Posted on 07/03/2008 8:27:18 AM PDT by Red Badger
What does Icelandair use to fuel their planes? Kelp?
If they trade with the rest of the world, they do not have an oil-free economy.
Oil free? So they use no fertilizers, no plastics? What do they use to lubricate machinery, including those hydrogen cars, whale blubber?
Yep I was thinking that too. They have a big source of geo thermal, and they are just a small island.
I was surprised to see that they depend on hydroelectric power too in Iceland. The greenies don’t like hydroelectric. We can’t be damming up rivers and be environmentally PC. So we have to give them some demerits for that.
That’s not the type of geothermal that we’re talking about here.
The Iceland geothermal projects allow them to generate electrical power from water > 150C temps right out of the ground. You see the same thing in the Great Basin - very hot temperatures bringing the heat of the earth’s core to the surface.
A ground-loop “geothermal” might be more efficient than a conventional A/C system, and be reversible to give you heat, but it uses electrical power, doesn’t generate it.
What? They don’t drive gasoline burning cars?
Agree with your cautions. Another question in my mind is how much does Iceland export? Is it feeding the world like the U.S. is? Innovating medicines, technology, etc. or just self-sustaining? The U.S. could be largely self-sustaining but it would mean drastically cutting the lifestyle of not only U.S. citizens but also the rest of the world as we cut down on illegal immigration, educating foreign students, exporting our excess production, producing entertainment and other popular exports, stopping foreign aid, closing foreign military posts, dropping out of treaties that require us to look beyond our borders, and thousands of other ways in which the U.S. carries the world on its back. To put in a more intimate setting, a kid can use a whole lot less energy than a parent since the kid need look after only himself.
On another aspect, when I was going through school in the early eighties, I had to research geothermal development restrictions. The number of diverse of permits in federal, state and local jurisdictions was unbelievable, with it being nearly impossible to complete the whole permitting process without the first permits expiring. And that was before environmental groups started monkey wrenching with their “public interest” lawsuits. I would hope it is easier now but I wonder.
Uhhhhmmm...Didn’t Brazil go all biofuels, a long time ago?
Given Icelanders’ reputation for drinking, I was pretty sure “oil-free” meant “alcohol-powered” until I read they were aiming for hydrogen-based transport.
Yea, and go and try to tap the GEOTHERMAL out west near the liberal centers.. where its most viable.. let alone say around something like YELLOWSTONE.
Enviroweenies will make sure that its so damned costly that it won’t pay off.
Ok, reading this leads me to one question, "How did the trees get on Iceland in the first place?". Is this a case where the climate was warmer centuries ago before mankind started burning fossil fuels? Does it confirm that climate has been changing on this earth since before man was around? Are there any treehuggers around to answer my question?
Some of the homes on the lakes around here do this as well heating and cooling.
So we just need to spend a little more on research and we will be able to create energy out of nothing by splitting and recombining hydrogen and oxygen. Throw out the laws of thermodynamics! Thermodynamic Anarchy now!
Interesting clickable map to different US existing geothermal projects found at:
http://geoheat.oit.edu/dusys.htm
Oil is just a bunch of hydrocarbons that can be found/made elsewhere (seed oils, whale oil, etc.). There is no such thing as an oil free economy.
Some people are plain stupid. Others are monumentally and spectacularly so.
Iceland is unique in every way: geographically, politically and culturally.
This approach to independence will not translate even to the US, where it is "assumed" conditions are identical (the Geysers, in California [failed], Yellowstone [get, real, willya?]).
Consider alternate realities: Iceland run by muslims.
Or by Sudanese...
I have thrown down a challenge to many a liberal and anyone who claims we need to eliminate oil.
Feel free to make this offer yourself to anyone you like. The chances of losing are slim to none.
The Oil Free Challenge.
Go 48 consecutive hours without utilizing petroleum.
That is it. No strings. No catches.
If you succeed I will donate $1,000 to the charity of your choice, or give you $500 cash.
But, being that I can not be there to observe your 48 hours of petroleum free living, you will need to document the time to prove you have succeeded in meeting the challenge.
Oh, and since I am putting something up, the person who accepts the challenge must as well. $500 to the charity of my choice, or $250 cash to me.
Good luck!
I have yet to get someone to accept the challenge. When they refuse to accept the challenge, ask them how the expect the entire country to do it if they can't do it for 2 days.
So you are offering $500 dollars cash to go live naked for two days while eating fish caught by hand in the stream?
I guess you could say that. But it would be tough to do even that without utilizing petroleum. Especially since one need to document the 48 hours to prove they didn't use any petroleum.
Point being, in reality, it is near, if not impossible to do it.
Its a good teaching tool as most idiots think oil = gas. They don't think of the thousands of things they use and come into contact with on a daily basis that are made from oil.
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