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Natural gas is 50% less polluting than traditional oil and petrol. This means you can double production before you see same effects. This is huge and acceptable

Natural gas is 50% less polluting than traditional oil and petrol. This means you can double production before you see same effects. This is huge and acceptable by governments. Alternatively think of the low energy output of solar and wind power. In order to get more energy, you have to use more land and real estate. Are we supposed to chop down the entire rainforest and destroy poor people neighborhoods to get more energy.

imtringued 6y ago
I hate it when people use the "chop down rainforest" meme without any actual knowledge of why it is happening. No, people are not chopping down the rainforest for solar panels and integrating wind turbines into a forest is absolutely trivial with minimal loss of land. [0] The primary reason why rain forests are being destroyed is by what I personally call "disposable agriculture". Poor farmers set a part of the rainforest on fire. The resulting ashes drop down on the land and the farmer starts tilling the soil. The ashes act as a natural fertilizer. The farmer then plants his monoculture field and exports the harvest. The top soil in the rainforest is not very deep. Without trees it is prone to being blown or washed away. Additionally exporting the harvest means that organic matter is being taken away from the location which further depletes the topsoil. After 3 years the land is worthless and the farmer has to move onto the next location. Rinse and repeat. A single farmer can easily destroy hundreds of acres of rainforest. Depletion of nutrients is not exclusive to the rainforest though. Regular farmland also suffers from this which is why farmers have to use artificial fertilizer. You can farm in the rainforest even if you can't afford fertilizer. This is why it is being destroyed. [0] https://static2.bigstockphoto.com/5/1/3/large1500/315311371.jpg https://static2.bigstockphoto.com/5/1/3/large1500/315311371....
- afrojack123 6y ago
  You totally missed the point. You need more land for renewable. It won't be the rainforest now. But it will be something else.
  - dang 6y ago
    Swipes like "you totally missed the point" break HN's guideline against calling names in arguments. Please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and stick to the rules when posting here.

imtringued 6y ago

I hate it when people use the "chop down rainforest" meme without any actual knowledge of why it is happening. No, people are not chopping down the rainforest for solar panels and integrating wind turbines into a forest is absolutely trivial with minimal loss of land. [0] The primary reason why rain forests are being destroyed is by what I personally call "disposable agriculture". Poor farmers set a part of the rainforest on fire. The resulting ashes drop down on the land and the farmer starts tilling the soil. The ashes act as a natural fertilizer. The farmer then plants his monoculture field and exports the harvest. The top soil in the rainforest is not very deep. Without trees it is prone to being blown or washed away. Additionally exporting the harvest means that organic matter is being taken away from the location which further depletes the topsoil. After 3 years the land is worthless and the farmer has to move onto the next location. Rinse and repeat. A single farmer can easily destroy hundreds of acres of rainforest. Depletion of nutrients is not exclusive to the rainforest though. Regular farmland also suffers from this which is why farmers have to use artificial fertilizer. You can farm in the rainforest even if you can't afford fertilizer. This is why it is being destroyed. [0] https://static2.bigstockphoto.com/5/1/3/large1500/315311371.jpg https://static2.bigstockphoto.com/5/1/3/large1500/315311371....

afrojack123 6y ago
You totally missed the point. You need more land for renewable. It won't be the rainforest now. But it will be something else.
- dang 6y ago
  Swipes like "you totally missed the point" break HN's guideline against calling names in arguments. Please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and stick to the rules when posting here.