The change to electric will be slow and gradual.
Unless there is another price shock at the oil well.
Also I wouldn't count out the hydrogen/fuel cell technology as the fuel of the future transportation.
Neither would I. Problem is hydrogen requires lots of electricity to crack it out of water. Nearest source of pure hydrogen is Neptune where it exists in crystal form... and I'm not sure importing hydrogen from off planet in bulk is a good idea. Battery and Hydrogen both require LOTS of Tesla juice.
Frankly I think there's more to the relationships between Liberals and companies they hand out big contracts to than they'd be willing to admit.
Chretien did one good thing and that was to limit contributions by corporations to federal parties. I am not aware if there are similar limits in the Province. Perhaps we should insist.
Now, solar power and wind power on the other hand,( in my opinion as a dilettante on the subject) seems very suited for IPP.
I've spent some time thinking on this. I used to have a job that involved changing lightbulbs and dipping my fingers into the batteries to test for acidity. So it has been a subject of interest.
If you want wind power look at Denmark. They have to keep a power plant on full idle to absorb fluctuations in power as the wind rises and falls. Some say that the wind power actually contributes to global warming because the coal plants used as backup aren't burning the coal very efficiently.
It'll probably turn out that using wind turbines en masse will interfere with global circulation of air in the atmosphere and contribute to a steep rise in global temperatures. For every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. (lets start a rumour)
Campbell River and solar power. I wish. Not with our climate. I looked at it when I lived in Kingston Ont. Two solar panels were sufficent to meet an ordinary load if the house was located in Arizona. In Kingston I would have needed 56 panels. Kingston gets more sun, and heat suitable for solar thermal than anyplace here on the WET coast. Solar is not cost effective here, not even if we were paying 20 cents per kWh.
And if you think the footprint from run-of-river is bad how many wind turbines and how many solar panels do you think it would take to generate the 1000 MW that Plutonic is generating. A large wind turbine puts out 1 MW when the wind blows.
I recently travelled in Spain. Those vistas of beautiful hills and the ruins of castles are much spoilt by wind turbines. Yah they're interesting as a curiousity but once the landscape is crowded it's an eyesore. That's why the wind farm on James Island didn't go ahead; nobody wanted them in their viewscape.
We'd be better off putting solar panels on the moon to spell out 'Drink Coca Cola' and fire the power back to Earth via microwave to a rectenna farm.
was reading something a little while ago, that big flat screen tv's are using up more energy then electric cars when charging.
I would suggest reading that article with critical eyes. Basic laws of physics suggest that an electric car will use as much energy as a regular car. 746 watts = 1 hp. I don't own a TV but my cathode ray computer monitor is not a big electric load. I can't imagine it being enough juice to drive my car to the grocers and back.
I wish I was off the grid..... Someday soon I hope.
The idea of being independent of utilities is one of my dreams too; if only to avoid those carbon taxes and administration fees that eat up an ever increasing percentage of my bill.
