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What if global-warming fears are overblown?

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posted on May, 15 2009 @ 08:14 AM
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I agree there is no problem with global warming. As far as renewables, we are probably doomed. I am searching for the appropriate link now, but if we continue to increase our consumption at the current rates, there is no amount of renewables that can sustain us in approximately 200 years. The studies vary, but even the most conservative say by 2400 we will consume more energy per day than what strikes us from the sun even at 100% conversion. Combining all the Fossil Fuels, all the Sun's energy striking earth, all the geothermal energy from deep earth, etc......combined, will not be enough to sustain our greedy appetite for power within a few centuries.

We have limited choices and conservation/moderation is the easiest. Otherwise we must find 'free' energy, or we must colonize space and spread our usage across more than one terra, while utilizing new resources. Everything else is a short-term gain.

I am all for Solar, Wind, Wave, and Geothermal development, but it is only a stepping stone to the next energy crisis.



posted on May, 15 2009 @ 12:32 PM
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Originally posted by ANNED
They will not be down to $0.10 per watt 20 years from now.

This is another pipe dream by someone that does not know how things work in the market place.

First no company could make enough to meet supply at that cost.
then demand would be so great that just supply and demand would keep the cost well above $0.10 per watt.


First Solar has already completed the first phase (10MW) of a PG&E 54MW project at a cost below grid parity.

Konarka is perfecting printing processes that will permit mass production of products already on the market.

With fixed-frame modules at less than $1.00/watt ($0.12/kWh), thin film photovoltaics will quickly surpass volume and cost-comparisons. $0.10/watt is merely the result of mass production of proven small scales technologies.


The cells are so flexible that dense arrays of them can be rolled tightly around a pencil. The technology has been licensed to Semprius, a semiconductor company in Durham, N.C., that expects to begin a pilot project making solar modules in about a year. This approach offers a unique strategy for making highly efficient, flexible solar cells for large-scale production, said Ali Javey, an electrical engineer and assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who co-wrote a review of the work for the journal Nature Materials.

www.nytimes.com...


The Powerbrella™ incorporates the lightweight Power Plastic® on the surface of SKYShades’ retractable and fixed architectural SKYbrella. Designed for use at outdoor venues such as cafés and restaurants, hotel and resort swimming pools and outdoor lounges, the Powerbrella™ provides customers coverage from the sun while that energy is used to power their laptop, cell phone or other portable devices.
The arrival of the first significant quantity of the thin film will also allow SKYShades to build its first prototype parking structure to be announced soon. Eventually, the combination of the thin film Power Plastic® and the tension-membrane shade structures developed by SKYShades will allow many different outdoor locations, including covered car parking areas, car washes, stadiums, amphitheatres and retro-fitted roofs to capture power that could be stored for use or sold back into the electrical grid.
Powerbrella™ is expected to be available for purchase by the third quarter of 2009.


www.konarka.com...

Several other manufacturers have joined the thin-film market and capacity will increase far beyond early estimates, beginning this year.


Commercial production of Lowell, Mass.-based Konarka’s branded organic photovoltaic “Power Plastic” will begin in earnest in the first quarter of 2009, the company tells us. Konarka’s special sauce lies with its organic solar panels, which it says are able to absorb a much wider spectrum of light than other thin films, allowing for higher efficiencies and even indoor applications. Now that it’s manufacturing product, Konarka joins Nanosolar, the poster child of thin-film solar that started inking panels on a 1-gigawatt, $1.65-million solar printer late last year.

earth2tech.com...

www.businessgreen.com...

jw


[edit on 15-5-2009 by jdub297]



posted on May, 15 2009 @ 01:22 PM
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Originally posted by getreadyalready
... even the most conservative say by 2400 we will consume more energy per day than what strikes us from the sun even at 100% conversion. Combining all the Fossil Fuels, all the Sun's energy striking earth, all the geothermal energy from deep earth, etc......combined, will not be enough to sustain our greedy appetite for power within a few centuries.


The solar energy reaching the Earth's surface in one year is about twice as much as all recoverable/usable non-renewable resources like coal, oil, natural gas, and mined uranium combined.
www.nature.com...

gcep.stanford.edu...



The amount of energy captured by the Earth each second = 1.8 x 1017 Joules/second.

To put these numbers into a perspective with highly practical relevance, on average, humankind is only using about 1/10,000 of that amount for its total energy consumption.


helios.gsfc.nasa.gov...

Don't rush off just yet. You've got a little time.

jw



posted on May, 15 2009 @ 01:34 PM
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reply to post by ravenshadow13
 


I definetly agree with you, you pose a good point. I think we should just all go back to the real old days where we just ride bikes everywhere if we need to get somewhere!



posted on May, 15 2009 @ 02:02 PM
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reply to post by jdub297
 


Thanks for the links. I have some counter information, but my flash-drive is at home, and I think mine was a second-hand source. I will find it this evening and post for comparison.

In the meantime, I am very excited about the new solar technologies you mentioned earlier. I am going ahead with my plans using BP's current panels, but I will follow the new flexible technologies as they come out.

I am disappointed in some of the restrictions in my area. I have to choose between "net-metering" and "off-grid" battery reserve. They will not permit me to have both. With the new technology, the net-metering may become profitable, but during a power outtage I would not reap the benefits of my own power generation.



posted on May, 15 2009 @ 04:23 PM
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reply to post by getreadyalready
 
I don't know your situation, but I live on a large plot - 20 acres- and can order a second (or more) meter for remote power needs away from the main.


maybe if you had two meters, one for net feed and one for battery, you could draw from one or the other, or just dedicate one to constantly feed the grid, subsidizing the other.

I'm definitely considering this myself.

jw



[edit on 15-5-2009 by jdub297]




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