a modest proposal

i don't understand the resistance to renewable energy. some call it "alternative energy" as if it was some fringe fad that only people dressed in black, with pierced noses and covered in tatoos would use. but the reality is that we waste lots of resources on "conventional" (or as i prefer to call it - "dirty") energy.

think for a moment, covering a portion of the US desert with conventional solar photo voltaic seems like a crazy idea. but by the numbers it does not seem bad to me.

the US power consumption is roughly 3.34 TW in 2005. this includes gas and electricity. assuming 4% increase per year over the last 3 years due to growing population and economy, means 3.76 TW in 2008. let's assume no improvements in conservation (which is a very conservative assumption).

a typical PV installation takes 8 acres per MW (0.03 sq km) at an installed cost of $7 per watt. the US has 9,826,630 sq km of land, 286,352 Nevada, 295,253 Arizona and 314,917 New Mexico.

this means roughly 120,000 sq km would be needed to power the entire US energy needs, or less than 15% of three southwest states. the cost would be $26 trillion (roughly twice the 2007 GDP). of course this ignores transmission losses, now estimated to be 7%, but could be substantial the farther away you go. also, we would need some really big batteries (like pumping an ocean of water up during the day for electricity at night).

added benefit would be that we are a "deathstar" sending a beam of light reflected into space in some random direction causing who knows what havoc on some alien planet. (Chris)

Sources: U.S energy consumption by source, 1949-2005, Energy Information Administration, CIA Factbook

brush strokes

I'm painting today. First time in a long time. Have not felt settled enough paint in years, not sure why. Realized that my brush strokes came back very quickly. I am more of a sketch artist than painter. I was struggling with the easel, so I picked up the painting and used my brush as a pencil. Less risk of drips as well. Little aspects of how to use a brush came back to me. How to nudge up to a line; how to sweep an area and twisting the bristles to keep the flow of paint smooth; An artful dab of the corner of the brush. All this takes confidence and ease. I could feel myself becoming more grounded and present.

Am I doing damage to my brush? How I recklessly manipulate the bristles, like stroking the hair of cat the wrong way. A brush is nothing but a means to an end.

In search of originality

I feel recycled. Like every atom has been hand-me-downs from distant stars to ancient predecessors. As are my thoughts and ideas, merely echoes of past intelligence. Like the monks of the middle ages, my errors are my main contribution to the body of human knowledge. The internet has made us all "told-you-so" and "saw-that-somewhere" cynics.

But this can be overcome I believe (or hope). I will endeavor to come up with a single new thought, original observation or truly unique idea every day. I leave it to the throng to prove me wrong.