From: Eugen Leitl (eugen@leitl.org)
Date: Fri Apr 12 2002 - 13:14:21 MDT
On Fri, 12 Apr 2002 Spudboy100@aol.com wrote:
> My emphasis is, that we need pratical solutions, and I suspect that the Los
> Alamos process comes close to being one. I am one of those people who are
I'm also looking for practical solutions -- but the process as described
is compleat bogus. As quite a few processes proposed recently. I wonder
what does make them pass even minor scrutiny, probably the press being
clueless about physics.
Anyway, the easiest solutions are the least spectacular. Insulate your
home (and address the ventilation issue, orelse you'll marinate in radon
and accumulated volatiles). Use high-efficiency burners. Switch from oil
to gas. Buy more energy efficient home gadgetry. Buy a smaller, more
energy-efficient car instead of a yet another SUV. Team up with your
neighbours to buy a small-scale methane-drive power/heat coupling engine.
Guess what? No one is doing this. Even if it would save money on the long
run. Instead, people go for idiotic schemes like that Los Alamos thing. I
don't see the point for going expensive hi-tech as long as the low tech
options haven't been exhausted.
> wearied to the max of promises of "fusion round the corner." The same goes
> for solar and the renwables, except, perhaps, hot-rock geothermal.
Um, please don't compare apples with wombats here. Fusion is not round the
corner. (Unless you're factoring the Singularity in). Solar is one of the
renewables, and renewables are all very different, and depend on where you
are. Aquapower is best (if the location is good), but maxed out in most
places already. Wind is second, and requires good locations, coast or
mountain regions. Aeolian turbines are the biggest growth market in
renewables right now. Solar trend is doing nicely, and break-even to
fossil is quite near, actually, even for single home settings. Hot-rock
geothermal is viable only in a few places (because the reservoir gets
depleted very rapidly due to low rock heat conductivity, and if it's steam
you're looking at hydrothermal/salt-born corrosion).
> I stress that the last thing I want to hear about in energy research is
> vaporware. Vaporware doesn't bake bread, or build bridges.
Do you expect me to research the options available to you in your specific
setting for free? Why should I?
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