OT: The Avalounge but every time someone posts the quality declines

[henchman21]

I'm hoping she microwaved the thing without water.

 

[Bonzai12]

Nespresso machines are pretty amazing.

 

[hockeyfish]

Don't feel bad... a chick I dated last year couldn't make cup noodles...

My sister nearly burned down the house trying to make Easy Mac without the water.

 

[Foppberg]

When my older sister moved into her first apartment during her senior year I remember she called the house asking how to know when boiled water is ready, and I appropriately laughed my ass off.

She still hates it when I bring it up to this day.

 

[henchman21]

My sister nearly burned down the house trying to make Easy Mac without the water.

This sounds familiar... did I date your sister?!

 

[JWK]

Got the apartment!!!

When's the party? I'll bring Taco Bell

It'll obviously the taco 12 box. All soft tacos and fresco style.

 

[ASmileyFace]

Got the apartment!!!

Seee you next weekend for the move in party?

 

[Murzu]

My posts/likes ratio is finally healthy.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Ok....I don't want to get too social/political here but what is up with these electric cars? Does everyone think electricity if free of carbon? North America and specifically, the USA has been reducing nuclear power for decades. Hydro, wind and solar are nice thoughts but they are not drivers behind our electric grid. Power is not free...why is there a big social push for electric vehicles? Yes, you don't have to put fossil fuel into them, but the electric plant you are drawing energy from does...electricity is much more expensive than gasoline. I simply don't get it. What am I missing?

 

[AdamCalderHero]

Ok....I don't want to get too social/political here but what is up with these electric cars? Does everyone think electricity if free of carbon? North America and specifically, the USA has been reducing nuclear power for decades. Hydro, wind and solar are nice thoughts but they are not drivers behind our electric grid. Power is not free...why is there a big social push for electric vehicles? Yes, you don't have to put fossil fuel into them, but the electric plant you are drawing energy from does...electricity is much more expensive than gasoline. I simply don't get it. What am I missing?

Air quality in cities? I think that's the main reason at the moment. Then hopefully they'll be a time where the majority of power plants are carbon neutral but that's obviously quite far away. There may also be something in the efficiency, so like the miles per cubic ft of CO2 may be better if the power is generated in a plant rather than a car but I have no evidence of that.

 

[Bonzai12]

Not to mention the strip mining for all of the products going into batteries/solar

I’m actually thinking of buying some stock in Cobalt mines.

I work in O&G so I see so many of these proclamations about renewables all the time. The problem is demand is always increasing. Most households in China and India only have one car per family. If they ever bought two or even 1.5, their populations are so vast - we are going to need every single ounce of energy we can get our hands on.

In my opinion if you really wanted a naturally generated energy source you’d go Geothermal.

 

[hockeyfish]

Ok....I don't want to get too social/political here but what is up with these electric cars? Does everyone think electricity if free of carbon? North America and specifically, the USA has been reducing nuclear power for decades. Hydro, wind and solar are nice thoughts but they are not drivers behind our electric grid. Power is not free...why is there a big social push for electric vehicles? Yes, you don't have to put fossil fuel into them, but the electric plant you are drawing energy from does...electricity is much more expensive than gasoline. I simply don't get it. What am I missing?

right now, the US grid is roughly 25% carbon free. So, obviously the energy being 25% carbon free is a hell of a lot better than zero% carbon free. Also, the grid is becoming considerably cleaner right now. It's also significantly more efficient than a standard internal combustion engine. As far as the car itself is concerned, there are trade-offs, but generally electric is on par with internal combustion. You do give up some time charging while on road trips (not as big of a deal on a road trip if you consider you spend plenty of time hitting the head, grabbing snacks/meals, and checking twitter during a pit stop anyway), but you will never need to make a special trip to a gas station since your car is "fueled" at home. There is also the benefit of instant torque.


By the way, electricity is cheaper than gasoline.

 

[Bonzai12]

Electricity is cheaper than gasoline until everyone owns an electric car.

Once everyone owns a Tesla, you can bet your electric bill is goin up. Supply and Demand will take over. Our electric grid will need upgrading unless a new technology comes along.

One of the biggest questions I think environmentalists need to answer is plastics. We depend on them for everything - clothing, computers, iPhones, packaging/freight......How do you make plastics without oil? Most environmentalists show up to these protests in kayaks, automobiles and bicycles that are at least 1/4 made from plastic. It’s always hypocritical and a head shaker to us that work in the industry. It’s just an industry that’s really not understood well and is constantly under attack. I wish Google, Facebook and Apple faced the same scrutinies.

 

[hockeyfish]

Electricity is cheaper than gasoline until everyone owns an electric car.

Once everyone owns a Tesla, you can bet your electric bill is goin up. Supply and Demand will take over. Our electric grid will need upgrading unless a new technology comes along.

One of the biggest questions I think environmentalists need to answer is plastics. We depend on them for everything - clothing, computers, iPhones, packaging/freight......How do you make plastics without oil? Most environmentalists show up to these protests in kayaks, automobiles and bicycles that are at least 1/4 made from plastic. It’s always hypocritical and a head shaker to us that work in the industry. It’s just an industry that’s really not understood well and is constantly under attack. I wish Google, Facebook and Apple faced the same scrutinies.

I have no problem with plastic. I do have a problem needlessly burning what you use to make plastic. I also have a problem needlessly tossing said plastic in a landfill.

Also, the grid needs an upgrade regardless.

 

[Foppberg]

Environmentally speaking, wasted plastic is one of the more forgotten about horrible things. I am of the mindset that we should be moving away from fossil fuels, or at least not relying on them nearly as heavily as we do now.

 

[Bonzai12]

Wasted plastic is definitely horrible

I think coal use in China is the most alarming carbon footprint problem that we have in the world. If you can get China on natural gas vs coal, it’d make a huge dent in climate

 

[Foppberg]

Well China is finally starting to address things in that regard, which is encouraging.

 

[McMetal]

Plastics are a problem, but not the biggest one at the moment. Better to use petroleum to make plastic and worry about disposing of it later than set it on fire and destroy the climate. Deal with one problem at a time.

 

[Foppberg]

I think unless some major technological advancements are made we're f***ed anyways. At the end of the day the earth will be fine but I don't envy future generations at all.

 

[Bonzai12]

Wild sci-if stuff but at some point in the future the sun is going to heat up enough to scorch the earth anyways. Mars or some other planet farther out than Earth will maybe become habitable and match the earths climate.

It’s crazy to think about jumping planets but at some point in the future one generation is going to have to do that to survive.

Good luck building the spaceships and fueling them to do that.

 

[Ivan13]

Ok....I don't want to get too social/political here but what is up with these electric cars? Does everyone think electricity if free of carbon? North America and specifically, the USA has been reducing nuclear power for decades. Hydro, wind and solar are nice thoughts but they are not drivers behind our electric grid. Power is not free...why is there a big social push for electric vehicles? Yes, you don't have to put fossil fuel into them, but the electric plant you are drawing energy from does...electricity is much more expensive than gasoline. I simply don't get it. What am I missing?

Hydro plants aren't as "green" or nature friendly as we are lead to believe.

 

[Murzu]

I'm playing Eastside Hockey Manager. I began 17-18 season by trading Yakupov for Ducks 1st 2019 round pick and Colin Wilson for Ottawas 1st 2018 round pick.

Solid start.

 

[Bonzai12]

Hydro plants aren't as "green" or nature friendly as we are lead to believe.

How do? Just curious cause I don’t know anything about hydro plants. I can only imagine though that they’re like a food processor to your innocent passer-by fish.

 

[Ivan13]

How do? Just curious cause I don’t know anything about hydro plants. I can only imagine though that they’re like a food processor to your innocent passer-by fish.

Check out the documentary about the hydro plants in South America. I can't remember the name right now, but I'll try to look it up. They absolutely destroy ecosystems.

 

[henchman21]

Electric cars, even if ran fully off coal power plants (which doesn't really happen in the US anymore) still produce about the same carbon as a car getting 30 mpg (natural gas almost doubles that)... and that carbon is contained at one plant vs hundreds or thousands of cars. Easier containment and gets smog out of cities.

Hyrdo is a pretty big environmental disaster. They should be avoided IMO. Not really the best answer to our energy needs. Wind and solar have their own problems (my company is basically built around finding environmental mitigation from those two), but their downsides are far less drastic.

China is trying to basically skip natural gas completely and hit full on with renewables. They are investing at a rate that many western countries only dream of. Now, sadly, a big part of that is they completely ignore the environmental downsides of renewables... but their carbon footprint per capita is going to drop significantly over the next 30 years.