Counter-acting pitting in boilers, alt energies

[mrb37211]

I would suggest, Harold, that there are only three "sources" of energy readily available to us: solar, nuclear, and geothermal. Coal, oil and natural gas are antique stored energy and hydrogen, lead-acid and other batteries are modern stored energy.

Solar can be captured, stored, and used in a number of ways. Hydroelectric power is an excellent methodology for this. Electrolysis of water, if done by solar power, is a way to store solar energy in hydrogen. Burning wood and other plant material directly or via conversion to alcohol is another way of capturing, storing and using solar energy.

If we could overcome our national phobia, nuclear may be the best source of energy for us -- after all there are 10s of thousands of bombs being disassembled to provide the raw material. One could say that nuclear is stored, but I did not since -- unlike coal etc. it decays with time whether used productively or not.

Geothermal is readily available in certain geological formations and in fact is being used in California and Iceland, among other places. Yellowstone National Park would be a GREAT source for geothermal energy!

Several places in the world -- think Dead Sea and Death Valley -- offer opportunities for hydroelectric power without building dams. Just cut a canal or tunnel to the sea and generate electricity as the water flows downhill to fill up the hole. In fact it might be possible to size the water flow so that evaporation kept the holes from ever filling up.

Just some kinda far out thoughts.

Charles

[oheider]

Good Stuff!
The problem with alternative fuels has already been solved by conventional fuels, energy density. The world uses a tremendous amount of fossil fuel energy in a day, and it is in a convenient form. Batteries, hydrogen, and particularly fuel cells either can't compete cost wise or bang for cubic inch. I believe the real answer is hydrogen bonding, the normal cycle that living cells use to store energy. Imagine that the power output of Grand Coulee could be stored in a quart Mason jar of chicken soup and there you have the solution. I just haven't worked out any of the details. People much smarter than I haven't either.

Otto

[UnkaJesse]

Charles, how many years would pass before the concentration of salt would let you walk on the surface of the "water" in Death Valley or the Dead Sea?? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif"%20alt="[/img]

Unka(Good but far out thinking though! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/shocked.gif"%20alt="[/img])Jesse

[mrb37211]

No telling! Bet Bonneville would have competition for setting land speed records, though. Charles

[Harold_V]

No telling! Bet Bonneville would have competition for setting land speed records, though. Charles

To say nothing of the industries that would be created. The Great Salt Lake in Utah has produced countless millions of tons of magnesium alone. Concentrating salt water has some valuable benefits, so the idea is very sound, assuming the land owner wouldn't mind turning the desert into a lake.

Harold