The best alternative energy source

[bben46]

There is no 'best' alternative. There are different requirements for power in different applications. Each alternative needs to be evaluated to see if it will fit what the need is. And the best solution may be to have a combination. I don't see oil as a power source going away soon. There are economic, political, sociological and vested interests to be overcome. And this will take time.

 

I don't believe hybrid cars are a permanent solution, they are more of a stepping stone toward different technology. And the batteries we have today are far to heavy for an efficient electric car.

[ginnyfizz]

If wind turbines were indeed as inefficient as it is said above I wonder why almost every farmer in Danmark, Northern Germany, Holland and Belgium has at least one if not many...

 

First look around then talking.

 

The latter part of the quote "First look around then talking" you might well consider applying to yourself. I live on, as has been said, an extremely windy little island a few miles off the Western coast of Europe. Where they are shoving wind turbines up as if there was no tomorrow because; A - everyone who has them has allowed themselves to be convinced that they are the cleanest and greenest thing ever B - there are LOADS of grants for putting the hideous things up, which I suspect is why those European farmers are doing it. C - local planning authorities SO want to be seen to be trendy and green and so give permission for wind farms to churn up some of the most beautiful parts of Britain. But, in the said extremely windy little island, much as the green lobby would hate to admit it, most of the time the turbines just aren't spinning fast enough to generate useful amounts of electricity.

 

I suspect that wind turbines also degenerate much as the solar panels can do. It's very surprising, it certainly was to me, but solar cells/panels seem to work very well here in the UK. I say not that they are the..err.. bad pun coming...sole solution. I definitely agree with bben46 in that I don't think oil (or other fossil fuels) will be going away, nor that they should. They are drilling for oil in earnest onshore again over here in the UK, both in Dorset and also in the East Midlands, where formerly there was coal and oil was just an incidental occurrence alongside it - once. Now it's the main event. And since I am being politically incorrect anyway - let's go nuclear too! Breeder reactors where they eat their own waste as it were...

[Balagor]

In DK windturbines cover aprox. 20% of our total electricity usage. The old ones where noisy, true. But I live in the country site less than 500 m from a rather big one. I can not hear it at all.

As for the landscape and birds routes, the ornitologists department (yes we do have such a department) is envolved, so we minimize or even avoid damage in animal live.

Besides that I am for the solar panels too. We have that on our house, and we are very satisfied.

Next month we start the work with getting geotermical heating. I am looking forward to that. No use of oil any more.

[Chaosblade02]

The energy of the future is nuclear fusion. If they would invest just half of what they invest in these "green" energy technologies, which aren't really efficient compared to burning coal or fossil fuels maybe, just maybe in 15-20 years we could have efficient/cheap and green Nuclear Fusion reactors pumping out enough energy to supply the future for 100 years or more.

 

The problem with green energy is we would be back tracking in efficiency, which is NEVER an option when you are trying to solve the energy needs for the future which are ever increasing, this is why we need to invest more in the development of nuclear fusion, which would not only be green, but also more efficient than anything we currently use to produce energy.

 

If I was a betting man, I would be willing to bet that 100 years into the future the only wind turbines and solar panels you would see would be in junkyards, because they are obsolete compared to nuclear fusion reactors.

 

Maybe someone can explain why this is generally being overlooked as an option and never spoke of in any speeches given by anyone about "green" energy? It just seems to me that it is stupid to overlook the possibilities of this, and nobody with the money to fund this even takes the idea or the technology seriously.

[ginnyfizz]

Excellently put,Chaosblade02. I agree with what you are saying, and I think the problem is a political one. It is fashionable to spout about green energy, but nuclear energy is a "Dirty word" in many countries. It's one of the things where France and Britain once had a really good degree of co-operation going on, the French and some other nations are pressing ahead, but in Britain our politicians have been hypnotized by the green lobby. They ignore the fact that, looking at the hard facts, the safety record of nuclear energy, where plants are modern and properly maintained (as is the case in France and was the case with our British nuclear reactors for the most part), is excellent. Yes, there are accidents, but horrible events like Chernobyl are VERY rare.

[Coous]

Excellently put,Chaosblade02. I agree with what you are saying, and I think the problem is a political one. It is fashionable to spout about green energy, but nuclear energy is a "Dirty word" in many countries. It's one of the things where France and Britain once had a really good degree of co-operation going on, the French and some other nations are pressing ahead, but in Britain our politicians have been hypnotized by the green lobby. They ignore the fact that, looking at the hard facts, the safety record of nuclear energy, where plants are modern and properly maintained (as is the case in France and was the case with our British nuclear reactors for the most part), is excellent. Yes, there are accidents, but horrible events like Chernobyl are VERY rare.

 

As a person who lives very near a nuclear power plant I must say I do feel very safe about it not going 3mile island or Chernobyl on me.

Although even though there is a plan that can be activated in case something bad is about hit the fan I fear it won't matter because people will gtfo like crazy. Also no one is going to terror attack a place that is very near a very crappy town and its very crappy manatee industry.

[ginnyfizz]

Security would certainly be an issue to be considered, but then it already has to be super tight at nuclear plants due to the threat from anti nuclear protestors.

[Coous]

Security would certainly be an issue to be considered, but then it already has to be super tight at nuclear plants due to the threat from anti nuclear protestors.

 

Well it must be different else where because no one is protesting anything,maybe because it's sorta the livelyhood of the town.

There was some recent damage to the plant about a few months ago hired a huge team of people to repair it,I'm pretty sure Nuclear Plants are very very safe in U.S. and elsewhere.

[Vindekarr]

Coous, Ginny, Chaos, you're exactly right. For large scale use, such as in industry and for powering our homes, fusion is the best possible future energy source around at the moment. Right now fusion doesnt work to well, but when the kinks are finaly worked out, it will be ideal. The biggest thorn in the side of Fusion plant advocates are antinueclear fanatics. They are just that, ignorant fanatics, generaly speaking the only way their fears of neuclear apocalypse could be realised would be through their own actions resulting in meltdown, but with fusion, thats not much of an issue. they are a very safe science, as what most people dont seem to understand is that they cant actualy blow up, and if they do, the result isnt a neuclear bomb, its more of a gas fire or at worst a hyperincendiery explosion.

 

Im all for fusion myself, Ive had a look at the plant specs, the dangers, and the advantages and unlike fission, the "bad neuclear power system" this has a real future and a lot of possibilities if advanced properly. I say advanced properly because some of the research isnt terribly mature or realisticto date, with such ideas coming forward as a neuclear powered plane-though such a device would be too heavy to fly.

[Balagor]

We can still go with green energy. Problem is that our energy consumers are insufficient. Improve on them, and we can go green.