PeakOil is You
Most Likely Technological Miracle?
by Keith_McClary » Fri 29 Apr 2005, 03:01:14
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('OilBurner', 'I') apologise for diverting from the spirit of the original post but forget technological breakthroughs.
What we need are sociological breakthroughs.
What we need are sociological breakthroughs.
There is a system that gives you a portable electric meter that shows you your current (unintended pun) consumption in Kw. and $/hr.
This lets the consumer immediately see how much they are saving by turning off the hall light, etc.
People with this system reduce their consumption by half.
A similar concept could work for cars.
People spend about $1/mile if you include depreciation, insurance, maintenance, repairs, licence and gasoline. But these costs are paid "up front" except for gas, which is on next month's credit card bill. So people are not very aware of the cost of driving.
Now imagine, hypothetically, that all these costs had to be paid by sticking a $1 coin in a slot in the dash every mile.
Would this change driving habits?
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by Keith_McClary » Fri 29 Apr 2005, 03:09:34
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Devil', 'F')ridges and freezers should be able to withstand power outages of up to 24 hours with zero food spoilage. This is a matter of design (adequate insulation and automatic locks that prevent opening during outages).
We were talking about shutting down fridges during the "Electricity rush hours" (as my utility calls it). Automatic locking during these times would save energy and also help with the obesity problem.
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by Triffin » Fri 29 Apr 2005, 11:53:13
First up closed cycle two tier dams, are actually considerably better at conserving water. You don't get just one energy release per unit of water instead you get 100s and as the dams would actually be for power only, we can cap/seal them and take them to near empty each drain cycle while refilling with surge supplies and off cycle generation. The need for large catchments and large volumes is also reduced.
Why can't this concept be applied to tidal generators ???
Most coastal locations experience a diurnal tidal cycle
ie two high tides per 24 hour period .. Water from a rising,
incoming tide would re-charge your catchment basin ..
You could then generate power as needed and not have to
use pumpback techniques to refill your catchment basin
as the next incoming tide would do it for you ..
Triff ..
Why can't this concept be applied to tidal generators ???
Most coastal locations experience a diurnal tidal cycle
ie two high tides per 24 hour period .. Water from a rising,
incoming tide would re-charge your catchment basin ..
You could then generate power as needed and not have to
use pumpback techniques to refill your catchment basin
as the next incoming tide would do it for you ..
Triff ..
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by Keith_McClary » Sun 08 May 2005, 03:46:33
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Duende', 'I')s it possible to somehow capture electricity generated by lightning bolts?
Yes but you would need some expensive equipment to capture and store this intermittant source of energy and release it for normal uses.
If you could think of a use for a large but unpredictable jolt of high voltage electricity in a short time it would be ideal.
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by small_steps » Mon 09 May 2005, 01:30:03
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Keith_McClary', '
')Yes but you would need some expensive equipment to capture and store this intermittant source of energy and release it for normal uses.
')Yes but you would need some expensive equipment to capture and store this intermittant source of energy and release it for normal uses.
I'm scratching my head on this one, what technology and/or equipment is this? That is from a viewpoint of capturing...
I could imagine a setup where we couple the magnetic field(s) generated by the lightening, but not directly "tap" into the lightning. Is this what you have in mind/ seen?
For dispensing the energy, we could use SMES type tech.
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. (It could blow out the lookout's TV 
).
