Energy Alternatives
Energy Alternatives
Beneficiaries
No cause allocations have been set.The transition from burning fossil fuels to more environmentally friendly technologies - solar, geothermal, wind, tidal - isn't going to happen overnight. The systems in place for finding, producing and consuming coal, natural gas and oil are deeply embedded in North American society, and the Canadian and U.S. economies are largely built on a platform that presumes an ongoing, relatively cheap supply of these fuels.
What's a citizen who's aware that their current patterns of energy consumption are damaging and unsustainable to do? Even a cursory examination of the problem will reveal that using our vehicles less, purchasing hybrid or electric cars as they become more readily available, and taking other steps to reduce our overall carbon footprint constitutes more of a conscience salve than a long-term solution. The hard truth is that a fundamental shift in the way North America is powered needs to occur, which will require large-scale replacement of fossil fuel infrastructure and, ultimately, the mothballing of mature energy industries upon which millions of workers depend directly or indirectly for their livelihood.
It's not likely that government will act aggressively to implement meaningful policy changes that set the stage for the beginning of a transition until public sentiment reaches a tipping point. Organizations such as the Planetary Association for Clean Energy, the Solar Energy Society of Canada and the Energy Probe Research Foundation support scientific research and have a pivotal role to play in raising awareness and guiding the development of forward thinking public policy.
Funds from this Giving Circle will support their efforts.
Here come the Nanotubes
Submitted by George Curnew on Fri, 03/20/2009 - 2:58pm
They're a little dated technically, but James Burke's Connections programs map relationships between seemingly inconsequential technical and scientific breakthoughs and society altering "inventions." A few segments into the original series, my notion that there existed some amorphous but thoughtfully interconnected scientific research melting pot was replaced with a (more) certain belief that the global research community is akin to a constantly spinning, un-programmed, metaphysical slot machine, where any combination of breakthroughs could line up at any time, with payouts of unknown value.
5 Green-Tech Projects in the Developing World
Submitted by George Curnew on Wed, 03/04/2009 - 5:23pm
The mainstream media in North America tends to pay scant attention to what's happening in the developing world, especially when it comes to technology. As the New World Economic Order continues to take shape, countries such as India and China will play an increasingly important role in piloting and deploying new energy technologies from which will emerge best practices that become the model for the entire world. Here's a link to 5 interesting projects. http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/03/devworldgreen.html
Take that, Tesla
Submitted by George Curnew on Mon, 05/11/2009 - 12:45pm
Electric cars have been a long time coming. The elephant-at-the-car-show sized barriers to adoption have been poor range and high cost, but media darling Tesla Motors seems to have a bead on bringing both into the "acceptable" range for PC celebs who've tired of putting around the LA basin in their Priuses. No question about it: the Tesla rocks, and goes like hell to boot.
