Cuda2020

Just one small comment, what do you expect Al Gore to do travel by a Hot Air Balloon. Spare me your illogical semantics, all of you...moving on.

JFlorio Loc: Seminole Florida

Have to be one big balloon for his fat ass. You should move on. You've made a big enough fool of yourself today.

dtucker300 Loc: Vista, CA

You've never heard of teleconferencing? The only illogical semantics I hear come from the left.

Private jets for government officials when they could fly commercial. Here is another perspective. There are many talented people working on the issue of Climate change. But government mandates only lessen our freedom and ability to come up with more creative and better solutions to the problem.

https://www.prageru.com/video/the-government-cant-solve-climate-change/

JFlorio Loc: Seminole Florida

He won't listen. Just on here to troll.

Larai Loc: Fallon, NV

"How Al Gore Fooled The World Into Paying For His Giant Carbon Footprint"

"At the same time, he has released his follow-up to the comically incorrect “An Inconvenient Truth” shocking stats were released about Al Gore’s uses of carbon-generated electricity. According to a new report by the National Center for Public Policy Research, in his Nashville house, Al Gore uses 34x the energy of the average American home. But it’s really nothing new. The former VP doesn’t really believe the climate change hypothesis, for him, it’s a way to make money."

The new data about his Nashville house includes:

The past year, Gore’s home energy use averaged 19,241 kilowatt hours (kWh) every month, compared to the U.S. household average of 901 kWh per month.
Gore guzzles more electricity in one year than the average American family uses in 21 years.
In September of 2016, Gore’s home consumed 30,993 kWh in just one month – as much energy as a typical American family burns in 34 months.
During the last 12 months, Gore devoured 66,159 kWh of electricity just heating his pool. That is enough energy to power six average U.S. households for a year.
From August 2016 through July 2017, Gore spent almost $22,000 on electricity bills.


https://lidblog.com/inconvenient-truth-hypocritical-al-gores-carbon-footprint/

So Yes... and he wouldn't need the necessary fuel to power the balloon He can just use his Blowhard voice and fuel it himself!..

dtucker300 Loc: Vista, CA

I used to think these stats were dubious and were from a long time ago, just after he left the 2000 campaign. Turns out that he preaches "do as I say, not as I do" as do most liberal leftists.

Larai Loc: Fallon, NV

Yep!

Louie27 Loc: Peoria, AZ

He should fly by commercial passenger planes like most the rest of us do, if he believes in climate change by humans, so much. but he and other globalists will never go beneath their, so-called dignity, and travel with the ordinary citizen.

Larai Loc: Fallon, NV

Exactly!! Thank you!!... for people that are supposedly working for US the people, they have exalted themselves!.. raised themselves above the citizens they work For!!... grrr!

dtucker300 Loc: Vista, CA

https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a28720252/french-solar-road-failure/?source=nl&utm_source=nl_pop&utm_medium=email&date=081919&src=nl&utm_campaign=17815429

Three Years Later, the French Solar Road Is a Total Flop
It's too noisy, falling apart, and doesn't even collect enough solar energy.


By David Grossman
Aug 16, 2019
Inauguration Of The First Solar Road in France - Tourouvre Au Perche, OrneFREDERIC STEVENSGETTY
The French government invested in building a solar road to a rural town in 2016.
The project has not delivered on its goals, according to French newspaper Le Monde.
Solar streets face significant infrastructure challenges if they want to succeed.
It was a solar experiment that seemed ingenious in its simplicity: fill a road with photovoltaic panels and let them passively soak up the rays as cars drive harmlessly above. The idea has been tried a few times, notably in rural France in 2016 with what was christened the "Wattway."

Three years later, even the most optimistic supporters have deemed the Wattway a failure.

The Wattway consists of 2,800 photovoltaic panels lining one kilometer (0.62 miles) on the way to the small northern town of Tourouvre-au-Perch in Normandy. At the time of its opening its builder, the construction group Colas, part of telecoms group Bouygues, said that the solar panels were covered with a resin containing silicon, strong enough to fend off traffic even from 18-wheelers.

"The engineers of this project surely did not think about the tractors that would roll over," Pascal and Eric, two local roofers leaning on the counter of the Café de Paris, Tourouvre-au-Perche, told the French newspaper Le Monde in 2019. While the resin coating might be strong enough to keep a big rig from crushing the solar panels, the two said that driving over it generates so much noise that locals required the road's speed limit to be lowered to 70 km/h, or a paltry 43 mph.

Le Monde describes the road as "pale with its ragged joints," with "solar panels that peel off the road and the many splinters that enamel resin protecting photovoltaic cells." It's a poor sign for a project that French government invested in to the tune of €5 million, or $5,546,750.

The noise and poor upkeep aren't the only problems facing the Wattway. Through shoddy engineering, the Wattway isn't even generating the electricity it promised to deliver. In 2016, the builders promised it would power 5,000 households.

There proved to be several problems with this goal. The first was that Normandy is not historically known as a sunny area. At the time, the region's capital city of Caen only got 44 days of strong sunshine a year, and not much has changed since. Storms have wrecked havoc with the systems, blowing circuits. But even if the weather was in order, it appears the panels weren't built to capture them efficiently.

“If they really want this to work, they should first stop cars driving on it,” Marc Jedliczka, vice president of the Network for Energetic Transition (CLER), which promotes renewable energy, told the Eurasia Times.

To power the households, the road was expected to generate 790 kilowatt-hours per day, but that failed. How? It might seem simple, but solar panels are most efficient when pointed toward the sun. Because the project needed to be a road as well as a solar generator, however, all of its solar panels are flat. So even within the limited sun of the region, the Wattway was further limiting itself.

Jedliczka says Colas pursued the project too quickly before fully investigating its cost effectiveness.

“It confirms the total absurdity of going all-out for innovation to the detriment of solutions that already exist and are more profitable, such as solar panels on roofs,” Jedliczka told Le Monde.

For its part, Colas has admitted the project is a bust. “Our system is not mature for inter-urban traffic,” Etienne Gaudin, Colas' chief executive of Wattway, told Le Monde. The company also operates 40 similar solar roads, smaller than the one in Normandy.

Other solar roads across the globe have faced a variety of challenges. In 2018, a week after a solar road opened in China, its solar panels were stolen.

dtucker300 Loc: Vista, CA

How many of these were government-funded? Capitalism is the engine of innovation.

7 Skyscrapers Leading the Way to a Green Future
They're big. They're green. They're here.

image
By David Grossman
Aug 17, 2019
China - Hong Kong - Two International Finance CentreMIKE KEMPGETTY IMAGES
In many ways, skyscrapers came to define the 20th century. Rising out of skeletons of steel, iron, and glass, they showed a new landscape and ecosystem to the world. Cities become incomplete without their own, and some like Hong Kong or New York City have gone full in on buildings 150 feet or taller, with 355 and 280, respectively.

But as climate change defines the 21st century, skyscrapers are among the first targets that urban developer would want to adjust. It's easy to see why: they take up a tremendous amount of resources.

“With today’s technology, a tower will always be more energy-hungry,” said Philippe Honnorat, head of building services at the consultancy WSP in the UK said in 2013. “If you’re going to wash or take a shower on the 80th floor, you have to bring the water up there. When you take your shopping up to your apartment in an elevator, that will consume more energy than if you lived on the ground floor.”

The challenge, Honnrat said at the time, is that while a one-to-one comparison with a skyscraper is dirtier than a smaller building, a city filled with them might have an advantage.

“In Manhattan, most people don’t even own cars, whereas LA has lots of low-rise, low-energy buildings that can only be reached by car, and require extensive energy and water infrastructure. On a building-by-building basis, it’s a no-brainer that towers use more energy.”

Here some buildings, some iconic and some brand new, pointing the way to a more sustainable future. They've earned their green status through the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) accreditation program, which is overseen by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

1
Empire State Building, New York City
Sunset in New York City
GARY HERSHORNGETTY IMAGES
One of the most well known LEED certified buildings in the world, the Empire State Building originally finished construction in 1931 and was the tallest building in the world for 40 years. Featured in countless movies, the building qualified for LEED Gold certification in 2011. That same year, it saved $2.4 million energy costs. In 2012, the building saved $2.3 million.

Those savings allowed the classic building to gain modern relevance with better occupancy rates.

"The energy efficiency was a huge component of our success in repositioning the building," said Anthony Malkin, president of Malkin Properties, which controls the building, in 2013.

2
Two International Finance Center, Hong Kong, China
China - Hong Kong - Two International Finance Centre
MIKE KEMPGETTY IMAGES
The International Finance Centre in Hong Kong is split into two towers, 1IFC and 2IFC. 1,352 feet tall, the 84-story building has 62 elevators and was completed in 2003. It's the 27th tallest building in the world and the 2nd tallest in Hong Kong.

It earned its LEED gold certification with its efforts to maximize natural light, minimizing solar heat gain, and lower noise intrusion.


3
Jin Mao Tower, Shanghai, China
jin mao tower
BILLATQWIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Certified at the LEED Gold level in 2013, the Jin Mao Tower is 1,380 feet tall with 61 elevators. Completed in 1999, the Tower is the 24th tallest building in the world and the 12th tallest building in China.

It's a building that shows going green can integrate historic styles with its traditional Chinese architectural style. As reported in World Architecture News, top conservation strategies for the Tower have included "reusing or recycling 70% of all durable goods and the diversion of 70% of the waste accumulated from facility alterations and additions."

4
Manitoba Hydro Place, Winnipeg, Canada
winnipeg building
TERRI MEYER BOAKE
At 377 feet, it may not be as tall as the other buildings on this list. Completed in 2008, this building earned the hard-to-achieve LEED Platinum status by incorporating drastic reductions in energy consumption, over 70%. It's secret sauce includes glass, which maximize natural daylight for employees, and solar panels including an iconic ventilation tower known as the "solar chimney."

"The future in sustainable architecture lies in being open to experimentation, communication and collaboration at every step of the process which is integral to green building," said Bruce Kuwabara, the design architect for KPMB Architects, at the time of its being awarded Platinum status in 2012, in a press statement.

"Manitoba Hydro Place demonstrates that one building can simultaneously create a synthesis of design excellence, integrated high performance sustainability, air quality, healthy work environment and city revitalization. To achieve LEED Platinum proves that this is the way forward to low carbon and climate responsive design."


5
Torre Reforma, Mexico City, Mexico
Torre Reforma
SANTIAGO ALONSO
Completed in 2016, the tallest building in Mexico City, and the second-tallest in all of Mexico stands at 807 feet tall. When it was completed, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat called it "a dramatic departure from the existing high-rise architecture of Mexico City."

With what LEED called a "versatile, column-free space," Torre Reforma has been able to make a "great impact on energy consumption reduction, shifting from an all-glass façade generation." From a design standpoint, it calls to mind Pre-Hispanic and colonial Mexican architecture, where solid materials were predominant.

For all its effort, it earned LEED Platinum status.

6
KK100, Shenzhen, China
KK100 shenzhen china
TANSRI MULIANI VIA CTBUH
Standing at 1,449 feet tall, KK100 is the second-tallest building in the booming tech epicenter Shenzhen. Completed in 2011, its signature curved shape is meant to suggest a fountain of water, representative of the city's massive growth in recent years.

The building was meant to set an example for Shenzhen in sustainability. That includes drastic reductions in water use, according to LEED. The building has seen a 50% lowering in wastewater, a 40% reduction in baseline indoor water use, generation and an incredible 100% curtailment in potable landscape water use, making for green surroundings.

As a pace-setter for the city, it earned a LEED gold notification.


7
Taipei 101, Taipei, Taiwain
taipei 101
TAIPEI FINANCIAL CENTER CORPORATION
Standing at 1,671 feet and holding a LEED Platinum certification, TAIPEI 101 is the tallest green building in the world. With double-paned green glass curtain walls, the building is able to reduce solar heat gain by 50 percent. It also includes energy efficient luminaries, custom lighting controls, low-flow water fixtures, and a smart Energy Management and Control System.

When a building is as tall TAIPEI, it faces unique challenges from wind. That's why at it also contains a giant steel pendulum that acts as a 728-ton tuned mass damper, keeping the building in place.

Although it was awarded certification in 2011, the building has continued to innovate.

“It is rare to see a commitment to upgrade an existing building to this level of environmental performance. The extensive documentation of its energy upgrades and sustainability initiatives speaks for itself; TAIPEI 101 has been the subject of a tireless and exhaustive effort to become one of the most sustainable tall buildings in the world, and it has been successful in this mission," said Bill Browning, a juror who helped award TAIPEI the "Best Performance" Award from CTBUH in 2016.

The building is filled with symbolism, starting with a 101 meant to represent January 1st. It's become a standby of Taiwan's new year's celebrations, as well as a look into how buildings will look deep into the 21st century.

Gatsby

Al Gore produces enough hot air to power a balloon around the world, why not use it?

JFlorio Loc: Seminole Florida

I expect a billionaire like Al Gore to act exactly as he does. Make money by getting useful idiots to fall for his carbon BS while he has an unnecessary carbon footprint 20x the avg. American. You guys are brilliant. While he was convincing you the sea levels were going to rise and drown the coasts he was building a multi million dollar mansion on guess where, the coast.

Richard94611

And meanwhile the number and size of glaciers throughout the world is rapidly diminishing, and the climete deniers try to tell us the opposite. The last few years have been the hottest on record in many, many places. Can you imagine what is going to happen when the ice in the Himalayas has completely melted and that huge populations that depend on the melting ice to fill their rivers no longer have the rivers they now depend on for food and irrigation ? Get ready for all kinds of water wars. Meanwhile, people like Blade-Runner deny that all these things are happening now.

I came across an article about what Florida is doing to counter and prevent the effects of rising ocean levels due to climate change. Seems to me that someone here who has a brother who lives in Florida claims his brother hasn't noticed any water level changes in the Miami area. Odd. There's a huge effort on the part of government in Florida now to reverse and prevent damage from sea levels which are already rising. And as the level of the water table becomes higher, soon water will simply beoozing up from the ground.

The denails of those who don't believe climate change is real, is serious, and is largely caused by man's activities is amazing !

JFlorio Loc: Seminole Florida

You are full of crap. I live in Florida. Sea levels haven't risen substantially in decades. That's a fact. What's changed is the amount of people willing to live on the coast and cover every damn surface with concrete. The only rise comes from runoff since water doesn't soak into concrete. You're a loon. Florida has had sink hole problems and such since time began. Lots of sand and limestone and underground rivers. If that ass of a mayor can convince enough idiots that Miami is under attack because of climate change he can get more Federal Aid. It's always follow the money.