tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post5781121788574924611..comments2022-06-24T09:25:46.009-07:00Comments on Chris Searles Writes Here: The 5 most interesting things about the world's biggest problemAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-72178456991912887652012-08-20T12:37:21.250-07:002012-08-20T12:37:21.250-07:00THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS TRANSFERRED FROM JOHN NISTL...THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS TRANSFERRED FROM JOHN NISTLER'S EMAIL TO ME. A good dialogue. John is President/CEO of PSIDA GR LLC. <br /><br />(5) of (5) <br /><br />JOHN'S FINAL RESPONSE - VERY COOL VISION<br /><br />Chris,<br /> I have no problem with you reprinting our conversation. Yes a link to the kickstarter page would be great once we start it off. Lunch in September would be good, if I am in town. Lots of different projects going on.<br /><br />I would like to respond to this one "Arctics and Antarctics for instance) during our lifetimes and there's no technologies available for stopping it. "<br /> Here I disagree. Why? Because I do believe we have technologies that can address this right now which have a great incentive for people to adopt.<br /><br />For the last 6 months we have been working with GGS, Global Green Systems, of the Philippines to address 24 hour on demand solar power in the Philippines and an alternative to fossil fuels. The Asian Development Bank has already approved 100,000 e-trikes. Through a company in Malaysia, we are able to obtain a 1 kW fuel cell system for $3500 (preliminary) and $2000 in production. This puts us in with an H-trike for less then $10,000 USD which will compete directly against gasoline motorcycle trikes at less then 1/2 the operational costs. Essentially $2.00 per day instead of $5.00 per day for someone who only makes about $15 per day.<br /><br />We have the technology for converting biowaste into hydrogen and CO2 while delivering clean water. The excess CO2 can be used to grow algae for fish food or combined with hydrogen and nitrogen to produce urea (fertilizer) for use in rice fields and other applications at costs which are directly competitive with the retail price of gasoline and diesel.<br /><br />There is over a 25 million tricycle market in SE Asia, with another 15 million plus in India let alone China, Taiwan and Japan. After penetration into this market, I can see expansion into Africa, Island Nations, Central and South America, Mexico, USA and Europe.<br /><br />Oil has locked itself into a high priced drilling operations. Prices below $70 per barrel are just not economically feasible. Gas and diesel prices run $5 to $10 in many parts of the world while we are looking at ~ $3.00 per kg of hydrogen that can be produced anywhere there is contaminated water, chemical waste or biowaste.<br /><br />It is a difficult endeavor, but one that could realistically change our world in less then 10 years. If we combine this with a push for public transportation funded by private and public means in the USA, we could essentially reduce air pollutants within a few years by significant levels.<br /><br />All of this requires eco-investments, but investments with a real purpose and long term effect.<br />My best regards,<br />John<br /><br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-78317156004409261442012-08-20T12:36:41.838-07:002012-08-20T12:36:41.838-07:00(4) of (5)
MY RESPONSE CONTINUES
John,
II. On ...(4) of (5) <br />MY RESPONSE CONTINUES<br /><br />John, <br /><br />II. On your second point --- "enviro groups not being deeply committed on the Gulf, etc." <br />• i can relate to that kind of experience, too. As far as I can tell environmental organizations, just like businesses (small and corporate) are beholden to the almighty dollar. While their purpose is specifically beneficial and restorative For All (which is awesome, admirable, and essential) -- the nonprofit structure has by definition limited time and resources. Every project is funded on a case by case basis by funders who either have lots of money and infrastructure and require annual proposals ("lofty liberals" usually), or by grassroots donations ("send us $5.00!"). It's somewhat like Obama first presidential campaign all the time for eco groups. Imagine if he had to run for president in 2008 for seven years, but perform as well as financially EACH year as he did in that last stretch of 2008. It took a lot of people to get Obama elected, i remember. A lot of money big and small. Also, on a related note, my experience is that the enviro non profit world is SO SMALL and SO UNDER-RESOURCED compared to the industries / regulations / corporations / lawyers / ad campaigns they're fighting, that just when they get going on their mega-sized Gulf campaign, the mega-sized Tar Sands problem comes along and presto new campaign needed -- and new funds, only to be interrupted by the mega TX wildfires in 2011 problem, only to be interrupted by a political battle over fuel efficiency standards in 2025, or over regulation of bio-diesel by state governments (making biodiesel much less competitive against diesel), or solar funding at the state or federal legislature, or/and etc. etc. etc. These groups are generally outgunned and understrategized. The (probably pretty small) Coastal Brigade you mentioned probably has the sole purpose of protecting and restoring the Gulf Coast, as compared to the (much larger) Sierra Club, which cares an awful lot about the Coast, and dislikes BP, but is trying to cover all kinds of bases and manage all kinds of member priorities in order to be effective and stay relevant to their donors (funders). Successful corporations, by comparison, have a narrow focus, tremendously greater cash flexibility, and by definition coordinate well with others in order to promote their interests. Nonprofits tend to operate in an under-funded vacuum, and with too many concerns. (Not sure what the solution is here, but you've hit on a fundamental weakness in the eco movement i think.) Thus BP with $5.3B in PROFITS after taxes and after payouts last year, one year after the spill, has plenty of funding to sustain whatever efforts it chooses. Or should i say "has plenty of fund-ers?" They're doing great. Business is good, as it were. People rely on gasoline everyday. <br />• Sustaining a nonprofit revolution via grassroots and/or lofty liberal donations, and maintaining cross-organizational eco priorities, has proven "unsustainable" lately. <br />• so I blog now!<br /><br />###<br /><br /><br />III. To your third point -- "Thus any claim of global warming in Louisiana is now seen as just another way for environmental groups to get money." <br />• Wow, and yes, that hits hard. Great point. I try to acknowledge some of the idea that global warming is not that credible in a crowded world often dominated by media distractions, over-hype, personal confusion, and conspiracy theory fears, personal concerns, etc. The idea that people think environs are ignoring their more immediate concerns and just "going for the global warming" money is another important piece of the puzzle -- thanks for pointing that out. <br /><br />###<br /><br />Agree with all your other points thereafter. <br /><br />Also -- I wonder if I might reprint them and my responses in the comments section of my blog? You're second and third points are especially worth highlighting, to me. Thanks and best, <br /><br />ChrisAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-72604915506080581242012-08-20T12:29:52.116-07:002012-08-20T12:29:52.116-07:00THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS TRANSFERRED FROM JOHN NISTL...THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS TRANSFERRED FROM JOHN NISTLER'S EMAIL TO ME. A good dialogue. John is President/CEO of PSIDA GR LLC. <br /><br />(3) of (5) <br /><br />MY RESPONSE TO JOHN<br /><br /><br />Hello & Thanks, John -- <br /><br />Appreciate you taking the time to respond with some very quality comments. <br /><br />Here's my replies: <br /><br /><br />I. re: "from an environmental perspective - is it better to condemn fraccing or promote NG for cleaner air?"<br />• From my enviro perspective we should neither condemn nor promote natural gas. Instead we must admit to ourselves, in governance, in the news media, in the energy conversations, that considering climate change, natural gas is too little too late. Regarding which fuel mix to promote today and what kind of infrastructure, we've already chosen so poorly that we are seeing scary computer forecasting coming to life. And the scientist say this is only the beginning, radical weather and storms will dramatically increase in the future, as will the overall heat. With or without NG it looks to me like we're doubling down on a worst case scenario; too many greenhouse gas emissions. My understanding: 1. there's simply too many greenhouses gasses already in the atmosphere, 2. too many emission points (during extracting and refining fossil fuels, from transportation's many forms, on grid electricity production, off grid energy production, and increasing demand for all three of the above), 3. too few natural carbon sinks (the planet is about 2/5's less forested than it was 150 years ago… and counting), 4. too many natural carbon sinks now degrading due to rapid overall warming, consequently releasing even more greenhouse gasses at terrifying scales (glaciers, permafrost, forests, etc.) -- this degradation will worsen over the next 20 years they say even if we went "zero carbon" yesterday, in other words, we've crossed a threshold wherein emissions will make more emissions at terrifyingly large scales (the thawing of the Arctics and Antarctics for instance) during our lifetimes and there's no technologies available for stopping it. <br />• As far as natural gas goes, it's too bad we didn't start with that stuff 100+ years ago and skip coal/oil all together. Debating it's value now = steering away from the severity of our current (global biological) forecast. <br /><br />###<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-2341118687931584762012-08-20T12:29:18.997-07:002012-08-20T12:29:18.997-07:00THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS TRANSFERRED FROM JOHN NISTL...THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS TRANSFERRED FROM JOHN NISTLER'S EMAIL TO ME. A good dialogue. John is President/CEO of PSIDA GR LLC. <br /><br />(2) of (5) <br /><br />I hear from people everyday, but very few of them are willing to invest their own money into installing solar energy unless there is a definite profit they can see. Typically for most of us who struggle every day to actually make a change, we see nothing really from people who claim to be environmentalists in truly investing in a change. Al Gore is a good example. Instead of reducing the amount of power he uses in his home (enough by the way to power a small Caribbean nation) he added some solar panels to his roof. The hypocrisy was noted by many, including myself. I saw lots of musicians get up and sing for environmental causes, but how many of the major artists would be willing to sale their multi-million dollar home and invest it in companies that strive to make a difference. Kevin Costner was the only one we saw in the Gulf who put his own money into something, but it was for his brother's centrifuge equipment.<br /><br />These are just a few basic points. I am working with John Jarmon (ERCOT) and Daniel Thomas (Teacher at Taylor High School) to try and put together a solar field at Taylor High School for the students involved in BLADE to have the capability to really look at solar power. We are attempting to do this through Crowdfunding. As we progress, if you are interested I would like to talk with you further. Lets see if we can put our talents to work together, I and my colleagues with the technology, you and your colleagues with the music. My vision - to expand this program at Taylor High School to every High School and College through out the state. Now I am asking people who say that they are concerned about the environment to make an active change - through our children and grandchildren.<br /><br />My best regards,<br /><br />John Nistler<br />President/CEO<br />PSIDA GR LLC<br />www.psida.webs.com<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-76450362868132323272012-08-20T12:28:25.515-07:002012-08-20T12:28:25.515-07:00THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS TRANSFERRED FROM JOHN NISTL...THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS TRANSFERRED FROM JOHN NISTLER'S EMAIL TO ME. A good dialogue. John is President/CEO of PSIDA GR LLC. <br /><br />(1) of (5) <br /><br />Hello Chris,<br /> Thanks for the blog. Its an interesting read. Not that I agree or disagree with everything you wrote, but there are some additional points that I may add.<br /><br />Please keep in mind that I promote 24 hour on demand solar power, if you will keep that in mind, I think you will see that I look at truly understanding some issues instead of making it a "them versus us" proposition.<br /><br />1) Natural Gas. A double sided sword. On one side, it uses a lot of clean water. Yet, they are also using the production brine water in many areas in West Texas to produce the clean water they need for fraccing. In addition, fraccing potentially can consume large volumes of fresh water and is being bid for directly against farmers and ranchers.<br /><br />But, on the other side, low natural gas prices is finally breaking the cycle of coal use for electricity here in the USA. http://psida.webs.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=157644452. Replacing coal with NG has resulted in lowering of CO2, NOx and SOx emmissions. Thus while there is a concern regarding fresh water, air quality is improving. Natural Gas is being blamed for a lack of investment for electricity in Texas, since wholesale electricity is now going for 2.5 cents per kWh. But we should keep in mind that wind now represents 8% of the electricity generated in Texas. So wind has also drove wholesale prices down.<br /><br />Thus from an environmental perspective - is it better to condemn fraccing or promote NG for cleaner air?<br /><br />On my second point, I was involved in the Gulf during the BP oil spill. Saw lots of environmental groups rush in while they could get in front of the camera and obtain donations, same thing happened in Haiti. After the news left, so did the environmental groups who were not home grown to begin with. I also saw environmental groups battling each other for the almighty dollar, but in general a real lack of concern for what was actually happening. There were exceptions. Louisiana Coastal Brigade for example. They were there before the spill and are still there now.<br /><br />My basic point. At the beginning many environmental groups are started by people who really care, after wards they become a business. Its kind of like telling a child to do as I say, not as I do. The everyday person being effected by the spraying of Corexit and the aftermath of the BP oil spill, they saw this happening. Thus any claim of global warming in Louisiana is now seen as just another way for environmental groups to get money. <br /><br />Until environmental groups start to invest in real long term solutions versus appearing to be wanting to get in front of the camera to obtain donations, this attitude of the "normal, everyday people" will not change.<br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-826002825053853562012-08-18T13:06:53.149-07:002012-08-18T13:06:53.149-07:00Great essay. Agreed: most of our species will ei...Great essay. Agreed: most of our species will either quickly awaken or die out - and soon. For the first time, most all humans will be facing their existentialist challenges at roughly the same time. Climate model scenarios show unsurvivable end-times shared within a few decades. We all will closely share the same calendar of hardship. The further up the hockeystick - the closer our shared experience. Near-term or multi-generational survival requires a type of unified effort never before seen or imagined. We don't have a clue. We can talk to people still alive who were born before light bulbs and airplanes. But all that, plus our ear buds and thumb drives, mean nothing to our survival. We have been dancing on the cliff and it looks like gravity rules. <br /><br />Individuals can philosophize and coordinate efforts but humans are not really a unified species like ants or bees. We don't do much group-thinking. And so far, our best group thinking is robotic and requires electricity. Historically, our most genuine human effort has been to assemble individuals into large groups that temporarily share resources in order to face another large group of individuals (i.e. wars). <br /><br />This is the most interesting of times. Wonderful to witness, and great to participate.rpaulihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00016149709193595632noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-88086631291384670052012-08-16T07:09:37.826-07:002012-08-16T07:09:37.826-07:00Very grateful for your words, Chris, and for makin...Very grateful for your words, Chris, and for making the effort to write them. I agree that education (raising awareness) is key. I’ll also put in a plug for the book <i>Ishmael</i> by Daniel Quinn. It talks about changing peoples’ minds. For instance, they’re not "our" oceans or forests, but belong to themselves for their own sake. I also recommend a recent film: The Money Fix.Zowishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13276561850113249110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-51222269073907560492012-08-16T06:01:24.217-07:002012-08-16T06:01:24.217-07:00Thanks for the post, Chris. The challenges we are ...Thanks for the post, Chris. The challenges we are facing in our lifetime really have me concerned, especially for my children. <br /><br />Sometimes, I figure I'll just focus on teaching them about permaculture, survivalism, and rocket science; maybe they'll do better up with Curiosity. <br /><br />Other times, I play "Earth-opoly" with my 8yr old son. Like Monopoly, you go around the board and get cards for the various properties. However, the difference is you don't "own" the "Colorful Coral Reefs." Rather, you become "responsible for protecting" them. <br /><br />Then, with the money he collects as I land on that square, he "pays" his younger brother (7yrs) to learn scuba diving, so the 7yr old can go protect the reefs. <br /><br />So, maybe it is scuba diving and rock climbing that the kids need to learn. <br /><br />Whatever the case, they are going to need a seriously amazing toolkit of skills to thrive and prosper in our rapidly changing home. ChadNBlevinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08826869735298241710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-37458912168128976292012-08-15T19:16:40.398-07:002012-08-15T19:16:40.398-07:00Hey Chris -- just a note about your next-to-last f...Hey Chris -- just a note about your next-to-last footnote -- in my experience, England and Germany recycle far more systematically than the US on the average-citizen level; in both, everyone separates their residential trash into recyclables/compost/other in 3 bins (where I live now, garbage vs recycle & compost pick-up rotate on a weekly basis); in Germany, most places like airports have triple garbage cans everywhere for the same; in the UK at least, there are additional recycle bins at grocery stores and the like for additional recyclables such as glass, wax cartons, plastic bags, and textiles.<br /><br />I've always wondered why so many places in the US make it difficult to recycle... i.e., no special residential recycle bins, leading to policies like having to leave stacks of newspapers in a certain way, bundled only in twine, etc.<br /><br />Keep on fighting the good fight, Chris!sgr79https://www.blogger.com/profile/08267142616349706222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-77827149188664271192012-08-15T17:26:30.378-07:002012-08-15T17:26:30.378-07:00Thanks EcoWise Jim, great points. (Jim Holland fro...Thanks EcoWise Jim, great points. (Jim Holland from Ecowise "everybody"). Some of that is covered, starting with my suggestion that our lives in trouble way BEFORE any future grandkids get here. What's your solution? Not kidding. Thanks again, see you at the store soonAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-85455844445239479552012-08-12T13:23:07.357-07:002012-08-12T13:23:07.357-07:00Well Chris,
Great commentary. but...
elephant in...Well Chris,<br /> Great commentary. but...<br /> elephant in the room, "too many people". If you want to tackle the real problems, you can't ignore it.Use code words like family planning or consumption per capita etc. to talk about it with out scaring them. <br /> I would also include an idea that "if you care about your grandchildren" then, blah blah blah. that has woken up a few to realize that it's going to happen to their family, self interest is the highest motivator. thanks, jim hollandecowisetinyhomeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02859339334847789334noreply@blogger.com