GLF on Nostr: Utteely stupid comic in the propaganda rag The Guardian. At least it’s an ...
Utteely stupid comic in the propaganda rag The Guardian.
At least it’s an opportunity to quote a great passage from saifedean (npub1gdu…6nak) ‘s book The Fiat Standard.
“The answer is that in its raw form, solar power is cheaper than hydrocarbons, but in its raw form, solar power can only satisfy the human needs for skin exposure to sunlight and for growing plants. Solar energy in its raw form cannot satisfy the majority of our modern energy needs, since humans do not need large quantities of energy in the aggregate; we require high amounts of energy at the margin, in large quantities over short periods of time in order to produce power (defined as unit of energy per unit of time). High power is the driving force of modern technologies that makes modern construction, industry, transportation, electronics, and many more modern accomplishments possible. One cannot use the rays of sunlight directly to move a car or power a factory, and their absolute quantities are irrelevant. Whereas solar energy is plentiful, being able to concentrate it into high power is a very complex operation that requires significant investment in capital infrastructure through solar panels and batteries. As a form of energy in the abstract, solar is infinitely cheap.”
At least it’s an opportunity to quote a great passage from saifedean (npub1gdu…6nak) ‘s book The Fiat Standard.
“The answer is that in its raw form, solar power is cheaper than hydrocarbons, but in its raw form, solar power can only satisfy the human needs for skin exposure to sunlight and for growing plants. Solar energy in its raw form cannot satisfy the majority of our modern energy needs, since humans do not need large quantities of energy in the aggregate; we require high amounts of energy at the margin, in large quantities over short periods of time in order to produce power (defined as unit of energy per unit of time). High power is the driving force of modern technologies that makes modern construction, industry, transportation, electronics, and many more modern accomplishments possible. One cannot use the rays of sunlight directly to move a car or power a factory, and their absolute quantities are irrelevant. Whereas solar energy is plentiful, being able to concentrate it into high power is a very complex operation that requires significant investment in capital infrastructure through solar panels and batteries. As a form of energy in the abstract, solar is infinitely cheap.”