Future sources of energy

[USS KG5]

I think there is some plan to utilise all the hot air blowing around on discussion forums to power the Internet, I don't have a source for it though...

 

[scotthm]

I truly cannot believe that a species such as ours STILL rely on fossil fuels after all this time, I'm truly embarrassed for the human race.

We still rely on air and water too, so I guess there's just no hope for us.

---------------

 

[Triskelion]

The dependence of oil is not just out of convenience but is deeply rooted in as the driving force of the US economy in more than just an energy source.
Since transaction currency of oil was set exclusively in US dollar and the market price was rigged to match Mexican gulf oil prices that consists only 0.2% of the total global transaction amount, the federal banks and US oil companies were able to ensure that all transaction will be carried out where the US wills act as the middleman to gain commission.
This is why after the adoption of the floating exchange rate system by Nixon, most administrations did not dare touch the energy policy since it would also spell the demise of the US economy.
This convenient leeching relationship had been challenged by Iraq in the end of the 90's and recently by Iran. This is one of the prominent reason why they are/were targeted by the US. This also one of the reasons why the French did not side with the US in the second Gulf war since they were negotiating with Iraq to include the Euro as an alternative transaction currency. This is one of the untold intentions of "food for oil" incident scandalized by the media.
Now that the US had lost it's grip on oil with Russia ranked as the second largest oil reserves announcing their plans to develop an oil future index of their own inviting the Euro as transaction currency, US needed to find an alternative resource that can be controlled by the US to maintain it's present economic prosperity, that is the agenda of Bush's Corn as Bio-fuel proclamation aiming at since the US controls the grain future index being the largest grain export nation.

At the end it all boils down to money, nothing more nothing less.

Quite an illuminating post, thanks.

One of my favorite ideas is the Power Tower:
http://www.siliconchip.com.au/cms/A_30546/article.html

 

[SamuraiBlue]

The dependence of oil is not just out of convenience but is deeply rooted in as the driving force of the US economy in more than just an energy source.....

Quite an illuminating post, thanks.

One of my favorite ideas is the Power Tower:
http://www.siliconchip.com.au/cms/A_30546/article.html

Thanks for your comment.
I have high hope so Algaculture in creating Bio-diesel since some algae species theoretically contains up to 60% of it's mass.

Here is a chart showing the top 5 in term of yeild
Crop kg oil/ha litres oil/ha lbs oil/acre US gal/acre
Algae (theoretical yield)** 39,916 47,500 35,613 5,000
Algae (actual yield)* 6,894 7,660 6,151 819
Chinese tallow 5,500 6,545 4,912 699
oil palm 5,000 5,950 4,465 635
coconut 2,260 2,689 2,018 287
avocado 2,217 2,638 1,980 282

* Actual biomass algae yields from field trials conducted during the NREL's aquatic species program, converted using the actual oil content of the algae species grown in the specific trials.
** Algae yields are projected based on the sustainable average biomass yields of the NREL's aquatic species program, and an assumed oil content of 60%.

Algaculture

From 1978 to 1996, the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory experimented with using algae as a biodiesel source in the "Aquatic Species Program".[46] A self-published article by Michael Briggs, at the UNH Biodiesel Group, offers estimates for the realistic replacement of all vehicular fuel with biodiesel by utilizing algae that have a natural oil content greater than 50%, which Briggs suggests can be grown on algae ponds at wastewater treatment plants.[38] This oil-rich algae can then be extracted from the system and processed into biodiesel, with the dried remainder further reprocessed to create ethanol.

Here is an interesting idea in optimizing land space;

http://youtube.com/watch?v=_ToojK_MJd0

 

[Triskelion]

This is quite fascinating. It would seem that these algae could be grown in areas with normal amounts of sunlight as opposed to the power tower which requires a hotter zone. Which could solve a lot of geographical limitations in developing countries with huge energy demands like China. So what's the catch? Mutant strains that eat people?

 

[SamuraiBlue]

This is quite fascinating. It would seem that these algae could be grown in areas with normal amounts of sunlight as opposed to the power tower which requires a hotter zone. Which could solve a lot of geographical limitations in developing countries with huge energy demands like China. So what's the catch? Mutant strains that eat people?

Well it needs alot of water but it is not picky so it can be fresh, brackish, or even sea water. It needs nutrients but it can be houshold sewage, it needs air but you can pump that in like a fish tank. Algae strains needs little more research to find the best strain for optimization but that can be done at a high school lab.

The only catch will probably be once popularized no large corporation groups will be able to oligopoly the market making it the worst choice for the "7 sisters".
That is probably the main reason why not many people are doing research.

 

[Brandonv]

It looks like solar technology is advancing quickly.

A new kind of solar cell is 27 percent more efficient without being more expensive to make.

366 Technologies claims that it improves the efficiency--a measure of the electricity generated from a given amount of light--of multicrystalline silicon solar cells by 27 percent compared with conventional ones. The company's efficiency and cost claims are based on results from small solar cells (about two centimeters across) made in the lab of Emanuel Sachs, a professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, who is one of the company's founders. 1366 Technologies is building a pilot-scale manufacturing plant that will make full-sized solar cells (about 15 centimeters across). Within a year, the company will decide whether its pilot-plant results justify building a factory for commercial production, Sachs says.

 

[Unicron]

I think there is some plan to utilise all the hot air blowing around on discussion forums to power the Internet, I don't have a source for it though...

I suggested it earlier, but unfortunately I have no plan to make it work. Maybe we should just attach some generators to TNZ...

 

[Maurice]

Let's not forgeot that oil isn't just used as fuel...it's used to make plastics...and we use so much plastic that it's going to be "fun" to replace.

 

[shipfisher]

You might want to google the term "bioplastic(s)" mate. It's a growth industry (pun intended).

Various industrial paradigms are beginning to shift, and none too bleedin' soon at that.

 

[Brandonv]

Let's not forgeot that oil isn't just used as fuel...it's used to make plastics...and we use so much plastic that it's going to be "fun" to replace.

I think most oil is used in transportation though, so if we stopped burning up oil in our engines our reserves would last a lot longer.

 

[K'riq Sa]

Eureka! Zero Point Energy

we're all gonna be rich!....








supposedly,

K'riq Sa
Minister of the Church of Tutty Little Slarts

 

[K'riq Sa]

OK So We Won't Get Rich On ZPE.....

Ok in all seriousousness, here is some good energy news....


Famed geneticist creating life form that turns CO2 to fuel ...

Published on Sunday, March 02, 2008.
Source: AFP

A scientist who mapped his genome and the genetic diversity of the oceans said Thursday he is creating a life form that feeds on climate-ruining carbon dioxide to produce fuel.

Geneticist Craig Venter disclosed his potentially world-changing "fourth-generation fuel" project at an elite Technology, Entertainment and Design conference in Monterey, California."We have modest goals of replacing the whole petrochemical industry and becoming a major source of energy," Venter told an audience that included global warming fighter Al Gore and Google co-founder Larry Page. "We think we will have fourth-generation fuels in about 18 months, with CO2 as the fuel stock."

Simple organisms can be genetically re-engineered to produce vaccines or octane-based fuels as waste, according to Venter. Biofuel alternatives to oil are third-generation. The next step is life forms that feed on CO2 and give off fuel such as methane gas as waste, according to Venter."We have 20 million genes which I call the design components of the future," Venter said. "We are limited here only by our imagination."His team is using synthetic chromosomes to modify organisms that already exist, not making new life, he said. Organisms already exist that produce octane, but not in amounts needed to be a fuel supply."If they could produce things on the scale we need, this would be a methane planet," Venter said. "The scale is what is critical; which is why we need to genetically design them."The genetics of octane-producing organisms can be tinkered with to increase the amount of CO2 they eat and octane they excrete, according to Venter.The limiting part of the equation isn't designing an organism, it's the difficulty of extracting high concentrations of CO2 from the air to feed the organisms, the scientist said in answer to a question from Page. Scientists put "suicide genes" into their living creations so that if they escape the lab, they can be triggered to kill themselves.Venter said he is also working on organisms that make vaccines for the flu and other illnesses."We will see an exponential change in the pace of the sophistication of organisms and what they can do," Venter said. "We are a ways away from designing people. Our goal is just to make sure they survive long enough to do that."



electrically,

K'riq Sa
Minister of the Church of Cash Only Please