• Wind and wave energies are probably not renewable after all
    244 replies, posted
[QUOTE=Mattk50;28998604]whats really rediculous about this news post is that the earth itself is a solar panel and the earth's surface provides friction enough to slow wind. saying it can be "used up" is rediculous as the sun supplies the currents themselves, and untill the sun is used up in a few billion years, we are fine.[/QUOTE] You dumb shit, that isn't how it works at all. In layman's terms, the winds have a lot of momentum. Only a minute amount of energy is lost from friction, and only a minute amount of energy is gained from solar radiation. This would normally keep the system in balance. Adding wind turbines increases the amount lost to friction, but the energy gained from the Sun remains constant.
[QUOTE=kaskade700;28997095]Solution: Use less power[/QUOTE] Solution: Fusion power.
[QUOTE=Turnips5;29000447]Fair point. The thing is, his hypothesizing relies on one of the most reliable and well-understood concepts - thermodynamics. And other scientists have been taking his research seriously, as you'd know if you read the article.[/QUOTE] But are we able to apply thermodynamics to something as large and unpredictable as the fucking Earth!? Science likes to cancel out a bunch of shit and keeping things constant. Something like predicting Earth and how it will respond to different stimuli world wide is like psychology. For the dumbs:I was fucking curious!!! I wasn't actually saying he's wrong or anything! Jesus Fucking Christ!
[QUOTE=Swilly;29000987]But are we able to apply thermodynamics to something as large and unpredictable as the fucking Earth!? Science likes to cancel out a bunch of shit and keeping things constant. Something like predicting Earth and how it will respond to different stimuli world wide is like psychology.[/QUOTE] We're able to apply thermodynamics to the entire fucking universe. See : [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_death_of_the_universe]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_death_of_the_entire_fucking_universe[/url] [U][/U]
What would happen if we dumped all our uranium rods into the sun
I've said for a while now that wind and wave technologies weren't all positive. Nice to see this study show what it does, and I'd really like people to deny global warming knowing how much energy we exert.
[QUOTE=Turnips5;29001063]We're able to apply thermodynamics to the entire fucking universe. See : [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_death_of_the_universe]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_death_of_the_entire_fucking_universe[/url] [U][/U][/QUOTE] That's why I asked, wasn't it? I didn't need to get rated dumb about science since I usually suck at logical thinking or atleast mathmatical logic.
[QUOTE=Swilly;29001112]That's why I asked, wasn't it? I didn't need to get rated dumb about science since I usually suck at logical thinking or atleast mathmatical logic.[/QUOTE] Your desire to ask questions is commendable, I guess.
[QUOTE=hgncommand;29001091]What would happen if we dumped all our uranium rods into the sun[/QUOTE]Nothing. The amount of uranium in existence on the Earth is not even a microscopic speck of dust compared to the Sun. It would take many hundreds of monumentally powerful rockets to jettison just the spent fuel rods we have into the Sun, never mind total fissile uranium that is believed to be present on Earth.
[QUOTE=Mattk50;28998506]as outlined by the scientist/engineer jaque fresco 30 years ago, we only need geothermal energy to power the entire planet. everything else is really unnecessary [editline]5th April 2011[/editline] including nuclear damnit[/QUOTE] Geothermal is a bright feature too. I think its more of an interim to fusion though.
I still think it's a dumb idea not to harness wind energy because of some concerns a few hundred years down the line, we have been doing so for tens of thousands of years and now that there is an opportunity to have almost everything run on electricity produced in this way would seem illogical to just throw away because we might destroy some of the planet. It may even help us set up electricity supplies on other planets if we can develop the technology further as many planets may have faster jetstreams and therefore more energy to gain as electricity. Living on other planets is something I definitely want to either experience or see in the next 50 years.
[QUOTE=Chopstick, the year 1890;29001803]I still think it's a dumb idea not to harness [B]oil [/B]because of some concerns a few hundred years down the line, we have been doing so for tens of thousands of years and now that there is an opportunity to have almost everything run on electricity produced in this way would seem illogical to just throw away because we might destroy some of the planet. It may even help us set up electricity supplies on other planets if we can develop the technology further as many planets may have [B]purer hydrocarbons[/B] and therefore more energy to gain as electricity. Living on other planets is something I definitely want to either experience or see in the next 250 years.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Richard Simmons;28997240]Put most of the money into the development of Thorium reactors. Fusion is many many years away. So don't count on getting it now. putting more money into it doesn't make it magically appear, this isn't a video game. We just can't count on Wind/Solar/Wave/Coal/Oil/Gas power sources. They're expensive, dirty, and worthless sources. We should still step up on our Uranium reactors, and start introducing thorium reactors shortly. Then toss Greenpeace and opposing hippies that are against progression into those reactor pools.[/QUOTE] thanks rich, you helped me with my weight now with my science
[QUOTE=Swilly;29000375]No, but I'd like to see scientific proof first. [editline]5th April 2011[/editline] This isn't a team of everything, this is just one physicist who's saying, "In theory."[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.earth-syst-dynam.net/2/1/2011/esd-2-1-2011.html[/url] the paper has multiple has multiple authors and it contains the scientific evidence you wanted to see anything else? edit: by the way undoubtedly at least some of the authors have backgrounds in physics but I don't think any of them even are physicists
wind turbines in space
Interesting idea, and decently logical, but not knowing the actual figures used it's difficult to get a good idea of whether he was being pessimistic or optimistic. [editline]5th April 2011[/editline] Also, extracting energy from space isn't totally impossible, if you can get wireless energy transmission working properly, why not get some panels up in space? Apart from the 63MJkg^-1 of potential energy. Eek. But up in the thermosphere you'd actually get hugely improved solar cell efficiency. Assuming you don't mind dark shadows down on earth.
[QUOTE=Turnips5;28997078] So basically the only good "renewable" energy is solar power, and there are still a couple of problems with that as well (solar panels giving off heat radiation which cannot escape the atmosphere, contributing to global warming). tl;dr : we can still use these technologies, but we can't power the whole planet with them.[/QUOTE] Guess what creates the wind? Thats correct, the sun! Solar radiation--> pressure differences--> Said wind!
[QUOTE=Richard Simmons;28997110]Like I said, Nuclear power is our future. Where is JDK to disagree and tell everyone to use wind/solar/wave "renewable" energies[/QUOTE] Been saying it for years, as well.
[QUOTE=Trumple;29005623]Guess what creates the wind? Thats correct, the sun! Solar radiation--> pressure differences--> Said wind![/QUOTE] Why not just harness the solar radiation from space? Wind is just a fucking waste of everything. Waste of materials, waste of farm land, waste of talent, waste of employment, its just a fucking waste.
[QUOTE=Richard Simmons;29005842]Why not just harness the solar radiation from space? Wind is just a fucking waste of everything. Waste of materials, waste of farm land, waste of talent, waste of employment, its just a fucking waste.[/QUOTE] In most cases, solars panels will never harness as much energy as is used to create them. Talk about a fucking waste...
Since you guys are talking about nuclear power, I have done a little research into it as I am thinking of becoming a nuclear engineer, but there is this thing, can't remember what it's called, but basically it knocks out a neutron of the radioactive waste, so instead of taking a million years to break down, it takes 2. So what I can't find out, is why don't they use this, is there something wrong with it, was it shown to not work, too expensive, or what? I'll try to remember the name for it, but when I learned about it first, I tried to find out why it couldn't be used, and google didn't help me.
[QUOTE=Richard Simmons;29001279]Geothermal is a bright feature too. I think its more of an interim to fusion though.[/QUOTE] Geothermal is awesome.
[quote]Build enough wind farms to replace fossil fuels and we could do as much damage to the climate as greenhouse global warming[/quote] Good thing no one is trying to build enough wind farms to completely replace oil. [editline]5th April 2011[/editline] I was going to start talking about how geothermal is awesome but it seems other people know about this.
[QUOTE=Mattk50;28998506]as outlined by the scientist/engineer jaque fresco 30 years ago, we only need geothermal energy to power the entire planet. everything else is really unnecessary [editline]5th April 2011[/editline] including nuclear damnit[/QUOTE] Geothermal is not perfect just yet. However out of solar, wind, and hydro it's in my opinion the easiest to perfect.
[QUOTE=Billiam;29008746]Geothermal is not perfect just yet. However out of solar, wind, and hydro it's in my opinion the easiest to perfect.[/QUOTE] The hassle with geothermal is finding a location to build a plant, it's only really viable as a primary energy source for some Nordic countries.
I've always seen [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breeder_reactor]these[/url] as the solution.
[QUOTE=Turnips5;28997162]lol how do you figure that?[/QUOTE] Uhm.. because the sun heats up our planet, either ground or the seas, lifting air up and down in a big masses that blows in your face like a train, that's the fucking wind SWOOSHING around the planet. One does not simply stop that.
[QUOTE=Bat-shit;29008999]Uhm.. because the sun heats up our planet, either ground or the seas, lifting air up and down in a big masses that blows in your face like a train, that's the fucking wind SWOOSHING around the planet. One does not simply stop that.[/QUOTE] No, you don't simply stop it. You stop it in a complicated process of thermodynamics and friction. "Common sense" doesn't apply at this scale.
[QUOTE=Laserbeams;28997148]It takes a lot more than a bunch of giant fans to stop wind[/QUOTE] Go outside when it's windy. Face the wind and put your hand or a book in front of your face. Can you feel the wind? No? Well hrm.
This just in, no fucking shit. Your building giant turbines which disrupt the path of wind, and in some cases actually fully eliminate wind channels, and your telling me they just found out now how bad it is. Gee... No shit.
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