Wind towers, made of steel and concrete, and solar panels, are made by using: ? Electricity.

That electricity is generated by: ? Renewable energy ? Don't be bloody silly, of course not, coal, oil and gas are far more efficient, hence cheaper. For all of those who buy such technology, also partly thanks to cheap Chinese labour.

When renewable energy technologies like wind towers and solar panels are being made by renewable energy, get back to us.

Joe

Hasbeen,

What SteeleRedux said. I still don’t see how your experience is sufficient reason to believe that you know more about the reef than marine biologists.

And, again, you have suggested that most marine biologists, who study the reef, do so from unrepresentative fish tanks. As if such a fatal flaw, in all the findings concerning the reef, could be overlooked by all marine biologists, yet spotted by some bloke who drove a boat. I’m not a marine biologist, nor am I even some bloke who drove a boat on the reef, and even I know why the findings in a fish tank could not be translated to the actual reef.

<<Keep up your insults, I find then funny.>>

Yes. Why, I’m sure you’re just rolling around the floor in hysterics.

I have used wording which conveys the absurdity of your claims, in a tone that mimics your blunt dismissiveness of facts; if you don’t like that, then don’t make absurd claims, and perhaps alter your tone to convey a more open mind too. You are getting as good as you give. Stop being so precious.

Even in light of what you have shared, what I have said still stands: a bloke who drives a boat on the reef (and has done everything you have done), is not going to know more about the reef than marine biologists - especially those who devote their studies to it (and would know it in excruciating detail).

Let’s be honest, though, it’s not your experience that makes you feel you know more about the reef than marine biologists. You think you know more than experts in any field if the majority disagree with you.

--

moonshine,

There were predictions from a small handful of scientists, yes, but it was by no means a consensus (obviously you didn’t read the article I linked to). So, your comparing it to the current predictions was unjustified.

That the planet will warm due to human activity has been the consenus among scientists since at least the ‘50s:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6YyvdYPrhY

Again, you guys need some new material.

Dear Bazz,

Thanks for the information.

As I stated earlier - I am not an expert on the subject.
However I do know that we do have to try to work to
resolve our future energy problems we can't just
simply continue on our present path and ignore the
future outcomes.

Dear Is Mise,

Thanks for that.

It's good that something is being done.
That we're not just continuing on our
present path but that we are trying to
find technological innovations to solve
our problems in the future.

Dear Joe,

Yes coal deposits are plentiful and we have
ones that will last possibly for decades or
centuries and can be burned to generate energy as other
resources fail. But the use of a resource cannot be
considered in isolation from its environmental impacts.

Plans for what could be Australia’s first offshore wind farm have been unveiled, revealing an ambitious proposal for an $8 billion, 2GW, 250 turbine project off the coast of Gippsland in Victoria’s east.

The project, which was being presented to a state government New Energy Technology Roundtable on Friday, is the brainchild of five-year old Melbourne-based renewables outfit, Offshore Energy – headed up by veteran wind energy executive Andy Evans and the former chief of geothermal hopeful Petratherm, Terry Kallis.

Dearest Foxy,

Perhaps we should tell that to the makers of wind towers and solar panels: stop using fossil-fuel-powered electricity to make your technological marvels NOW !

As a universalist, I have a notion that Indians and other people in the Third World are as entitled to comfortable lives as we are. This means the production of far more goods and services to meet their needs. Until renewable energy technology is produced by renewable energy, this means a reliance on fossil fuels.

The instant that this miracle occurs, I'll be amongst the first to demand an end to fossil fuel-generated electricity, and therefore to coal mining, etc. Until then, the increase in comfort levels of the Third World and the necessary production of CO2 is just one more issue that the world as a whole has to deal with. I hope it hurries up.

We have no right to tell people not to develop their societies in order to live in a world with the comforts that we take for granted.

Love always,

Joe

doog - The cost of repairing, servicing and maintaining off shore turbines plus initial costs by far outweigh any benefit.