There Go The Leaves
Last week I was pacing in and out of The Garage to the backyard while yapping on the phone and I noticed that my little peach tree was still completely full of green leaves. It seemed odd to me because I remember it having dropped its leaves much earlier in previous years (it is the end of November, you know?).
Today we’ve got a steady wind and nature seems to be taking care of my previous concerns. In fact, the leaves are now stuffed into nearly every corner of the property. The whole ordeal sent my brain wandering, eventually wondering if there is such a thing as “clean” (meaning “no negative impact” in this case) energy. Big stretch, huh? Time for some yak shaving…
I began to think about the impact of stealing energy from wind, waves and even the sun (rays that might otherwise heat mother earth). To honorably tackle this topic I would imagine a background in physics is required. I know one thing about physics: It scares the crap out of me with it’s potential to prove that my brain is incapable of true comprehension. So this is just a post about questions, some of which may seem ridiculous to someone who’s got physics clue. Kinda like my post on compressed water. 
Whenever I drive out to Jaime’s place in Tehachapi I pass a huge wind farm with hundreds (perhaps thousands) of energy extracting windmills. It’s breezy out there near Mojave (by breezy I mean, windy enough to carry off Dorothy’s house). But what impact does grabbing the “energy” produced by the wind have on nature’s intent of its use? I need it to blow the leaves off my trees (and blow my trash over to my neighbor’s house). One would think there was more force before the wind pours through the wind farm compared to after it has passed. It may sound silly but really, are we having a negative impact on nature’s cleaning process?
What about harnessing the energy produced by waves or general movement of water in the ocean? It seems like it would be free. But the movement of the water (and its associated energy) is needed for the ocean to do whatever it does, I would *think*. By sapping large amounts of energy from the ocean, do we disrupt the flow or “migration” of plankton? What impact would that have on whales? Seriously!
Solar energy… heat intended for the earth’s surface is captured before it completes its journey. If we built a huge solar energy panel across the desert, would we need to get Ma Earth a scarf?
I know this all sounds silly, even stupid. But these are the sorts of questions that plague my ever so simple little brain. It makes me wonder if excess carbon dioxide is better than leaves staying on my peach tree for too long. I’m dumb.
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