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Future Energy Technology News Pt 2

Discussions of conventional and alternative energy production technologies.

exotic distant future energy sources ???

Unread postby sicophiliac » Fri 08 Jul 2005, 00:01:09

Ok this post is kinda along the lines of that zero point energy topic. Just for people to toy with theoretical futuristic ways to harness energy. For example maybe a way to convert matter to pure energy, antimatter reators, using virtual particles to create power.. maybe even some sort of perpetual motion kinda thing. None of these obviously would be intended for a solution to peak oil, I think it would be kind of interesting to speculate on all sorts of ultimate energy sources for civilizations thousands of years more advanced then we are today.
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Unread postby Clouseau2 » Fri 08 Jul 2005, 00:46:04

Percentage of energy currently being supplied by "zero point energy": 0.0%
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Unread postby Cyrus » Fri 08 Jul 2005, 00:47:12

I really see zero point to that energy. :lol:
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Unread postby avo » Fri 08 Jul 2005, 01:50:48

If you can find a large rotating black hole, you can extract energy from its ergosphere by the Penrose process:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergosphere

Maybe there's a civilation out there that's done this, but is now facing peak black hole ... :roll:

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Re: exotic distant future energy sources ???

Unread postby avo » Fri 08 Jul 2005, 02:07:55

sicophiliac wrote:For example maybe a way to convert matter to pure energy, antimatter reators, using virtual particles to create power.. maybe even some sort of perpetual motion kinda thing.


Well, none of that is going to work (at least if our present understanding of physics, which is really quite spectacularly good, holds up).

But if you can get into space, there are all kinds of astrophysical energy sources you might be able to tap: quasars, gamma-ray bursters, etc, etc.

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Unread postby cube » Sat 09 Jul 2005, 02:24:06

Perhaps one day somebody will invent the radioactive flow battery! It will have 10 times the energy capacity of a LI-ION battery but it must be incased within a 1 inch thick radiation shield and kept stabilized with a liquid metal cooling system.

This new battery design will be used to power cars, planes, trains, and ships. Technology will save us! :-D
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exotic distant future sources of energy

Unread postby mmunroe » Sat 09 Jul 2005, 03:42:48

I have this idea for a super fusion power plant that would covert hydrogen to helium or something like that. It would be so big and massive that gravity alone would keep it contained. Then I would build a world so far away that the energy would "rain" down at a density of about 1000 watts per square meter. I figure that at that energy level, you could do just about anything and but at the same time you would have more than enough to supply all your energy needs. Pretty wild idea of course, but just think how cool it would be.
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Unread postby Jake_old » Sat 09 Jul 2005, 07:18:07

LOL good one munroe, took me a minute to get it :lol:
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Re: exotic distant future sources of energy

Unread postby MD » Sat 09 Jul 2005, 07:29:23

mmunroe wrote:I have this idea for a super fusion power plant that would covert hydrogen to helium or something like that. It would be so big and massive that gravity alone would keep it contained. Then I would build a world so far away that the energy would "rain" down at a density of about 1000 watts per square meter. I figure that at that energy level, you could do just about anything and but at the same time you would have more than enough to supply all your energy needs. Pretty wild idea of course, but just think how cool it would be.


Then maybe you could capture the rain with self regulating and self replicating bioengineered devices that could transform the energy rain into other useful forms!
Stop filling dumpsters, as much as you possibly can, and everything will get better.

Just think it through.
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Unread postby aahala » Sat 09 Jul 2005, 11:59:22

A perpetual motion machine has been under development for many years.
According to advocates, all that is needed is vast sums of additional funds.

:P
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Unread postby cube » Sat 09 Jul 2005, 16:14:59

I propose that we build a dyson sphere so all of the sun's energy can be captured. :-D

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Unread postby Dezakin » Sat 09 Jul 2005, 16:59:52

Perhaps one day somebody will invent the radioactive flow battery! It will have 10 times the energy capacity of a LI-ION battery but it must be incased within a 1 inch thick radiation shield and kept stabilized with a liquid metal cooling system.

This new battery design will be used to power cars, planes, trains, and ships. Technology will save us!


We allready have:

http://web.gat.com/pubs-ext/AnnSemiannETC/A23593.pdf

Under 'fission electric cell.' Of course the same principle can be applied to high energy beta emitters such as tritium, Cs137 or Sr90 without actually having to have a fission reactor, but with lower power densities. Significantly higher than any battery however.

Why do you have such a sarcastic attitude towards technological advance?
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Unread postby BILL_THA_PHARMACIZT » Sun 10 Jul 2005, 03:04:28

I had a lucid dream that human beings had a hidden abillity to feed off inorganic matter - but it didn't become apparent until the apocalypse was well under way


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people are going to persue whatever they percieve to be in their own interests and thats always changing because everything in life is in constant motion
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Wake up, the clean energy 'revolution' is here

Unread postby Graeme » Tue 11 Feb 2014, 17:46:29

Wake up, the clean energy 'revolution' is here

Call it a detour, a hiccup or a temporary catching of breath.

Despite last year’s dramatic drop-off in newly installed renewable electric generating capacity in the United States, America remains in the thick of a far-reaching sustainable energy "revolution" with "major implications for the U.S. economy, energy security and global concerns over climate change," according to a new report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

The Sustainable Energy in America 2014 Factbook shows a seemingly ominous 70-percent collapse in overall renewable capacity additions in 2013 — all the way down to 5.4 gigawatts from a record 18 gigawatts installed in 2012. The report was commissioned by the Business Council for Sustainable Energy and released last week in Washington, D.C.

The weakest year for annual U.S. renewable electric generating capacity additions since 2007 largely was the result of downturn in wind energy development due to inconsistent and eventually expiring tax credits, which offset a record 4.2 gigawatts of solar generating capacity added last year.
But total renewable generation, including hydropower, still rose to nearly 13 percent of the U.S. electric power mix in 2013, up from 12 percent in 2012 and only 8 percent in 2007, according to this second edition of the report, which forecast a return to growth for the U.S. wind installations in 2014 along with continued growth for solar.

Wind energy’s down year in 2013 was one of just a few "noteworthy detours" from the report’s central theme — namely, that "a revolution is transforming how the U.S. produces, delivers and consumes energy" and that these recent advances in energy efficiency, transportation and power generation “have combined to put U.S. CO2 emissions on a long-term downward trajectory.”

Key findings

Among the 133-page report’s key findings are:

• Thanks to advances in energy efficiency, the country’s annual energy consumption in 2013 was 5 percent below 2007 levels.

• Over the same period, "use of lower- and zero-carbon energy sources has grown, while major energy sources such as coal and oil have experienced significant declines."

• Coal’s share of the U.S. power mix dropped to 39 percent in 2013 from nearly 50 percent in 2007 — despite a slight gain from 2012 to 2013 — while more than 40 gigawatts of coal plant retirements have been announced since 2011.

• Natural gas demand experienced an all-time high in 2013 and is on pace for growth again in 2014 — expanding in part as a replacement fuel for oil in transportation and coal in electricity generation.

• The transportation sector "is being revolutionized by new policies, technologies, and fuels," with fuel economy standards set to double by 2025 from 2011 and sales of alternative-fuel vehicles rising sharply.

• U.S. greenhouse gas emissions reductions have fallen 9.8 percent since 2005 and are more than halfway to President Obama’s stated goal of a 17-percent reduction by 2020 compared to 2005 levels.

• Renewable power generation costs are hitting “all-time lows” that are allowing renewable energy to beat fossil fuel competitors, with contracted prices as low as 2 to 3.5 cents per kilowatt-hour for wind energy and below 7 cents per kilowatt-hour for large-scale photovoltaics (PV).

• Fueled by small-scale PV at residential and commercial buildings, "distributed generation emerged as a transformative phenomenon — if not yet in substance, then as a foreshadower of what’s to come."

• Despite clean energy cost reduction, U.S. renewable energy investment "remains highly responsive to policy," as total new U.S. investments in clean energy declined for the second consecutive year in 2013.

• The U.S. has become much more self-reliant on energy, with net energy imports falling by 15 percent in 2013 and by 50 percent since 2005.


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Re: Wake up, the clean energy 'revolution' is here

Unread postby Graeme » Mon 17 Feb 2014, 17:02:28

Amory Lovins: energy visionary sees renewables revolution in full swing

Thirty years since moving to Colorado from Britain, where he was Friends of the Earth's first-ever employee, the 66-year-old sees the energy revolution which he helped kick-start with a series of academic and policy papers now in full swing. "Since 2008, half the world's added electrical generating capacity has been renewable. Non hydro-electric renewables, chiefly wind and solar, were 49% of US and 69% of European capacity added last year.

"In three of the world's top four economies, China, Japan and Germany, there was more generation of electricity from non-hydro renewables than from nuclear in 2012."

Renewables have scaled up incredibly fast, he says. "Worldwide it is faster than mobile phones. More Kenyans now get first electricity now from solar than the grid. China got more generation from wind in 2012 than from nuclear and it added more generation from non-hydro renewable energy than fossil and nuclear combined. It is now the world leader in seven of the 10 renewable energies and wants to be top in all 10. It appears to have added 12GW of photovoltaics in 2012 – that's more than the total that have been installed in the US."

The US, which lagged behind for years, is shifting, too, he says. "The US is a giant laboratory. Different states are going at different speeds. Texas is best for wind, it now gets 10% of its energy from wind because it's good at business; Hawaii is ground zero, with one in 10 households now with a PV system.

"The energy intensity of the US economy has declined 50% in 10 years, mostly because of better design. In 2012 the energy used to make a dollar of GDP went down by 3.4% in one year. We can see a very clear way forward to trebling energy efficiency by 2050."

Most encouraging, he says, is that 14 states for electricity and 20 for natural gas now reward consumers for cutting bills. "That is the reverse of the use of electricity as a commodity. Electricity is an infrastructure, not a commodity. We need to reward the provider to give you lower bills".

Twenty years ago, Lovins proposed what he called the "Hypercar", a hybrid electric/hydrogen-fuelled family vehicle that had only a few parts, was made of lightweight carbon but was stronger than steel, used existing technologies, weighed half a normal car of its size, and could travel the equivalent of 300 miles to the gallon. It was designed to have next to no emissions and, using its batteries, could become a power plant on wheels when parked, eliminating the need for nuclear or coal-power stations.

2014, says Lovins, sees the commercial birth of the Hypercar, with the arrival of the all-carbon electric BMW i-3 family and the 313 miles per gallon Volkswagon XL1 with emissions of just 20g/km. "The car industry is notoriously slow to change," he says, but "you could say the era of the hyper car is starting now."

The most exciting energy conservation advances may be in the way new technologies and business models can be combined, he believes. He was the first to suggest that cars, which are on average used for just an hour a day, be used to generate and store electricity and then be able to despatch it back to the grid.


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Re: Wake up, the clean energy 'revolution' is here

Unread postby Quinny » Tue 18 Feb 2014, 06:30:06

"The energy intensity of the US economy has declined 50% in 10 years, mostly because of better design. In 2012 the energy used to make a dollar of GDP went down by 3.4% in one year. We can see a very clear way forward to trebling energy efficiency by 2050."


AS most of the GDP growth was as a result of QE and not growth in real wealth, I am surprised the energy intensity hasn't declined more!
Live, Love, Learn, Leave Legacy.....oh and have a Laugh while you're doing it!
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Re: Wake up, the clean energy 'revolution' is here

Unread postby ROCKMAN » Tue 18 Feb 2014, 09:02:26

From “Green Energy”: http://technologygreenenergy.blogspot.c ... urces.html

US energy sources: Petroleum – 41%; coal - 25%; NG – 20%; nuclear – 9%; hydroelectric - 4%; others - 1%

1%...Viva la revolution!!!
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Future Energy Technology News Pt 2

Unread postby Graeme » Thu 24 Apr 2014, 20:00:32

17 Emerging Energy Technologies That Will Change The World

Below are technologies related to energy under three key areas of accelerating change: Storage, Smart grid and Electricity generation. Energy storage involves new, cost-effective ways of storing energy, either in improved batteries, as new fuels or other ways. A smart grid is a set of technologies that pairs information with moving electricity around, enabling more efficient generation and use of energy. Electricity generation is characterised by technologies that generate power from unused sources and that more efficiently produce electric power or fuels from sources in use today.

We have included predictions based on consultation with experts of when each technology will be scientifically viable (the kind of stuff that Google, governments, and universities develop), mainstream (when VCs and startups widely invest in it), and financially viable (when the technology is generally available on Kickstarter).

Storage
Fuel cells: Unlike batteries, fuel cells require a constant source of fuel and oxygen to run, but they can produce electricity continually for as long as these inputs are supplied. They inherently displace the need for natural gas turbines, and are ideally used for stationary power generation or large passenger vehicles such as buses (especially at energy-dense future iterations of the technology).

Scientifically viable in 2013; mainstream in 2015; and financially viable in 2016.

Lithium-air batteries: Advances in materials technology is enabling the advance of high energy Li-air batteries which promise an energy density that rivals gasoline, offering a five-fold increase compared to traditional Li-Ion batteries. By using atmospheric oxygen instead of an internal oxidizer, these batteries could dramatically extend electric vehicle range.

Scientifically viable in 2017; mainstream in 2018; and financially viable in 2020.

Hydrogen energy storage & transport: Hypothetical evolution of existing power grids, transporting and storing hydrogen instead of electricity. Could be used in combination with various kinds of energy transformation methods, minimising loss and maximizing storage capacity.

Scientifically viable in 2019; mainstream in 2021; and financially viable in 2022.

Thermal storage: Often accumulated from active solar collector or from combined heat and power plants, and transferred to insulated repositories for use later in various applications, such as space heating, domestic or process water heating.

Scientifically viable in 2022; mainstream in 2024; and financially viable in 2027.

Smart Grid
First-generation smart grid: Electrical meters that record consumption of electric energy in real time while communicating the information back to the utility for monitoring and billing purposes. Can be used for remote load-balancing such as disabling non-essential devices at peak usage

Scientifically viable in 2014; mainstream in 2015; and financially viable in 2016.

Distributed generation: Generates electricity from many small energy sources instead of large centralized facilities. Centralized power plants offer economies of scale, but waste power during transmission, and are inefficient in rapidly adapting to grid needs.

Scientifically viable in 2017; mainstream in 2021; and financially viable in 2022.

Smart energy network: Speculative global energy & power infrastructure and set of standards which can be used interchangeably. Could theoretically mimic characteristics of the Internet in channeling heat, energy, natural gas (and conceivably hydrogen) from local and distant sources depending on global demand.

Scientifically viable in 2019; mainstream and financially viable in 2020.

Electricity Generation
Tidal turbines: A form of hydropower that converts tidal energy into electricity. Currently used in small scale, with the potential for great expansion.

Scientifically viable in 2015; mainstream and financially viable in 2017.

Micro stirling engines: Micrometer sized power generators that transform energy into compression and expansion strokes. Could hypothetically be 3D-printed on the fly and cover entire heat-generating surfaces in order to generate power.

Scientifically viable in 2020; mainstream in 2026; and financially viable in 2027.

Solar panel positioning robots: Small-scale robots able to re-position solar panels depending on weather conditions. More efficient than attaching each panel to motorised tracking assemblies.

Scientifically viable in 2014; mainstream in 2016; and financially viable in 2017.

Second-generation biofuels: New biofuel technologies, such as cellulosic ethanol and biodiesel from microalgae, promise to produce conventional fuel-compatible energy at low or zero greenhouse gas emissions.

Scientifically viable in 2016; mainstream in 2017; and financially viable in 2021.

Photovoltaic transparent glass: Glass with integrated solar cells which converts IR and some visible light into electricity. This means that the power for an entire building can be supplemented using the roof and façade areas.

Scientifically viable in 2017; mainstream in 2020; and financially viable in 2021.

Third-generation biofuels: Moving beyond today’s organisms, 3rd generation biofuels involve genetic modification of organisms to produce new fuels by unconventional means. Examples include direct production of hydrogen from highly efficient algae, and production of energy-dense furans for automotive use.

Scientifically viable in 2022; mainstream in 2024; and financially viable in 2025.

Space-based solar power: Collecting solar power in space, beamed back as microwaves to the surface. A projected benefit of such a system is much higher collection rates than what is possible on earth. In space, transmission of solar energy is unaffected by the filtering effects of atmospheric gasses.

Scientifically viable in 2025; mainstream in 2027; and financially viable in 2028+.

Micro-nuclear reactors: A small, sealed version of a nuclear reactor (approximately a few tens of meters in length) capable of being shipped or flown to a site. Currently able to provide 10 MW of power, plans are for 50 MW capacity in the near future.

Scientifically viable in 2022; mainstream and financially viable in 2023.

Inertial confinement fusion (break-even): An approach to fusion that relies on the inertia of the fuel mass to provide confinement. To achieve conditions under which inertial confinement is sufficient for efficient thermonuclear burn, a capsule (generally a spherical shell) containing thermonuclear fuel is compressed in an implosion process to conditions of high density and temperature.

Scientifically viable in 2013; mainstream and financially viable in 2021.

Thorium Reactor: Thorium can be used as fuel in a nuclear reactor, allowing it to be used to produce nuclear fuel in a breeder reactor. Some benefits are that thorium produces 10 to 10,000 times less long-lived radioactive waste and comes out of the ground as a 100% pure, usable isotope, which does not require enrichment.

Scientifically viable in 2025; mainstream in 2026; and financially viable in 2027.


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