Earth Day National Mall

So anyone head out to this shindig today??  It was pretty good.  I thought it was going to rain but it ended up being sunny  ;D  Got to see a lot of bands and Joss Stone is Hot Hot.  Have a pic of thatguy Josh but can't figure out how to insert a pic hmmmmm




Ahhh HA, I figured out how to add a photo now.  As you can see he is thinking…… hmmmm, hippies….. great, just great  ;D

Way too many speakers, all saying the same thing, blah blah earth blah blah, Zzzzzzzzzz

I was amused when a video ad for the U.S. Navy came on, touting their new "green" plane program.  Apparently they have started using biofuels to fuel some of their fighter planes.  I've gotta guess that many of the hippie types in the audience were confused by this display of military hardware came on.

And that also kinda highlights the problem with the whole "green" thing.  People think biofuels are green because they come from plants, and they've been marketed as "green," even though there's nothing really green about them.  Same with putting in a CFL bulb, which may reduce your electric bill but won't stave off global warming by even one second.

The Air Force, the largest consumer of jet fuel in the world (note: expensive), is working to have its entire fleet of jets run on biofuels by 2015. All sectors of the military are on that same path, but the Air Force is the leader in the effort towards energy security.

The AF is experimenting with many forms of biofuels, but the service is especially excited with two fuels that are derived from non-food base sources: camelina and tallow. Camelina is a weed in the mustard family while tallow is a rendered form of beef fat.

Certainly a "green" effort not getting a lot of mainstream coverage.

Biofuels are only green in that they're renewable.  Burning them still pollutes, and diverting cropland to fuel production drives up food prices which makes it harder for millions of people to eat.  Industrial farming also pollutes through fertlizer runoff.  Not so green.

^^ i thought cfl's used less power.  but they have mercury.  but over their life cfl's have less mercury than the mercury a coal plant would produce to power the bulb.  i thought biofuels cost alot more to make than gas from oil.  it used to be the us gov't paid farmers not to grow corn because there was too much.  then the biofuels came along and everyone grew corn.  then oil prices got real cheap and all the corn farmers went broke. switchgrass.  too bad those earthday folks don't fix the mall area they destroyed.  looked like the 930 crew was running the show.

ironically the only chance for staving off global warming is massive investment in nuclear power, which is non-polluting (unless there's an accident)…

anyway, the day itself was fun.  Great music, and a good crowd!

Doctor wrote:
nuclear power, which is non-polluting (unless there's an accident)…

what do you consider spent fuel rods, leftover plutonium and cesium, decommissioned reactors (including the land on which they sit), contaminated water from cooling pools, etc?  that stuff ain't just pollution - it's pollution for the next 10,000-100,000 years.  that crap is going to outlive humanity in all likelihood!

Doctor wrote:
Biofuels are only green in that they're renewable.   Burning them still pollutes, and diverting cropland to fuel production drives up food prices which makes it harder for millions of people to eat.   Industrial farming also pollutes through fertlizer runoff.   Not so green.

So what? These advances in technology pursued by the services and industry will help both save American taxpayers money and help save the environment, as small/futile you might perceive that effort to be. Not to mention the goal of energy security. A utopian ending is obviously just not possible. Let's give the services some props for making a fine effort.

Don't forget the commercial airline industry is waiting for the military to figure out biofuels. Once industry figures out how to produce biofuels at a cost-efficient rate for commerce, it's gonna mean big savings for consumers (still crossing my fingers). And the military is THE driving force behind that effort.

BTW, I hope Sting played Driven to Tears.

Thousand wrote:
BTW, I hope Sting played Driven to Tears.

He did play it  ;D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzzWnRi8bss

Thousand wrote:

Doctor wrote:
Biofuels are only green in that they're renewable.   Burning them still pollutes, and diverting cropland to fuel production drives up food prices which makes it harder for millions of people to eat.   Industrial farming also pollutes through fertlizer runoff.   Not so green.

So what? These advances in technology pursued by the services and industry will help both save American taxpayers money and help save the environment, as small/futile you might perceive that effort to be. Not to mention the goal of energy security. A utopian ending is obviously just not possible. Let's give the services some props for making a fine effort.

Don't forget the commercial airline industry is waiting for the military to figure out biofuels. Once industry figures out how to produce biofuels at a cost-efficient rate for commerce, it's gonna mean big savings for consumers (still crossing my fingers). And the military is THE driving force behind that effort.

Apparently you didn't read anything I wrote.  Biofuels are still polluting, so they don't save the environment, and they introduce new pollutants.  And they don't save taxpayers money, because the only reason they are economically viable is because the government subsidizes them.  Stop posting talking points…

Sting… the Stingmeister General… Stingalingadingdong… makin' copies…

edbert wrote:
Sting… the Stingmeister General… Stingalingadingdong… makin' copies…

makin' copies . . . not so green.

sweetcell wrote:

Doctor wrote:
nuclear power, which is non-polluting (unless there's an accident)…

what do you consider spent fuel rods, leftover plutonium and cesium, decommissioned reactors (including the land on which they sit), contaminated water from cooling pools, etc?  that stuff ain't just pollution - it's pollution for the next 10,000-100,000 years.  that crap is going to outlive humanity in all likelihood!

Hybrid reactors (they are not in use as they make Plutonium and other higher radioactive substances) have a lot less leftover radioactive materials as they reirradiate the stuff and keep it going.  Can be real scary in a meltdown, but overall a lot less fuel use.  Just we have to trust all those other countries to not use the leftovers to make bombs.