[Kylon]

This isn't my solution (I have another one), but couldn't America just use giant solar towers?

http://money.cnn.com/2006/08/01/technol ... 0802.biz2/

I mean, if they were mass produced, and if a plastic layer were used instead of a glass one, and if on the bottom instead of just having ground, a black hot tar like substance was spread (it allow for near 100% absorbtion of light), then it might become cheap enough to compete with oil.

It wouldn't replace fossil fuels, but it could supplement the power production to a point that local production of fossil fuels could be sufficient, and delay the problems of Peak Oil long enough that a long term solution involving ADS thorium reactors could be implemented within the United States.

Cars could eventually go to electric using ultra capacitors, and our energy needs could be met.

I think this could really take care of at least a large portion of America's energy needs. I think this would be a great power source for America due to the large amounts of unusable land in Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, North Dakota, Washington, and many other areas where there are large deserts. Each one of these deserts could be cheaply converted into a large supplier of renewable energy.

Don't you think this could abate Peak Oil in the U.S if it was done right?

P.S I know you might say the plastic comes from oil, but that could also be derived from ethanol converted into a plastic. Plus we have enough oil reserves that if we focused them into creating large plastic sheets for solar generators, our reserves would last us a while.

[Kyn]

I'D say the amount of energy and the money you'd need to build them would be better invested in saving energy.

[Ebyss]

There are plenty of solutions to the problem of PeakOil. Ethanol, Solar, Wind, Nuclear, Conservation, Population Reduction, Voluntary Powerdown and so on. The real crux of the issue is whether world leaders and the western population can be convinced to implement any of them in a timely, responsible and sustainable manner - and I'm sorry to say the chances of that are slimmer than abiotic oil coming to the rescue.

Again - the real problem facing us isn't Peak Oil, it's overpopulation. There is no palatable solution to overpopulation - no matter how many wonderful energy sources you find, you're not solving the real problem the planet faces.

[Kyn]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ebyss', 'T')here are plenty of solutions to the problem of PeakOil. Ethanol, Solar, Wind, Nuclear, Conservation, Population Reduction, Voluntary Powerdown and so on. The real crux of the issue is whether world leaders and the western population can be convinced to implement any of them in a timely, responsible and sustainable manner

[Twilight]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Kyn', 'W')e will reduce our consumption as production decreases. That's not the question. The question is, how this will look like.

[Aaron]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'C')urrently, the OECD countries are reducing their consumption while the poorer countries are increasing it.

[jboogy]

scalability,- 85,000,000 MILLION per DAY! that my friend is a SHITLOAD of black goo. SCAL A BIL IT Y is the (pardon the pun) 800 pound gorilla in the ointment

[Baldwin]

While "solar towers" or other solutions that are borderline sci-fi might be the salvation of our more superfluous uses of electricity like cars, television, lights etc, we still need fertilizer from natural gas to feed people.

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Baldwin', 'w')e still need fertilizer from natural gas to feed people.

[davep]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Baldwin', 'w')e still need fertilizer from natural gas to feed people.

[davep]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 't')he natural gas supplies the hydrogen not the nitrogen

[TheDude]

From Wikipedia:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'E')nviroMission has since 2001[18] proposed to build a solar updraft tower power generating station known as Solar Tower Buronga in Buronga, New South Wales.[19] The present status of the project is uncertain.[20]

[dinopello]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TheDude', 'B')est way for a municipality to make on-the-spot fertilizer would be en maase production of Humanure but good luck getting a city full of squeamish types to crap into a box.

[I_Like_Plants]

I've mentioned that in California, $1050 a month gets you a place with gangs dealing drugs all night up the way, and iffy electricity and phone.

$500 a month gets you a tiny mobil home, where you get to deal with your wastes in a very hands-on way.

My pee, it turned out, was going onto the lawn on one side of the place, no wonder it grew so well! However, a #2 would not go where it was supposed to, due to a hole in the pipe, and would end up basking in the sun on the lawn. Yes, quite startling to see an "old friend" again the first time! OK..... so I decided I'd do my #1's in the place and for #2, go to the communal shower room and use one of the toilets there. Pretty good, except I had to think carefully and pre-plan, I lost a bit of spontaneity.... so, what I'd do is do my No1 then if I felt something more substantial coming on, I'd spread a bit of newspaper in the flushed and now relatively dry (boat type) toilet, do my thing, and wrap up the proceeds well and chuck into the dumpster that was nearby. Not as bad as you'd think, things dry and smell was not a problem. Essentially this is how it's done in Mexico etc. Which the US is becoming.

It was a very hands-on process....

Let me tell you that in a Hawaii rooming house, I can't remember ever having to take a cold shower, go without use of a phone, or go without electricity except right after a hurricane, it was out one day big deal. That's what $190 a month got me in a much lower-income, darker colored, part of the US.

[turmoil]

It may not be in the best taste but, the solutions to any problem caused by overpopulation (a shortage) are in the effects of the problems themselves.

For instance, take food shortages. Prices go up because supply can not meet demand. Some foods (or the amount of them) simply can not be purchased, therefore reducing the strain on supply and tapering the price increase. The difference between the supply / demand curve just doesn't get eaten. Solution: people eat less expensive foods or just less of the food in question.

In a market economy the prices causes supply and demand to always be similar, if not equal. The peak oil downward supply curve means prices will go up to reduce demand, therefore solving the problem. How fast and when have always been the questions.

[AirlinePilot]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('turmoil', 'I')n a market economy the prices causes supply and demand to always be similar, if not equal. The peak oil downward supply curve means prices will go up to reduce demand, therefore solving the problem. How fast and when have always been the questions.

[turmoil]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AirlinePilot', 'A')nd as many have said over and over here, and this is key, while price has CLIMBED demand has also climbed. This has occured for at least the last 4 years and we are approaching a fifth.