NASA Study Indicates Antarctica is Gaining More Ice Than It's Losing -

What I would like to know is what happens to all those batteries that are produced in effort to save the planet? I know! recycle...lol

Which 3rd world country gets the contract to build / recycle these batteries?

A lot of the used plastics from the US and Canada were being sent to the Philippines in huge containers. We know how that ended, not good! The G7 pushes its garbage on the 3rd world and then wrings its hands saying we all must do better.

First figure out how to deal with the waste responsibly before moving on to the newest idea.
 
Uncle Gizmo said:
You may have heard that he wants to build a mega factory in Germany, there's a small problem, there's some trees on the 750 Acre site and the environmentalists are stopping the development because they don't want the trees cut down! Here's a man building electric cars which will go a long way to curbing our carbon dioxide emissions, and the environmentalists are stopping him! You couldn't make it up! This should really be in the joke thread...
Click to expand...
A question that needs to be posed to any new development of this type: Is there existing developed (treeless) land that can be used?

It is better to re-purpose developed land than convert natural land to urban purposes.
 
Last edited:
Whilst I don't know the circumstances for this particular development, Steve made the important point here. Wherever possible use an existing 'brownfield' site for new development rather than clear existing woodland.

Interesting. I've never heard the phrase 'tireless' in this context before.
 
isladogs said:
Interesting. I've never heard the phrase 'tireless' in this context before.
Click to expand...
My apologies. Combination of bad vision, using a tablet, and Android's spell check. Should have been "treeless".
 
Steve R. said:
It is better to re-purpose developed land than convert natural land to urban purposes.
Click to expand...

A recent news report so whether it has any substance or not is debatable, but it did say that the forest in question is a managed woodland especially for producing timber.
 
Even managed woodlands help with cleaning up the atmosphere since they get replanted after harvesting.
 
The_Doc_Man said:
Even managed woodlands help with cleaning up the atmosphere since they get replanted after harvesting.
Click to expand...

I don't get the logic of environmentally orientated people objecting to the giga factory because it requires the removal of some trees. The construction of these Tesla electric cars has the potential to wipe out the petroleum oil business across the globe. It just does not make sense to me that they object on environmental grounds.
 
Why does the factory need to be in that exact location? Why not make use of existing brownfield sites that are no longer needed?
 
An issue that is seldom discussed is progressive urbanization. Yes, it is cheaper to clear cut some trees; however, an unintended consequence is that existing urban areas that are not currently being used are left to "rot". Most of new malls (a dying breed) tend to be away from an urban core. Besides, converting "natural" land to urban purposes, the downtown areas decline leaving many abandoned buildings. Again, Yes, there have been large scale redevelopment projects to revitalize a downtown area. Nevertheless attempts should be made to convert existing underutilized urban areas rather than convert "natural" areas to an urban use.

PS: Really this discussion is not limited to "trees". The construction of subdivisions on what was farmland has been another significant concern.
 
isladogs said:
Why does the factory need to be in that exact location?
Click to expand...

It doesn't. It could be in any of a number of places. Imagine the process.... Tesla is an American company building something in Germany. How do you go about planning to build a factory in a foreign country? You would employ the services of specialist architects with the wherewithal to get your plans in place.

You would give them a broad specification as to what was required. It needs a water supply, electricity road, rail, & airport connection. It needs to be near a conurbation able to supply a workforce. You might specify a city it had to be near, or you might specify a region or both. You would provide a budget saying that the plot should be purchased for this many dollars.

One thing I do know from UK planning is that something like a giga factory would most likely need a plot bigger than anything normally available. In the UK there are mechanisms where an abnormal development can bypass certain local government and planning laws... This is why we have superstores all over the place! I'm reasonably sure that Germany must have a similar mechanism.
 
I see this thread has evolved into urban planning. Below is an example of a "factory" land grab that went bad. It's been a long time since I reviewed it.
Uncle Gizmo said:
It doesn't. It could be in any of a number of places. Imagine the process.... Tesla is an American company building something in Germany. How do you go about planning to build a factory in a foreign country? You would employ the services of specialist architects with the wherewithal to get your plans in place.

You would give them a broad specification as to what was required. It needs a water supply, electricity road, rail, & airport connection. It needs to be near a conurbation able to supply a workforce. You might specify a city it had to be near, or you might specify a region or both. You would provide a budget saying that the plot should be purchased for this many dollars.

One thing I do know from UK planning is that something like a giga factory would most likely need a plot bigger than anything normally available. In the UK there are mechanisms where an abnormal development can bypass certain local government and planning laws... This is why we have superstores all over the place! I'm reasonably sure that Germany must have a similar mechanism.
Click to expand...

Pfizer and Kelo's Ghost Town
The Supreme Court's 2005 decision in Kelo v. City of New London stands as one of the worst in recent years, handing local governments carte blanche to seize private property in the name of economic development. Now, four years after that decision gave Susette Kelo's land to private developers for a project including a hotel and offices intended to enhance Pfizer Inc.'s nearby corporate facility, the pharmaceutical giant has announced it will close its research and development headquarters in New London, Connecticut.

The aftermath of Kelo is the latest example of the futility of using eminent domain as corporate welfare. While Ms. Kelo and her neighbors lost their homes, the city and the state spent some $78 million to bulldoze private property for high-end condos and other "desirable" elements. Instead, the wrecked and condemned neighborhood still stands vacant, without any of the touted tax benefits or job creation.
Click to expand...
 
Given that I'm from Connecticut, I was especially disturbed by this ruling. Connecticut is rife with these poor decisions. There was a situation in my town (Stratford) where the town wanted to add curves to a road that was too straight and which encouraged speeding. On the north side of the street were three houses that backed up to the Merritt Parkway. On the south side of the street was unused farmland. The town could have condemned the vacant, unused, farmland but instead, they condemned the three houses for about 10 times the cost!!!! Did it really matter if the road curved north or curved south?
 
I just saw a TV show that is sort of related to the original talking point. The melting polar ice is making it more difficult for polar bears to find food in the warmer months when they can't get out to the ice floes to hunt seals. I think I was watching Animal Planet or some show like that. Apparently some hunters or natives saw this new type of hunting behavior and a TV crew was sent out and captured it on film. There are lots of little rocky "islands" near the shore and so the bears swim out to the edge of the channel and wait on the rocks for migrating beluga whales to pass by. They attack the babies and the whole pack of bears shares the kill. Sounds to me like survival of the fittest. These bears had a choice, starve or find new prey. They were smart enough to find new prey.
 
Uncle Gizmo said:
It doesn't. It could be in any of a number of places.
Click to expand...

Further to the Above:-
Elon said they looked at a lot of different locations.

This location for the Giga-Berlin is 1/2 an hour from Berlin.

The site was originally ear marked for a BMW auto plant. In fact BMW progressed the site through much of the environmental & regulatory system. Much of the required documentation is already in place. Elon estimates this will save over a year in sorting out paperwork.

This is a great advantage to Tesla in that they will be able to get the factory up and running much quicker than normal.

There's a rail connection to central Berlin, enabling young people to have accommodation in Berlin and commute to work disembarking from the rail connection straight into the gable end of the building!

There's ample affordable family housing, and a lot of talented people in the local work force.

Berlin is also home to the Berghain nightclub which is one of Elon's favourites.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berghain
 
Last edited:
A good example of anti renewable energy propaganda!

cleantechnica.com

Correcting Anti-Renewable Energy Propaganda - CleanTechnica

In 1989, pro-nuclear lobbyists claimed that wind power couldn’t even provide 1% of Germany’s electricity. A few years later, pro-nuclear lobbyists ran ads in German newspapers, claiming that renewables wouldn’t be able to meet 4% of German electricity demand.
cleantechnica.com cleantechnica.com
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Steve R.
Today's Environmentalists Are Really Luddites
Replies
5
Views
943
Pat Hartman
P
Uncle Gizmo
Solar won't work without the Sun...
Replies
8
Views
772
Pat Hartman
P
I
If a record is more than 5 years old write it down by 20% per year until £0, (but by months)
Replies
13
Views
599
CJ_London
C
Cotswold
Is there a Plan?
Replies
5
Views
313
The_Doc_Man
The_Doc_Man
J
Interesting artical about what government can and can't do. It's a bit longish, but worth the read.
Replies
19
Views
600
moke123
moke123

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)
Back
Top Bottom