[GRLUG] OFF TOPIC Electric Car

[Collin Kidder]

I mostly agree. But, I think that the 12 new nuke plants are a good 
thing. Nuclear plants can generate electricity in large quantities and 
with fairly low waste. So far we don't have a really big shortage of 
Uranium.

But, I've heard that we could satisfy the energy needs of our country by 
blanketing an area like 20x20 miles with solar cells. We have a lot of 
free space in this country. Why not blanket big patches of wasteland in 
cells?

BTW, capacitors ARE efficient at energy storage. They just tend to leak. 
;) But over the short term they store energy with nearly 100% 
efficiency. Do me a favor. Get a tube TV. Plug that sucker in and turn 
it on. Now take out the capacitor linked to the flyback transformer and 
sit it on a shelf for a month. Come back and grab the terminals while 
standing barefoot. Now tell me capacitors suck at charge storage.

Ben DeMott wrote:
> What no-one tells you about renewable energy is that soon the golden 
> days will be over...
> All energy ultimately comes from the SUN, we had a built up capacity 
> of energy from however long oil was forming in the earth before we 
> started pumping it out.
> Same thing with Coal.
> Once all of the expendable resources are used up, we will never reach 
> a level of efficiency that we had before.
> We will HAVE to put in more work to get less nomatter what... unless 
> we somehow blanket the earth in solar cells, and sterling engines, or 
> drill a giant hole deep into the earth (another unlimited resource)
>
> The problem with all alternative energies are a couple things ...
> 1.) Gasoline is the most dense form of energy available pretty much ...
> 2.) Most energy carriers are less efficient than gasoline (gasoline as 
> been forming in the bowls of the earth for ... well awhile)
> 3.) Of the other forms of energy carriers, transfer is less efficient 
> than gasoline - you have to use a High-Energy to yield another 
> High-Energy (coal, to chemical electrical) and the efficiency loss is 
> *pretty* high.
> 4.) What is the actual source of the energy ?
>
> Eventually everything will have to be Wind, Water, Solar, or 
> Geo-Electric ...
> And at that point a Hydrogen economy makes the most sense - you can 
> pack hydrogen into solid forms and keep it almost as dense as it would 
> be at a liquid state - and hey cryogenic cooling in the summer time 
> eliminates the need for an A/C Compressor and Coolant :)
>
> It's unlikely Capacitors, or Batteries will ever become efficient 
> storage mediums for energy - chemicals wear out, and the energy loss 
> during transfer is quite great, but hey Obama wants to build 12 new 
> Nuclear Power Plants - we'll be in good shape haha
>