"Air conditioning will be the end of of us."
-Eric Klinenberg
Prof of Sociology
NYU
For all you folks out there contemplating ending it all, you don't have to turn on the gas in your kitchen or turn on your car ignition with the garage door closed. Just turn on your air conditioner. At least that's what Eric Klinenberg, professor of Sociology at New York University seems to think.
http://collegeinsurrection.com/2013/08/to-save-the-planet-nyu-prof-wants-to-pull-the-plug-on-air-conditioning/#comments
Stay in skool, kids.
No culture has ever, on a mass scale voluntarily given up a technology that makes life more comfortable, on the ground that it might kill our grandchildren.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, there is a simpler solution:
1) Air conditioned buildings should be covered with photocells, which will naturally produced the highest level of current when the air conditioning is most needed. This is also the highest-demand period of the day, for which utilities currently have to build excess capacity not used during the rest of the day, or other times of the year.
2) Keep the upper temp at 75, rather than 64. No need to go to 80 like Jimmy Carter suggested (hey, he's from Georgia).
3) Work on dehumidifying, since often humidity is the cause of the greatest discomfort.
4) Develop ways to use ventilation until the temperatures where a/c is really needed. Many modern buildings get hot and stuffy due to poor design.
Findalis can be a petty little Hitler when she gets aroused.
ReplyDeleteIF the man engaged in sabotaging other people's air conditioners, then he should of course be locked up.