FYI, my solar panels are all on the ground next to the camper van because it's just too windy up here for my homemade structures, and I keep the batteries on the floor inside. The controllers and inverters are also inside close to the batteries.
I still don't get it. Renewable energy means a lot more than just being able to afford a solar power station on the roof.
There's surely more to renewable energy than that. The point that this post is wanting to make, it's that being able to generate some of your own electricity reduces the influence of billionaires and big corporations (which can afford huge centralised, fossil-based energy generation) and that you can see that concern in against whom they are lobbying. A reverse "follow the money" of sorts, if you want...
Being in control of your own energy supply chain brings stability to one's self, while denying the grift and uncertainty of billionaires injecting themselves into utilities
It's a question of chakras. You either have the coal chakra, then you'rte lucky, because you're a billionaire - oder you have the renewable chakra keeping you in an eternal loop of want and despair.
being able to generate some of your own electricity ...
That's the point, in our case.
The suggested conclusion assumes that people are either too stupid to produce their own energy or that they do not want to do so for political or other dubious reasons. I envy anyone who has a large garden or a large roof with a favorable orientation for installing lots of solar panels. We have neither.
being able to generate some of your own electricity ...
That's the point, in our case.
The suggested conclusion assumes that people are either too stupid to produce their own energy or that they do not want to do so for political or other dubious reasons. I envy anyone who has a large garden or a large roof with a favorable orientation for installing lots of solar panels. We have neither.
Being in control of your own energy supply chain brings stability to one’s self, while denying the grift and uncertainty of billionaires injecting themselves into utilities
So much is obvious. In our case, however, being able to produce our own energy is the problem. We don't have that option.
Fortunately, we had other options. According to research, Americans drive about 13,500 miles per year. We, both working until retirement, raised our two children without owning a car and have driven less than 2,500 miles per year in the last 20 years.
If you can't put solar panels on your roof, you can often put them on balconies. At the moment groups of people are also putting up community solar energy sites. If you can do neither, you can join clean energy and environmental coalitions to pressure your government into legislating that your apartment must have solar panels on the roof, or to build wind/solar plants that everyone can use.
If you go "blah blah blah, can't be done", then go someplace else and waste someone else's time. We aren't interested in people living in the stone age.
If you can’t put solar panels on your roof, you can often put them on balconies.
That would be even worse than putting them on the roof, from an efficency point of view. But ok, if playing prepper is the goal, why not, I've already considered that, even though outages are extremely rare, over here. However, it would consume a lot of material and resources that could be put to much better use elsewhere, in less shaded areas.
We aren’t interested in people living in the stone age.
You aren't interested in understanding real problems and solutions. I got that. Playing the blame game is easy, analyzing and solving real problems is hard.
Please elaborate on your specific "real problems". It would be easier to take you seriously. And maybe we can help with new ideas for your specific problem.
Please elaborate on your specific “real problems”. It would be easier to take you seriously. And maybe we can help with new ideas for your specific problem.
Thank you for the offer, but I would prefer to decline this "help." Ideas are cheap, I'm not out of ideas. Btw., what part of "shaded" (shadowed) didn't you understand? But while we are there, let me ask a question. You wrote, your
solar panels are all on the ground next to the camper van
Your van is probably an EV and its battery is charged from these solar panels even during winter. How many miles do you drive per year and how many square feet of solar panels do you need for that?
Perhaps I can return the favor, by helping you to understand how to use a bicycle where and when other people believe they need a car?
We aren't interested in trolls here. We aren't interested in people who aren't really interested in a genuine conversation.
"Declining help" is a way to shut down conversation. You can also shut down conversation by not being here. We will continue to discuss and recover the fun we were having.
It was an abandoned camper van when I took over, it doesn't run anymore. My only means of transportation is my bike which I converted to electric with one of those chinese kits. Sometimes I do get a lift from the neighbours to buy heavier stuff.
@Aladár Mézga In Australia we make a distinction between "push bike" riders and "cyclist"--which can mean "motorcyclist". The weird thing is that both groups have a variety of tribes.
Around the semi-rural areas I like living in, we have the country push-bike users and the visiting city push-bike users. The country cyclists will take their kids on a ride down our park bike trails as a form of entertainment. Some of the visiting city cyclists wear skin-tight clothing, use expensive bicycles, do not follow road rules, and block traffic with their practise pelotons. One cafe was furious because they wouldn't take off their shoes when entering, and wrecked the nice wood floors.
Sometimes, "offering help" is an elaborated kind of trolling, especially when it is obvious, that help is neither needed nor possible.
We have already implemented everything that is permitted and technically feasible to save energy. Energy that is saved doesn't need to be generated. Let me repeat, I envy anyone who has better opportunities to save and generate energy. We used the options we had and it wasn't always easy.
Regarding the diatribe starting with
Some of the visiting city cyclists wear skin-tight clothing, ...
... we indeed wear special cycling clothing when we do our leisure rides. Staying fit and strong at our age isn't easy and needs a lot of motivation. Being able to ride fast and far is part of it, as is spending money on better bikes instead of bigger cars. And we really don't like being yelled at from the side window of a car, “Get on the bike path, asshole!”
And by the way, hospitals and medical care for people who have become obese due to a lack of exercise also cost a lot of energy.
For
... show more
Sometimes, "offering help" is an elaborated kind of trolling, especially when it is obvious, that help is neither needed nor possible.
We have already implemented everything that is permitted and technically feasible to save energy. Energy that is saved doesn't need to be generated. Let me repeat, I envy anyone who has better opportunities to save and generate energy. We used the options we had and it wasn't always easy.
Regarding the diatribe starting with
Some of the visiting city cyclists wear skin-tight clothing, ...
... we indeed wear special cycling clothing when we do our leisure rides. Staying fit and strong at our age isn't easy and needs a lot of motivation. Being able to ride fast and far is part of it, as is spending money on better bikes instead of bigger cars. And we really don't like being yelled at from the side window of a car, “Get on the bike path, asshole!”
And by the way, hospitals and medical care for people who have become obese due to a lack of exercise also cost a lot of energy.
For reference, I just recovered and extended an article I wrote three years ago on a vanished diaspora node
I might add, that we indeed got quite some hate from people that we believed to be on our side, when we, both working til retirement, raised our children without owning a car, mostly by using bicycles where other people use cars, without even considering alternatives even for very short trips.
@Muse Today I learned the term "push bike" as used in Australia and other places (a pedal powered bicycle). I was surprised, because here in the USA a "push bike" is, ironically enough, a bicycle that is NOT powered by pedals. It's powered by pushing it.
I've actually an adult sized push bike (no pedals) for some time. But that doesn't really seem to be a thing, at least not on the mass market. I just want fewer components to deal with although obviously it comes at expense of speed.
@Isaac Kuo Electric bikes are very popular with university students here. They are in essence a motorbike, but cheaper and a lot more flexible. Some ebikes can be folded up and taken onto trains. Andrew was considering one to help get up and down the hills in Hurstbridge.
I can understand wanting fewer components to deal with. I had a high quality bike that was complicated to use. This meant I rarely used it. Something sturdy and straightforward is the go!
@Muse The sort of adult sized push bike I'd like to have would not have electric power. No pedals, no chain, no gears.
Little more than two wheels and a brake. It's limited to the speed I can run (I live in a flat place with no extended down-hill slopes). But it suits the leisurely speeds I want to bike at.
@Isaac Kuo When I looked up kick scooters, I just found electric scooters. When I tried again for some magical reason I now see a few without the batteries. I'd worry about my ankles on an escooter.
Trocatintas
•Trocatintas
•Muse likes this.
Benedikt Bauer
•There's surely more to renewable energy than that. The point that this post is wanting to make, it's that being able to generate some of your own electricity reduces the influence of billionaires and big corporations (which can afford huge centralised, fossil-based energy generation) and that you can see that concern in against whom they are lobbying. A reverse "follow the money" of sorts, if you want...
like this
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diana 🏳️⚧️🦋
•like this
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Birne Helene
•Trocatintas likes this.
Wolfgang Strobl
•@Kenny Chaffin
Can't, for various reasons. Affordability isn't really the point, for us, but it might for a lot of people.
@Benedikt Bauer
That's the point, in our case.
The suggested conclusion assumes that people are either too stupid to produce their own energy or that they do not want to do so for political or other dubious reasons. I envy anyone who has a large garden or a large roof with a favorable orientation for installing lots of solar panels. We have neither.
@diana 🏳️⚧️🦋
... show more@Kenny Chaffin
Can't, for various reasons. Affordability isn't really the point, for us, but it might for a lot of people.
@Benedikt Bauer
That's the point, in our case.
The suggested conclusion assumes that people are either too stupid to produce their own energy or that they do not want to do so for political or other dubious reasons. I envy anyone who has a large garden or a large roof with a favorable orientation for installing lots of solar panels. We have neither.
@diana 🏳️⚧️🦋
So much is obvious. In our case, however, being able to produce our own energy is the problem. We don't have that option.
Fortunately, we had other options. According to research, Americans drive about 13,500 miles per year. We, both working until retirement, raised our two children without owning a car and have driven less than 2,500 miles per year in the last 20 years.
Birne Helene
•Muse
•If you can't put solar panels on your roof, you can often put them on balconies. At the moment groups of people are also putting up community solar energy sites. If you can do neither, you can join clean energy and environmental coalitions to pressure your government into legislating that your apartment must have solar panels on the roof, or to build wind/solar plants that everyone can use.
If you go "blah blah blah, can't be done", then go someplace else and waste someone else's time. We aren't interested in people living in the stone age.
like this
Trocatintas, Kenny Chaffin and Aladár Mézga like this.
Wolfgang Strobl
•That would be even worse than putting them on the roof, from an efficency point of view. But ok, if playing prepper is the goal, why not, I've already considered that, even though outages are extremely rare, over here. However, it would consume a lot of material and resources that could be put to much better use elsewhere, in less shaded areas.
You aren't interested in understanding real problems and solutions. I got that. Playing the blame game is easy, analyzing and solving real problems is hard.
Trocatintas
•Benedikt Bauer likes this.
Wolfgang Strobl
•@Trocatintas
Thank you for the offer, but I would prefer to decline this "help." Ideas are cheap, I'm not out of ideas. Btw., what part of "shaded" (shadowed) didn't you understand? But while we are there, let me ask a question. You wrote, your
Your van is probably an EV and its battery is charged from these solar panels even during winter. How many miles do you drive per year and how many square feet of solar panels do you need for that?
Perhaps I can return the favor, by helping you to understand how to use a bicycle where and when other people believe they need a car?
Muse
•We aren't interested in trolls here. We aren't interested in people who aren't really interested in a genuine conversation.
"Declining help" is a way to shut down conversation. You can also shut down conversation by not being here. We will continue to discuss and recover the fun we were having.
like this
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Aladár Mézga
•like this
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Trocatintas
•like this
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Muse
•@Aladár Mézga In Australia we make a distinction between "push bike" riders and "cyclist"--which can mean "motorcyclist". The weird thing is that both groups have a variety of tribes.
Around the semi-rural areas I like living in, we have the country push-bike users and the visiting city push-bike users. The country cyclists will take their kids on a ride down our park bike trails as a form of entertainment. Some of the visiting city cyclists wear skin-tight clothing, use expensive bicycles, do not follow road rules, and block traffic with their practise pelotons. One cafe was furious because they wouldn't take off their shoes when entering, and wrecked the nice wood floors.
like this
Andrew Pam, Isaac Kuo and N. E. Felibata 👽 like this.
Wolfgang Strobl
•Sometimes, "offering help" is an elaborated kind of trolling, especially when it is obvious, that help is neither needed nor possible.
We have already implemented everything that is permitted and technically feasible to save energy. Energy that is saved doesn't need to be generated. Let me repeat, I envy anyone who has better opportunities to save and generate energy. We used the options we had and it wasn't always easy.
Regarding the diatribe starting with
... we indeed wear special cycling clothing when we do our leisure rides. Staying fit and strong at our age isn't easy and needs a lot of motivation. Being able to ride fast and far is part of it, as is spending money on better bikes instead of bigger cars. And we really don't like being yelled at from the side window of a car, “Get on the bike path, asshole!”
And by the way, hospitals and medical care for people who have become obese due to a lack of exercise also cost a lot of energy.
For
... show moreSometimes, "offering help" is an elaborated kind of trolling, especially when it is obvious, that help is neither needed nor possible.
We have already implemented everything that is permitted and technically feasible to save energy. Energy that is saved doesn't need to be generated. Let me repeat, I envy anyone who has better opportunities to save and generate energy. We used the options we had and it wasn't always easy.
Regarding the diatribe starting with
... we indeed wear special cycling clothing when we do our leisure rides. Staying fit and strong at our age isn't easy and needs a lot of motivation. Being able to ride fast and far is part of it, as is spending money on better bikes instead of bigger cars. And we really don't like being yelled at from the side window of a car, “Get on the bike path, asshole!”
And by the way, hospitals and medical care for people who have become obese due to a lack of exercise also cost a lot of energy.
For reference, I just recovered and extended an article I wrote three years ago on a vanished diaspora node
I might add, that we indeed got quite some hate from people that we believed to be on our side, when we, both working til retirement, raised our children without owning a car, mostly by using bicycles where other people use cars, without even considering alternatives even for very short trips.
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diaspora* social networkIsaac Kuo
•@Muse Today I learned the term "push bike" as used in Australia and other places (a pedal powered bicycle). I was surprised, because here in the USA a "push bike" is, ironically enough, a bicycle that is NOT powered by pedals. It's powered by pushing it.
I've actually an adult sized push bike (no pedals) for some time. But that doesn't really seem to be a thing, at least not on the mass market. I just want fewer components to deal with although obviously it comes at expense of speed.
like this
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Muse
•@Isaac Kuo Electric bikes are very popular with university students here. They are in essence a motorbike, but cheaper and a lot more flexible. Some ebikes can be folded up and taken onto trains. Andrew was considering one to help get up and down the hills in Hurstbridge.
I can understand wanting fewer components to deal with. I had a high quality bike that was complicated to use. This meant I rarely used it. Something sturdy and straightforward is the go!
like this
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Isaac Kuo
•@Muse The sort of adult sized push bike I'd like to have would not have electric power. No pedals, no chain, no gears.
Little more than two wheels and a brake. It's limited to the speed I can run (I live in a flat place with no extended down-hill slopes). But it suits the leisurely speeds I want to bike at.
Muse likes this.
Muse
•Isaac Kuo likes this.
Isaac Kuo
•@Muse I tried to look up "skateboard with a handle", and it looks like the same problem with "push bikes" (as we call them in the USA).
The problem seems to be that they're made - but kid sized for kids.
They make adult sized kick scooters, but that's not quite the same thing as a skateboard
Muse likes this.
Muse
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Aladár Mézga
•Get a longboard...😁
(There are motorised versions...)
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