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May 18, 2013, 8:39pm

Any Port in a Storm :: The Beacon :: Saving the World :: Viable energy alternatives

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Topic: Viable energy alternatives (Read 2,213 times)

kimby
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Re: Viable energy alternatives
« Reply #60 on May 27, 2011, 1:32am »

With all the aging baby boomers - half of them women - it's a shame someone hasn't figured how to harness the power of hot flashes!

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kerouac2
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Re: Viable energy alternatives
« Reply #61 on May 30, 2011, 5:48pm »

I have often thought that televisions should be powered by exercise cycles. The end of couch potatoes! (but some people would pay their children to pedal for them)

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bixaorellana
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Re: Viable energy alternatives
« Reply #62 on May 30, 2011, 6:11pm »

Ha -- that's a good idea! In my case, it would have to be the computer, which I also use as a tv. Someone needs to get to work incorporating a mouse into the handlebars.

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auntieannie
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Re: Viable energy alternatives
« Reply #63 on Jun 1, 2011, 2:48pm »

it's been done. just link exercise bikes to TVs, play stations, etc. it works with minimal adaptation into the power output/input.

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Dans les grandes choses, les hommes se montrent comme il leur convient de se montrer; dans les petites, ils se montrent comme ils sont.

kerouac2
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Re: Viable energy alternatives
« Reply #64 on Jun 3, 2011, 8:57pm »

But it needs to be made OBLIGATORY!

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bixaorellana
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Re: Viable energy alternatives
« Reply #65 on Jun 4, 2011, 3:26am »

Isn't this pretty?
[image]

http://www.good.is/post/behold-the-gorgeous-solar-farms-of-le-mees-france/

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onlymark
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Re: Viable energy alternatives
« Reply #66 on Jun 4, 2011, 8:49am »

It says it uses 89 acres for 9000 families. Rough calculations then say 1 acre can supply 100 families. This'll be midsummer as they always state the best these things can do. So more realistically take a median and say 1 acre can supply 50 families all year.

So - again rough calculation - 1 family is say 4 people on average for the world population, so for 6 billion people we have 1.5 billion families.
Divide that by 100 and you get 15 million acres.
That's just a bit less than Ireland or Sri Lanka.
So we cover them with solar panels, Sri Lanka probably better than Ireland for the sun, and problem solved.

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kerouac2
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Re: Viable energy alternatives
« Reply #67 on Jun 4, 2011, 10:58am »

Just two blocks from my flat, they are going to be installing the largest solar electric panels in the middle of a big city, as they convert some old rail warehouses into a hostel, restaurant and artists complex. Since the old building was built to catch as much sun as possible, the roof is already positioned perfectly for the panels.

[image]

Nevertheless, this is more of a PR gimmick than anything else, because there is so much dust and pollution in a city that unless the panels are cleaned constantly, they will not be very useful. Apparently even the thinnest film of dirt cuts production by about 30%.

« Last Edit: Jun 4, 2011, 10:24pm by kerouac2 »

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auntieannie
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Re: Viable energy alternatives
« Reply #68 on Jun 4, 2011, 9:27pm »

ah, that's something I've always wondered.... maintenance of solar panels... are the panels still quite fragile that cells would break relatively easily? Would one then be able to change cell by cell or is that not possible?

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Dans les grandes choses, les hommes se montrent comme il leur convient de se montrer; dans les petites, ils se montrent comme ils sont.

kerouac2
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Re: Viable energy alternatives
« Reply #69 on Jun 4, 2011, 10:25pm »

I imagine that a panel is not too hard to change -- but how much does one cost?

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bixaorellana
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Re: Viable energy alternatives
« Reply #70 on Jun 6, 2011, 6:13am »

Jun 4, 2011, 8:49am, onlymark wrote:

Divide that by 100 and you get 15 million acres.
That's just a bit less than Ireland or Sri Lanka.

Some of these methods can't be seen as across-the-board solutions. However, where there is space to do something as shown in the picture, why not?

I think this belongs here. It looks as though it could be adapted fairly easily for isolated places in other parts of the world:

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bixaorellana
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Re: Viable energy alternatives
« Reply #71 on Jul 10, 2011, 3:14pm »

Reuters: Australia unveils sweeping carbon plan in climate fight <-- click for full text

excerpts:
Australia is the developed world's worst per-capita greenhouse gas emitter because of its heavy reliance on cheap coal for power generation.
...
Australian retail and clean-energy stocks were expected to be among the winners, and airlines and miners among the plan's losers, but analysts said financial markets overall were tipped to take the policy in their stride.
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Australia said it hoped to link its scheme, which would cost A$4.4 billion to implement after household and industry compensation, to other international carbon markets and land abatement schemes when its emissions market was running.

Europe's system, which covers the 27 EU member states plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, has forced power producers to pay for carbon emissions, driving cuts where power plants were forced to switch to cleaner natural gas or biomass.

Gillard said her government would spend A$9.2 billion over the first three years of the scheme to ensure heavy polluting industries like steel and aluminium production were not killed off, and help close the oldest and dirtiest power stations.
...
The scheme also set-up a A$10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation to fund new renewable and cleaner generation capacity, such as wind, solar, gas and wave power plants.
...
... the government has offered tax cuts to low and middle-income households, as well as increased state pension and welfare payments.

Treasurer Wayne Swan said all taxpayers earning below A$80,000 a year would get tax cuts worth around A$300 a year, which analysts said could actually help boost the struggling retail sector, where spending has been sluggish.
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currency converter: http://www.xe.com/ucc/

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