Why Limit Water to Drinking?

Without water, life would never be able to exist on Earth. Water does not have to be limited to that role, though. Dams installed in rivers can be used to generate hydropower, which is electricity generated from the kinetic energy of water. Hydropower generates twenty percent of the world's electricity, and is responsible for ninety-seven percent of electricity generated from renewable energy sources. Hydropower is so relatively prevalent, Norway uses hydropower to generate ninety-nine percent of its electricity. Hydropower, however, because of its dependence on dams, can only be harvested in rivers, and this form of electric generation fails to harvest the heat inherent in some water.

A relatively new method of harvesting water-based energy, called Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion, or OTEC, promises to harvest this energy. In fact, the energy in the world's oceans is so bountiful that only one-tenth of a percent of this energy could provide twenty times the energy consumed by the United States. The only requirement for an OTEC system is a difference of 20 degrees Celsius between the temperature of the surface water and the temperature of the water deep below the surface. Despite the promise of OTEC, the world has not yet financed a permanent OTEC plant. Still, OTEC is inspiring for some futurists, having proposed using OTEC to power conceptual underwater hotels and floating cities. Unlike hydropower, OTEC is not yet being used, but may hold much more potential. In fact, hydropower and OTEC could let humanity expand if the technology is advanced, and, combined with other renewable energy sources, will provide untold amounts of power for the world and eliminate the dependence of fossil fuels.

P.S.: Here is a video on OTEC from Youtube.

The Implications of Ignorance

High oil and gas prices have undoubtedly accelerated the quest for renewable energy. These prices may carry economic consequences if renewable energy is left relatively undeveloped, but more dangerous, possibly permanent, effects may accompany those consequences. Currently, as I noted in "The Earth, Energy, and Politics," most energy demand is satisfied by fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are limited, as well as virtually non-renewable, allowing the fuel to be depleted. A depletion of fossil fuels would have several harmful effects, such as the elimination of conveniences such as the computer and television. These two technologies are completely integrated into the foundation of society, and suddenly removing those technologies would shatter the social network.

The shattering of society, however, is pale in comparison to the potentially massive effects of global warming, resulting from the combustion of fossil fuels. Because of the resulting temperature increase, the polar ice caps, which support many lifeforms, will likely melt. The new lack of ice, supposedly, would allow the Earth to absorb more sunlight, further increasing the Earth's temperature. In addition to the harm this melting would inflict on species depending on polar regions, global warming can also impact humanity as well, but those effects are not as clear. As an illustration, global warming could increase the risk of catching various diseases. However, even with global warming, puzzlingly, the number of heat-related deaths has declined. Similarly, global warming can dehydrate some crops, but can also extend the growing season for some regions. Since biofuels, which I elaborated on earlier, are plant-based, global warming would impact the resource. In fact, other renewable energy sources, like solar and wind power, could also be impacted by changes in cloud cover and wind speed, respectively.

These theories may be true or false, but very few of these theories provide any scientific data, aside from carbon dioxide and temperature measurements. Without any data, the effects of global warming remain unforeseen, but these effects will certainly be enormous. Combined with the consequences of the depletion of fossil fuels, not pursuing renewable energy would carry extreme risks. The world understands these risks, but because of partisan bickering, the world has stalled in its work to explore renewable energy. If humanity does not unite on this issue, then, in the future, the Earth may be vastly altered, and humanity may never recover.

Nationalizing the Banks

I won't talk about energy. I will talk about the nationalization of banks. This move is huge. Nine big banks have $125 billion dollars. Bush wants $100 billion more. This move may be good or bad. Years ago, the government bought 80% of an Illinois bank. Our government lost $1 billion. Europe is performing this too. Yesterday, Europe risked $2.3 trillion dollars, and this money may not be enough. Democrats want $150 billion for later use. Everyone is complaining about this spending. Eunomia does not like the plan, and Paul Krugman does not like the management. It seems that everyone does not like the plan. President Bush is a bad President, and the plan has had difficulties. I think the plan is nice, though.

Some Great Election Blogs

Renewable energy is an important issue in this election, but renewable energy is not the only issue worth discussing. Nobody can decide which Presidential candidate to support by comparing the candidates' stances on only one issue, so I selected three links to blogs that deal with other issues. There were many blogs to choose from, and I cannot display all of them, but choosing three blogs from the entire collection was very difficult. You are welcome to explore other blogs that deal with issues, but I will show why you should visit these three blogs in particular, so I recommend that you visit these blogs first.

The Issue On Taxes by IGetNoSleep

Taxes are an important issue in the election, and, as IGetNoSleep has mentioned, are important in the Presidential Debates. There are analyses of these debates with respect to taxes, along with a plethora of information and links in one post. Recently, there was a post outlining an intriguing type of tax, but that post stands alone in its intrigue. However, IGetNoSleep posts earlier than the authors of other blogs dealing with election issues while maintaining an equivalent or higher level of post quality. If that speediness is insufficient, as of this post, the entire Vice Presidential Debate can be watched or read without interruption. In fact, the only reason not to look at this blog is an insignificant error in described post publication, as posts usually are published on Tuesdays or Fridays, not Tuesdays and Sundays. This error, though, can be easily repaired, and since taxes are discussed frequently, you would be wise to educate yourself with the information shown in this blog.

Apparently Money Doesn't Grow On Trees by Britney

This blog focuses on the economy, and, unsurprisingly, has some focus on the bailout plan. This blog, though, also has briefly outlined the less obvious declines in the global market. As of this post, the connection between the global markets has not yet been explored, but the post mentioning that fact was quite recent, and Britney counteracts this small gap by providing consistently large amounts of information in each post, and these posts may contain the most well-blended information in the blogs I looked at. There are also figures and a video on the economy to look at if you do not feel like reading Britney's posts. There is also a sidebar filled with the latest economical news, only adding to the saturation of information in the blog. In fact, given the obscurity of the global market on television, you may learn more about the economy from this blog than from the mainstream media.

Foreign Policy In Regards To Colombia by St3Vzla

Perhaps the most intriguing of all the blogs, this blog focuses on the issue of drug policy, particularly with respect to Colombia. The author, despite the little or no amount of coverage of this issue in the news, managed to collect a surplus of knowledge for one post. Many of the other posts, though, lack that large concentration of information, nor is there any news bar or similar extra addition, but the huge concentration of information is less than what can be found by researching other issues. Despite the difficulties in researching this topic, St3Vzla has maintained great variety in the posts so far, making this blog a nice blog to see one of several issues buried among the many other issues of this election.