Your best idea for power!

[Forrest747]

Ok there are alot of smart and crazy people here and given the current state of energy in this world, if you were Energy Secertary and could order the best methods to produce energy what would you do?

For me I would put money into developing low flow no head hydro turbines. Put them in the large rivers of the world. even in small rivers like the Green River or Colorado for small towns. Kind of like Idaho falls, how they have a 15 foot drop to produce energy for the surrounding area.

I beleive in alot of untapped resource in wave energy. use a tidal flow like in the mouth of san francisco bay or maybe some sort of tube that uses the wave energy to force air through a turbine. http://www.wavegen.co.uk/what_we_offer_limpet_islay.htm

I think that cars should be run on natural gas. invest in a in-home filling station and put them in at least a million homes. find ways to convert existing cars into CNG cars. I would love it if my jeep was CNG. its economical to allow people to convert than go but a new car and in this economy it would be cheaper than buying a new one.

Some nuclear, alot more than now and coal as well, we have so much of that and we have ways of buring it as clean as we can. .

Drill for oil and natural gas here. Companies do not want the bad press, no one wants to be the Exxon Valdez or BP. they will happen but companies will do things to mitigate and its cheaper to be safe and clean up than being reckless.

I would mandate that Berkley live for 3 years under cap and trade; let them see how it would really work. its great on paper but in real life. better yet make it the university of colorado in Boulder, it gets cold there and to save the enviorment all dorms must be set to 60 degrees and have a set limit on the amount of power they can use. they can always buy more credits if they want heat.

[Mojave Bob]

CNG for portability, and harness the corealis affect for the grid.

[eamarquardt]

Ok there are alot of smart and crazy people here and given the current state of energy in this world, if you were Energy Secertary and could order the best methods to produce energy what would you do?

For me I would put money into developing low flow no head hydro turbines. Put them in the large rivers of the world. even in small rivers like the Green River or Colorado for small towns. Kind of like Idaho falls, how they have a 15 foot drop to produce energy for the surrounding area. It should be done in a manner that still allows fish and other wildlife to survive. They have a home also.

I beleive in alot of untapped resource in wave energy. use a tidal flow like in the mouth of san francisco bay or maybe some sort of tube that uses the wave energy to force air through a turbine. It's starting to happen but the ocean is a very harsh environment.

I think that cars should be run on natural gas. invest in a in home filling station and put them in at least a million homes. find ways to convert existing cars into CNG cars. I would love it if my jeep was CNG. its economical to allow people to convert than go but a new car and in this economy it would be cheaper than buying a new one. High pressure compressed gases (especially flammable gases) can be dangerous. I'm not sure having many untrained and unsupervised folks doing this in their neighborhoods is such a great idea.

Some nuclear, alot more than now and coal as well, we have so much of that and we have ways of buring it as clean as we can. Me thinks, based upon recent events, that we gotta be a bit more careful with nuclear fission as a power source.

Drill for oil and natural gas here. Companies do not want the bad press, no one wants to be the Exxon Valdez or BP. they will happen but companies will do things to mitigate and its cheaper to be safe and clean up than being reckless. My son, who has been working in the oil fields of Santa Barbara County for six months now and knows it all, says that fracking is safe if done correctly. I'd like to know more.

I would mandate that Berkley live for 3 years under cap and trade; let them see how it would really work. its great on paper but in real life. better yet make it the university of colorado in Boulder, it gets cold there and to save the enviorment all dorms must be set to 60 degrees and have a set limit on the amount of power they can use. they can always buy more credits if they want heat. Berkley is a special place. Perhaps we could simply build containment structure around it like they do with nuclear reactors

My thoughts: Conservation first. Solar, wind, biofuels to the maximum extent practical. The damage to the environment from these is far less, in the long run, than fossil fuels. Fusion power as soon as possible. Pay more attention, see Solyndra, along the way to ensure that we get the most "bang for our buck" developing new technologies.

Cheers,

Gus

[jstrubberg]

One of the coolest energy generators I've seen uses wave action to move a magnet up and down a copper coil and produces power.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-n ... c=y&page=1


How about the huge number of public and private buildings we have tht don't have any sort of solar colelction apparatus on them? Not only could you generate some electricity, you could shade the roofs of those structures and lower their power consumption...

[Treeview]

Wanna save power, especially in your home?

Insulate, weatherstrip and change to energy efficient appliances.

Having 'green' cars is glamourous and gives a warm fuzzy feeling. But look at how much energy is used to heat/cool your house. The payback is very quick but it takes money upfront to do the upgrades.

During Carter's administration there were tax breaks for doing a lot of this work. Studies that compiled the before/after data showed that it was a very good payback. The offset in tax breaks increased jobs for insulation companies. The savings in energy consumption was amazing.

High tech is enticing. But adding weatherstripping and better ceiling insulation pays back sooner.

Is it too hard to make a metaphor of how people approach the construction of their tears and how a house is built? Not for me.

Tom

[parnold]

Let's take some of the people on unemployment, and train them to build large solar arrays, and put them to work. In essence, it would be "free" labor for the government, and would be giving them new job skills, so also benefiting the recipients.

[rmclarke]

I had never heard of this before. I'm not proposing this, just posting for the discussion. Pretty darned interesting.

http://www.wimp.com/lftrminutes/

*This is just a 5 minute synopsis.... just google LFTR or thorium.

[eamarquardt]

I had never heard of this before. I'm not proposing this, just posting for the discussion. Pretty darned interesting.

http://www.wimp.com/lftrminutes/

*This is just a 5 minute synopsis.... just google LFTR or thorium.

It's been around a long time (since the 60's) but is isn't quite the panacea as the fellow presents it to be. Maybe it will be some day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium_fuel_cycle

Cheers,

Gus

[LDK]

How about a space solar array. The energy could then be beamed back to earth.
The technology is there the only problem is the cost.

[SteveW]

I think we should go to all the LA Fitness health clubs and all the countless gyms in our nation and hook up all the cycles and treadmills to the grid.

[D.J.]

Here in Manitoba we have many long , fast flowing rivers . This is a water wheel that is mounted on shore and the blades are in the water for part of their rotation . The river is not blocked by power production since most of the wheel is on land . This is from a 1915 Popular Mechanics magazine . .... D.J.

[Shadow Catcher]

There are recent advances in solar ink, eventually printed solar panels will be very cost effective. Having worked in nukes a number of years I am not in favor, accidents are just so permanent.

[PaulC]

How come nobody has mentioned Hydrogen

Cheers
Paul

[LDK]

How come nobody has mentioned Hydrogen

Cheers
Paul

Hydrogen from what I understand is like the houdini of elements. It's very hard to contain. It just wants to disappear.

[absolutsnwbrdr]

How come nobody has mentioned Hydrogen

Cheers
Paul

I was waiting for someone to mention that. You just werent the person I expected.