What? No vampires in the early 50's?

That decade was reserved for giant mutant ants and killer aliens.

What if? (from Roger Ebert's Journal)

http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/asse...672-39243.jpeg

Nice one Pete.

http://cellar.org/2011/germanypower.jpg

German power production percentages.

Where did that come from, UT?

That data is from 2008. In 2010, PV generated about 2% of the total power mix in Germany, and it's still increasing in 2011, though they've reduced the FIT.

Edit: (from: http://www.germanenergyblog.de/?p=5436)

2010* Nuclear 23% Lignite 23% Hard Coal 18% Natural Gas 14% Renewables 17% Heating Oil, Pumped Hydro, Others 5%

* rounded estimate
On the renewable side, wind power provided 6.2%, biomass 4.7%, hydro power 3.2%, photovoltaics 2% and waste power plants 0.8%.

---
Here's US generation by source for 2009.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._source_v2.png

Creating solar energy is not the problem. Getting it to where it is needed/consumed is.
Part of the solution could be Gov't spending on the transmission of the energy created, no?

neat chart, but You could fit about 85.5 Cubas in the US.

One of the big benefits of solar is that it's a distributed resource. Solar can be installed on just about every house, apartment building, office building, warehouse, freeway median, parking canopy, etc., which eliminates transmission and distribution issues and costs. It can also provide shading, reducing the need for air conditioning. Plus, it tends to be most productive during the hottest part of the day, further reducing air conditioning loads and reducing strain on the aging grid.

...and there's no fracking with solar

Tax on gas guzzlers
 

I did not know EPA and IRS administer a program to tax gas guzzlers.

In 2010 there were only 2 Ford- and 4 GM-models on the list.
The others seem to be the more expensive (heavy) foreign cars.

At first it made me feel a bit happier to realize the wealthy were paying
for something I don't/won't/can't buy for my family. Then I got to thinking...

Why are these gas-guzzlers getting away with a one-time tax ?
At the worst 12.5 mpg, the $7,700 tax is equivalent to
about 2000 gal of wasted gas to drive 25,000 miles (~ 2 years).

Wouldn't it be more rational if this same tax was applied annually...
half to pay for the wasted gas, and half as a penalty polluting the air around me.

Well, there are state and federal taxes on gasoline, so they are paying a penalty for the extra gas they use.

I'm a bit late but ...

That graph of German energy has some shenanigans in it.

It shows separate categories for "hard coal" and "lignite".

Lignite is coal. It is also called brown coal or soft coal, as opposed to anthracite/ black coal/ hard coal. It is by far dirtier in terms of CO2 and other pollutants.

IMHO, these two should have been given parallel names (either lignite and anthracite, OR brown coal and black coal) and they should have been adjacent on the pie chart. As it is it hides how much energy Germany really got from coal.

HOWEVER! Post Fukushima, Germany has decided to phase out all nuclear energy, and replace it with solar. They should be there in 10 years. They have also made big reductions in energy use.

Obviously Germany's not in it for the hunting. They've gotten soft when it comes to profits over people.

EPA Green Book air quality 1978 - 2010
 

The EPA Clean Air Act was established in 1974

Non-attainment = failed to mean standard
W = whole county
P = partial county

What happened in 2004 in OH, PA, WV, and many other states ?

We've been focused on energy lately, so I thought that this was appropriate. This site shows energy expenditure per capita for 2009 (though without much explanation).

http://energy.gov/maps/2009-energy-expenditure-person

Click on the states to get more details. I would have thought that California would be high, and Texas and Wyoming would be low, but that's not the case. It would be helpful to see a breakdown by end-use.

Well, the biggies for energy use are climate control and transportation, so a rural state, where you have to drive just to get to your mail box, would require more energy use than a city. And a temperate climate like California where you don't need much heating or cooling would be better too. Also, the cost of energy is going to depend on where the energy comes from, and the industry regulations you have in place.

Yeah, when you pack a lot of people into a small space, your rating on that chart gets better. Even in the areas where Texas has a high population, we're still really spread out. We have no viable/widespread public transportation in any of our cities.

Plus, heating is done by gas in most of the country, but cooling is still generally electric, which is less efficient. And we do way more cooling here than we do heating.

Do you use swamp coolers or is it too humid in Texas?

YMMV!

I have no idea what one of those is, so I'm going to guess it's too humid. It's just giant outdoor fan units, usually 2 of them for any house over about 1700 square feet.

This makes the issue pretty obvious...

There are some "interesting" stats from this link.

Chesapeake Bay has been having trouble for a long time (decades) with nitrogen rich runoff from farms and suburbs. It causes algea to grow, which kills the fish and shellfish in the Bay. The recent flooding is going to have a huge impact on the Bay. The amount of shit (literally) that has contaminated the Bay this week is remarkable.

Here's a picture from before the flooding. Taken August 23, 2011. Followed by a picture taken yesterday. (Thanks, NASA!)

Ugh, glatt. That sucks. :(

Here is a VERY interesting graph. Discuss amongst yourselves.

Since we've been discussing toast I thought this was interesting:

That rocks....

?

For Plt ...

magic smoke! so that's where that comes from!!

.

Here are a compilation of charts related to the Occupy movement, but they are more than that.
The link is from Business Insider.

They cover unemployment, CEO pay, underemployment, wages, earnings, income inequality... too many to save and post.

Classic, that link is an extremely well done presentation.
Almost mesmerizing to scroll from one chart to the next.
Hard to believe it wasn't part of something besides/before the OWS.

Now a question, will Merc resist joining the campers in the park ?
.

Wow.

I'd like to live in a tent city...somewhere pretty. Tents as far as the eye can see. People helping people. Utopia. Kumbaya and all that. Oh hell, then I remember what happened in Guyana.

I'd like to live on the moon...

I'm still reviewing it. I had to go make more coffee. My brain is still trying to absorb it all. The way they all relate is amazing. I am trying to mentally look at several of them overlapped with the same timeframe.

Harrumph.

Double Harrumph.

And that my fine friends is the magic of a linear scale. Hell yeah and fucking fuck cancer sideways.

I plan on being there.... Driving this, hope you can make it.:):

Brooks: Obama Told Me "Shovel-Ready" Jobs Don't Exist Last Year

no charts & no graphs ...
Post #106=FAIL

you forgot: no interest.

:lol: Yea, Like #107 and #108!

I found this intresting

Define Megaregion.


oops, sorry! I didn't post a graph in my question. My bad! Holy shit, what am I to do now? Anywhooo.

No wonder there are so many unemployed....

Here ya go:

Attachment 34713

Thank you! That completely clears it all up!

Hmmm...

Took me a moment to figure out why once a year they make nothing at all. Some kind of cyclical down turn? Weird accounting for tax reasons? Ohhhh, right .... :smack:

I'm off to the idiot sightings thread now. I have something to report. :(

You mean in the fifth quarter? That is curious.

.

Classic really should check with Merc before posting a graph like that.

A steady rise following the creation of Obamanation ?

:lol: touche'