Alternative energy sources... which are best to support?

that would be a great thing...
in places like hawaii. Too bad it requires an extremely deep ocean right next to the plant.

I have been suggesting this approach in almost every one of my posts regarding future energy systems, and no one has said doodly-squat about it.

Using a stirling-cycle engine to generate power (and electricity) from the temperature delta was done back in the 1920's; it just couldn't compete with cheap electricity derived from burning hydrocarbons or hydroelectricity a la TVA.

It's great to see that some attention is finally being paid to this approach.

However, (and this is the old engineer coming out) three are still a lot of things to consider between the concept and implementing the actual device.

Since we need access to deep seawater to gt the temp delta, I think it'd make more sense to build the generators on offshore platforms rather than on islands -- especially if you're planning onn feeding inland users. the sosts of drilling might be less that the cost of transmitting the energy (perhaps in the form of liquid hydrogen) to the shore and the ultimate users (via fuel cells).

As a matter of fact, you could use the offshore waters to provide not only the electricity to crack the water, but the water itself as the fuel's "raw material".

I see that OTS is pleased by an idea...
that is so nice... I am truly glad that you are finding good ideas among these presented...

here is one of the possible hydrogen generators that seems to give a net gain of energy... can you all check it out for me...

if true, it would seal the deal for fuel cells being the next big thing...
if not, well... the ball bounces... you know...
cheap hydrogen

[edit on 27-5-2005 by LazarusTheLong]

Would it be possible for feces to be used in any way as an energy source?

Does poop posess any qualities that would make it a potential candidate? Feces does have nitrogen in it, does it not? Perhaps there might be some way to refine or modify it. I mean, it's a free, renewable resource. Perhaps each home could have a generator run on it. The waste would go from the toilets through a filter, and then be used by the generator. I'd love to hear someone's thought about this!!

any organic waste can be used as fuel... but should it...

excuse the pun, but burning sewage would be a crappy business...
and as far as payout... the gain would be little compared to burning cow dung,
which is rich in methane organics...
they have methane farms that collect natural gas from manure vats...
essentially this is bacterial energy... as the methane is produced by bacteria in the dung

I'd have to say fuel cell. Only because its soo much safer on our enviroment and people. Plus compared to rising gas and oil prices it would same us millions and millions of dollars in fuel costs. We would never have to worry about changing oil again. The only down fall is that this type of technology is that its too expensive and there isn't enough research done on it.

find a ready cheap way to produce hydrogen, and you are correct...
until then, we need to still look...

OTS and others have pointed out that NO ONE KIND will work for all...

wind in central lightly populated areas..

the ocean temp interchange thingy (that OTS mentioned) for coastal areas...

biodiesel in areas hard to service...

we are getting there... we just figured out how to transfer about 30%-40% of the countrys energy usage, without compromising energy allotment...
(keep in mind, that a portion is presently produced using clean methods like hydrothermal and geothermal)

also keep in mind that we would have several new industrys that provide nice jobs also... (politicians love two bird solutions)

The important thing about this energy issue, is what is needed is more CHEAP energy. The progress of civilization has followed a progression of cheaper as well as more compact energy sources. Muscle, then wood, then coal, then oil, then hydro, then nuclear. None of the alternative energies advance this progess. To be forced to rely on any or even all of the alternatives would force a fundamental economic change back to a simpler, less productive way of life - actually, I vote for that. The only potentially cheaper source of energy would be fusion energy, which is why it has been the holy grail of energy research for decades.
Ya, I've read all about the so called "free" energies. The source may be free but it is very expensive to convert into any useful form. Sunlight is great, but it is relatively quite diverse and the process of concentrating and converting it into something usefull like AC electricity requires a lot of equipment. (Although there is real hope that the nanotech people will have a breakthrough here)
Remember - its not about the energy, it is about the cost of the energy, and all the current sources of the cheap energies are about maxed out. When you have economies designed around growth, that's a problem.
You want to help support an alternative energy? Ask the nanosolar.com people if you can take out their garbage or sweep their floors or something. Some political action to increase the state and federal incentives so that the slow process of adopting some noneconomic energy will be accelerated.
Oh ya, since this is the conspiracy forum, I think there is a concerted effort not to use any distributed energy sources that they can't control.

My bet would be on Biomass becoming number one. we have plenty of waste that could be converted into energy. let's use our brains people!!!!!