skree
Head-Fier
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2011
- Posts
- 88
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- 11
Not for it, but also for it. For it in the sense that it is the cheapest power available. Against it because we bury the waste under the sea in a lot of cases - one leak, that sea and any land it touches becomes irradiated.. nasty
I think small scale 'renewable' everywhere is the answer. A bank of solar panels on every building where putting them would be beneficial, same with wind turbines - large, or small, depending on the area, the wind available, the building, etc.
piezoelectric generation - walkways, roads can be generators. Perhaps not feasible as a major program replacing existing walkways and roads but feasible as additions to the design of new walk/roadways and implemented when existing structures become worn out and need resurfacing.
There are sound to electricity generators being developed.
Hydroelectricity can be accomplished without killing too many fish. There are places where this could be done. Areas of england are littered with old mill ponds that used to run huge water wheels for mechanical power to industry.
Thermoelectric generation. For my fellow nerds, using TECs (peltiers) inverted.. put cold on one side, hot on the other, current flow results. This is already doable and being done. This is just one example of how thermoelectricity could be accomplished - any place with good access to two very different temperatures can be used. My family owns a house made from stone. The stone block below the fireplace stays icy cold when the wood burning stove above it is running, even in the height of summer. This is largely because it's about 10 feet wide by about 10 feet long and many feet thick and mostly buried in the ground. I have been working on a design to allow me to put a few peltiers in there in their TEG (thermoelectric generator) configuration, merely as an added bonus, the fire would be burning anyway, to charge batteries.. which brings me neatly to the major drawback with all these techologies...
All these technologies cost money to implement, but the major hurdle as far as i can see is the unreliability of solar and wind generation particularly but of the other methods too - they don't, can't make energy all the time. Making necessary large banks of storage - batteries - which we just don't really have the technology to do properly yet. Batteries are the major sticking point. Metal-Air Ionic liquid batteries may be the answer but are still in the development of the technology stage. Supercapacitors on a gargantuan scale could also be the answer - I believe japan was building one the size of a megafactory to back their grid..
people make the mistake of thinking too big with renewables.. what we need is small scale production wherever there is waste heat, excess noise, sun, wind, any kinetic energy which can be used - regenerative braking, anyone? basically everywhere.. small scale, on a massive scale if you will
edit: combine this with a reduction in energy burned per capita, by making stuff more efficient, we have our solution.. but it'll never happen because it would cost too much to implement and then damage the obscene profits made by certain companies, groups, and individuals who have power in the political, coontrol sense.
I think small scale 'renewable' everywhere is the answer. A bank of solar panels on every building where putting them would be beneficial, same with wind turbines - large, or small, depending on the area, the wind available, the building, etc.
piezoelectric generation - walkways, roads can be generators. Perhaps not feasible as a major program replacing existing walkways and roads but feasible as additions to the design of new walk/roadways and implemented when existing structures become worn out and need resurfacing.
There are sound to electricity generators being developed.
Hydroelectricity can be accomplished without killing too many fish. There are places where this could be done. Areas of england are littered with old mill ponds that used to run huge water wheels for mechanical power to industry.
Thermoelectric generation. For my fellow nerds, using TECs (peltiers) inverted.. put cold on one side, hot on the other, current flow results. This is already doable and being done. This is just one example of how thermoelectricity could be accomplished - any place with good access to two very different temperatures can be used. My family owns a house made from stone. The stone block below the fireplace stays icy cold when the wood burning stove above it is running, even in the height of summer. This is largely because it's about 10 feet wide by about 10 feet long and many feet thick and mostly buried in the ground. I have been working on a design to allow me to put a few peltiers in there in their TEG (thermoelectric generator) configuration, merely as an added bonus, the fire would be burning anyway, to charge batteries.. which brings me neatly to the major drawback with all these techologies...
All these technologies cost money to implement, but the major hurdle as far as i can see is the unreliability of solar and wind generation particularly but of the other methods too - they don't, can't make energy all the time. Making necessary large banks of storage - batteries - which we just don't really have the technology to do properly yet. Batteries are the major sticking point. Metal-Air Ionic liquid batteries may be the answer but are still in the development of the technology stage. Supercapacitors on a gargantuan scale could also be the answer - I believe japan was building one the size of a megafactory to back their grid..
people make the mistake of thinking too big with renewables.. what we need is small scale production wherever there is waste heat, excess noise, sun, wind, any kinetic energy which can be used - regenerative braking, anyone? basically everywhere.. small scale, on a massive scale if you will
edit: combine this with a reduction in energy burned per capita, by making stuff more efficient, we have our solution.. but it'll never happen because it would cost too much to implement and then damage the obscene profits made by certain companies, groups, and individuals who have power in the political, coontrol sense.