Dr Moses in his latest column (No One Asked Me But..: The Progress, Jun. 22) raises some interesting questions regarding climate change.
How much global warming is caused by solar panels? If we accept that carbon dioxide emissions contribute substantially to warming our planet, then the warming from solar panels is minimal since they produce minimal greenhouse gas emissions to generate electricity when compared to coal and natural gas power plants.
If burning of fossil fuels is causing the current warming, then what caused it in the past? The answer is changes in the sunlight reaching the earth caused by variations in the earth’s orbit around the sun. The evidence for this is discussed in two books that are worth reading: “The two mile time machine” by Richard Alley; and “Global Warming Understanding the Forecast” by David Archer. Arguing that the climate has changed before, therefore it can’t be us, is a bit like a defendant in a trial saying “crimes have happened throughout history therefore I am innocent.”
The battery charging question for electric cars also has an answer. The conservation of energy is a well known law of physics. If you use all of the energy from one battery to charge another battery there is no energy left to drive the car. Not all of the energy used to drive a car can be recovered by brakes because of air resistance and other energy drains. Dr Moses should try running his home AC unit with two batteries and no grid connection to see if his theory holds up.
I am not sure if Dr. Moses was joking when he made these points. If he was serious I hope my answers are helpful.
George Rhee
Boulder City, NV
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