clean(ish) Energy

[Michael Clease]

I watched a really good show about Energy I dont know if people from other countries outside the Uk can watch it but is on the Iplayer on the bbc website.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00f085h/b00f07kv/James_Mays_Big_Ideas_Power_to_the_People
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00dvqll

Its the guy from bbc Top Gear car program looking different thing and this is the alternatives to fossil fuels.

I was very impressed.

[Michael Hartlef]

Nope can't watch it.

[ErosOlmi]

>:( !! It reports:
"Currently BBC iPlayer TV programmes are available to play in the UK only"

I like James programs like Top Gear Cars. I see him on Sky via Satellite channels here in Italy.

[Petr Schreiber]

Currently BBC iPlayer TV programmes are available to play in the UK only, but all BBC iPlayer Radio programmes are available to you


Too bad :)
What were the most interesting points?


Petr

[Michael Clease]

Petr i was just working on that ;)

Solar Tower - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6616651.stm
Wave power - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6410839.stm
Tidal power - http://home.clara.net/darvill/altenerg/tidal.htm
Petrol from sunlight - http://www.core.form-ula.com/2008/01/05/s2p-sunlight-to-petrol/
Space Elevator - http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/10/02/space.elevator/index.html
Jetstream kits - http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/05/07/MNGNEPMD801.DTL

The solar towers and the petrol from sun were the ones that really impressed me.

[Petr Schreiber]

Thanks a lot,

the suntower is very mesmerizing, like from some sci-fi :)
The space elevator looks very nice too, although I am not sure I would step into one once they are maufactured.
I have seen similar idea in game "Moment of Silence", there was a train from earth to orbit.


Petr

[Michael Hartlef]

Wow, I like that solar tower. The elevator is much scifi. What if a asteroid hits the cable. It simply to unsecure imo.

[kryton9]

This documentary is incredible and also sad how great ideas are being killed off and interfered with.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7365305906535911834

[Charles Pegge]

Hi Kent,

This is a fascinating video and a great stimulus for further research but I would be very cautious in taking the inventors claims at face value. There are many investment scams out there, and the argument about government/corporate suppression of inventions is often deployed. This paranoia is fueled by clumsy attempts of the authorities to prevent fraud, using the law rather than engaging with these guys in open forum.


A case in point:
http://skepdic.com/refuge/lee.html

Zero-point energy in general:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-point_energy

For contemporary inventors, a good test is to see what their websites are like :)

[Charles Pegge]

What if a asteroid hits the cable. It simply to unsecure imo.


The biggest problem would be radiation damage from solar flares. The elevator could be supported using a web of many fillaments and roving bot-spiders to continuously repair them.

[kryton9]

In addition the elevator to space would be prefect use for sending items and not people.

Can you imagine a shuttle launch to repair an expensive telescope in space only to find they forgot a special tool to open a panel?
A perfect use for the space elevator.

I have a friend who works on those high tower antennas, and he says tools are forgotten many times. Luckily there is a line to the ground and another coworker to pass things up :)

[Charles Pegge]

If two elevators were used either end of a pulley, you could run a balanced system using very little energy. Toolbag up - moonrocks down.

But I wonder if nanotube cables would be elastic over a length >35,786 km (geostationary orbit). could be a bouncy ride.

[Petr Schreiber]

I think it is not realisable project for now :)
I cannot imagine material & construction to manage such a task.


Petr


Do you like to build weird constructions? Tired of building bridges? Go for demoversion [30MB] (http://www.rbdlc.com/worldofgoodemo_v1.0.exe) of World of Goo (http://2dboy.com/games.php), one of the best games I had luck ( and time ) to play this year. You basically construct shapes from life beings. Superb graphics/sound/physics (ODE).