Hi all!

glowing-sun-sun-prominence-gaIf you’re not a social networker, you should consider investing a little more time to it.  I am not a tweeterer, and this is my first attempt at bloggering, but I have taken a stab at the FaceSpace pages to reach out to my long distance friends.    One of the benefits of these network sites, for me anyway, is that  since I’m sitting in front of a web terminal for 9hrs a day already, I’m communicating more with friends “virtually”, than in person.   One particular friend is a fellow I knew only in passing when he lived in my city.  He had recently moved to Seattle for employment purposes.  I remember thinking what a shame, as I perceived him to be a bright guy with a different background, but with similar world views; and when he left I thought I had lost a chance for some good conversation.  Thanks, internet; because apparently Atlanta to Seattle is not too great a distance for valuable discussion.

Renewable-Energy-StandardToday he posted a link to an article, which I found very enlightening.  So much so, that I was compelled to share it with YOU as well.   This article, by Lisa Zyga @ physorg.com, includes a discussion with Derek Abbott, Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Adelaide in Australia.   He offers a concise summary and comparison of what we now refer to as “alternative energies”: those which will finally eliminate our dependence on fossil fuels.

The white paper Abbot has written, which is the basis for Lisa’s article, is compelling in that it does not approach the topic of alternative energy in the typical trend of GREEN think.  His analysis is very well based in a practicality/sustainability, cost/benefit viewpoint.  The link is here:

http://www.physorg.com/news170326193.html

The key points of the article are:

Abbot believes that a solar-hydrogen economy will be our salvation.  He addresses all of the other sources of alternative energies, including a more widespread use of nuclear. Most major energy players want to move to nuclear next, simply because of the short term cost advantages.  But if we are to learn anything from the recent financial collapse, it’s that short term thinking is simply no good.

Abbot demonstrates that solar is the clear cut way to go for one, indisputable factor:  SUPPLY.  Here’s some numbers for the crunchers:    “Today, the world’s energy consumption is currently 15 TeraWatts (TW) (15 x 10^12 watts). The total solar energy that strikes the Earth is 166 Petawatts (PW) (166 x 10^15 watts). Even with 50% of this energy being reflected back into space or absorbed by clouds, the remaining 83 PW is more than 5,000 times our present global energy consumption. In contrast, the [other] sources of renewable energy (wind, hydroelectric, and geothermal) can supply less than 1% of solar power potential.”

Abbott calculates that, in order to supply the world’s energy needs, the footprint of such a system with pessimistic assumptions would be equivalent to a plot of land of about 1250 km by 1250 km – about 8% of the land area of the hot deserts of the world.  With less pessimistic assumptions, the land area could be reduced to 500 km by 500 km, corresponding to 1.7 billion solar dishes that are each 10 meters wide. At massive volumes, if these Stirling engine dishes could be produced at a cost of $1,000 each, the total world cost would be $1.7 trillion – “which is less than the going rate of a war these days.”

Abbot then drops the cherry on top, and this is what got me: “…The point about solar energy is that there is so much of it that you only have to tap 5% of it at an efficiency as tiny as 1% and you already have energy over 5 times the whole world’s present consumption…what are we waiting for?”

5%, at 1% efficiency = 5x our present consumption.  Total world cost: $1.7 Trillion.

What are we waiting for INDEED.

Previous articleFear – New and Improved!
Next articleMoment of Zen: Why the Hubble Makes Us Humble
tyler-durden
born to a blue collar family, the only one to put himself through college in an attempt to elevate from his family's caste. (i made it one level up and i'm still in debt for it) i despise elitists, zealots, hypocrites, and liars. i have experienced that people like to make things grey, distorted. but the truth is, 90% of things are black and white, right or wrong. we know it, we just don't want to admit it, because most of the time, wrong is fun. but when your fun comes at the expense of the rights of others, it is too far. ask me and i will tell you straight every time.

4
Leave a Comment

Please Login to comment
2 Comment threads
2 Thread replies
0 Followers
 
Most reacted comment
Hottest comment thread
3 Comment authors
AdLibtyler-durdenKQµårk 死神 Recent comment authors
  Subscribe  
newest oldest most voted
Notify of
AdLib
Admin

I read a great book about many scientific theories in many fields, can’t recall the title right now but it agreed with this proposal that the only solution to our energy needs is solar.

It proposed that in order for our society to make its next big evolution, enormous amounts of power will be needed and this can only be realized by harnessing the sun. With so much energy cheap and available, so many applications for it will be developed that carry society into a new era.

An added proposition was that solar collectors could be placed in space where of course solar energy is most powerful and uninterrupted and then transmitted back to earth.

KQµårk 死神
Member

Now you are preaching to the choir for sure with me. After universal healthcare reform, renewable energy is by far my biggest issue. The president is off to a great start with the stimulus and the budget in funding renewable energy. The climate and energy bill should focus more on solar and hydrogen than it does but that’s another key step in the process.

I prefer solar and wind myself as stationary energy sources and hydrogen as a portable energy source. Though you should Google “JET plasma fusion” which is another intriguing energy source. Like most new technology it’s a European project were they are trying to get net positive energy out of an plasma induced fusion reactor.