Comments for Stuart McMillen

Comment on The Problem cartoon – discussion by Stephanie

Stephanie — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:32:07 +0000

Hello, Mr. McMillen! And thank you for your insight and creative illumination of the problems of insufficiently regulated industry. I value your work and your discussion of environmental issues and applaud your efforts to formulate potential solutions. I’m a student who hopes to go into public policy in America, and I’ve been following your cartoons for some time as a source of inspiration and hope. There ARE ways for our governments and businesses to change, there ARE ways to turn the deterioration of our planet around, there ARE ways for businesses to be on the “good” side of this fight. I hope many more people come to your sight and are inspired in the way I have been. Thanks again!

Comment on A year of reading by Stuart McMillen » Blog Archive » Two years and one day of reading

Stuart McMillen » Blog Archive » Two years and one day of reading — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 00:40:59 +0000

[...] been a while since I last published a list like this. Below is a list of the books I have read over the last two years. I’m trying to mix up my [...]

Comment on Green Drinks Brisbane: what it is not by Matt

Matt — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 03:20:24 +0000

Here here!

Comment on Solar thermal electricity by Fire Basket

Fire Basket — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 21:38:08 +0000

amorphous type solar cells are the cheapest option that we cant get if we want solar power`~;

Comment on Solar thermal electricity by david

david — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 10:08:19 +0000

Hi Logan,
That’s a very simplistic statement. It’s not clear whether you are talking about solar thermal or solar photovoltaic – or even whether you understand the difference. It’s also quite ambiguous as to what you define as “very” efficient.

If you’ve read Stuart’s post, you will realise that solar thermal uses essentially the same turbines that conventional power stations use, and hence achieves effectively the same energy conversion efficiency.

If you’re talking about solar photovoltaic, then currently the efficiency is lower than solar thermal, because photovoltaic panels utilise only part of the light spectrum. However, making up for this is the fact that it can be manufactured at household scale, and located at the point of use. This enables cost efficiency gains by not requiring additional land and transmission infrastructure.

And of course, through all of this it is important to ask what “efficiency” really means – bearing in mind that the cost of fossil fuels is increasing and the cost of sunlight is zero.
david

Comment on Solar thermal electricity by Logan Baker

Logan Baker — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 09:16:58 +0000

solar cells these days are not yet very efficient in generating electricity:*~