A proponent of the wind turbine shown at left writes:
I commented this 6 year’s ago . It is so simple even if you put in small stream 1 000 000 small turbines like this one, you will have more power. It’s the same for the wind , we don’t need this big huge wind Parks we need small efficient and most important easy for fixing and easy for installation. Not forgetting we can make smaller things with eco friendly materials.
Me:
There are a few reasons that claims like this are bullshit. The main one is that the power extracted from the wind is proportional to the square of the radius of the blades. We recall from our childhoods the formula: Area (of a circle) = pi r-squared. This is why real (not fictional) wind turbines are so large (and getting larger all the time).
Also, as I mention frequently, today’s wind turbines capture about 90% of the theoretically available kinetic energy from moving wind; given the laws of physics, there is no room for any significant increase in efficiency/output.
Even if neither of these were true, which would you rather cover the cost of maintaining: one large turbine or a million little ones?
I join those who say that the human race has evolved to be tribal and selfish. We are largely indifferent to the needs of others, and the capitalist society we’ve built has only served to reenforce this.
As Tom Waits observed, “We’re monkeys with money and guns.”
Now, are there some extremely decent and kind people spread around the globe? Of course. But they tend not to be the billionaires who make all the important decisions as to the how our culture will conduct itself.
Well, never is a long time, as they say.
Yet imagine this scenario, which is quite possible:
Trump is impeached and removed. Almost immediately, there is an incredible outpouring of information on an additional set of crimes committed by Trump and his administration. Simultaneously, the U.S. morphs into a social democracy, and its people enjoy quality education, access to healthcare, and prosperity, not unlike those in Northern Europe and elsewhere around the globe.
Yes, there will always be Republicans promising mass deportations and whatever else appeals to a dwindling MAGA base, but I would think they will have one hell of a hard time winning a national election.
The GOP can say the American economy is skyrocketing. But then there’s that nasty little piece of reality that people can’t afford groceries and are suffering financially more generally.
Or they can day that people are suffering financially, but it’s Biden’s fault. Oops. Biden left office 588 days ago.
Or they can say that the war in Iran has driven up gas prices, but that will turn immediately because we’ve won the war. Yikes. What can we say about all these bombs?
Or they can say that all the racial hatred and divisiveness is Obama’s fault. No, that’s problematic, since he’s been gone for almost 10 years.
Trump supporters may not be too sharp, but even they are having trouble accepting all this crap.
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