Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

ahfoo t1_iy28pui wrote

Reply to comment by Royal_Aioli914 in Star Wars to science: Researchers harvest water from air to address shortages by Sorin61

If the power is from a renewable resources such as solar, then what's the problem? Obviously the costs are a huge challenge, but if someone wanted to invest in such a system then why would it be immoral or make them a "weirdo" to do so? That's a strong value judgement with little justification.

You use the term "drawing" huge amounts of power as if it has to be extracted from somebody else as if they were vampires sucking the blood of their neighbors. If the power is from the sun, why should it be anybody's concern?

2

Royal_Aioli914 t1_iy4xgs4 wrote

Well. It isn't being drawn from renewable resources, nor will it be in the near future. Renewables are great, but there are a lot of hurdles to overcome if we want to use renewables for all of our energy. In the US, all of the industry, manufacturing, etc. alone will need coal/natural gas plants for some time. We just simply cannot get enough renewable energy out of our available methods. That doesn't mean we shouldn't push towards that of course, but this is a whole different topic.

It is weird to burn a bunch of natural gas and coal to produce a gallon of water in the middle of a desert. And only rich folk can afford to do so.

We all share the energy infrastructure in the US. It is regional, but it is a shared UTILITY. Huge draws of power increase the cost of electricity for everyone, not just the consumer of said power (to some extent, some power companies will charge you more if you have large surges). If you ever work with a power company commercially, you would understand that unnecessary power consumption raises the costs for everyone.

There is simply not enough solar power available to meet our energy needs (nor will there ever be unless we CONSUME LESS POWER) and because your argument hinges on this, I don't know what to tell you..

1

Royal_Aioli914 t1_iy51ik5 wrote

Imagine our power needs if we can't export as much of our manufacturing/industry to China or other countries as easily (who are also burning some dirty). Tag in electric vehicles. We just consume so much freaking power as a single country that it's just wild to think that it ISN'T immoral to draw a bunch of power to get a gallon of water in the middle of the desert.

1