Comments on: Bob Metcalfe cheers global warming bubble

Energy is seeing Internet-speed innovation, which will challenge assumptions about how fast global warming and energy problems can be solved, says Internet figure Bob Metcalfe.

[Manhattan2]

Mr. Metcalfe should contact the retired engineers at Sensible Ventures if he is looking for where to find the answers to energy innovation. A small group of talented engineers and software developers that were in the computer tech business from the early days have already been using their skills to find solutions in energy and exploration. Track them down at Solar Transfer or Sensible Ventures.

[ipashchuk]

Since the sun has by far the most impact on Earth's termperature (99.99%+), perhaps, we could devise a shield that would essentially act as a thermostat to keep Earth's overall temperature constant. One problem is determining what is considered normal overall temperature -- in the last millenium we've had it both cooler and warmer than it is today...

It doesn't make sense to focus on 0.01% of impact that humans have on Earth's temperature.

[mrwater]

One reason your suggestion is not likely to succeed is that the problem is not necessarily how much of the sun's energy impinges on the planet. We need the light to grow crops. The disruption we have caused lies in how much of the sun's energy is trapped by greenhouse gases.

[bj1126]

I love his counter conservation approach. For example when you look at the Google model for energy development they make HUGE assumptions on the conservation side. Something like that requires too much authoritarian control over consumption. Our plan has to involve a base energy generation increase going forward not a decrease that attempts to make up the difference in conservation.

[mrwater]

I think we need to contemplate conservation from the standpoint of having the price of consumption reflect its true costs, including environmental, health and social costs. Our alleged "free market" is already the effect of human decisions. Why not make those decisions in ways that reflect our real needs?

[likeAppnforPhys]

This is a natural direction for investment in research to take. Internet technology consumes a relatively small amount of energy, although a rigorous energy analysis from raw materials to retail shelves would certainly be worthwhile. Cooling seems to be the biggest energy draw, and this might be a good area to look at.

As far as other energy consumption, technology has a long way to catch up. Consider it takes $40,000 of diesel per year to cool a ranch house in the Australian outback.

[William Crow]

I guess when global warming is mentioned it implies "Manmade Global Warming." What a load. Just because there is organizational infrastructure surrounding the issue doesn't mean its true.
It does fit with the political ideals of many.

[likeAppnforPhys]

There's some pretty good correlation between CO2 increase and global average temperature. Can you rule out that it's manmade?

[William Crow]

There is good history to suggest climate simply changes over time, too. There's also correlation that sun activity greatly influences climate and temperature.
There is correlation of natural and societal changes and opportunist politicians, especially those that attended seminary and learned the constructs of organized religion and applied it to naturally occurring changes and fears within societies.

[William Crow]

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2008/10/20/lorne-gunter-thirty-years-of-warmer-temperatures-go-poof.aspx

[dobermanmacleod]

Mr Metcalfe is correct: "Extrapolating today's energy technologies--the floor--on tomorrow's energy problems is the wrong way to look at the problem. Instead, people should expect energy to change like the development of the Internet, where there were a number of disruptive technology introductions that were built on top of each other over time. "

Wind a solenoidal coil around a magnet, and apply electricity. The magnetic field is amplified, and the magnetic gradient can be exploited to yield more electricity than was used powering the solenoidal coil. A private California company called Magnetic Power Inc ( www.magneticpowerinc.com ) exceeded breakeven (i.e. produced more electricity than it used) with a prototype in late 2004. MPI will be introducing their solid state power generator onto the market in about a year (I know this is extremely difficult for anyone with scientific training to accept without ironclad proof, having been beaten up many times for distributing this news before the actual product has hit the market).

In my opinion, this is very likely legimate, but I am not associate with the company. Sometimes things that are too good to be true actually turn out to be correct-I strongly believe this is one of those times.

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