posted on Sep, 10 2009 @ 10:08 AM
I'd just like to point out that steam power never left us at any point in the past century, at least in regards to power generation for the grid:
♦Nuclear: Uses heat of splitting atoms to boil water to make steam to run a generator.
♦Coal: Same technology they were using in the industrial revolution, boil some water, make some steam, etc.
♦Solar: Most major solar plants do not use photovoltaic cells to just collect energy, they use mirrors to focus heat on pipes of oil, which is then
used to boil water, make steam, etc.
♦Geothermal: Boil water, make steam, run a generator.
Really, the only two power generation methods that Don't rely on steam engine principles to generate power are Run of the River Hydroelectric, and
Wind Turbines. Shocking, but true.
And here we all thought nuclear harnessed some esoteric energy when the atom split