jackinnj,
I worked in solar for ten years... mostly building large power conversion devices and battery chargers. The equations for solar are indeed better in Arizona. What all the salesman and proponents of solar consistently left out of the equation was the "the time value of money". Engineers who build dams or coal plants arent allowed to leave this out of the equation. So the playing field in NOT level... in other words it's BS. From time to time I was forced to participate in the lie (why my white papers were usually published with the wrong middle initial)... why I left to pursue my dream of liquid speaker cables... my "Liquphonic Hosings".
In all things, $$ can be directly attributable (equated) to energy. To date, despite happy green arguments to the contrary, there has yet to be made a solar cell that will produce more energy over its service life than it took to build it.
If our system can bear energy at 3 times its current cost... than it will fly... until then... nukes and hydrogen or synthesized fuels.
I worked in solar for ten years... mostly building large power conversion devices and battery chargers. The equations for solar are indeed better in Arizona. What all the salesman and proponents of solar consistently left out of the equation was the "the time value of money". Engineers who build dams or coal plants arent allowed to leave this out of the equation. So the playing field in NOT level... in other words it's BS. From time to time I was forced to participate in the lie (why my white papers were usually published with the wrong middle initial)... why I left to pursue my dream of liquid speaker cables... my "Liquphonic Hosings".
In all things, $$ can be directly attributable (equated) to energy. To date, despite happy green arguments to the contrary, there has yet to be made a solar cell that will produce more energy over its service life than it took to build it.
If our system can bear energy at 3 times its current cost... than it will fly... until then... nukes and hydrogen or synthesized fuels.
jacco vermeulen said:
I'm with you Jacco. Oil price could top $80 or more this year depending, in part, on the type of supply shocks (Iran, etc) we see arise (no question *something* will arise). Sheer demand will likely at a minimum keep the price in its current range .... IMO will push it even higher.
Chinese demand, for its part, looks like it will again rise healthily this year, perhaps 7-8%. Here's one reason why. National incomes are spread on a bell curve. Assume median income, on a hypothetical example, is $5,000 with 5% of the population earning $10,000. Now increase median income 20% to $6,000. The bell curve has shifted to the right, and with this shift you see a >20% increase in those earning $10,000, ramping up the bell curve, as it were. Depending on the shape of the bell, that increase could be 40% or more. This is what is happening in China with such things as cars, where $10,000 seems to be the threshold beyond which a person buys an automobile.
India is but a few years behind China on these sorts of developments.
As for oilsands, they are a drop in the bucket. Though they are reliable as a predictable long term source, overall production from Canadian oilsands will probably be no more than 4mbpd, 5 on a s-t-r-e-t-c-h. 4 or 5mbpd is less than one year's depletion from current production. To put things in overall perspective, the world, to stem depletion and supply increased demand, needs to find one new Saudi Arabia each and every year. Keep that flame of optimism hot, hey?
purplepeople said:At current technology there isn't enough oil, copper and aluminum to build your Dysen sphere. Until we make self replicating nanobots that can convert energy to mass, that thing ain't ever goin' 'round.
ensen.
Ooooh, von Neumann machines!
In any case, aluminum, silicon, and iron are in plentiful supply.
Speaking of rings...
There is an alternative energy source I have not seen mentioned anywhere besides the first time I heard it. It involved a ferris wheel-type structure with lots of barrels of some refrigerant and a water tank at the bottom, I think it was the sun that kept it going... supposed to make lots of low-speed torque. Sound familiar to anybody?
There is an alternative energy source I have not seen mentioned anywhere besides the first time I heard it. It involved a ferris wheel-type structure with lots of barrels of some refrigerant and a water tank at the bottom, I think it was the sun that kept it going... supposed to make lots of low-speed torque. Sound familiar to anybody?
Don't sell your house just yet.
The Vancouver weather station just recorded 27 straight days of rain. There has been continuous precipitation on parts of the area for the last month, with no end in sight. In fact, one neighbourhood just under the mountain has been in danger of mudslides for the last 2 weeks, and not just a bit of earth slipping but the entire neighbourhood is considered a wee unstable.
Now if we can just "tap" into water as an alternative to copper, we'd really be talking about fluid circuit design, wouldn't we.
ensen.
The Vancouver weather station just recorded 27 straight days of rain. There has been continuous precipitation on parts of the area for the last month, with no end in sight. In fact, one neighbourhood just under the mountain has been in danger of mudslides for the last 2 weeks, and not just a bit of earth slipping but the entire neighbourhood is considered a wee unstable.
Now if we can just "tap" into water as an alternative to copper, we'd really be talking about fluid circuit design, wouldn't we.
ensen.
Oh yeah... they did that on Mythbusters recently. It's just a highly inefficient solar heat motor. From what I saw, you're better off with solar collector pipes in the roof or even basic solar cells. Better yet, just build a Stirling engine... same principle but more efficient. Or wait for that experimental "paintable" solar cell from Ted Sargent.
ensen.
ensen.
Sorry Cal,
I just invite the comics to come out of the woodwork.
Now, we we're talking about there being 1/4 of the world's copper, from WWII, going down the crack in the ocean, off the northewest coast.
Like wrecked airplanes showing up at the feet of glaciers, I bet we'll see some of the WWII copper spew out of Mt. Rainer when she decides to go. (nice segue... eh?)
I just invite the comics to come out of the woodwork.
Now, we we're talking about there being 1/4 of the world's copper, from WWII, going down the crack in the ocean, off the northewest coast.
Like wrecked airplanes showing up at the feet of glaciers, I bet we'll see some of the WWII copper spew out of Mt. Rainer when she decides to go. (nice segue... eh?)
Actually, it's interesting to note that some of the most influential corporations tend to locate near geologically unstable areas. For example, Microsoft in Seattle, all of Silicon Valley, Lucasfilm, all the Japanese companies, Nike in Oregon, Hollywood and the one whose demise would cause the loss of an entire generation... Electronic Arts in Vancouver. Makes you wonder if Boeing was having premonitions when they moved to the middle of the USA.
And that is a lot of copper to salvage when it all falls down.
ensen.
And that is a lot of copper to salvage when it all falls down.
ensen.
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