Why in the weepin creepin jesus are we not funding this?!?!?

[steveh_131]

instead of putting generator windmills in the middle of farm fields, how about this:

we could grow crops on the windmill blades

 

[steveh_131]

oh wait, I've got it. this is groundbreaking.

we could turn the roads into great big treadmills. the cars will spin the treadmill while they drive. the faster they drive, the more electricity.

 

[CHCRandy]

here's what you do, guys.

hook up en electric motor.. to a generator...

listen, guys. so then you hook the generator

back to the motor

boom. perpetual motion.

Landfills are somewhat doing this. They have a generator hooked to methane gas...the gas fuels the generator that in turn generates power they sell back to Duke.

Now I think we should all have one of them generators and harvest our own methane.

 

[ArmedProgrammer]

Landfills are somewhat doing this. They have a generator hooked to methane gas...the gas fuels the generator that in turn generates power they sell back to Duke.

Now I think we should all have one of them generators and harvest our own methane.

How do you know Fenway's not harvesting all of the errrr... methane on this forum and making a mint powering half of Bloomington with it???

And that's with the Political forum alone!

 

[Mark 1911]

Not very realistic. Too expensive to make and maintain.

 

[Suprtek]

There have been multiple concepts developed to generate electricity from the weight of vehicles traveling over a road surface. There have even been concepts involving generating power from the motion of tides. It seems to me these concepts would hold much more promise than what has been presented in this thread.

 

[Bowman78]

There still isn't any energy generating fuel that can outdo fossil fuels on any level... If someone knows of one post up...

 

[chezuki]

If someone knows of one post up...

 

[Bowman78]

Nope, try again.. Can you just dig that chunk out of the ground with one scoop or are we looking at the equivalent of millions of man hours worth of research and mining and tons of other energy expended to obtain it??? Btw not the easiest material to transport/handle or dispose of after decay??? You want a reactor in your back yard???

 

[chezuki]

Nope, try again.. Can you just dig that chunk out of the ground with one scoop or are we looking at the equivalent of millions of man hours worth of research and mining and tons of other energy expended to obtain it??? Btw not the easiest material to transport/handle or dispose of after decay??? You want a reactor in your back yard???

Calm down sweetie. This is the break room.

 

[Bowman78]

Calm down sweetie. This is the break room.

i feel you peaches... Tippin back a torpedo now..

 

[mrjarrell]

You dig uranium out of the ground and refine it till you get plutonium. Sounds like oil. Erg for erg plutonium is more efficient than oil and lasts a helluva lot longer. Chezuki is correct, although I prefer thorium. More efficient and less deadly in the long run.

 

[jagee]

I guess it is the construction background talking here, but...they are going to have 2 different concrete channels under these solar FREAKING roadways. So, basically, build a road out of concrete, build another road out of concrete on top of that with a space in between, then put solar panels on top. Tear up ALL of the roads, then rebuild them 3 times before you get the final product. Yeah, that's financially responsible.

 

[Bowman78]

You dig uranium out of the ground and refine it till you get plutonium. Sounds like oil. Erg for erg plutonium is more efficient than oil and lasts a helluva lot longer. Chezuki is correct, although I prefer thorium. More efficient and less deadly in the long run.

No offense meant but I think if you do research i think you will find your theory is flawed on comparing output vs output... You gotta factor in safety as well as energy expended to obtain this element.. Oil and coal are very safe comparatively speaking..

 

[mrjarrell]

No offense meant but I think if you do research i think you will find your theory is flawed on comparing output vs output... You gotta factor in safety as well as energy expended to obtain this element.. Oil and coal are very safe comparatively speaking..

Tell that to the people of the Gulf Coast. Oil is incredibly dirty and it's effects can be very wide spread. Oil spill anyone? Reactors are actually pretty safe, barring total catastrophe. And they don't add to carbon output on anything approaching the scale of oil and coal. Nuclear is much better than oil and coal and lasts a lot longer. Takes less radioactive material to produce the same power that a coal or oil plant does.

 

[HeadlessRoland]

Technically, Chezuki is right, plutonium/uranium/transuranic elements are more energy-dense than gasoline/diesel/petroleum products, by far, safety issues notwithstanding. But I'm still waiting on a small-molten-salt-reactor car. Forget electric cars, I want a nuke-car.

 

[Bowman78]

Tell that to the people of the Gulf Coast. Oil is incredibly dirty and it's effects can be very wide spread. Oil spill anyone? Reactors are actually pretty safe, barring total catastrophe. And they don't add to carbon output on anything approaching the scale of oil and coal. Nuclear is much better than oil and coal and lasts a lot longer. Takes less radioactive material to produce the same power that a coal or oil plant does.

Bet they would take that small window of dirty water over what the folks in the Fukushima disaster on chernobyl or three mile island ??? But those are rare and don't last that long right??? At least they have a small carbon footprint??? This is too serious for the BR btw...

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

instead of putting generator windmills in the middle of farm fields, how about this:

we could grow crops on the windmill blades

That's what I like about you.....you're ever the dreamer, but with a purpose.

 

[steveh_131]

That's what I like about you.....you're ever the dreamer, but with a purpose.

I see what you did there.

 

[actaeon277]

I had a potential customer in Santa Fe, NM that was building a subdivision with a natural gas generator that would feed the houses with electricity and the hot water that was created from cooling the generator would be used for heat and replace the water heater. He was in a battle with the municipal electric company because the generator would not supply enough power during peak times so they would need to be hooked to the grid. During off peak hours the generator would supply more than needed for the subdivision and would cause the meeter to spin backwards lowering the kilowatts on the meter and what you would be charged for.

The Electric company wanted two separate meters one for incoming and one for outgoing. They would allow a credit for incoming Kilowatts but it was at less than half. His argument was a kilowatt is a kilowatt.

Things never did work out for us to do business together but he was a smart guy that had a concept I thought intriguing. The Hot Water plumbing would have been run through out the subdivision in a six inch pipe filled with black foam insulation with a one inch pipe in the center with SS fittings.

This was fifteen years ago and I'm sure things have changed a lot. I know my meter at my house was changed from the spinning disk to a digital unit.

You want to charge them, what they charge you?
So, then you're going to start installing maintaining power lines, transformers, stations. Have crews of people working?
You aren't just being charged for the electricity.
You are also being charged for all the stuff necessary to get it to your house.