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Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity

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Re: Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity

#201

Post by edpichler »

hfourm wrote: post #130
nkoren wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While a minor but noticeable uptick in radiation-induced cancer is unacceptable for humans, animals don't especially seem to mind. The areas around Chernobyl have become a superb wildlife reserve, and Fukushima is probably on its way to a similar state. Compared to the area submerged by a dam -- where the habitat is, without hyperbole, utterly and completely annihilated -- I have difficulty seeing how you can prefer…

Yea, I am sure the area submerged by a dam could equally rebound in its own way 30 years after.

Yea, and this happened in Chernobyl.

Re: Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity

#202

Post by saint_fiasco »

notyourwork wrote: post #174
addicted wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest problem with nuclear is that it's too expensive. Even after massive subsidies, it's more expensive than unsubsidized renewable alternatives would be. And the worst part for nuclear is that while solar and wind are getting significantly cheaper, nuclear is getting more expensive. Finally, the major costs for solar/wind at the moment is storage. With electric cars, and the fact that nearly every consumer co…

Curious why nuclear is going up? It would seem anything scientific or technically advanced would over time trend down.

Modern nuclear plants are more expensive but also much safer.

Re: Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity

#203

Post by metaphorm »

forthefuture wrote: post #183
hguant wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, but the core principle underlying all that is that human happiness is a good in and of itself, and a virtuous and stable society is good only in that it allows for the greatest potential growth of human happiness.

Well I'd much rather have Advancement over Happiness. We can be happy our entire lives but if everyones dies before 100 and humanity never goes anywhere I wouldn't consider that a successful society. Happiness is masturbating 24/7 until you die. If you truly believe that is the goal of humanity I can't help but disagree.

are you serious? that reads like satire.

Re: Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity

#204

Post by pilom »

amorphid wrote: post #120
taneq wrote: post #39

Objection: Geothermal technically isn't renewable.

Geothermal also produces radioactive waste! Water gets pumped into the ground, becomes steam, the steam rises, and is used to generate power. The steam brings with it toxic sludge, which needs to be disposed of. Not sure why, but they don't wanna pump the sludge back into the ground. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_power#Environmental...

Depends on the location. In some places, people bathe in the water after it gets pumped into the ground: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Lagoon_(geothermal_spa)

Re: Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity

#205

Post by forthefuture »

metaphorm wrote: post #203
forthefuture wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well I'd much rather have Advancement over Happiness. We can be happy our entire lives but if everyones dies before 100 and humanity never goes anywhere I wouldn't consider that a successful society. Happiness is masturbating 24/7 until you die. If you truly believe that is the goal of humanity I can't help but disagree.

are you serious? that reads like satire.

I guess I'm coming from the wrong side. I think happiness for its own sake is really meaningless. I'd much rather struggle and advance than be happy doing nothing until I die, but I guess I'm in the minority. Happiness, to me, is a choice to not let negative things make you unhappy. You can acknowledge negativities and not be consumed by them.

Fighting for happiness is like fighting for peace. You win by not fighting anymore.

I'm sorry if this opinion somehow reads like satire.

Re: Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity

#206

Post by jessaustin »

unprepare wrote: post #196
jessaustin wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This argument is flawed. If there's a gift, there must have been a giver, so why don't we ask the giver? Well the Christians already have, and they like the answer they got. Why don't you like it?

Well, im not the one who used the phrase gift, so this isnt the appropriate place to nitpick that. Other than, 'some other group of humans told me this' what evidence do you have that the earth should be the birthright of humans more than that of any other thing on earth?

It's self-evident to me, but you might suspect I'm biased, being human and all. (Is this the right context in which to assume that everyone on the internet is a dog?) When the martians come to take the planet away from us, I'll volunteer for the Resistance.

A book I read earlier this year really bent my brain when it included characters working against humanity and for an invading alien intelligence. Seeing it in print was enough to convince me that it would totally happen, but I hadn't considered the possibility before.

Re: Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity

#207

Post by ivan_gammel »

jfaucett wrote: post #19

Notice this is because 80% of the energy obtained was from Hydroelectric power, which is a great energy source because it is reliable - unlike wind and solar which in this case provided 7% and 0.01% respectively and are not reliable. It frustrates me that so many environmentalists are still against hydro because it alters ecosystems when nature itself is inherently violent, dangerous and in a constant state of flux.…

The biggest real problem with hydro is proper assessment of impact of local climate change and damage on ecosystems. You can find some readings about the effects of big hydropower projects in Siberia or Middle Asia. In the latter construction of hydropower plant may even become a casus belli due to deficite of water and impact on agriculture of the countries down the river.

Re: Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity

#208

Post by guelo »

hguant wrote: post #146
metaphorm wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eudaimonia is more like "ethics for virtuous and stable society" rather than saying very much about human relationship with the ecosystem. in the ancient world the human relationship with the ecosystem was extremely different than it is now.

Right, but the core principle underlying all that is that human happiness is a good in and of itself, and a virtuous and stable society is good only in that it allows for the greatest potential growth of human happiness.

If your grandkids are less happy because you destroyed the environment in order to increase your happiness is that a negative or a positive in this philosophical framework?

Re: Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity

#209

Post by metaphorm »

forthefuture wrote: post #205
metaphorm wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

are you serious? that reads like satire.

I guess I'm coming from the wrong side. I think happiness for its own sake is really meaningless. I'd much rather struggle and advance than be happy doing nothing until I die, but I guess I'm in the minority. Happiness, to me, is a choice to not let negative things make you unhappy. You can acknowledge negativities and not be consumed by them. Fighting for happiness is like fighting for peace. You win by not fighting…

well, that's not what you said. you said "Advancement over Happiness". I think most people would agree with "to be happy, don't struggle for it, just be".

Your original post, the one that seemed satirical to me, sounded like it was endorsing some notion of material accumulation at the expense of human fulfillment.

Re: Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity

#210

Post by lutorm »

hguant wrote: post #72
dec0dedab0de wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I sometimes think they reject the idea that the whole point of existence is human flourishing and happiness. Yes, many people reject this idea. As a matter of fact, this is the first time I've ever heard anyone express this idea.

It's actually a really old idea. Sadly, not one that gets a lot of press, as it's not very sexy to talk about dead Greeks (except to reject them). https://orwell1627.wordpress.com/2013/06/30/aristotles-purpo...

The question is how to obtain happiness, though. Does it necessarily have to entail ruining the environment?

“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

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