By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - General - Energy solution for the U.S.?

Fusion power is where we will end up I tell you. Its got absolutely massive power outputs, making the cost relatively cheap if we ever actually get it so that it produces more power than it uses.

Also the fuel (deuterium and tritium I believe?) is so abundant that we can use it for literally billions of years - effectively making it a renewable power source.


Another option is sun farms, dedicate a large enough portion of say the Sahara desert to a sun farm (essentially a field of mirrors) and you easily have enough power to power the world.



Around the Network
tarheel91 said:
luinil said:
tarheel91 said:
epsilon72 said:
How about we actually build more Nuclear Power Plants and drill for our own oil?
Energy "crisis" solved right there.

Ignorance at its best. Gotta love it. Realistically, the most likely solution the US might adopt is natural gas. It's much more efficient than gasoline, burns cleaner, and we have much larger reserves of it than oil. It should hold us over for a few hundred years 'till we can get something more permanent.

My dream solution is antimatter. 100% efficiency, incredible amounts of power in small sizes, NO polution. If we could ever create this crap at a practical speed (and store it), the energy crisis would be all but over.


I would be for natural gas. We have an abundence of Natural Gas around. But we have LOTS of oil still around too. Plenty for several decades before we start getting short of natural supply. So now, what is ignorant about what epsilon said?

Energy from nuclear power plants is much more expensive than other forms of energy despite decades of intensive research. Also, we still don't have a practical way to safely store or dispose of the waste created from nuclear power plants. There's a reason the great majority of countries are scaling down their nuclear power plant programs.

While we do have a few decades of oil left, pursuing new drilling places isn't very wise. Prices are going to keep rising regardless of a few more million barrels of oil. I believe it's speculated that if we extracted ALL the oil left in our planet, it'd still only last us 60-80 years at current rates. Essentially, drilling for new oil spots is a waste of time because it diverts our attention away from new energy sources and doesn't do anything to help prices. We can't just magically find new drilling spots; there are a limited number, and they're running out.

Note: The only problem with natural gas is it's stored and transported in a liquid form that is highly combustible. It's much more dangerous than oil to transport. We do have over two centures worth of it, though, at current consumption rates.

Edit: The ignorance part, in case it wasn't clear, was in reference to the mistaken idea that many people have that we can magically find new drilling spots and there's this unlimited supply of oil. Also, people think nuclear power is some magical solution when it has just as many pros and cons as other energy sources in reality.

I meant it as a solution for the problems we are having now (such as, the skyrocketing gas prices).  Of course I'm not dense (or "ignorant" ) enough to think that we have an unlimited supply of fossil fuels.  Nuclear power is also a good way to go for now as we do not have fusion power ready yet (although it is moving along..slowly).  Natural gas would work great for cars, if we can find a way to get the auto/oil industries to cooperate and let it happen.  Drilling for oil (while we have it) would not be a waste of time as long as steps are still being taken to transition away from it (because our economy depends on it..and we can't just switch over overnight).

 



Dyson Sphere.

/thread



JustinUK said:
Let's just hope that the experimental fusion reactor in France (ITER) is a success. It seems to work for the sun.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITER
It's definitely a long term project jointly funded by many countries. In the UK there seems to have been a big backlash against biofuels as it seems immense tracts of land need to be cleared to grow the crops. Gas prices here have risen rapidly and now stand at about $8.50 a gallon.

Not to mention the oil based stuff used to grow the biofuels, and that a number of Euro biofuel companies ship biofuels to the US and then directly back to europe to get the US subsidiares.

 



That Guy said:
Dyson Sphere.

/thread
...but we'll have to make sure not to get trapped inside it if we don't have a small ship to wedge the door open in the event that we have to escape.



Around the Network

+1 for getting my reference



That Guy said:
+1 for getting my reference
TNG ownz.

 



How about you just dont use so much



Manchester United 2008-09 Season - Trophies & Records

Barclays Premier League 2008-09: 1st // UEFA Champions League 2008-09: Finals (Yet To Play) // FIFA Club World Cup: Winners // UEFA Super Cup: Runners-up // FA Cup: Semi-Finals // League (Carling) Cup: Winners // FA (Charity) Community Shield: Winners
Records: First British Team To Win FIFA Club World Cup, New Record for No. Of Consecutive Clean Sheets In Premier League, New English & British League Records for Minutes Without Conceding, New Record For Going Undeafeated In Champions League (25 games ongoing), First British Team To Beat FC Porto In Portugal, First Club To Defeat Arsenal At The Emirates In European Competition, First Team In English League Football History To Win 3 Titles Back To Back On Two Seperate Ocassions