Get Off My Land
It is easy to see renewables’ impact from up above. A natural lake has smooth edges, is nicely rounded, with relatively flat slopes along the waterline. A man-made reservoir is jagged with unpredictable appendages, and its steep slopes cannot feature a beach. Mother Nature takes millions of years to take the edges off a lake. It is clear humans have only been at it for about two centuries.
Hydro is one of the most diluted sources of power, but it is lucky. Humans need water, and humans also love water to play. Are we in bothered by edgy lakes with steep sides? Probably not, but regardless, we changed the way the planet looks.
Solar and wind are not so lucky. They have no secondary use and have recently scaled up to be visible from many more places including space. Yet, our societies are building wind power and solar power plants that for most of their time are just standing there doing nothing while almost nobody wants them in their backyard.
Wind and solar are so diluted that they require lots of space, often imposing on the places where people live. The irony is that these so-called “green” energy often take the place of agriculture or forests. Oil & gas and nuclear power are hundreds and sometimes a thousand times more energy dense and therefore require less space to provide us power. This makes them much less likely to be in your backyard.
Lone warrior Robert Bryce 💡 has been tracking horizon-changing weather-dependent projects that have been rejected by its neighbors. It is a growing list of misfits you can find here.
I wrote a song about Robert’s efforts. This raging mad Don Quixote fights the good fight for those who are oppressed by these machines, and his scientific writings are giving people back their land and their horizon.
