Other than common sense, there is nothing that prohibits investors from pumping cash into companies like Flower Turbines, that one day, owners claim, will build and sell devices that capture small amounts of wind energy.
In fact, until about a decade ago, there were completely legitimate attempts to commercialize what was called “small wind.” At that point, however, it was realized that the costs of building, installing, and maintaining systems like this would literally never be recouped by the owner, and that the entire enterprise was doomed, or, to put it more accurately, limited to a customer base that didn’t care about the economics.
People like these do exist, btw. There are luxury wristwatches that sell for six figures, that tell time no better than something you can buy in a drug store.
At right is a solar energy device that automatically folds up at night. Does that do anything of practical value? Of course not; in fact, it only adds moving parts that eventually fail. The price of electricity per kWh will be astronomical. Apparently, some people simply do not care.
Investors, however, want profits, and profits derived from high-volume sales of products with decent operating margins. In the case of the Flower Turbine, this is an improbable as the Earth’s getting hit by an asteroid the size of Utah.
A couple of months ago, I happened to ask a friend who had emigrated from Sweden if she was religious. “No!” she exclaimed. “Almost no one in Sweden is religious.”
As we see at left, there seems to be a huge correlation between atheism and the national level of happiness. But what causes that?
Are believers unhappy people for some reason? That doesn’t make sense.
Here’s my two-fold theory. Atheists believe:
a) That we only live once, so we try to enjoy it while we can.
And, more importantly,
b) That we need to take care of one another (since there is no God). We’re willing to make sacrifices if that means things like great education, universal healthcare, environmental responsibility, tolerable working conditions, and near-zero poverty.
Renewable Energy
From the Independent: “Trump Administration to Pay Two More Companies to Walk Away from U.S. Offshore Wind Leases”
From this article in The Independent:
The Trump administration announced two more payouts Monday for energy companies to walk away from U.S. offshore wind projects under development.
Bluepoint Wind and Golden State Wind have agreed to end their offshore wind leases in exchange for reimbursements totaling nearly $900 million. Both companies have decided not to pursue any new offshore wind projects in the United States, the Interior Department announced Monday.
Bluepoint Wind is an offshore wind project in the early stages of development off the coasts of New Jersey and New York, while Golden State Wind is a floating offshore wind project proposed off California’s central coast.
Trump is hellbent on destroying the renewable energy industry so as to benefit his billionaire friends in fossil fuels.
He’s on course to be remembered as the most destructive person in world history, with the possible exception of Adolph Hitler.
What is said here about Pete Hegseth is clearly true.
But keep in mind that he’s fiercely loyal to Donald Trump, and Trump couldn’t possibly care what happens to the United States, as long as he can stay out of prison and enrich himself and his family.
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