Alternative Energy: Harnessing the power of imagination

I can't be 100% sure, but I do believe I am the first to propose this concept as an alternative energy source: Harness the power of imagination.

Although many would have you believe that you could get rich and successful, or get healed, by harnessing the power of imagination, I have yet to see anyone saying that this could be a source of alternate power that could be tapped in to in order to ultimately reduce carbon emissions across the planet.

I could, and am sure I will, give you lists of things that show what I mean. Some of these concepts you might even guess, if you had the inclination. But, there is a principle that for me was a little more nuanced, so I would like to put it down here now to kick off this discussion.

Any typical power generating process begins with an investment of capital. Whether to build a coal burning plant, nuclear reactor, wind turbines, solar reactor or any other project, the first step in actual construction is the investment of capital.

This is obviously a necessary step. What is not obvious, however, is that the act of investment effectively negates imagination from the equation. Once you have a monetary commitment to a certain operation -i.e. construction of a physical plant that will perform a task for a given purpose- it becomes directly counter-productive to continue to apply imagination to the problem of supplying power for the given purpose.

After all, the given purpose should be covered by the equipment to be acquired or constructed with the investment already made, therefore, it is assumed with good reason that any further imaginative effort in that specific direction is a waste.

But, what if we look at this another way? What if we propose that, if spending capital blocks imagination... then the reverse should hold true: if you apply imagination to the equation, energy will be created directly, rather than capital spent!

I believe this equation can be proven through art. Stay tuned for another Co2-Art project!

New Eco Art by Tatiana Iliina

Richmond Fossil - a tribute to 1 billion gallons of toxic coal sludge spewn into the environment on Dec. 22 08.

Co2 Art presents a new abstract work by Tatiana Iliina. This is a new installment in Tatiana's "Smoke & Steel" series of Eco Art. This abstract painting measures 30" x 36, is painted with a palette knife, and can be viewed for a limited time at the link on the right marked "marketplace".



Tatiana Iliina has several series of Eco Art that are enjoyed by collectors and art lovers throughout the world. These series include: Glaciers Gone, Rain Forest, Grand Canyon, Rising Waters and "Wet Brush - Wet Paint - Wetlands," acknowledging various ecological crises including global warming across the planet.

The unique quality of these paintings is that they may address a sombre topic, however they are visually compelling and possess a vitality that indeed celebrates the natural wonders of our planet.

After the Deluge - Post Rising Seas Surrealism

Co2-Art presents an new work by Tatiana Iliina and a new series of eco art.

Tatiana's collectors already know that her eco series never fail to be popular. Over the past couple of years her abstract and surrealistic eco series have generated interest worldwide. Her Glaciers Gone series has sold 17 original works worldwide, from South Africa to Indiana... From British Columbia to Boston.

Her new surreal cities series, exploring the concept that perhaps now only artists have the power to conceive and create sustainable habitats for humanity, have sold to galleries and collectors in Europe, Norway, the U.S. and Canada.

And now the daring and tantalizingly beautiful "After the Deluge" series addresses the ominous idea of flooded cities resulting from melting ice caps.




This painting is entitled "Crash of Breakers", a Tatiana Iliina original presented by Co2 Art. Eco Art for the Ages.

Massive coal sludge spill threatens water and health in Tennessee

Since Dec. 22, over a Billion gallons of toxic coal sludge containing arsenic, mercury, copper and other dangerous metals has swamped 300 acres of Tennessee countryside.

The spill, originating at a coal-burning power plant where a retaining wall collapsed, is 100 times larger than the Exxon Valdez disaster, and has contaminated at least one tributary of the Tennessee River with high levels of toxins.

http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/12/30/133946/67

Clean coal? Sure.

The photo above shows the toxic sludge from a previous spill, in Martin Co. Kentucky, where a 300-million gallon sludge spill was termed the "greatest environmental disaster ever" in the southeast.

Canada needs to spend $ on green transportation

News of Canada chipping in $4B to the automakers... has Canada's former UAW honcho Buzz Hargrove worrying that Canada didn't get enough assurances in the deal.

I would think we would want a guarantee of at least an equivalent proportion of the N. American (or world) production as we have been getting up until now...

Left to their own devices the automakers will screw Canada.

Like they discontinued the Camaro just long enough to close the Ste-Therese plant only to revive Camaro a few years later now that Ste. Therese is a shopping centre. So you can't blame Buzz in a way for pushing the envelope - you know full well that there will be forces on the other extreme - saying that they should shut down Canada altogether in order to keep US workers on the job.

Now why can't the government act as quickly to help get some smarter car manufacturing up and running.

Announce one $ billion - half federal half provincial - to be split up among outstanding applicants.

Ensure that a substantial portion of the cash is NOT available to the old line established oil and automotive industry.

Encourage a wide range of related applications - including infrastructure, urban planning, innovative rail, electric and other forms of transport, support for associations, services points, batteries etc...

Bailing out the big 3 is a problem to be pondered. It is the classic lose-lose situation. It is throwing good money after bad in the worst possible way. But, maybe it has to be done in the short term

On the other hand, nurturing new, green, smart, high-tech industry is a no brainer.

Just do it!

North Pole on Thin Ice

According to an article I read in The Independent, the North Pole could be free of ice this summer for the first time in human history. I won't bother linking to the article because I think it's everywhere!

Amazing! The north pole going ice free for the first time in history and some people say that global warming is "unproven" or "controversial". LMAO

The article says that the usual ice cap, composed of super thick ice built up over many years, has now blown away from the Pole. The ice up there now is only as thick as the amount of ice that freezes in one year - and has a good chance of melting entirely over this summer.

Tatiana has another new glacier abstract and we will be putting it up on eBay soon - maybe today. Not that it's a big deal but I think these glacier paintings do help in some small way to draw attention to the global warming situation.

Getting Off on Gating it Off - No one's sittin' on this dock!

Here's a scary photo that looks an awful lot like what the world feels like lately. And probably it's the direction we're headed in.

Where we are cut off from the natural world and living in the artificial world. Where everything is controlled by powerful unseen forces. Or, more likely even, weak or inert forces who just want to fill the world with gates. A world where even the most mundane passage is barred by a gate.

Say it ain't so!