Downtown Khazan: Ice Cold Utopia

[Postmania]

People more read on the subject than I have pointed out that energy companies have been doing the most research on alternative fuel sources, but it seems there's just a hard limit on efficiency. Supposedly, there just isn't anything more efficient and cheaper than oil.

How genuinely true that is is hard to say, but I know things like solar and wind power tech as it stands just cannot compete. So, easier to still just support fossil fuels over overhauling the energy systems and telling people in first world countries they might have to just learn to live with regular brown outs and rolling blackouts for a while.

Part of that, I think, is because we're spending billions of dollars subsidizing the oil industry so they can eat costs that non-subsidized industries can't.

It's the same reason so much food in the US has some corn in it/relies on corn.

[Nik Hasta]

Is the series pretty faithful to the manga? I keep meaning to get back to reading it, but maybe catching up with the show would be better at this point.

I've not watched all of the adaptations, I mostly dip in and out and watch my favourite bits. I watched all of Part 3 and 4 and most of Part 5.

Broadly, all parts have been pretty accurate and faithful and all that. Soundtracks have been excellent!

[Sharkerbob]

Part of that, I think, is because we're spending billions of dollars subsidizing the oil industry so they can eat costs that non-subsidized industries can't.

It's the same reason so much food in the US has some corn in it/relies on corn.

Ugh, the more I learn about the fuck ups of the food industry, the more I think Big Food should be tried for war crimes. :B

[Sharkerbob]

I've not watched all of the adaptations, I mostly dip in and out and watch my favourite bits. I watched all of Part 3 and 4 and most of Part 5.

Broadly, all parts have been pretty accurate and faithful and all that. Soundtracks have been excellent!

Sounds good! I'll give it shot once I can tear myself away from YouTube podcasts. :V

[Sharpandpointies]

People more read on the subject than I have pointed out that energy companies have been doing the most research on alternative fuel sources, but it seems there's just a hard limit on efficiency. Supposedly, there just isn't anything more efficient and cheaper than oil.

How genuinely true that is is hard to say, but I know things like solar and wind power tech as it stands just cannot compete. So, easier to still just support fossil fuels over overhauling the energy systems and telling people in first world countries they might have to just learn to live with regular brown outs and rolling blackouts for a while.

Agreed. It's not fair, for developing countries.

But such studies don't take into account the growing damage and cost of Climate Change, and the fact that after a point, 'profits' shouldn't be driving us over the cliff. Because that's what's happening. It doesn't matter if it's the most efficient method if it's driving us into the ground. And it's those developing countries, unsurprisingly, who are also facing the brunt of the Climate Change damage.

Also, the studies often carried out by the old and gas industries themselves, or sponsored by them (always check to see where the money is coming from) in some way.

The oil companies are also known for blocking and suppressing sustainable energy.

http://priceofoil.org/thepriceofoil/clean-energy/ <- Yes, this is an anti-oil site, but it's pretty easy to check and verify their claims.

https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-53640382

https://www.rollingstone.com/politic...energy-198957/ <-- throw this on as well - it's 2013, but that's recent.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...r-than-others/ - Here from 2020.

More efficient and cheaper - The Canadian government subsidizes Canada's oil industry to the tune of 18 billion dollars when it's a 100 billion dollar industry. So a big chunk of the profits...

And even outside of climate change, there are the spills, the disasters, the poisoning of native lands, the poisoning of water supplies, etc.

And the other forms of energy keep getting cheaper. People used to say that that electrical will never be viable. Then more efficient - and cheaper - solar panels started coming out, using different materials. There's now a whole hell of a lot of research going into building batteries that don't use rare earths, which is promising, as well as other methods for storing electricity. And other physical methods of generating electricity on top of wind, water.

Combine ALL of these methods, and maybe we're getting somewhere.

I mean, Denmark is just using wind power. Granted, Denmark isn't exactly a big country with a big population. And they have that lovely coastline. But using current technology, they're getting close to 50% of their power from wind alone.

And then there are the societal changes. Do we NEED to use as much energy as we do (*cough*bitcoin*cough*)?

Had we seriously started on sustainable stuff back in the 70's, given the massive advances in other areas, would we really, really be having the same kinds of problems now? The developing countries could have been benefiting from that, as well. Assuming we weren't dicks about it, and if we had have made a shift because we were taking global warming seriously, I suspect we wouldn't force them to continue to use oil.

[Sharpandpointies]

We found that no firm, even among the leading hedgers, is aggressively investing in renewables. Equinor, among the greenest of the oil firms, invested only 0.08 percent of its total revenue in renewable energy in 2018, the most recent year with available data.

Washington Post, Sept 18 2020.

Emphasis mine. And ugh.

[Sharpandpointies]

Part of that, I think, is because we're spending billions of dollars subsidizing the oil industry so they can eat costs that non-subsidized industries can't.

It's the same reason so much food in the US has some corn in it/relies on corn.

Yeah, I'd throw rocks at the food industry in general, not just animal agriculture. ^_^

[Sharkerbob]

All good points, Sharp. Best we can do is hope things turn around quickly enough, somehow, and we can keep improving the tech and maybe start backing off on the energy consumption. But as you say, there's a level of damage already done that we're just going to have to deal with regardless.

And of course, I say this while acknowledging I don't really want to downgrade my electronics. Let me have my color e-ink! I don't wanna go back to books! You can't make me! >:B

: P

Emphasis mine. And ugh.

Yeah, "most" still does not mean much in this case.

[Sharpandpointies]

All good points, Sharp. Best we can do is hope things turn around quickly enough, somehow. But as you say, there's a level of damage already done that we're just going to have to deal with regardless.

Yeah. :(

I don't have kids. I'm glad I don't have kids. And I feel AWFUL for kids right now. Especially when people say to them 'well, when you grow up you can change things.'

No, no they can't. Not with this (and all of the other societal woes that have become worse and worse!).

Yeah, "most" still does not mean much in this case.

Yeah. :( Especially when they're simultaneously lobbying on behalf of oil, and suppressing information, and... Bleaaaaah. Their forays into renewables are nothing more than performative gestures.

[Sharkerbob]

Yeah.

I don't have kids. I'm glad I don't have kids. And I feel AWFUL for kids right now. Especially when people say to them 'well, when you grow up you can change things.'

No, no they can't. Not with this (and all of the other societal woes that have become worse and worse!).

I don't have any either, and I worry for my friend's and my cousin's kids. Things are right fucked right now, and it's not just generational "back in my day things were better" sentiment talking. I'm sure the human race will persevere through it broadly, and there isn't likely to be a hard sudden crash that'll knock us back into the stone age in one go or anything, but we're in a pretty bad spiral right now, and I have no idea how even the next generation, even if made fully aware of everything, is going to be in a position to actually slow it down much.

Yeah. Especially when they're simultaneously lobbying on behalf of oil, and suppressing information, and... Bleaaaaah. Their forays into renewables are nothing more than performative gestures.

Remember, it's not how successful you are, but how successful you appear to be.


But anyway, I don't mean to drag out a depressing topic.

[Tami]

Maybe this will help make things a little less depressing for a moment or two

[Sharpandpointies]

I don't have any either, and I worry for my friend's and my cousin's kids. Things are right fucked right now, and it's not just generational "back in my day things were better" sentiment talking. I'm sure the human race will persevere through it broadly, and there isn't likely to be a hard sudden crash that'll knock us back into the stone age in one go or anything, but we're in a pretty bad spiral right now, and I have no idea how even the next generation, even if made fully aware of everything, is going to be in a position to actually slow it down much.

Yeah. Couple that with tremendous wealth disparity plus any number of other problems, and...things look appalling.

Remember, it's not how successful you are, but how successful you appear to be.

But anyway, I don't mean to drag out a depressing topic.

I think...some topics need to be dragged out.

Good talking with you, even on a painful subject.

[Sharkerbob]

I think...some topics need to be dragged out.

Good talking with you, even on a painful subject.

You, too.

Oh hey, did your IronClaw book ever make it to digital?

[Sharpandpointies]

You, too.

Oh hey, did your IronClaw book ever make it to digital?

Absolutely. The company actually contacted me a while back. I had a chance to edit and revise both of them.

So here and here. (I think these are the revised editions)

...granted, I got a bad deal on it, but what the heck, eh?

[Sharpandpointies]

*Checks* Yeah, preview shows italics in Scars, so that's the revised one. Thank goodness.