Russell,

On Tue, 26 Sep 2006 04:09:18 +1200, Russell McMahon wrote:

> > Huh?
> > Sailboats are already solar powered. Where do you think wind comes 
> > from?
> 
> Following that line of argument -
> EVERYTHING is solar, or star, powered.
> Where do you think ANY energy source that anyone uses for anything 
> comes from ?
> :-).

Well yes, ultimately, but that goes steaming past the point!

The timescale is the important factor, not the source.  Nuclear fuel dates back to the creation of the stars, fossil fuels to the recent past of the Earth, 
what we now call Solar is arriving now, and so is the only "renewable" energy source - all the others are a limited resource.  

For the long term (tens of thousands of years and more) the only viable solution is to use Solar in its various forms: collecting heat, photo-voltaic, 
wind, waves, tidal, hydro.  Anything else will run out.
 
> Anything above iron has, it is generally believed, been made in a star 
> mill - usually a Nova, less frequently a super nova.
> Iron is star ash. Below Iron there are options as to sources. 
> Ultimately it all "just happened". The meaning of "just" here is hotly 
> debated :-).

"We are stardust..."

Cheers,


Howard Winter
St.Albans, England


-- 
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist