***ALTERNATIVE ENERGY THREAD*** / General Chatting / Forums

Forums

4hv.org :: Forums :: General Chatting

« Previous topic | Next topic »

***ALTERNATIVE ENERGY THREAD***

previous 1 2 3

Move Thread

LAN_403

Ash Small

Thu Sept 15 2011, 10:01PM

Registered Member #3414 Joined: Sun Nov 14 2010, 05:05PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4245

The 'only' obstacles left to overcome before fusion becomes a 'viable' power source is the choice of lining matarials.

There are two requirements here.

One, to last as long as possible before they require replacement due to neutron bombardment.

Two, that the products produced by neutron bombardment have a short half-life.

This is where all the current research is concentrated.

The process itself is well proven.

Fusion reactors also produce their own fuel as a by-product of the process.

Carbon_Rod

Fri Sept 16 2011, 05:56AM

Registered Member #65 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 06:43AM
Location:
Posts: 1155

Genetically modified marine detritophages that produce carbon neutral biodiesel.
* already deployed, and is improving far more noticeably than alternatives
* economical for third world countries to deploy
(one can build an oil processor for under $500 that can support 2 vehicles)
* uses existing engines
* power density is better than electric technologies

The option that allows people not to change driving habits will win.
Biodiesel $0.63/L < Diesel $1.37/L

People just need to know where to look,
=]

Pinky's Brain

Fri Sept 16 2011, 04:09PM

Registered Member #2901 Joined: Thu Jun 03 2010, 01:25PM
Location:
Posts: 837

We don't have enough sewage for that to scale very well in the first world... if they could produce biodiesel for that price from plain old seawater and sunlight it would work. The problem with biological organisms for fuel production is contamination and competition for resources ... by necessity they leave a lot of potential energy on the table (by producing biodiesel). They are not the fittest ... and as soon as you need sterility and sealing it starts becoming hard to keep it cheap.

Legit_bacon

Sat Sept 17 2011, 09:22PM

Registered Member #4034 Joined: Thu Jul 28 2011, 10:41PM
Location: somewhere in the Southern hemisphere
Posts: 138

I read an article on wind power recently, and discovered that wind turbines that are a couple of hundred meters up can be 10x more efficient and usually are always on (the wind is far more consistent up there). I believe that these have already been developed and just need to be implemented. They achieve this by building a 'kite' with turbines on it held by a wire(which the electricity is transmitted along).

Forty

Sun Sept 18 2011, 09:36PM

Registered Member #3888 Joined: Sun May 15 2011, 09:50PM
Location: Erie, PA
Posts: 649

Genetically modified windmills may be the way to go.

Dr. Slack

Sun Sept 18 2011, 10:00PM

Registered Member #72 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 08:29AM
Location: UK St. Albans
Posts: 1659

Not alternative energy as such, but an alternative way of storing and using it.

I have seen amonia floated as an alternative transport fuel. For transport, up to now, a liquid containing hydrogen attached to carbon has been incredibly successful. High energy density, and power transfer when refuelling - beats the $h!t out of batteries by orders of magnitude on both counts.

Assuming we get some sort of carbon-neutral power production going (solarPV/biomass/fusion/wave/wind/hydro/ positronic/nickel_cat/hot_rock/tide) (anything to avoid digging up carbon and throwing it into the air) then electrolysing water to hydrogen is seen as a way to store and move energy. Unfortunately, hydrogen gas is diffulct to manage, to get a decent energy densty in cheap infrastructure, compressing or cryo just doesn't cut it. Attaching to Carbon is one possibility, attaching to Nitrogen is another.

Amonia has a lot going for it as a transport fuel, no C02 emisisons, only N2 and water vapour. I understand that many existing engines can be converted to NH3 as easily as for LNG. My son did point out that it was incredibly stinky. My first reply was that if I was going to employ a corrosive toxic fluid in billions of gallons in millions of vehicles across the planet, then I would regard stinky as an asset, for leak detection. But then it's toxic and corrosive. Ho hum.

Pinky's Brain

Mon Sept 19 2011, 08:12PM

Registered Member #2901 Joined: Thu Jun 03 2010, 01:25PM
Location:
Posts: 837

What's wrong with synthetic natural gas aka methane? Petrol engines can be converted to run on it, a lot of countries already have some infrastructure to distribute it, existing gas turbines for electricity generation can obviously run on it and there are efficient processes to create it from hydrogen and CO2.

Energy density isn't as good as petrol, but good enough. I don't think the pressure tank is a big deal, the pressure is relatively low and it's much safer than LPG because it's lighter than air. CO2 emissions aren't relevant if it's carbon neutral ... the nitrogen in ammonia however is highly relevant, more nitrogen in an ICE means more NOx emissions.

Carbon_Rod

Tue Sept 20 2011, 02:20AM

Registered Member #65 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 06:43AM
Location:
Posts: 1155

Forty wrote ...

Genetically modified windmills may be the way to go.

Genetic algorithms can evolve solutions to difficult design problems.
The technique is already used in numerous aerospace projects...

=P

previous 1 2 3

Moderator(s): Chris Russell, Noelle, Alex, Tesladownunder, Dave Marshall, Dave Billington, Bjørn, Steve Conner, Wolfram, Kizmo, Mads Barnkob