patrick.net

alien and Randy,

Wait, this is a discussion about freshwater?

Then the solution is obvious. Annex Canada!

If it is fresh water you are after you DON’T need large scale energy production

It's true that solar energy is responsible for 99.9% of the freshwater on this planet. My idea is to have huge floating transparent plastic barges out in the pacific and pump in a small amount of water into the insulated bottoms of them. The sun would rapidly turn this into water vapor. Then flush out the remaining brine, add fresh salt water and repeat.

You then either use condensation towers or connect to a wide diameter plastic pipeline that climbs up to the top of the Sierras where the water vapor cools and gets dumped as water.

Could work. Wouldn't use fossile fuels. Save all that nuke power for H2 production.

Alien,

It's true that dumping the heat to the ocean is preferred as if obviates sending it somewhere else. The problem is those closed liferaft solutions high a max vapor pressure and max out. The steam vent in the sierras just keeps pouring out humid air, so I think it might be better for large scale production with no moving parts.

anyway...

SF Woman,
What I find interesting about your flipper example is that when you are dealing with that amount of capital (or perhaps debt), why not use it to finance multiple property flips rather than a single property, to distribute risk a little better. Yes, if they sell at $7M they will reap a huge profit, but that seems like gambling and putting all your chips on "7 Red" on one spin.

Or we could just ban lawns, golf courses, and desert rice growing...

Or we could just ban lawns, golf courses, and desert rice growing…

Why ban anything. Just charge the right price and people will act accordingly.

"Just charge the right price and people will act accordingly."

And how do you propose to set up the "right price" for clean air, or clean water, or salt, or Alaskan brown bear reserves?

And how do you propose to set up the “right price” for clean air, or clean water, or salt, or Alaskan brown bear reserves?

Just let people bid for them.

Can we say, "Waterworld"???

Can we say, “Waterworld”???

Whatever happens in the future, we will adapt, or not. We should not worry too much about it.

Peter P Says:

Whatever happens in the future, we will adapt, or not. We should not worry too much about it.

Que sera sera...

SF Woman,
That may very well be true. From the perspective of a potential buyer (not that unit), personally, I'd much prefer renovating myself rather than paying for someone else's choices and tastes. Especially if one were buying in that price range, it seems preferable to do things the way you want them. I do realize, however, that there are people who like everything "move in ready."

Que sera sera…

Two things you cannot avoid: tax and death.

On the species level: suffering and eventual extinction.

"Just let people bid for them."

What do UC Irvine profs teach in lieu of communal goods and inelastic demand curves?

"On the species level: suffering and eventual extinction."

Let's hope our breeding habits do not resemble that of carrier pigeons.

What do UC Irvine profs teach in lieu of communal goods and inelastic demand curves?

How would I know?

I understand the importance of communal goods but I understand human nature better. We cannot force people to become responsible when it is against their nature. They have to come to their enlightenment on their own "free will".

SFWoman,

$3.1 million is a heck of a lot of renovation! If I was in the market I'd be tempted to ask if they've installed 24 karate golden toilets and bathtubs.

"We cannot force people to become responsible when it is against their nature. They have to come to their enlightenment on their own “free will”."

Yet there are national parks and police departments and free public education throughout the world...

I may think humanity is a bit slow on the uptake and may well be marching towards extinction, but I'll give it credit for teetering along this far. Not everything needs to be auctioned off like cellphone bandwidths.

SFW/astrid,

This will be interesting to watch unfold. I'm definitely w/astrid b/c with Zillow etc. how difficult would it be to mistake this for any thing other than naked greed? No offense to your friend.

With all of the "market coverage" we have at our avail it's going to be a lot more difficult to find an "undiscovered gem" or more specifically (to be able to pawn it off).

Yet there are national parks and police departments and free public education throughout the world…

People were not necessarily responsible. They were just acting on their own self-interests.

Many environmentalists (not all) choose to do the "right thing" simply because they like things to stay certain ways. They may even ignore Nature's tendency to evolve and renew.

"we will adapt, or not"

To a large degree....... that is true. I just can't help sensing this daily burden to do our absolute level best. Each preceeding generation fought and struggled just to survive and, we are their children. They've brought us this far. So with every acre they cleared with primitive hand tools just to ensure there would be a next generation we can and should seek innovations to confront our issues. Even we do become extinct we should at least go down swinging! Don't we owe them at least that much?

Humanity is overrated. Just wait until the cockroaches become the dominant species on Earth.

alien

I gently remind you that you opened this volley by scoffing at the notion of space conquest as a source of growth. What credentials do you have in that area, since you seem to think only direct participants in a field are qualified to participate in discussions.

What credentials do you have in that area, since you seem to think only direct participants in a field are qualified to participate in discussions.

I have no credentials whatsoever. :(

Buffett and his wife remained friends over the years even after Buffett’s current girlfriend Astrid moved in with him.

Wait a minute --astrid is Warren Buffett's GIRLFRIEND?? When did this happen? Moving up in the world, eh, astrid?

No point in worrying about nuclear power plants and water shortages and space travel, humanity will be destroyed by superbugs and rogue nuclear warheads and polygamy cooties long before we get to that point.

"Wait a minute –astrid is Warren Buffett’s GIRLFRIEND?? When did this happen? Moving up in the world, eh, astrid?"

Alas, no. This particular online handle comes by the way of a Scottish indie pop band named after the 5th Beatle's photographer girlfriend. I will agree that there's much worse things than being a long time girlfriend to an charming, philanthropic, and exceedingly wealthy older gentleman.

alien said:

I think this is unlikely due to EROEI issues.

then

Actually I have a Major in physics.

So I'd guess that someone with a masters in finance would be more qualified to determine EROEI, or did they teach that along with thermodynamics? Aside, I did complete the undergrad engineering physics series through quantum, but that was a long time ago. This is why credentials pissing matches are stupid.

I'm still befuddled as to why somewhere like Israel would knowingly invest their national security and economic future in a desalinization technology that apparently everyone knows is the "wrong technology". It is possible. But you know what they say about incredible claims.

"I will agree that there’s much worse things than being a long time girlfriend to an charming, philanthropic, and exceedingly wealthy older gentleman."

Like a complete loss of grammar function. (Where's the Google toolbar grammar check?)

Correction

I will agree that there ARE much worse things than being a long time girlfriend to A charming, philanthropic, and exceedingly wealthy older gentleman.

RE: Correction

I can guess that "charming, philanthropic, and " was inserted afterwards. Am I right? :)

"I can guess that “charming, philanthropic, and ” was inserted afterwards. Am I right? I can guess that “charming, philanthropic, and ” was inserted afterwards. Am I right? "

No, actually, charming and philanthropic came first. I always liked Warren Buffet's apparent lack of pretensions (including lack of pretension at not having pretensions) and his ability to get along with a large and disparate group of people. I also admire how he made his money and how he and his family are spending its money. The exceedingly wealthy part is kind of an afterthought...I'm not aiming to marry him or get some money off of him, so the exact extent of his wealth isn't important for me.

I'm just a very poor grammarian.

As it happens I tend to avoid commenting on subjects of which I have no knowledge.

I always comment on subjects of which I know nothing about. But again, I am for entertainment only. :)

Randy,

So were you talking about freshwater or tritium?

Its just very hot here and my air conditioning has decided to fail

In this situation I would just take a cool bath and meditate. Perhaps I would burn an incense to clear my mind?

Randy is a really nice person. So he will not hate you for too long. :)

I thought deuterium + tritium was considered the most promising combo for fusion power.

As for freshwater. I can't take the US seriously on this matter until they stop keeping lawns and golf courses and make some serious revisions to the American west's water rights apportionment.

Folks in the BA are lucky they get water from Hetch Hetchy. BA water tastes so much better than LA water.

BA water tastes so much better than LA water.

Have you been to San Jose?

off topic....

Okay, I've read several times about people referrring to prices moving sideways - what the hell does that mean, how can a price move sideways, not up or down? I guess I missed that explanation/definition - could anyone enlighten me?

"Have you been to San Jose?"

Not long enough to drink SJ tap water.