Climate Change

    • maseb wrote:

      My brother and I asked our dad to plant a tree to help combat climate change. We have a nice open spot in front of the house and will plant a white birch.

      If more of us did this it would help take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. One tree doesn't sound like much, but if we all did this, obviously you'd have to have somewhere to plant one, or encouraged our family and friends to plant one I think it would have a positive effect.

      What do you think?
      Helps as long as said tree is alive. Trees like any other plants bind carbon as long as they are alive. Once tree/plant dies it starts to release same carbon back to atmosphere. Trees on otherhand have their natural lifespan and same goes for forests too. Natural forest doesnt actually bind carbon very much at all since it is in continuos cycle of growing and dying. On other hand forest that is well kept for timber grows significantly faster and binds carbon pretty well.
    • Aspen wrote:

      There is already a lot going into green hydrogen, that could replace a lot of fossil fuel power
      Hydrogen anyway is not a source of energy by any means. It is however a way to store energy. Hydrogen you see doesnt exist in its elemental form anywhere on earth. You first have to consume lots of energy to manufacture free hydrogen that you can burn. So big question is where do we get our base energy to do so. And second big question is how much we actually can afford to pay for that energy.
      So far biggest cost of pure hydrogen gas is not finding hydrogen or storage or transportation of it. It is cost of energy needed to make it.
      We are so far having handfull of options to generate that needed power.
      Solar =expensive so far
      WInd =expensive so far
      Fossil = Inexpensive but doesnt fix problem
      Geothermal = Cheap but not available everywhere
      Hydropower = Cheap but has its own problems and capacity is pretty much full already
      Bio-power = works well where ever there is sawmills or other production facilities that generate more power than they consume. And works as long as forestry is sustainable.
      Nuclear power =cheap and plentiful
    • Snowfox wrote:

      Aspen wrote:

      There is already a lot going into green hydrogen, that could replace a lot of fossil fuel power
      Hydrogen anyway is not a source of energy by any means. It is however a way to store energy. Hydrogen you see doesnt exist in its elemental form anywhere on earth. You first have to consume lots of energy to manufacture free hydrogen that you can burn. So big question is where do we get our base energy to do so. And second big question is how much we actually can afford to pay for that energy.So far biggest cost of pure hydrogen gas is not finding hydrogen or storage or transportation of it. It is cost of energy needed to make it.
      We are so far having handfull of options to generate that needed power.
      Solar =expensive so far
      WInd =expensive so far
      Fossil = Inexpensive but doesnt fix problem
      Geothermal = Cheap but not available everywhere
      Hydropower = Cheap but has its own problems and capacity is pretty much full already
      Bio-power = works well where ever there is sawmills or other production facilities that generate more power than they consume. And works as long as forestry is sustainable.
      Nuclear power =cheap and plentiful
      you can use green energy to produce hydrogen
      Hydrogen is a source of energy, you can use it in engines as a fuel for one
    • catriona wrote:

      you can use green energy to produce hydrogen
      Hydrogen is a source of energy, you can use it in engines as a fuel for one
      I never said that you cant use renewal (green energy being awful term) energy to produce hydrogen. What I said and still say is that hydrogen is not a source of energy but a way to storage energy. Otherwise battery would be source of energy instead of being storage of energy that has been produced at some point.

      It all boils down to costs. How much of energy bill you are ready to pay.
    • Snowfox wrote:

      Aspen wrote:

      There is already a lot going into green hydrogen, that could replace a lot of fossil fuel power
      Hydrogen anyway is not a source of energy by any means. It is however a way to store energy. Hydrogen you see doesnt exist in its elemental form anywhere on earth. You first have to consume lots of energy to manufacture free hydrogen that you can burn. So big question is where do we get our base energy to do so. And second big question is how much we actually can afford to pay for that energy.So far biggest cost of pure hydrogen gas is not finding hydrogen or storage or transportation of it. It is cost of energy needed to make it.
      We are so far having handfull of options to generate that needed power.
      Solar =expensive so far
      WInd =expensive so far
      Fossil = Inexpensive but doesnt fix problem
      Geothermal = Cheap but not available everywhere
      Hydropower = Cheap but has its own problems and capacity is pretty much full already
      Bio-power = works well where ever there is sawmills or other production facilities that generate more power than they consume. And works as long as forestry is sustainable.
      Nuclear power =cheap and plentiful
      Solar is not expensive at all, not since the last few years.
      Nuclear is very expensive.
      Source: eia.gov/outlooks/aeo/assumptions/pdf/table_8.2.pdf
      Solar is about 1.25 dollars per installed W, Nuclear is over 6. Maintenance costs are even higher for nuclear.
      Wind is slightly more expensive than solar: 1.7 dollars.
      Solar is pretty much the cheapest option.
      Only coal-fired power plants are cheaper, and those have all sorts of other issues (mainly pollution, both in mining and at the power plant itself).
    • catriona wrote:

      Snowfox wrote:

      Aspen wrote:

      There is already a lot going into green hydrogen, that could replace a lot of fossil fuel power
      Hydrogen anyway is not a source of energy by any means. It is however a way to store energy. Hydrogen you see doesnt exist in its elemental form anywhere on earth. You first have to consume lots of energy to manufacture free hydrogen that you can burn. So big question is where do we get our base energy to do so. And second big question is how much we actually can afford to pay for that energy.So far biggest cost of pure hydrogen gas is not finding hydrogen or storage or transportation of it. It is cost of energy needed to make it.We are so far having handfull of options to generate that needed power.
      Solar =expensive so far
      WInd =expensive so far
      Fossil = Inexpensive but doesnt fix problem
      Geothermal = Cheap but not available everywhere
      Hydropower = Cheap but has its own problems and capacity is pretty much full already
      Bio-power = works well where ever there is sawmills or other production facilities that generate more power than they consume. And works as long as forestry is sustainable.
      Nuclear power =cheap and plentiful
      you can use green energy to produce hydrogenHydrogen is a source of energy, you can use it in engines as a fuel for one
      Hydrogen is a way to use energy, not a source itself, like electricity.
      But yes, hydrogen can be made with clean and cheap(-ish) energy.
    • cfgp wrote:

      catriona wrote:

      Snowfox wrote:

      Aspen wrote:

      There is already a lot going into green hydrogen, that could replace a lot of fossil fuel power
      Hydrogen anyway is not a source of energy by any means. It is however a way to store energy. Hydrogen you see doesnt exist in its elemental form anywhere on earth. You first have to consume lots of energy to manufacture free hydrogen that you can burn. So big question is where do we get our base energy to do so. And second big question is how much we actually can afford to pay for that energy.So far biggest cost of pure hydrogen gas is not finding hydrogen or storage or transportation of it. It is cost of energy needed to make it.We are so far having handfull of options to generate that needed power.Solar =expensive so far
      WInd =expensive so far
      Fossil = Inexpensive but doesnt fix problem
      Geothermal = Cheap but not available everywhere
      Hydropower = Cheap but has its own problems and capacity is pretty much full already
      Bio-power = works well where ever there is sawmills or other production facilities that generate more power than they consume. And works as long as forestry is sustainable.
      Nuclear power =cheap and plentiful
      you can use green energy to produce hydrogenHydrogen is a source of energy, you can use it in engines as a fuel for one
      Hydrogen is a way to use energy, not a source itself, like electricity.But yes, hydrogen can be made with clean and cheap(-ish) energy.
      Hydrogen is a fuel, it’s that simple
      You can use to make electricity or replace petroleum fuel in engines