Solar is going to be huge shortly, as we're figuring out how to make the panels cheaper and more durable (although, not much more efficient then the older models). Plus, in the US at least, we have a whole hell of a lot of land in the desert to put said panels.
I completely agree. The bar keeps getting set higher and higher, so "regular" breakthroughs never really awe us anymore. It's less of a technological problem, and more of an sociological expectation problem though. =)
It's 2008. We still don't have flying cars, practical nuclear fusion, fission-powered cars, or multi-petabyte holographic storage devices. In the real world, advances in technology are usually incremental and evolutionary in nature, or a serious tradeoff at best (As an example, the move underway from platter-based hard drives to solid-state hard drives, while revolutionary in nature, involves massive tradeoffs in price-per-gigabyte which are only slowly lessening). It took CD technology a decade or two to give way to a successor with 10 times the storage capacity (dual-layer DVD-R), and making bits smaller is (arguably) a lot easier than increasing energy density (barring the use of nuclear technology or other exotic things which-- again-- isn't realistically going to happen any time soon).
It's 2008. We have extremely safe cars. We have practical, efficient nuclear fission (both for peaceful and weapons uses). We have the ability to store 1TB of data on a drive the size of a small cigar box. And don't forget that I can communicate from one side of the world to the other instantly either via fiber or satellite.
True, we don't have earth-shattering technologies occur overnight (you point this out as well, that research takes time). But if you've noticed, the pace of research and breakthroughs has been increasing over the last 30-40 years. Different technologies build on each other. Faster microprocessors allow us to build hybrid cards and space vehicles. Genetic engineering opens a whole new world in biology.
What I'm trying to get at is, don't be so pessimistic. This battery technology can and will be developed quickly. It's because we have few other practical options.
You missed the parent's point. While his numbers for Nanosolar were off, they've already sold out their first year of production. And they're going to sell out the next two years of production very quickly. Once they bring up a new factory, production speed is only going to increase.
You're aware Texas is on it's way to be generating almost 23,000GW (yeah, you read that correctly) in the next 3 years. Wind and solar are indeed up to the task.
While I'm sympathetic to your viewpoint (as I'm a content producer as well), but keep in mind that "property rights" are simply an idea that we try to codify into law. And the law only extends to the border of the country where the law exists.
You know you can solo a plane with only 20 hours of flight time, correct? That's less time then most teenagers have to log with their parents driving before they get a driver's license.
I wasn't picking on linux users specifically, I was just using that as an example. If it costs me X to service 85-90% of the computing world with my service and X * 2 to cover 100% of the computing world, why bother with that last 10-15%? Especially if I'm already making money hand over fist. Would it be nice for Netflix to be able to provide Watch It Now to everyone? Definitely. I would love to be able to stream it to my Myth box. But I'm pragmatic (I think it occurs after you turn 25), and realize that Netflix is beholden to content producers. Perhaps, one day it will happen. But I don't see it happening in the short term.
Now, on to your points:
DRM: Check
Mandated by studios. See: itunes store. One day when studios lighten up, hopefully this will go away. Don't blame Netflix though.
And if you only watch Watch It Now on your PC or a Windows PC hooked up to a TV, not a big deal, since you're just watching the content (you don't own it, which I could then understand being pissed about DRM)
Low-def only: Check
Bah. It's "good enough" quality. As with the DRM, it will get better over time. Customer expectations for 780i/p or 1080i/p via streaming aren't realistic, at least not till large cable providers roll out DOCSIS 3.0 (allowing 100Mb/sec downloads over cable).
Low bitrate: Check
See above
Watch only on computer: Check
LG should have an appliance out shortly that lets you watch Watch It Now on your TV. Don't whine about it. You need a cable box to get digital cable, no?
Poor selection: Check
Their selection will only grow with time, and I believe they currently have around 6,000 movies available. Not slim pickins'.
No non-streaming option: Check
So? If you want a non-streaming option, use Amazon's Unbox and pay for each movie.
No Linux support: Check
Addressed at top of comment. Linux users will still end up watching DVDs via mail.
No MacOS support: Check
Addressed at top of comment. Mac users will still end up watching DVDs via mail.
Keep in mind, Apple still has a fairly insignificant market share. And now that Amazon is offering cheaper, non-DRMd music, I see Apple losing their grasp on the music industry.
Fortunately, this "non-interest" in online rentals is limited to Slashdot users who whine and complain that something doesn't work on linux nightly build X (or, gasp, a Mac), a minority in the market.
Anyway, your original statement was,"You can't pump ethanol because it's water soluble. It eats away at seals and the tanks that hold it as well."
The first statement is untrue as well as illogical; the second only partially true.
#10: You can't transport ethanol in oil pipelines, because oil-pipelines aren't water-tight. That's no problem if some water gets into the gas pipeline, because oil and water don't mix. The water can be easily separated out at the end of the pipeline. But, ethanol and water do mix, and that's bad for the ethanol and vehicles that would use water-contaminated ethanol fuel.
With regards to me not liking ethanol, you're correct, I don't. It's an extremely poor choice as a fuel when produced from corn, and at the moment we don't have the proper technology to make it from switchgrass in commercially feasible quantities. I also don't like the fact that it destroys water tables (a typical 50 million gallons per year ethanol plant would need 500 gallons per minute of water). I could go on about ethanol's low energy density and the fact you have to use an obscene mount of natural gas to get ethanol from corn, but I'm sure you're already aware of that.
If someone has a thousand albums on Vinyl, it's a different story. You think something of him. Maybe good, maybe bad, but you can expect him to rather deeply identify himself by his music. Each record was individually chosen, to the exclusion of others. Time was invested, thought was expressed, identity is reflected.
I think someone needs a more efficient method of expressing their identity, especially if their using a material good to do so.
You mean the infrastructure that pumps millions of gallons of 10% ethanol blended with gasoline? Any higher concentration will eat away at the seals fairly quickly. That's why the seals need to be replaced in both pumps and vehicles that want to process/pump/run on E85 or E100.
I'm aware that only rubber seals are affected, but remember, most infrastructure in place is designed to deal with fuels that don't eat away at rubber seals.
I laugh whenever I read the dilbert cartoon. You want to stop global warming? Build a company like Google, buy control of oil wells, and then find a bacteria that will break down oil without releasing CO2. You'll be wasting all the energy content, but you ensure that the oil is never used. As long as oil is "cheap" (i.e. someone has cash to pay for it), it will be used.
When the price of Tesla Motors vehicles come down, simply get one and charge the car from your house. Also, use your savings to expand your array (if space permits). This provides you insurance against increased energy consumption, as well as the utility paying you for your excess energy.
If you have enough excess energy, you could even make your own water. Well, not make, but extract it from the air. I can point you to links if you're interested just for the hell of it.
And with several new developments as of recent (Stanford professor's nanotube anode breakthrough, Toshiba's Li-Ion pack that can be charged in 5 minutes), battery technology is going to evolve exponentially.
Indeed, the hard part with sewage processing these days are the medications and hormones (think how may females are on birth control, and then think about how much of that estrogen is making it into the sewage supply). Current sewage processing plants are not built to handle that sort of waste. I do like your idea though of using the less desirable solid waste as fertilizer for fuel crops.
Slashdot Mirror
Cleantech is currently building out an 80MW plant out in California: http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/09/california-to-get-worlds-largest-solar-farm/
Solar is going to be huge shortly, as we're figuring out how to make the panels cheaper and more durable (although, not much more efficient then the older models). Plus, in the US at least, we have a whole hell of a lot of land in the desert to put said panels.
Of course, I meant cars. Give me a break. I had been up for around 30 hours at that point. =)
I completely agree. The bar keeps getting set higher and higher, so "regular" breakthroughs never really awe us anymore. It's less of a technological problem, and more of an sociological expectation problem though. =)
It's 2008. We have extremely safe cars. We have practical, efficient nuclear fission (both for peaceful and weapons uses). We have the ability to store 1TB of data on a drive the size of a small cigar box. And don't forget that I can communicate from one side of the world to the other instantly either via fiber or satellite.
True, we don't have earth-shattering technologies occur overnight (you point this out as well, that research takes time). But if you've noticed, the pace of research and breakthroughs has been increasing over the last 30-40 years. Different technologies build on each other. Faster microprocessors allow us to build hybrid cards and space vehicles. Genetic engineering opens a whole new world in biology.
What I'm trying to get at is, don't be so pessimistic. This battery technology can and will be developed quickly. It's because we have few other practical options.
You missed the parent's point. While his numbers for Nanosolar were off, they've already sold out their first year of production. And they're going to sell out the next two years of production very quickly. Once they bring up a new factory, production speed is only going to increase.
You're aware Texas is on it's way to be generating almost 23,000GW (yeah, you read that correctly) in the next 3 years. Wind and solar are indeed up to the task.
While I'm sympathetic to your viewpoint (as I'm a content producer as well), but keep in mind that "property rights" are simply an idea that we try to codify into law. And the law only extends to the border of the country where the law exists.
I admit, I laughed hard at that.
Except a sad panda.
You know you can solo a plane with only 20 hours of flight time, correct? That's less time then most teenagers have to log with their parents driving before they get a driver's license.
Now, on to your points:
DRM: CheckMandated by studios. See: itunes store. One day when studios lighten up, hopefully this will go away. Don't blame Netflix though. And if you only watch Watch It Now on your PC or a Windows PC hooked up to a TV, not a big deal, since you're just watching the content (you don't own it, which I could then understand being pissed about DRM)
Low-def only: CheckBah. It's "good enough" quality. As with the DRM, it will get better over time. Customer expectations for 780i/p or 1080i/p via streaming aren't realistic, at least not till large cable providers roll out DOCSIS 3.0 (allowing 100Mb/sec downloads over cable).
Low bitrate: CheckSee above
Watch only on computer: CheckLG should have an appliance out shortly that lets you watch Watch It Now on your TV. Don't whine about it. You need a cable box to get digital cable, no?
Poor selection: CheckTheir selection will only grow with time, and I believe they currently have around 6,000 movies available. Not slim pickins'.
No non-streaming option: CheckSo? If you want a non-streaming option, use Amazon's Unbox and pay for each movie.
No Linux support: CheckAddressed at top of comment. Linux users will still end up watching DVDs via mail.
No MacOS support: CheckAddressed at top of comment. Mac users will still end up watching DVDs via mail.
Keep in mind, Apple still has a fairly insignificant market share. And now that Amazon is offering cheaper, non-DRMd music, I see Apple losing their grasp on the music industry.
Fortunately, this "non-interest" in online rentals is limited to Slashdot users who whine and complain that something doesn't work on linux nightly build X (or, gasp, a Mac), a minority in the market.
The first statement is untrue as well as illogical; the second only partially true.
http://waterwars.wordpress.com/2006/12/15/ten-things-to-know-about-ethanol/
#10: You can't transport ethanol in oil pipelines, because oil-pipelines aren't water-tight. That's no problem if some water gets into the gas pipeline, because oil and water don't mix. The water can be easily separated out at the end of the pipeline. But, ethanol and water do mix, and that's bad for the ethanol and vehicles that would use water-contaminated ethanol fuel.With regards to me not liking ethanol, you're correct, I don't. It's an extremely poor choice as a fuel when produced from corn, and at the moment we don't have the proper technology to make it from switchgrass in commercially feasible quantities. I also don't like the fact that it destroys water tables (a typical 50 million gallons per year ethanol plant would need 500 gallons per minute of water). I could go on about ethanol's low energy density and the fact you have to use an obscene mount of natural gas to get ethanol from corn, but I'm sure you're already aware of that.
I think someone needs a more efficient method of expressing their identity, especially if their using a material good to do so.
You mean the infrastructure that pumps millions of gallons of 10% ethanol blended with gasoline? Any higher concentration will eat away at the seals fairly quickly. That's why the seals need to be replaced in both pumps and vehicles that want to process/pump/run on E85 or E100.
I'm aware that only rubber seals are affected, but remember, most infrastructure in place is designed to deal with fuels that don't eat away at rubber seals.
I laugh whenever I read the dilbert cartoon. You want to stop global warming? Build a company like Google, buy control of oil wells, and then find a bacteria that will break down oil without releasing CO2. You'll be wasting all the energy content, but you ensure that the oil is never used. As long as oil is "cheap" (i.e. someone has cash to pay for it), it will be used.
It's extremely energy intensive to extract oil from the tar sands. Lots and lots of natural gas are used in the process as well.
If you have enough excess energy, you could even make your own water. Well, not make, but extract it from the air. I can point you to links if you're interested just for the hell of it.
I bet you $50 that in the next 5 years, electric cars will be available with a range 1.5X that of gas vehicles.
And with several new developments as of recent (Stanford professor's nanotube anode breakthrough, Toshiba's Li-Ion pack that can be charged in 5 minutes), battery technology is going to evolve exponentially.
You can pump gasoline though. You can't pump ethanol because it's water soluble. It eats away at seals and the tanks that hold it as well.
Indeed, the hard part with sewage processing these days are the medications and hormones (think how may females are on birth control, and then think about how much of that estrogen is making it into the sewage supply). Current sewage processing plants are not built to handle that sort of waste. I do like your idea though of using the less desirable solid waste as fertilizer for fuel crops.
If you could push out Firefox settings via Active Directory Group Policy, I think most IT departments would start deploying Firefox more rapidly.