A huge solar collector in space?

[farmkid]

RobertVA said:
Roof top solar cells:

May reduce power demand, but will probably still need to buy power for high demand uses like HVAC equipment. Also plenty of demand for transportation if this one person per vehicle demand continues.

It certainly won't supply all the demand, but it will help. Now, if all buildings, not just homes, had solar cells covering their roofs--offices, stores, parking garages, etc. Then, solar could certainly provide a substantial portion of the needed energy.

Modern reactors shut themselves off before that happens:

Said the operators of Three Mile Island. Better be VERY careful about redundant AND failure resistant coolant supplies. Better have some place to store heated emergency coolant too. Note that you can't douse a reactor like an unwanted camp fire. It takes MANY hours to dampen the fission rate, and the neutron production that sustains it, to the point of not needing sustained coolant circulation.

Three Mile Island was not a modern reactor design. Modern reactor designs are much safer. For example, a reactor design called the Integral Fast Reactor answered many of the issues relating to nuclear power. The reactor could not melt down and the waste is much shorter-lived. Unfortunately, the project was canceled in 1994 just before being finished so there are currently no operating reactors of this design.

Summary:

Most of these alternatives will NEED to be used, but their use will NOT be without problems. Careful attention to safety, in the short and VERY long term, and environmental issues will ALWAYS be necessary.

It's true there will be issues with any alternative energy source, but are those issues worse than what we currently deal with? I think that's the real question we need to ask.

 

[Stormrage]

Neopeius said:

Stormrage said:
I still say nuclear power. You can stick it in an empty mountain like the fins and everyone nearby would be safe. The only way to die would be to break the containers on purpose. The whole nuclear debate has is full of useless fear created by environmentalists. Part of the reason why I turned away from them.

What do you do with the waste?

I just said it. Stick it in a mountain or below ground. It will be safe for thousands of years.

 

[TerriO]

That's been our approach for a while now.

The real question seems to be what do you do when the mountains and underground complexes fill up?

 

[All Seeing Eye]

Ya know on that James Bond film Goldeneye where at the end they're fighting on that huge Arecibo Telescope thingy.
well my question is this, if something similar was built but the entire wall of the inside of it was covered in solar panels and it was built in the middle of the desert where theres lots of sun and heat would it generate a good amount of power?

or alternatively, what if the entire inside was covered in mirrors and the sun was reflected onto a central cluster of solar panels?

 

[EyalM]

what if the entire inside was covered in mirrors and the sun was reflected onto a central cluster of solar panels?

There are already devices like that. But they use the focused light to heat up water (other fluids) since it's a much more efficient process then solar panels.

 

[All Seeing Eye]

I look forward to the day when we can drill down deep into the Earths mantle, the heat that we could tap into would give us 100% clean energy, we'd never need to burn fossil fuels again.

 

[M'Sharak]

Fire said:
Ya know on that James Bond film Goldeneye where at the end they're fighting on that huge Arecibo Telescope thingy.
well my question is this, if something similar was built but the entire wall of the inside of it was covered in solar panels and it was built in the middle of the desert where theres lots of sun and heat would it generate a good amount of power?

or alternatively, what if the entire inside was covered in mirrors and the sun was reflected onto a central cluster of solar panels?

Something like this, you mean?

 

[All Seeing Eye]

M´Sharak said:

Fire said:
Ya know on that James Bond film Goldeneye where at the end they're fighting on that huge Arecibo Telescope thingy.
well my question is this, if something similar was built but the entire wall of the inside of it was covered in solar panels and it was built in the middle of the desert where theres lots of sun and heat would it generate a good amount of power?

or alternatively, what if the entire inside was covered in mirrors and the sun was reflected onto a central cluster of solar panels?

Something like this, you mean?

pretty much, but more like a sattelite dish.

 

[trekkiedane]

^Why not put the mirrors in space and focus them on a power plant on Earth?
(OK, I know the answer to that, but I still like the idea though)

RobertVA said:
Hydrogen:
Need high pressure tanks OR extremely cold temperatures for storage.
Dissipates so easily can be an explosion/fire hazard

The storage problem has (pretty much) been solved:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_storage
http://www.fuelcellstore.com/information/hydrogen_storage.html#1
Oh, and: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/09/050907102549.htm

 

[EyalM]

trekkiedane said:
^Why not put the mirrors in space and focus them on a power plant on Earth?
(OK, I know the answer to that, but I still like the idea though)

RobertVA said:
Hydrogen:
Need high pressure tanks OR extremely cold temperatures for storage.
Dissipates so easily can be an explosion/fire hazard

The storage problem has (pretty much) been solved:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_storage
http://www.fuelcellstore.com/information/hydrogen_storage.html#1
Oh, and: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/09/050907102549.htm

Good, now we just have to find a cheap and non polluting source of hydrogen...

 

[trekkiedane]

EyalM said:

Good, now we just have to find a cheap and non polluting source of hydrogen...

Right, I cannot remember where, but I've heard that all of Europe's energy needs could be supplied from geothermal sources (Iceland) - I'm pretty sure the US has some place with access to the same source - must be a lot of places to tap into that well around the globe!

But of course, yes, about 30 Km above the surface of the earth energy is plentiful -transfer to the surface being the last obstacle for us to overcome!

 

[EyalM]

trekkiedane said:

EyalM said:

Good, now we just have to find a cheap and non polluting source of hydrogen...

Right, I cannot remember where, but I've heard that all of Europe's energy needs could be supplied from geothermal sources (Iceland) - I'm pretty sure the US has some place with access to the same source - must be a lot of places to tap into that well around the globe!

But of course, yes, about 30 Km above the surface of the earth energy is plentiful -transfer to the surface being the last obstacle for us to overcome!

Ah.... But if you can already supply clean electricity, why spend it of making hydrogen? Just use electric cars and save yourself the storage and safety problems.

 

[trekkiedane]

EyalM said:
Ah.... But if you can already supply clean electricity, why spend it of making hydrogen? Just use electric cars and save yourself the storage and safety problems.

Are you being sarcastic???

I mean; do you seriously mean we should build cars running on the same technology cell phones and laptops are so famous for having?

Whatever: produce hydrogen (unless it actually has the problems suggested by people knowing a lot more about it than I) in the places where the energy is abundant, and pipeline or supertanker it to where it is needed.

I see two problems: 1. Tech. seems not to be ready yet. and 2. Industry not wanting to release this tech. before ALL other options (oil) has been depleted -there's capitalism for ya'!

 

[EyalM]

^^ I'm not sarcastic. The development of hydrogen based cars seems redundant when you can just invest in better batteries.
There were electric cars running around California in the 90's, and the technology improved since then.

 

[trekkiedane]

^^ OK, I'm following your thoughts now! -sorry 'bout that!

Well, only the future will know what system is better; battery driven cars, hydrogen engines or fuel cell electric…

Personally I love electricity, but whatever might be the best way to make, transfer, store and use it is up to the gods of the future energy household

 

[EyalM]

^^well, Hydrogen engines are a type of electric engines, so we both win...

 

[trekkiedane]

^My bad. I was thinking of ordinary car engines but build to burn hydrogen instead of gasoline, they called something different?

 

[D Man]

Just as an aside, I think big fields of wind turbines look really cool, and not at all an eyesore. I don't get that argument against wind power, but maybe I'm just crazy.

 

[trekkiedane]

^^ Yup; I don't get it either, a lot of stuff we build is a lot more ugly than those things.


^Click for 799x355 image.

 

[EyalM]

trekkiedane said:
^My bad. I was thinking of ordinary car engines but build to burn hydrogen instead of gasoline, they called something different?

Burning hydrogen? The only use I know of is in space rockets (like the space shuttle's). A hydrogen based combustion engine is theoretically possible, but it will probably whight several tons, due to the necessary thickness.