraged to go in this direction.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Wind Energy

I have to admit that I have a morbid curiosity about clean energy technologies that have no prayer of success, but whose founding partners vigorously hawk as the future of renewables, while they aggressively cultivate investors.

“Hydro Wind Energy” writes:  Explore an exclusive opportunity with (us). Our offshore wind and seawater desalination technology is not just a venture, but a strategic investment towards a sustainable and profitable future. With substantial institutional backing, we invite serious investors to join us in revolutionizing energy and water sectors.

Join the Elite: Invest in Hydro Wind Energy

If you check out the video, you’ll realize immediately that this product will never be built, not because it violates the laws of physics, but that it violates common sense.  This is going to be extremely expensive to build and maintain, and its power output is going to be pathetic.

I hope you’ll take a few minutes and check out their video series, the first of which is linked above.

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Re: the meme here, it’s not hard for me to understand at all.

Trump mirrors the inner feelings of tens of millions of largely uneducated Americans: their racism, sexism, indifference to the suffering of others, hyper-nationalism, and disbelief in science. Their attitudes in these areas as so strong that they barely notice (or don’t care) that Trump is among the worse people in human history.

And the fact Trump actually couldn’t care less about them goes completely over their heads.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Let’s concede that bikers have a natural affiliation with Trump, and thus Biden’s team should spend zero resources trying to convert this crowd.

That said, I don’t think you’re going to find too many flags that read, “Doctors for Trump.”  Or school teachers / college professors, classical musicians, scientists, social workers, artists, filmmakers, writers, ballet dancers, therapists, or attorneys.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Climeworks builds facilities that remove CO2 from the atmosphere.  They claim that the one pictured here, called Mammoth, which resides in Hellisheiði, Iceland, will filter 36,000 tons of carbon dioxide out of the air per year.

Questions:

Where does the energy come from that is required to build and run the facility?  What’s its carbon footprint?

Since the consumption of fossil fuels contributed 36 billion tons of CO2 per year, we’ll need exactly one million of these facilities to offset our use of oil, gas, and coal.  Does this seem like a feasible solution?

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

One has to wonder what the rest of the world is thinking about the upcoming U.S. presidential election , but it must go something like this:

The Americans are choosing between three candidates to lead their nation. 

One tried to overthrow their government when he lost the last election and is currently facing 88 felony charges across four indictments brought by randomly chosen citizens. 

Another is missing part of his brain due to the activity of a malicious worm. 

The population of the U.S. is 330 million.  Is this the best they can do?  

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Here’s a man with a dead worm in his brain making ridiculous promises about what he’ll do if elected U.S. president.

Now, in order to understand whether RFK Jr.’s presence is stealing more votes from Trump or Biden, we need to understand the demographics to which he appeals.

I would say it’s those who admire total crackpots, and that, to me, sounds a lot more like Trump supporters than traditional Democrats.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

The statement at left is interesting, isn’t it?

Even the best, most liberal-minded private K – 12 institutions have required courses that ensure that graduates have a certain level of proficiency in reading, writing, math, history, and the sciences regardless of the pupil’s interest in those subjects.

There are kids graduating from our local high school who can’t tell you where Wisconsin is or what language they speak there.  I don’t think anyone is OK with that.

On the other hand, a kid whose interests are origami or auto repair need to be supported as well.  It’s not a black and white issue.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles
If you accept the claim here, you believe that these people raised enough money from investors to go into production with their low-speed EV (LSEV — top speed in the U.S. 25 MPH).
Perfect for people who don’t leave their driveways, or, if they’re very patient folks with lots of time on their hands, their neighborhoods.
When I came into this field in 2008, the transportation world (for some reason) had high hopes for LSEVs.  But 16 years and dozens of market failures later, those hopes have long since been dashed.
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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

I’d like to believe the meme at left, but there is no reason to expect some wild swing in 2024.

From Pew Research:

(In the 2020 election, in comparison with 2016) Biden made gains with men, while Trump improved among women, narrowing the gender gap. The gender gap in the 2020 election was narrower than it had been in 2016, both because of gains that Biden made among men and because of gains Trump made among women. In 2020, men were almost evenly divided between Trump and Biden, unlike in 2016 when Trump won men by 11 points. Trump won a slightly larger share of women’s votes in 2020 than in 2016 (44% vs. 39%), while Biden’s share among women was nearly identical to Clinton’s (55% vs. 54%).

How any self-respecting woman can vote for a sex criminal and women’s rights opponent is unclear to me, but this is certainly not a cut and dried issue.

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