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Interview 88 Copyright © David C. Fowler July 2017 Last month I asked the Angel about the fears for our planet and he told us not to worry, that we had not the power to totally destroy our planet. I listened to an interview with Al Gore, I like Al Gore. He was promoting wind and solar power. I have used both on my sailboat when I had it in Mexico for about fourteen seasons (winter). The systems I had on board were eight six volt golf cart batteries and two twelve volt starting batteries for the diesel engine, I had four large solar chargers, a wind generator and a power-take off generator that ran off the engine. The largest electric draw was the refrigerator, our next draw was the radar for navigation for sailing and safety at sea, last is the radio (single side band, ship to ship-ship to shore and occasionally TV. Our nightime lighting was 12 volt and oil lamps. We learned that solar was best if we could anchor for and aft so we would not swing and angle the panels to be as direct as possible to the sun, if the angle was only ten degrees off the charge would be greatly reduced. The wind generator was small and the only time I got a good charge was when we got hit by a "chibosko" (please forgive my spelling), a term they use in Mexico for a sudden powerful wind storm. The generator was charging at twenty amps plus, it was spinning so fast it scared me so I started up the steps to go on deck and turn it sideways to the wind to turn it off but before I could get on deck I heard a loud bang, and the generator went still. The wood prop was in small pieces all over the deck! We and many other sailboats used blocks of Ice for keeping perishables, soda and beer cool, a stop gap was a small ac-dc electric cooler for when we ran out of ice. For most of the sailboat fleet air conditioning was out of the question, we had to use canvas air ducts to bring a little breeze to the cabins.. What all of this is about, is that each state in our country has weather conditions that vary greatly, some have in their areas enough sun to get good charging with solar if they are able to aim them automatically to have constant direct contact to the sun. In those areas during the summer they would like to have air conditioning, which would use up most of the energy generated from the panels unless they were swamp-coolers. For the refrigerator they could go to natural gas or propane, both of which would put out a gas which Al would not approve of. In the areas where there is a consistent wind, wind generators could help, providing they have the room in their yards or on the house put up a few of them, they could keep the refer going but they would not be able to keep the house warm during winter depending how cold it gets. Electric is the only answer for non-polluting heat, wind and solar does not produce enough power for that, you'll have to be on the grid. My point is that we are a long away from eliminating carbon output, why not try, Dave. |
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