harvesting hydrogen is not cheap, or easy. what do you think will be running the machines to split the hydrogen and oxygen? electricity? which is produced (right now) mainly from coal?
also, water vapor (the by-product of burning hydrogen) is one of the most abundant greenhouse gases. while it is necessary for a lot of greenhouse gases to exist in order to maintain climate (obv including water vapor) if everyone drove hydrogen fueled cars it would release retarded amounts of water vapor, something that kind of scares me…
^Did you read my post about solar?
It rains nonstop in Seattle and they deal with water in the air. j/k
Just brainstorming and I am sure I am not the first guy to think of this but, how about building cars constructed of foam!!! Super light weight, cheap, easy to fix or change bodies!!!
He’s talking about the net-solar-rays that reach the surface of the earth after a % has been reflected by the atmosphere, a % has been deflected by clouds and water vapor, etc.
What you’re both saying is true. But it’s simply impossible to capture all of that energy. No matter how you put it.
The weight of cars increases as the safety standards go up. It’s simple physics that the heavier vehicle in a collision has a much better chance of surviving. So unless you can think of a way to roll-back those ever-increasing standards…
Sure, there is still a good % that reaches the earths surface, but we’re limited physically by how much we can collect by the oceans (70% of the surface,) then by existing cities and populations, then by our infrastructure. When it boils down to it, you’ll never be able to derive enough power from the sun to use as an alternative for fossil fuels. In that sense, there isn’t plenty.
And (to get a little political) when we do build solar power stations, like out west, people refuse to let the power companies run the transition lines to connect them to the grid. Sure they want the clean solar power, but not the ugly power lines.
The only way to make Hydrogen work as a true replacement for fossil fuels is to let nuclear power work too.
Might be a possibility in the near future. The issue is being able to send power “wirelessly” from orbit.
They did tests in Maui using a helicopter flying 60 miles away from the station (which is approximately the height of orbit) and they were able to use microwaves (no not what you put your popcorn in) to send power to the helicopter. They were very weak signals but it’s a very good sign. Especially since the path was entirely in the atmosphere which effects the efficiency of the system. Hopefully they can manage to improve the technology.
This was one of the major problems my father’s company faced when dealing with the windmill projects in Wyoming county. Sure people love the idea as long as it doesn’t change anything about their daily life. :shrug: It’s a give and take world yet all we seem to want to do is take take take without any give.
The current windmill situation just seems primitive just from what little I have learned.
The ones you see around here seem to be the “worst” design and all of the gearbox problems kind of support that. For example; use a vertical design and eliminate all of those power robbing, seemingly unreliable moving parts way up in the air.
Personally I’m all for solar, wind, geo thermal and home based fuel cell applications for power. Seriously why rely on others when the power is there for the harnessing. The earth and nature supply you with what you need to do it for yourself. Why not take advantage of that. I’d use it in transport and home energy.
If this idea they are throwing around for taxing utilities up to $2000-$3000 per year per houshold actually gets legs, I will be off grid faster than you can say “nationalized health care paid for by utility taxes”.
Vertical Axis Wind Turbines can be about %50 more efficient than horizontal axis ones like you see down by Rt 5. They also produce much less noise. The only real problem is shunt braking. You can’t turn a VAWT away from the wind to slow it down so they require a much more complicated brake design.
Also the rotor designs are typically more complicated to manufacturer.
my gf’s dad owns a ton of land in stafford (just outside of batavia). he rents out the land to other farmers that still work the land, but he personally doesnt farm anymore.
he was offered by a company (not sure which one) to build windmills on his property. he didnt care either way, they were going to give him $xxxx every year per windmill set up. he still made money from the farmers renting the land (and prob still would even with the windmills) but the idea was met with so much opposition from people claiming they kill birds, are loud, throw ice (onto fields, not really a problem) and CAUSE BRAIN TUMORS (WTF) that the offer was quickly shot down. kinda sad
The ones we put up use the best gearboxes you can get made by GE and have been virtually trouble free. The ones on the waterfront used the cheap gear boxes and that is why they never worked properly. While this might not be the best way way to make energy it’s a start, and you can’t simply deny new technology because it hasn’t had the time to develop fully like Coal energy has.
We actually have people studying the windmills we constructed to see how they affect the wildlife around them. I don’t think I have noticed any dead birds in 2 years now that would support that claim. I have heard tons of excuses why they are bad and the only one that holds some water is the light flicker they can cause from the blades passing though the sunlight. Every other excuse is your typical selfish garbage that is spouted every time some construction is proposed in WNY. It’s pretty sad.
I just read an article on new nanogenerators strapped to hamsters.
Any movement creates a small amount of electricity.
I can’t wait to see PETA on this one. lol
j/k