May 27, 2008

http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/a_wor.../

QUOTE: "we are convinced that fossil fuels will remain the predominant
source of the world's energy for many decades to come"

QUOTE: "if every house in Britain had a 4-m² solar PV panel set up on
the roof, it would only generate the same amount of electricity in a
year as half of a modern, 1-gigawatt nuclear power station."

Home truths from Jeroen van der Veer, chief executive of Shell:

We are searching for new sources of oil and gas because we are convinced
that fossil fuels will remain the predominant source of the world's
energy for many decades to come.

We at Shell think demand will continue to grow in the years ahead,
thanks in large measure to continued strong economic growth in places
like China and India. I might add, that is what underpins the recent
increase in prices of a whole range of commodities, not just oil. ...

The world will need vast amounts of extra energy in the coming decades
to support economic growth and reduce poverty. By 2050, energy demand
could more than double as the world's population rises and developing
countries expand their economies.

On Tue, 27 May 2008 15:57:42 +1000, "0Z0NB" <0Z0NB@d0d0.com> wrote:

Americans dramatically reduce gasoline consumption.

CNN) -- At a time when gas prices are at an all-time high, Americans have
curtailed their driving at a historic rate.
Americans are not driving as much as they did a year ago as gas prices
skyrocket.

The Department of Transportation said figures from March show the steepest
decrease in driving ever recorded.
Compared with March a year earlier, Americans drove an estimated 4.3 percent
less -- that's 11 billion fewer miles, the DOT's Federal Highway
Administration said Monday, calling it "the sharpest yearly drop for any
month in FHWA history." Records have been kept since 1942.

According to AAA, for the first time since 2002, Americans said they were
planning to drive less over the Memorial Day weekend than they did the year
before.

Tracy and Adam Crews posted on iReport that their annual Memorial Day
weekend has traditionally involved camping and fishing.

"Well, due to the continual rise in gas, we felt our only recourse was to
nix the idea this year and stay home" in Jacksonville, Florida, they wrote.

..

0Z0NB wrote:

I've no doubt that this is a legitimate claim. But it has to be placed
in context. Britain, and most of Europe for that matter, are not exactly
in a good location to generate solar power. Households in Europe are
generally closer to the Generation source as well (being much smaller
geographical areas with denser populations) which would also aid the
case of the Power Generation plants.

In Australia though there would be better solar potential as well as
more loss from Generating plants. The variance would be less here.

Of course, with no government incentive (by much rhetoric) except to
people who can't afford panels anyway the widespread usage of Solar
panels will never happen here.

Rj.

"DBDriver" ICare.com> wrote in message
news:IcudndHyHcjaAKHVnZ2dnUVZ_oSunZ2d@westnet.com.au...

"Peter Webb" DIESPAMDIEoptusnet.com.au> wrote:

Solar PV has many variabilities, where cloudy days are common,
a system can be designed that doesn't depend on direct sunshine, at
an increased cost.

On Wed, 28 May 2008 02:00:38 -0500, Whata Fool wrote:

Don't you need about 40 square meters to get an average of 500W
electrical power in the UK?

On Wed, 28 May 2008 20:56:49 GMT, the following appeared in
sci.skeptic, posted by anonymous :

"Bob Casanova" wrote in message
news:hflr34ddauiju797fi4tleugm76arnpms0@4ax.com...

On Thu, 29 May 2008 11:00:16 +1000, "Peter Webb"
DIESPAMDIEoptusnet.com.au> wrote: