reply to post by proximo
With sensible energy conservation and insulation and south facing windows, its possible to lower your daily use of energy by about a factor of 2.
In this case, if solar shingles become 20% efficient, then they can provide 50-75 % of your energy needs
That is from the link I posted earlier. It is all theoretical. So who has the money to tear down their house and rebuild it? Then even if you are able
to maximize it at most you get 75% power generation.
It just isn't feasible. Nanotechnology is still a long ways off. Yes they are working on it, but it takes years and years to get a product to market,
then you have the cost factor of it all.
Tidal generation is way expensive. Like I said the only viable energy alternative is nuclear power, the rest of it is a long way off.
Storage technology is even a longer way off. Yes they are working on better technology right now, but these things take time to scale up because not
everything is as easy as inventing something then making it bigger.
Again with the plug-in hybrids. Engines that get 100mpg to the gallon are not that common. Sure electric motors might be 90% efficient, but you still
have to have the power to be able to charge it. Solar panels aren't going to do it, niether is wind. Then how are they going to get the power to the
middle of the country with tidal generation.
Then you have to factor in the cost of how much it cost you in electricity to charge up your vehicle vs the cost of the car. I can tell you right now
most people can't afford a 40,000 dollar car. Hybrids run anywhere between 25,000 and can go on up to 80 thousand dollars. Unless that price is in
your budget it isn't worth getting a hybrid.
Then even with the bigger plug-ins there is only so much utility you can get out of them. If you have a camper that you would like to tow, the hybrid
doesn't have enough power to do it. Then you have the maintenance cost factor of it all.
Solar, wind, tidal, is not feasible, it is only good for supplemental energy. Solar isn't developed enough, and even when it is the land area it
will take makes it unfeasible. Wind same thing with Solar. Tidal is way expensive then you have the problem of getting the power hundreds of miles
inland.
Then the thing about those technologies is that they are limited to how much energy the sun puts out and how much wind is being blown. You can't
create more Sun, and you can't create more wind. Tidal would be good for coastal area's but you can't make the tide go in any faster to slower.
Nuclear is the only way to go. The technology is still years off before having a viable storage solution. They have been working on super capacitors
for decades, they are just now starting to make headway.
There is more to it, than just producing something, there are a lot of other factors into it. We are decades off from plug-in hybrids from being
produced enough to even be considered affordable for the average family, and also capable of what the diesel and gas motors are capable of.
