Alternative Energy

**Marmite the Dog** · 13-08-2006, 11:57 AM

Originally Posted by Patongharbourview

I know you can import them from china. I have also been looking for a thai source.

Do you know how much a slave might cost?

**discus2000** · 16-08-2006, 05:29 PM

^a Thai or a Chinese one...? Might be able to get you an Indian as well, if you're interested...

**Marmite the Dog** · 16-08-2006, 06:02 PM

Originally Posted by discus2000

^a Thai or a Chinese one...? Might be able to get you an Indian as well, if you're interested...

A cute Thai one would be best, but I definitely don't want and Indian stinking the place out.

**discus2000** · 16-08-2006, 06:15 PM

now now, no monkey comments

**stroller** · 18-08-2006, 04:48 PM

And I thought British imperialism brought civilisation to the Indians?
Seems Marmite would like to give them another wonderful chance to become human beings through education by slave labour.
Hmm... , I never could figure out why the British are so unpopular in their former colonies....

But seriously, people are a great source of 'alternative' energy, using one's own feet to walk or cycle, for example. Popular in places like Holland and Germany, but regarded as a sign of poverty in Thailand and the Philippines.
Recycling conserves enegy as well, it has become an obsession in Germany, in developing countries it is a matter of necessity, though there is much more potential, specially in Thailand with its packaging-at-nausea culture.

**in4zip** · 18-08-2006, 04:57 PM

Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog

Originally Posted by discus2000

^a Thai or a Chinese one...? Might be able to get you an Indian as well, if you're interested...

A cute Thai one would be best, but I definitely don't want and Indian stinking the place out.

she'd only produce heat and GoW would start looking in cutlery and duck farming

but on a more serious note, not to pissoff Herr Stroller, it seems that the TH goverment (or Agency?) has a monopoly and quotas on pv panels (electricity generating photovoltaic thingies)

**Marmite the Dog** · 18-08-2006, 07:31 PM

Originally Posted by stroller

Hmm... , I never could figure out why the British are so unpopular in their former colonies....

Strangely, I could never work out why we are so popular.

**magpie** · 19-08-2006, 05:57 PM

Everytime I see a lightning strike I think "How can we harness that?"

30 million volts a strike.

Geothermal energy tests in outback Australia seem to have potential.

DoIR - Geological Survey of Western Australia - Discover Geology - Geothermal Energy

**stroller** · 24-12-2006, 07:29 PM

Solar Cell Breaks the 40% Efficiency Barrier
A photovoltaic (PV) cell achieved a milestone earlier this week with a conversion efficiency of 40.7 percent. Produced by Spectrolab, Inc. -- a wholly owned subsidiary of Boeing -- and funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the breakthrough could lead to PV systems with an installed cost of $3 per watt and produce electricity at a cost of $0.08 to $0.10 cents per kilowatt-hour.
...
"These results are particularly encouraging since they were achieved using a new class of metamorphic semiconductor materials, allowing much greater freedom in multijunction cell design for optimal conversion of the solar spectrum," said Dr. Richard R. King, principal investigator of the high efficiency solar cell research and development effort. "The excellent performance of these materials hints at still higher efficiency in future solar cells."

**jopi** · 25-12-2006, 11:38 AM

Originally Posted by magpie

Everytime I see a lightning strike I think "How can we harness that?"

30 million volts a strike.

Geothermal energy tests in outback Australia seem to have potential.

DoIR - Geological Survey of Western Australia - Discover Geology - Geothermal Energy

Might be Nature's way of taunting us with such remarkable wastage, but only a matter of time before we harness either that or some other more practical form of energy.

**stroller** · 26-12-2006, 10:45 PM

Berlin is getting ready for the next generation of public transport. As part of an EU-sponsored project, the German capital has added four hydrogen-fueled buses to its fleet
...
"During the last 10 to 15 years, we have been experimenting with modern technology that will define transport for the future," says Klaus Wazlak, spokesman for the Berlin Transportation Company (BVG). "As far as hydrogen is concerned, we can look to the future with great optimism."
...
Despite its optimism, the European Union is realistic about the prospects of a hydrogen economy. "It is a bit far away," Tarradellas says. "I don't see it happening tomorrow."

Wagner agrees. "The future," he speculates, "will be a mix of natural gas, hydrogen, synthetic fuel and conventional fossil fuels."
Heralding The Hydrogen Economy: Berlin's Brave New World of Public Transport - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News

**RDN** · 27-12-2006, 11:47 PM

Originally Posted by stroller

Berlin is getting ready for the next generation of public transport. As part of an EU-sponsored project, the German capital has added four hydrogen-fueled buses to its fleet
...
"During the last 10 to 15 years, we have been experimenting with modern technology that will define transport for the future," says Klaus Wazlak, spokesman for the Berlin Transportation Company (BVG). "As far as hydrogen is concerned, we can look to the future with great optimism."
...
Despite its optimism, the European Union is realistic about the prospects of a hydrogen economy. "It is a bit far away," Tarradellas says. "I don't see it happening tomorrow."

Wagner agrees. "The future," he speculates, "will be a mix of natural gas, hydrogen, synthetic fuel and conventional fossil fuels."
Heralding The Hydrogen Economy: Berlin's Brave New World of Public Transport - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News

US $63,000,000 invested so far. These f*cking EU bureaucrats think money grows on trees.

Scrap the "project" now. If private enterprise isn't doing it, why waste tax-payers money on it?

(Answer: because they can.)

**Hootad Binky** · 04-03-2008, 02:20 AM

They have plenty of sunlight...

Australia thinks big on solar power

Amid fears that increased energy usage could cause blackouts, the Australian government has set upon Solar energy as its saviour...

Satellite technology: The plant
in Victoria, Australia, will be the
world’s largest concentrated solar
photovoltaic power station

Australia is to build the world’s biggest solar power plant after the Hong Kong-based CLP power generating group announced on Monday that it would invest $270m in the project.

The 154MW scheme, located in the south-eastern state of Victoria, would have nearly twice the capacity of the biggest existing solar power plant, in California’s Mojave desert. The Mojave system, however, links nine power plants together for a total capacity of 354MW.

The technology, originally developed to power satellites, multiplies the power of the sun 500 times. The dish has 112 curved mirrors that track the sun throughout the day.

Australia thinks big on solar power - Buying and investing in property abroad in Australia

**Hootad Binky** · 04-03-2008, 02:28 AM

Found an interesting study at MIT about the possibilities of geothermal:

"Hot Rocks" for Home Energy

January 31, 2007

Geothermal power, a renewable energy source that has been largely ignored in the United States, can supply a significant share of the country’s future energy needs, according to a new Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) study. The study notes that by investing some $1 billion over 15 years—less than the cost of building a single clean-coal power plant—geothermal energy could power about 25 million U.S. homes by 2050.

“We’ve determined that heat mining can be economical in the short term," said Jefferson Tester, a professor of chemical engineering at MIT and the head of the 18-member panel that prepared the report. The 400-page assessment, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, is considered the broadest review of geothermal energy in 30 years. It is based on a global analysis of existing geothermal systems, an assessment of U.S. geothermal resources, and continuing improvements in the technologies of deep drilling and reservoir stimulation.

Most commercial production of geothermal energy in the United States today occurs in isolated reaches of the West, where higher-grade heat sources lie closest to the surface. But the report notes that subsurface “hot rocks�? (areas of the Earth’s hard rock crust that store thermal energy) are present across the nation, offering the potential for more widespread use of the renewable resource. By drilling wells into hot rock regions and connecting them to water, geothermal developers could generate large amounts of steam that could be used to power electric generators on the surface.

Because geothermal power is derived from the Earth’s heat and from steam, the environmental impacts of geothermal development are considerably lower than those from conventional coal-fired and nuclear power plants, the report notes. Geothermal also offers an uninterrupted power supply, unlike renewable energy sources like solar and wind that are affected by weather and time of day. The downsides of geothermal, according to the study, include large water requirements, particularly in arid regions, and higher seismic risk because the easiest places to access the hot rocks are near fault lines.

Figure 1.1 Schematic of a conceptual two-well Enhanced Geothermal
System in hot rock in a low-permeability crystalline basement formation.

Overall, however, the report’s authors believe that large geothermal stores could contribute significantly to U.S. energy needs, providing a viable alternative to fossil fuel use. “Geothermal energy could play an important role in our national energy picture as a non-carbon-based energy source,�? said panel member M. Nafi Toksöz, a professor of geophysics at MIT. Among the recommendations outlined in the study are conducting more detailed and site-specific assessments of the U.S. geothermal resource and making a multiyear federal commitment to demonstrate the concept in the field at commercial scale.

WorldChanging: Tools, Models and Ideas for Building a Bright Green Future: "Hot Rocks" for Home Energy

MIT releases major report on geothermal energy

**Neverna** · 23-11-2015, 09:56 PM

I thought this thread was more up to date, but anyway, this news article fits right in here.

Moroccan solar plant to bring energy to a million people - BBC News

Moroccan solar plant to bring energy to a million people

A giant plant using energy from the Sun to power a Moroccan city at night will open next month.

The solar thermal plant at Ouarzazate will harness the Sun's warmth to melt salt, which will hold its heat to power a steam turbine in the evening.

The first phase will generate for three hours after dark; the last stage aims to supply power 20 hours a day.

It is part of Morocco's pledge to get 42% of its electricity from renewables by 2020. The UN has praised Morocco for the level of its ambition.

The UK, a much richer country, is aiming for 30% by the same date.

The Saudi-built Ouarzazate solar thermal plant will be one of the world's biggest when it is complete. The mirrors will cover the same area as the country's capital, Rabat.

Futuristic complex
Paddy Padmanathan of Saudi-owned ACWA Power, which is running the thermal project, said: "Whether you are an engineer or not, any passer-by is simply stunned by it.

"You have 35 soccer fields of huge parabolic mirrors pointed to the sky which are moveable so they will track the Sun throughout the day."

The developers say phase one of the futuristic complex will bring energy to a million people.

The complex stands on the edge of a gritty, flat, rust-red desert, with the snow-clad Atlas mountains towering to the North.

It is part of a vision from Morocco's King Mohammed VI to turn his country into a renewable energy powerhouse.

Melted salt inside this tank holds heat into the evening

The country has been 98% dependent on imported fossil fuels, but the king was persuaded of the vast capacity of Atlantic wind, mountain hydro power and scorching Saharan sun.

The king's plans are being enacted by environment minister Hakima el Haite. She told me: "We are convinced that climate change is an opportunity for our country."

As part of its national commitment to the Paris climate conference, Morocco has pledged to decrease CO2 emissions 32% below business-as-usual by 2030, conditional on aid to reach the renewables target.

Currently Morocco imports electricity from Spain, but engineers hope that will not last long.

Paddy Padmanathan predicted: "If Morocco is able to generate electricity at seven, eight cents per kilowatt - very possible - it will have thousands of megawatts excess.

"It's obvious this country should be able to export into Europe and it will. And it will not need to do anything at all… it needs to do is just sit there because Europe will start to need it."

Thread: Alternative Energy

Thread Tools

Display

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

Posting Permissions