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Earl Aagaard’s opinions about everything that interests him. Og also enjoys gardening, travel, reading, woodbutchery, and lots of other stuff.
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Environment
Sunday, January 20, 2008
WELL, IF *THIS* IS TRUE, OUR PROBLEMS WITH THE MIDDLE EAST MAY BE TIME-LIMITED
We have a problem in the Middle East, mostly because we’re dependent on that region for our liquid fuels. The money we pay is used, in part, to fund aggressive actions against us and our interests in many parts of the world. If we could find a substitute for about 15% of our petroleum needs, we might very well see the decline of prices, of influence by radical regimes, and of violent actions in many parts of the world.
Some have pinned their hopes on ethanol made from corn, but that’s not terribly efficient, and it runs up corn prices besides…thus hurting some of the world’s really poor people. What can we do?
Here’s some good news…..
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
TROUT HAVE BEEN MOVED ALL OVER THE U.S., AND AROUND THE WORLD
Along the East Coast, the Brook Trout populations have been devastated by Brown Trout imported from Europe.
On the other hand, in the Western U.S., it’s the native Cutthroat Trout that have suffered because Eastern Brook Trout were transplanted into THEIR streams and rivers.
Anglers and other conservation-minded people are restoring, and even rediscovering, native trout species all over the place—you can READ ALL ABOUT IT in the August, 2007 issue of Smithsonian.
Science • Environment • News • Miscellany • Food • Sports • Comments •
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
FORGIVE MY LACK OF FAITH IN ROLLING STONE…..BUT, WISDOM ON ETHANOL?
Yes, indeed:
The great danger of confronting peak oil and global warming isn’t that we will sit on our collective asses and do nothing while civilization collapses, but that we will plunge after “solutions” that will make our problems even worse. Like believing we can replace gasoline with ethanol, the much-hyped biofuel that we make from corn.
Friday, June 08, 2007
DO YOU STILL BELIEVE EXTRA CARBON DIOXIDE IS CAUSING ALL THE EARTH’S WARMING?
How 20th Century of you!!
There’s good evidence that a significant contributor is soot particles from industry, power generation, and forest fires…...which are relatively cheap and easy to address, compared to carbon dioxide.
The warming in the Arctic has been extrapolated to the world as a whole, but that doesn’t make sense, according to this study:
In the past two centuries, the Arctic has warmed about 1.6 degrees. Dirty snow caused .5 to 1.5 degrees of warming, or up to 94 percent of the observed change, the scientists determined.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
THE RETURN OF THE STEAM ENGINE…..?
Not Exactly…...but along with the AIR-POWERED CAR, this six-stroke, internal combustion/steam engine is the kind of thing that our inventors and entrepreneurs can be expected to produce for us…...
Crower calculates that the Steam-o-Lene boosts the work it gets from a gallon of gas by 40 percent over conventional engines. Diesels, which are already more efficient, might get another 5 percent. And his engine does it with hardware that already exists, so there’s no waiting for technologies to mature, as with electric cars or fuel cells.
HAT TIP: the Instapundit
Saturday, May 19, 2007
TIRED OF HIGH GAS PRICES? RUN YOUR CAR ON AIR…...Updated!
RIGHT! you say…...
Well, it’s “compressed” air…..but that’s what pushes the pistons in the engine.
Yes, you have to compress the air - but that’s a lot cheaper than burning gasoline. How cheap?
Most importantly, it is incredibly cost-efficient to run – according to the designers, it costs less than one Euro per 100Km (about a tenth that of a petrol car). Its mileage is about double that of the most advanced electric car (200 to 300 km or 10 hours of driving), a factor which makes a perfect choice in cities where the 80% of motorists drive at less than 60Km. The car has a top speed of 68 mph.
Probably not right for driving to Nebraska and back (although there’s a compressor on board for longer trips), but as a commuter car, this looks to be a real winner. Obviously, the designers are going to put the best face on it…..you’ll need to READ THE WHOLE THING
UPDATE: Concerns have been raised about the high-pressure air tank and what would happen in a crash. REASSURANCE IS HERE
Thursday, April 19, 2007
AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH…..OR A CONVENIENT FICTION?
This is the title of the PACIFIC RESEARCH INSTITUTE’S new documentary, in which Dr. Steven Hayward takes a look at AL GORE’S EXAGGERATIONS and applies some scientific sanity.
Reading
- BlogsForDummies :)
Web resources
- Arts & Letters Daily
- Ravi Zacharias
- Southern Adventist University
- The SAU Biology Deptartment - where I work with a bunch of very neat people.
- Venezuelan news—FROM Venezuela