Alternative Source of Energy

[TheTypist]

So many people want to leave fossil fuels behind for a more clean, environmental, and abundant source of energy, especially now that America has figured out that they can't afford to keep taking all that crap from OPEC.

We're going to run out of oil relatively soon. And if that doesn't do us harm, the pollution sure will. So tell me, what do you see next to keep the world safe for our children's children's children? Nuclear power? Hydrogen? What???

[lightdarkness]

The sun.

I've always wanted to throw a few solar cells outside my window, and throw it into a battery that could run my computer. But the solar cells are expensive

[talisman]

Prove beyond a reasonably doubt that we are going to run out of oil relatively soon.

[DracIV]

Actually, we don't know if we are going to run out of oil soon. We're starting to learn that some really wierd crap is going on with oil and we don't know what. Drillers are finding too much oil and too deep. There's debate over whether oil might actually be a geological product now.

[Source: Discover Magazine and discussion in scientific community]

[TheTypist]

All right, fine. But all that doesn't change the fact that it causes a lot of pollution, nor does it change the fact that OPEC practically has America is on its knees.

[DracIV]

Actually, OPEC doesn't have America on its knees. The stupid gas guzzler SUV idiots do. OPEC is controlled by everyone and they haven't changed anything- we have. And besides, the country wasn't even *phased* by rising gas prices and the economy has been improving from the previous slump.

[jewpinthethird]

We need a perpetual energy machine. A machine that produces energy and at the same time, uses its own energy to power itself. DOESNT THAT JUST BLOW YOUR MIND?!

[TACODUDE]

We need a perpetual energy machine. A machine that produces energy and at the same time, uses its own energy to power itself. DOESNT THAT JUST BLOW YOUR MIND?!

There IS a way! Screw the death penalty. All convicts should have to run on a hamster wheel to power America. When you throw in the OTHER scum of the earth on hamster wheels, I'm sure we'll be able to reduce CRIME AND POLLUTION in one simple solution. Also, we should find a way to turn your AAA's in DDR to cold, hard energy. Hell, maybe even body heat!

[alvask8er]

Soybeans. Plain and simple. But we could never grow enough to meed demand once it picked up.

[Jam930]

We need a perpetual energy machine. A machine that produces energy and at the same time, uses its own energy to power itself. DOESNT THAT JUST BLOW YOUR MIND?!

There IS a way! Screw the death penalty. All convicts should have to run on a hamster wheel to power America. When you throw in the OTHER scum of the earth on hamster wheels, I'm sure we'll be able to reduce CRIME AND POLLUTION in one simple solution. Also, we should find a way to turn your AAA's in DDR to cold, hard energy. Hell, maybe even body heat!

Love it.


Nuclear power is probably our future.

Solar power and wind power will remain a last resort until it is made less expensive and more efficient.


Finally, some ideas.

We could trigger tornadoes. Make artificial tornadoes using energy in the atmosphere and use that tornado for energy... I'm not sure how yet though.

Lightning. Insane voltage comes from lightning. Build giant lightning rods in all the major storm areas in the world and tap that energy.

The lunar tide. Think of the INSANE amount of water moved by a tide. Force a large body of water to move through a bottle neck with the tide. Get it to turn turbines going in and going out and you'll have incredible amounts of energy.

Thoughts?

[alvask8er]

Lightning. Insane voltage comes from lightning. Build giant lightning rods in all the major storm areas in the world and tap that energy.
Thoughts?

That is a lot of voltage, but, its a very high amount for a very short time...you would need a great capicitor to keep the energy from disapating. But im pretty sure that there are major rods on top of big buildings in big cities that do just that. But its not really effective. Its a good idea, but it would be really tought to get it to work effiecently, as if you had them in the major storm areas, and needed to get the voltage other places, you would lose out a lot of that voltage on voltage drops, but transformers could be placed to step it up agian, but i dont think lightning provides too great of voltage to really supply well.

As for the tornado one, we dont really know much about them, but most of the energy i suppose is given off as wind, so you could get some nice wind energy, but i dont know how you could control the tornado once sparked...

The lunar tide one would be very expensive, and to really get much out of it, you would need huge dam like device. But that could really impact the local ecosystem, dont really think it would be worth it.

[IronMonk]

about the luner tide energy, you dont need dams, infact they use this for energy in some places of coastal british columbia. They just place things similar to unederwater windmills and the current spins those. as for perpetual energy its a lot easier then you think. hell i have actually designed one myself. but the problem is it would be impossible to build with the current technologies. mainly because of materials not being strong enough and no where near enough $$ to fund it.

[Jam930]

I think nuclear power plants are perpetual energy machines... not sure though.

We're not going to run out of energy though, so perpetual energy machines are pointless.

[IronMonk]

nuclear power still needs fuel. if i remember right it is an isotope of hydrogen.

on the other hand though, why wait till we run out of oil to look for something else.

and as for the reports that people are finding too much oil that is too deep. i hardly considder that to be an indication of oil being a substance made by earth. personally there is no logical way of aproaching that. oil is an organic compound. [made mostly of carbon aranged into long strands]

i would take that bit of news as propaganda. if it were such then the news would be all over the place and the price of gass would fall. but has it been falling. hell no. its almost at $1 a liter here in canada.

[GuidoHunter]

I actually like Tacodude's idea...

But anyway, I don't think there's any oil problems with depletion or pollution. Car exhaust does pollute, but not to a level that's unhealthy for the environment. Sure, any pollution's bad; I completely agree with that, but the environment is a dynamic thing that recovers naturally. Until we can manufacture alternative fuels on a large enough scale to meet demand, I'm for tapping into our own reserves in Alaska.

As for nuclear power, it's very much in our past to stay until we can make it safe. We've stopped manufacturing nuclear power plants (which need larger atoms than hydrogen, like uranium, to have longer chain reactions that create ENORMOUS amounts of energy that just boil water to make steam that turns a turbine like any other power plant) because of their inherent safety risk. And they're definitely not perpetual.

Lightning's a good idea, but could only be used for backup power, with the huge capacitors that alva mentioned, because of the delay between strikes.

I think we'll keep our internal combustion engines, but go to simpler, easier, and more efficient fuels, such as vegetable oil, soy, or something else like that. I heard today on Paul Harvey about a family that drove their diesel truck powered entirely by vegetable oil that they got used from fast food places along the way 11,000 miles to Argentina.

--Guido

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