History, energy, automobiles

[Robert Myers]

At 10:43 AM 3/16/02, Doyt W. Echelberger wrote:

>No one mentions nuclear energy because it is too dirty and expensive. But 
>how about fusion power?

Locally (on Earth) produced fusion power might be a possibility.  There 
remains one very large hurdle however.  It's kinda like the proverbial 
story.  "Hey, Dad, I just invented the universal solvent.  It will dissolve 
absolutely everything."  "Oh?  Whatcha gonna keep it in?"  So far no one 
has come up with a satisfactory method for containing the astronomical 
(literally) temperatures involved.  Work has been done (and continues, I 
believe) toward containing the process inside a "magnetic bottle".  So far, 
the process has not proven to be a net source of power.  Research must 
continue.

>That nearby star already indirectly runs all kinds of energy-using 
>machines, such as the weather and plant growth/chlorophyll. Said star is 
>going to be around for enough time that it is a prime candidate for making 
>all the energy we will ever need. Just a matter of utilization and delivery.

(Quoting what I wrote to another list member,)  Agreed, of 
course.  Unfortunately we aren't there yet.

My wife and I just completed a new home a few months back.  We wanted to 
put a solar array on our south facing roof which is perfectly situated for 
the purpose.  Went as far as getting a best price for the 
equipment.  Compared the estimated annual output of the array to our annual 
usage and the current price for electricity from the grid in our location 
(0.05/kwh).  Time required to recoup our investment?  An almost 
unbelievable 78 years!  This, for an old fart of 64 years, makes very 
little economic sense.

You must also consider the total amount of radiated solar energy on the 
surface of the earth.  Collecting and using 100% of it for power probably 
will not prove sufficient for the world's present and future "needs" unless 
conservation efforts are greatly stepped up.  We can't use 100% of 
it.  Present state of the art manages to produce electrical energy from 
collected sunlight at an approximate 17% efficiency (unless great progress 
has been made in recent years of which I'm not aware.  We need not to 
collect some of it to provide energy for plant growth.

Again, research must continue.



>Doyt
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
>At 08:54 AM 3/16/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>>But the basic question remains, Gross.  What is the ultimate source of 
>>the hydrogen...........
>
>
>
>
>
>---
>Incoming mail is certified Virus Free.
>Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
>Version: 6.0.338 / Virus Database: 189 - Release Date: 3/14/02

Bob
*****
  Robert L. Myers   304-574-2372
  Rt. 4, Box 57,  Fayetteville, WV 25840 USA   WV tag Q SHIP
  '95 urS6  Cashmere Grey - der Wunderwagen    ICQ 22170244
  http://www.cob-net.org/church/pvcob.htm
*****