David Attenborough meets the president. |
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MartinW
Moderator in Command Joined: 31 Mar 2008 Location: United Kingdom Points: 26722 |
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Posted: 28 Jun 2015 at 10:34am |
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Must have been quite a thrill for David Attenborough to be asked to visit the Whitehouse. And no, it wasn't a case of "come and have a look around". It was an admiring president seeking his council.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-33303042 In the video, the president and David talk about clean energy. if you want to watch the entire meeting, it's on BBC1 at 10:30 tonight. |
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stevemac
Check-In Staff Joined: 30 Jan 2014 Location: Melbourne Points: 14 |
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" today's renewable-energy technologies aren't a viable solution for reducing CO2 levels, and governments should divert their green subsidies into R&D aimed at better answers" - Bill Gates
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/06/26/gates_renewable_energy_cant_do_the_job_gov_should_switch_green_subsidies_into_rd/ "the cost of using current renewables such as solar panels and windfarms to produce all or most power would be "beyond astronomical". At present very little power comes from renewables: in the UK just 5.2 per cent, the majority of which is dubiously-green biofuel burning1 rather than renewable 'leccy - and even so, energy bills have surged and will surge further as a result." The ex-software overlord stated that the Guardian's scheme of everyone refusing to invest in oil and gas companies would have "little impact". He also poured scorn on another notion oft-touted as a way of making renewable energy more feasible, that of using batteries to store intermittent supplies from solar or wind. “There’s no battery technology that’s even close to allowing us to take all of our energy from renewables," he said, pointing out - as we've noted on these pages before - that it's necessary "to deal not only with the 24-hour cycle but also with long periods of time where it’s cloudy and you don’t have sun or you don’t have wind." |
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MartinW
Moderator in Command Joined: 31 Mar 2008 Location: United Kingdom Points: 26722 |
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Well clearly they are, in that any energy generated from renewables will reduce CO2 emissions. Enough? No, so lets have more. Last year global CO2 emissions actually stalled rather than increasing as expected. It seems we can thank China, it seems their commitment to a low carbon future resulted in a 5% drop in emissions. We do have to be cautious of course, because a drop in any one financial quarter isn't exactly a dramatic change in direction. But for Gates to completely write off todays renewable technology is silly. So yes, todays renewable energy technology can indeed make a difference. The issue is implementation, we need more of it.
http://www.theguardian.com/vital-signs/2015/apr/20/renewable-energy-global-trends-solar-power Currently the fossil fuel industry gets between 500 billion and one triilon dollars in subsdies per year. Just imagine how renewable energy would be transformed with the same investment. |
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MartinW
Moderator in Command Joined: 31 Mar 2008 Location: United Kingdom Points: 26722 |
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He's not telling us anything we don't already know. Except that the point of course, is to invest in a wide range of renewable technologies to off-set somewhat the periodic nature of power generation.
And this is where Bill Gate's and his hypocrisy arrive.... wow, well done Bill, you say you'll invest one billion in renewables. And simultaneously he and his "Gates Foundation" hold billions in investments in the fossil fuel industry!!!
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/19/gates-foundation-has-14bn-in-fossil-fuels-investments-guardian-analysis And nope! When asked to no longer support the fossil fuel industry he refused! http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/26/gates-to-invest-2bn-in-breakthrough-renewable-energy-projects
Yes, you would say that wouldn't you Bill, given you have billions invested in the fossil fuel industry yourself. Divest Bill we say, divest, sell your fossil fuel assets! Err... no, err... that wouldn't work he tells us. I think it's pretty clear what Gates is up to. He's investing in renewable research and development as a business opportunity. But simultaneously of course he wishes to hang on to his fossil fuel investments. This is a business opportunity for him, nothing altruistic! |
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