Who can tell me...

[Georg]

Propane heaters..? Naa, they're obsolete.
Use heat-pumps designed for a Nordic climate. They work both ways and save on energy.

Around my place we open the windows to let the excess heat out this time of year, and hope the rain only causes really serious flooding somewhere else. A quick look at international news channels tells us that the world's glaciers are melting away a bit too fast for comfort - some of the white stuff is probably dropped in Tennessee on its way to the ocean, and rising sea level may kill off a nation or two within a few decades. No big deal from my POW up in these hills, but probably a bit worse for those concerned.

If for some strange reason we do get a few days with 20-30 degrees below here in Southern Norway, we contemplate soaking the woods with North Sea oil and set them on fire. Might as well burn/recycle the trees on site, as all the pollution blown in from England and mainland Europe and deposited here with the rain, has caused a growth that makes Norwegian Wood unsuited even as firewood, but all in one go might just work - for a short while.

From the above you may better understand my choice of structurally sound aluminum - not wood - for building steel bodies. That global warming and the pollution that in part causes it, really do cause some serious problems...

[Bent]

Georg, I agree that propane is obsolete. Trouble is, heat pumps are too expensive for the initial purchase. Also, they become unusable if the wrong number of degree days occur...like here. There is not enough heat to pump out of the -15C weather we are currently having.
Your wood analysis as unusable, I am sure was said partly tongue in cheek. There was always, and still is abundant spruce , pine and birch in the Norwegian forests. Although they may not be suitable for steel making, the quality is still there.
About structurally sound aluminum...this was a bit surprising to read from an obvious environmentalist, considering the fact that this aluminum was likely made ny smelters fired with coal, natural gas and (horrors) propane.

If we want to be truly environmentally conscientious we should look at ways to cheaply make the only renewable, non-polluting fuel on this earth: Hydrogen

[Bent]

You do know that it is illegal, immoral and fattening to run a propane heater in a building that has a milling machine in it don't you?

RAT FINK!

Allan.....

You might have a point, Allan. That 5 horse motor might generate enough heat while making those key heads, end plates and necks, to make that propane heater unnecessary.

[Georg]

About structurally sound aluminum...this was a bit surprising to read from an obvious environmentalist, considering the fact that this aluminum was likely made y smelters fired with coal, natural gas and (horrors) propane.

Can't compromise on sound-quality for environmental reasons
Sure, I prefer hydro/solar/wind/wave power and other relatively clean energy sources, but given the choice between using fossil fuel to build, for instance, car-parts, or use it to build good instruments, I'll go for the latter. Besides, a good PSG lasts longer than a car, and makes better noise (in most cases) too, which can be used as arguments for my POW and priorities.

If we want to be truly environmentally conscientious we should look at ways to cheaply make the only renewable, non-polluting fuel on this earth: Hydrogen

Hydrogen is fine, but since we have to tap the same polluting or non-polluting energy sources to produce hydrogen as anything else - and we can only use a given quantity of energy once, producing it "cheaply" isn't the real challenge. Developing new ways to tap energy from our environment without depleting and/or polluting same environment, is the main challenge. Non-polluting and environmentally friendly distribution to users, is another, unless the production itself can be sufficiently localized.

For now most people look at problems from their own, local, standpoints, and see few reasons to do anything as long as they can afford, economically and otherwise, to leave it all to others. No common plans or coordination, and once enough people wake up and start asking for, and working for, real, and global, solutions to the real, and global, problems, it is probably a bit too late to really solve anything. Will probably be a long, and costly, clean-up process...