JimboUK Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 What it essentially boils down to is this... Those people who can implement any sort of change toward how we generate and manage power are all businessmen. Science could tell everyone that Thorium reactors are the power source of the future, but people will still be buying into solar and wind power, and trading in oil and natural gas because that is what they're familiar with, that is what companies endorse, and that is what they can probably make the most money from using in the short term. There is currently no body among Western powers who directs anything for plans beyond the next election cycle any more. Nevermind anyone who can clear through the red tape related to building any new power plants, refineries, or anything which might support a more efficient power source. Long term planning or lack thereof is a huge problem, here in the UK we should have built more reactors 15 to 20 years but we didn't, now we face a long period reliant on overpriced gas and useless wind farms while these reactors are built. That aside I think our biggest problem isn't so much one of generation but one of storage, if we could store power then things like solar panels and wind farms could play their part, as is the power we produce has to be used or lost, it's horribly inefficient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colourwheel Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 Honestly, Since "fracking" has hit the U.S.A. all across the nation, I don't see America getting off natural gas or fossil fuels for at least 100 years or until America has completely destroyed it's own ground water in the process, which ever comes 1st.... But also the "world" is just not ready to invest in means to create "free" energy. Until the "world" collectively evolves beyond just profit for the purpose of profit there is little incentive for anyone to create and mass produce anything that is "free" regardless of trying to create something that will be zero destructive to the world environment... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rizon72 Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 I don't know about it, but it could exist. Also science might be looking the wrong way to find it as well. We might have found it, only to have some 'scientist' say the theory doesn't apply to what 'we' know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor. Posted January 14, 2014 Author Share Posted January 14, 2014 Free energy in the means that its abundant and clean, free of harmful side effects like Fossil fuels. Can be used anywhere, and never runs out.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeyYou Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Free energy in the means that its abundant and clean, free of harmful side effects like Fossil fuels. Can be used anywhere, and never runs out..No such thing. Every form of energy production has it's drawbacks, if not the actually burning of the fuel itself used to produce the electricy, then whatever process is used to produce the fuel to run it. Everyone keeps touting the 'hydrogen economy', and claiming it is 'green'. Little do they know (or refuse to admit) that the hydrogen is produced from natural gas, so some other petro-product. So, the gas/petroleum wells would still be necessary. Does nothing to reduce our dependence on oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colourwheel Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Ironically, it has been calculated, if the entire world was to go cold turkey on oil and gas, we would have enough energy to power the entire globe with just solar and wind if we really wanted to.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor. Posted January 15, 2014 Author Share Posted January 15, 2014 (edited) There was a article that mentioned some Japanese company that is planning on making a solar panel across the moon. http://www.dvice.com/2013-12-2/moon-based-solar-panels-could-someday-power-earth Edited January 15, 2014 by Thor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rizon72 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 I have relatives in West Texas, where there are a lot of wind farms producing power, and there are groups are out in force saying its killing the birds, and not to use wind power. Seems like it doesn't matter what we try, there is a group saying its bad. And let's face it, some places are not feasible for solar power, like Alaska. Other places, like Denver, are good. My sister put solar panels on her house. A couple of years ago I read how the US Navy was going to experiment with a ship on using biofuels using algae or something like that. The article I read was all about how it was bad. If we found free energy I'm sure someone would protest it, and I'm not even talking about competitive groups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRoaches Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 No such thing. Every form of energy production has it's drawbacks, if not the actually burning of the fuel itself used to produce the electricy, then whatever process is used to produce the fuel to run it It is not possible to create "free" energy according to any currently known physics, but that does not mean that it is impossible. It only means that nobody has figured out how to do it. Every "law" of science is eventually discovered to not actually be true. Lord Kelvin, certainly one of the most important scientists of his time who made huge contributions to his field, famously stated that heavier than air flying machines would violate the "laws" of physics and are, therefore, and impossibility. Kelvin had access to, and the ability to comprehend, all of the available experimental data and theoretical research pertaining to the question at hand. His mistake was to assume that having all of the available data is sufficient for making an authoritative observation or theory. This prediction by Kelvin has always caused me to hesitate to ever declare anything as "impossible". If a person that intelligent and educated can come out looking foolish from such a statement than I certainly can as well. Creating energy may be impossible according to our current understanding of physics but we have to remember that, despite how advanced we may think we are at times, our current understanding of physics is at best incomplete, and may be viewed by a future generation as ignorant and backwards to the same extent that something like geocentricity looks ignorant and backwards to any modern person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeyYou Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 No such thing. Every form of energy production has it's drawbacks, if not the actually burning of the fuel itself used to produce the electricy, then whatever process is used to produce the fuel to run it It is not possible to create "free" energy according to any currently known physics, but that does not mean that it is impossible. It only means that nobody has figured out how to do it. Every "law" of science is eventually discovered to not actually be true. Lord Kelvin, certainly one of the most important scientists of his time who made huge contributions to his field, famously stated that heavier than air flying machines would violate the "laws" of physics and are, therefore, and impossibility. Kelvin had access to, and the ability to comprehend, all of the available experimental data and theoretical research pertaining to the question at hand. His mistake was to assume that having all of the available data is sufficient for making an authoritative observation or theory. This prediction by Kelvin has always caused me to hesitate to ever declare anything as "impossible". If a person that intelligent and educated can come out looking foolish from such a statement than I certainly can as well. Creating energy may be impossible according to our current understanding of physics but we have to remember that, despite how advanced we may think we are at times, our current understanding of physics is at best incomplete, and may be viewed by a future generation as ignorant and backwards to the same extent that something like geocentricity looks ignorant and backwards to any modern person. Valid point. I probably should have qualified that statement with something like "given the current level of knowledge", or some such. I suppose, in reality, fusion power could be considered "free" energy...... once we can actually get it going. :) You would think the power companies would actually WANT that to happen. Not nearly so messy as a fission reactor, so, cost of operation would be significantly less. Wouldn't that alter the scene some. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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