Why Global Warming does not bother me.

[Seth]

It's feasible just not cost effective as yet - nor is the pulling up sediments. There are test facilities but the gradient has to be large to be useful for power - Hawaii has potential.

This is the other aspect of the debate, something those who suck fossil fuel cock always fail to realise. The costs to do many renewable/green energy projects would be far more feasible if the true cost of fossil fuels was being paid. That is, if we weren't externalising the pollution costs of fossil fuel use.

People like cars, central heat and air conditioning, electricity and cool stuff and they want cheap oil to power all those things. They're going to continue to tell you to fuck off no matter what.

Adapt or die.

[Seth]

To Seth

On costs.

The cost of setting up such a structure has to be defrayed by the climate benefits, the energy generation benefits, and the fish production benefits. Obviously, nothing will happen until the money men calculate this will be overall a net financial gain. So far, we do not even have pilot plants, so there is a long way to go, and eventually nothing may happen. But the basic idea is sound.

The utopian, pie-in-the-sky dream may be scientifically possible, but the idea is not sound unless you consider the scale and cost of the effort and find that it can be accomplished.

We could have colonized Europa by now if we were willing to put the entire GDP of the planet towards that goal, which is exactly what would be required to achieve this silly idea on a scale that has any hope of having any measurable impact in anything under a thousand years.

[mistermack]

I know one place where the temperature differentials are more than enough to generate vast quantities of electricity.

Unfortunately, they are hard to get at.
They're called black smokers, and they sit on the ocean floor. You have a constant flow of water at hundreds of degrees celcius, right next to cold water at just a few degrees.

Unfortunately, the pressure is so immense, it would cost too much to work down there.
Maybe there are some in shallower seas, that could be exploited.

I seem to remember that as you go deeper on land, the temperature rises, but as you go deeper in the sea, the temperature falls. Does anybody know why that is?

[pErvinalia]

convection. also there is more energy input at the top/surface.

[macdoc]

Some potential -

http://phys.org/news/2012-08-cooled-coa ... ealth.html

[macdoc]

required reading

http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... ate-change

[macdoc]

Well this is refreshing...no more namby pamby

Bloomberg Businessweek: ‘It’s Global Warming, Stupid’

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/1 ... re-1122241

[Jason]

In other breaking news, winter came unusually early this year.

[macdoc]

December 21st has arrived already !!- I know you are dwelling in Lotusland but really