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Humanity just took its worst hit.

This is the most beautiful ecosystem we know of. Currently unique in the whole perceived universe. A beautiful delicate blue jewel in the violence of spacetime. The only known cradle of love.

Burned for a headline.

Oh, it's not as bad as all that, Bro. I mean, it will take years for anything to really change, and saner heads may prevail.

And they will have to find that "Clean Coal" he keeps babbling about before he can get much else accomplished.

We have clean coal, we export it. It's just been announced that the worlds biggest offshore wind farm is about to be built off my local coast. After of course a three year feasibility study. I'll be surprised if it goes ahead.

The wind farm — which would be built 10–25 kilometres offshore in waters near Port Albert — would spread over 570 square kilometres in Commonwealth waters, and could provide 18 per cent of the state's energy.


Offshore wind farm proposed for waters off Victoria's Gippsland - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

magentaflame;1509863 wrote: We have clean coal, we export it. It's just been announced that the worlds biggest offshore wind farm is about to be built off my local coast. After of course a three year feasibility study. I'll be surprised if it goes ahead.



Offshore wind farm proposed for waters off Victoria's Gippsland - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)


I know that the article says the offshore wind is consistent but that has to be relative. At a fifth of your supply you cannot afford to be becalmed so it would be interesting to see what backup facilities are proposed.

Must admit clean coal sounds a bit euphemistic to me. Clean in comparison to what? It's still a fossil fuel...

Anyway, nice to have some good news on this issue:Renewables provide more than half UK energy for first time - BBC News

My opinion on nuclear power has varied over the years but in the end I think Fukushima and Chernobyl mean I'm against it if it can at all be avoided but accept that we may have a power gap we have to fill. The report suggests that power gap may not be as bad as I feared, especially if other renewables develop as fast as offshore wind farms appear to have done.

Clodhopper;1509992 wrote: Must admit clean coal sounds a bit euphemistic to me. Clean in comparison to what? It's still a fossil fuel...

Anyway, nice to have some good news on this issue:Renewables provide more than half UK energy for first time - BBC News

My opinion on nuclear power has varied over the years but in the end I think Fukushima and Chernobyl mean I'm against it if it can at all be avoided but accept that we may have a power gap we have to fill. The report suggests that power gap may not be as bad as I feared, especially if other renewables develop as fast as offshore wind farms appear to have done.


But you note that the government are classifying nuclear as renewable for this comparison?

After all, there has to be something to tide us over when there's a big high sitting over us and not a breath of wind - and given that the eco-warriers won't let us build a tidal barrage across the Severn estuary it looks like nuclear will be in the mix for a long time to come.

Seems I'm in good company:

Stephen Hawking calls for a return to the moon as Earth’s clock runs out

...Global�*warming is a threat, too, a view he knows is not shared by President Trump, “who may just have taken the most serious and wrong decision on climate change this world has seen.


Bryn:

But you note that the government are classifying nuclear as renewable for this comparison?


From the article:

National Grid reported that, on Wednesday lunchtime, power from wind, solar, hydro and wood pellet burning supplied 50.7% of UK energy.

Add in nuclear, and by 2pm low carbon sources were producing 72.1% of electricity in Great Britain.


?

Clodhopper;1510440 wrote: Seems I'm in good company:

Stephen Hawking calls for a return to the moon as Earth’s clock runs out



Bryn:



From the article:



?


My apologies, I don't know how I missed that and picked up on :-

The National Grid, the body that owns and manages the power supply around the UK, said in a tweet: "For the first time ever this lunchtime wind, nuclear and solar were all generating more than both gas and coal combined."

...been there, done that...

In the end I only bothered to bring it up again because I think you'd appreciate the correction.

I have to disagree with Dr Hawking. We need to learn how to live on THIS planet before we are allowed to go wandering off like Cosmic Bedouins trekking across the galaxy, consuming resources, and leaving our mess behind.

LarsMac;1510464 wrote: I have to disagree with Dr Hawking. We need to learn how to live on THIS planet before we are allowed to go wandering off like Cosmic Bedouins trekking across the galaxy, consuming resources, and leaving our mess behind.


I'm worried the real reason Dr Hawking has got behind this project so suddenly is that he's concerned that if we don't get off the planet in the next 100 years or so we never will because we'll have destroyed the planet.

Touch of the Matrix, with the very accurate definition of man being most closely linked to a virus. Consume its own environment beyond repair, then move out to colonise a new one.

You think we have as much time as that, Clodhopper ?

Clodhopper;1510489 wrote: I'm worried the real reason Dr Hawking has got behind this project so suddenly is that he's concerned that if we don't get off the planet in the next 100 years or so we never will because we'll have destroyed the planet.


I don't disagree with that, but I believe that if we don't learn how to NOT destroy the planet, we have no business being allowed to have another one to screw up.

We tried to teach our kids how to take care of their toys, rather than just getting them more toys when the broke the ones they had.