J
J. Clarke
- Jan 1, 1970
- 0
Having just had some Australian newbie go off on me for suggesting
that everyone doesn't have the option of building his own solar house,
and bearing in mind that there is a significant Australian presence
here, I think a reminder is in order.
Australians are very fortunate people in terms of land availability
and climate.
The New York metropolitan area has a population about the same as the
whole of Australia, in approximately 1/1000 the area. Half of that
population lives in an area of 785 square kilometers.
New York is not the largest city in the world, and its population
density is not even the highest in the United States.
Also consider that the average July minimum temperature Hobart is
4.5C, while the average January minimum in NYC is -5C, and has on
several occasions gone below the -9.4C that is the lowest temperature
ever recorded anywhere in Australia.
Then consider that there are several other cities in North America
with similar population densities--Chicago for example has half the
population of Australia in about 5000 square kilometers--and even
colder, again Chicago has an average January low of -8C. But that's
balmy compared Yakutsk, where the January average _high_ is
about -40C. And then there is Norilsk, which is slightly warmer than
Yakutsk, but they have six weeks in the coldest part of the year in
which there is no sunlight at all. Fat lot of good solar heat is
going to do _there_.
And then consider that New York is only the 90th most densely
populated city--Mumbai, India has approximately the same population as
the whole of Australia living in an area of about 400 square
kilometers. Do you really think that building your own solar house is
a viable option for people living there?
While you, personally, may have no trouble finding a cheap piece of
land with a good southern exposure and building something on it that
can cope with the relatively mild conditions that you experience,
consider that you, as a group, represent about a third of a percent of
the world population, and that the rest of the world may not be quite
as blessed as you are in terms of land availability and mildness of
climate. When you start to assert that "everybody" can do something,
consider those 20 million in Mumbai, or the 200,000 or so in Norilsk.
that everyone doesn't have the option of building his own solar house,
and bearing in mind that there is a significant Australian presence
here, I think a reminder is in order.
Australians are very fortunate people in terms of land availability
and climate.
The New York metropolitan area has a population about the same as the
whole of Australia, in approximately 1/1000 the area. Half of that
population lives in an area of 785 square kilometers.
New York is not the largest city in the world, and its population
density is not even the highest in the United States.
Also consider that the average July minimum temperature Hobart is
4.5C, while the average January minimum in NYC is -5C, and has on
several occasions gone below the -9.4C that is the lowest temperature
ever recorded anywhere in Australia.
Then consider that there are several other cities in North America
with similar population densities--Chicago for example has half the
population of Australia in about 5000 square kilometers--and even
colder, again Chicago has an average January low of -8C. But that's
balmy compared Yakutsk, where the January average _high_ is
about -40C. And then there is Norilsk, which is slightly warmer than
Yakutsk, but they have six weeks in the coldest part of the year in
which there is no sunlight at all. Fat lot of good solar heat is
going to do _there_.
And then consider that New York is only the 90th most densely
populated city--Mumbai, India has approximately the same population as
the whole of Australia living in an area of about 400 square
kilometers. Do you really think that building your own solar house is
a viable option for people living there?
While you, personally, may have no trouble finding a cheap piece of
land with a good southern exposure and building something on it that
can cope with the relatively mild conditions that you experience,
consider that you, as a group, represent about a third of a percent of
the world population, and that the rest of the world may not be quite
as blessed as you are in terms of land availability and mildness of
climate. When you start to assert that "everybody" can do something,
consider those 20 million in Mumbai, or the 200,000 or so in Norilsk.