Thursday Rainbow

So it's a lovely morning here in the UK!  I biked into work again this morning, I'm getting my time down.  Took me just under 30 minutes this time- I'd like to eventually get it down to 20 or so.  There was quite a lovely rainbow from the view of my desk this morning, so I thought I would share:

Cloudy, yet sunny!  (just one, not a double)

Anyway, I'm going to continue working on the PTC software, then see what's going on in the pits, then read some more.  Grab some lunch somewhere in there, and possibly go for a run at some point (I've brought all my gear).  There is an event in Leamington tonight, not sure if I'm up for going yet or not.

I also got a very interesting article, written by an astrophysicist and his wife, about comparing the space race with the current "race" in new energy technology.    (check it out here : Why "But We Walked on the Moon!" doesn't mean what they think it does )You really should read the entire article, but I really enjoyed this quote, towards the end:

"It is here, i think that the parallels between the Moon Shot and our current need to make an energy transition are clearest and most important. We picked, for the purpose of political distraction, a goal that actually took us away from being an effective presence in space - by focusing on something that looked impressive but didn't get us anywhere important and that we knew couldn't easily be generalized, we failed to hit the "bullseye" of an actual "space age" in which manned space flight was meaningfully integrated into our future."

Anyone who has known me the past few years knows my passion for and work with the renewable energy industry (and subsequent frustrations with the current course of things).  I think this commentary hits the nail on the head- we just can't sit back and expect the technology to be developed and anticipate a seemless transition from on infrastructure to another.  We all have to be active participants in this fundamental change to our way of life- ON A GLOBAL SCALE- if we are going to be able to transition at all.  

I admit, as an American (and a human being in general), I don't like the idea of much changing in my daily life.  However, I've moved to an area of the world where energy is a bigger commodity than back home (a gallon of gas (petrol) is almost $10, compared to our $3.50 right now, they pay about $0.20-$0.25 per kWh, where I was paying $0.09-$0.12 in Indiana).  The way they live here is different from home, but I think fundamentally, is not any less comfortable.  I still have access to hot shower, my commute (on a bike!) is only about 30 minutes one way, and I think they do it all with considerable less energy than we use in the States.
I look forward to any discussion on this, feel free to post in the comment section!