Reply #65: Mmmmm....refrigerated air.... [View All]

[Modem Butterfly]

AC has been around a lot longer than you think. In fact, it's a 19th century invention and began commercial use in 1889.

I'm not sure why you're so stuck on AC and automobiles. Both systems have been and continue to be tweaked to run much more efficiently primarily because they hit consumers in the wallet. But what hasn't been addressed are areas like food production (particularly the ranching of cattle and the eating of meat) and trash generation and disposal here in the US. Our current recycling is just a drop in the bucket compared to that problem, which has only recently begun to even be addressed.

With resepct to fuel consumption, necessity is the mother of invention, and I suspect that when the consumer begins to demand it, we will find alternate fuel sources, perhaps fuel cells or hydrogen technology. I doubt I'll have to get used to living without AC in my lifetime, especially since the rate of global warming, to which current logging and ranching practices are a huge contributor, will really drive demand.

You'd better get used to it cooling you down 10-15 degrees from what it is outside, as opposed to keeping everything a comfortable 72 degrees in mid-July, because the latter is just simply unsustainable.

Well, you made a big presumption here. My partner and I live in a 110 year old house that doesn't have AC. So cooling down 10-15 degrees sounds just dandy to us!