Thursday, October 1, 2009

F'n retards

ABC Program about sustainable houses.

Just caught a bit about one where they use a wood burning hot tub. They burn scrap wood from the yard (it's belching smoke as they speak). He says it's not polluting because it doesn't use electricity.

Other home featured earlier has many solar panels... they use the power on sunny days and it is also used to offset their use of power from the grid when the weather is no good for solar... These ones, if they were really, truly serious about the environment and saving the planet and their carbon footprint, would be TOTALLY INDEPENDENT OF THE GRID. As it is, the grid must be maintained with the level of maximum use in mind, and then there's base load. Honestly, if they were serious about it they'd be fully independent of the grid.... it'll never happen!

It's like the idiots who think plug in cars are a great idea. They seem to forget that the electricity coming out of the powerpoint comes from SOMEWHERE where they're probably burning coal (particularly in Aus).

My connection is playing up and slow as a wet week. If I get a chance later I'll try to find the link if the show is on Youtube.

19 comments:

Carpe Jugulum said...

I don't think the AlpBC understands irony or idiocy.

Egg said...

Did they fill the (cauldron xxx) hot tub with oil and add lots and lots of firewood? Non?

kc said...

Eye of bat, tooth of frog...majik pixie dust...rainbows and unicorns...leave it to these folks to continue living in a fantasy world.

Skeeter said...

Yeah, Kae. Some of the "firewood" he was putting into the spa heater still had green leaves on it. Your would need a steelworks blast furnace or a Victorian bush fire to get it hot enough to burn.

That show always features huge, sustainable, non-toxic, green homes with small footprints, often built out of recycled fruit boxes, roofed with about $100k's worth of solar panels, walls held together with R-8 triple glazing, a cellar full of lead-acid batteries, and not one nasty nail used anywhere in its construction.
One of tonight's luvvies claimed to be warding off brain-tumours by using "non-toxic polyurethane" on her kitchen bench.

kae said...

Unbelieveable.

When I saw the house today with the whole bank of batteries, etc, in the cellar (I think), and the owner waxing lyrical about how they'll last for 10 days without power from the grid... der.
They don't think about the "carbon footprint" of the manufacture of the batteries (we don't talk about the heavy metals used in the manufacture of the batteries, nooooooooo), if they were fair dinkum they'd all be fully self sustaining without power from the grid... or water from wherever the local town water comes from.

Grr. They make me so mad 'cos they're so stupid!

kae said...

Hey, Carpie,I blogged on the Q&A show and it was goodish, but then I lost it... somehow.

SezaGeoff said...

Hey, look - I finally got myself a Google identity!
Much more important than whackers burning wood and using candles because they're green.

kae said...

I'm impressed, Seza! Roolly impressed. I'm pleased you made the effort.

Click.

Oh. Seza's just a name. *sigh*

Nevermind.

SezaGeoff said...

Been my name for years. Seza who? Seza Geoff! Why are you so disappointed?

kae said...

Sometimes if you click on a name there's a profile, tells you a bit about the person.

I stopped the anonymous comments, I prefer people to have names it's a lot less confusing...

Unless we call all the blokes Bruce, then we're back to square one of course.

SezaGeoff said...

OK, did that, bared my soul (well, a little bit anyway).

kae said...

Very good, Seza. That's interesting.

I like Dire Straits, Crowded House, Cranberries, P... P... oh dear, can't say it, they'll drum me out of the RWDB Corps, Evanescence... and others.

I have to answer dumb questions sometimes at work.... does that make me an information specialist? I know about crap in - crap out, too.

kae said...

I should really probably work on mine at some stage. Never seem to have time.

SezaGeoff said...

The gang went to the Pink concert in Melbourne recently, and it was hilarious to watch the reaction of the youngsters at work when you said what you were doing for the weekend. Eight of us old fogies all in a row!

kae said...

My 10 year old pal went to Pink. She loved it!

I saw Billy Joel last year. Felt 14 again with my high school BFF with me. Sheesh!

Don't go to many live gigs, live too far out of Bris. And usually it's dear as poison so I'm better off only spending a pittance and buying a CD or a DVD.

I just changed my profile a bit. What's the weather like down there? It's getting warm again, with a dust storm forcast for Sat (and possible thunderstorm tomorrow).

SezaGeoff said...

Meh - just average - cold one day, warm the next. Will be on the Gold Coast (for the first time ever) over Cup Weekend, so we are hoping for good weather. Staying on South Stradbroke, so want to go swimming.

kae said...

Oh, Oh, I must tell you...

My ex was in the RAAF, one of his troops was talking with him one day and mentioned this fab new artist he'd heard. The ex asked "What's their name, I might know them?"
The young bloke said, "No, probably not, he's pretty new..."
"No," said ex. "Tell me, I might know of them."
"Alice Cooper," replied the troop.

SezaGeoff said...

That's funny, I remember Alice when he was only biting the heads off canaries! My daughter came home one day and asked if I had ever heard of a band named Abba!

kae said...

Well, hopefully the dust will be cleared up by then!

Should be most pleasant weatherwise by then.

Getting out of Melb for cup week? It's not that bad, huh? I lived there for three years in 90-93. The weather was changeable... while I was there I didn't think it was too bad... must admit had the rose-coloured glasses of romance on then...

Must go to bed, that crappy 70s show is on.

ABBA - LOLZ. I liked Barbra Bignose, the ex liked ABBA - I suppose you could say we were even!