The Orion's Arm Universe Project Forums





Renewables
#14
After skimming the book that was linked to a few thoughts:

a) Toward the end the author basically seems to be saying that in order to make renewables work with anything like current tech, some lifestyle changes would also need to be made (changes in transport design away from cars for example) which seems reasonable (ignoring the 'people problems' that have already been mentioned as perhaps the single biggest bottleneck.

b) With (a) in mind - what about the impact of improved insulation and efficiency? Smart grids are being developed now, even if a global grid seems a good ways away and improvements in insulation tech and perhaps changes in building designs that can make better use of passive solar could be phased in over time. IIRC there was a suggest that just painting roofs white or in lighter colors could help with cooling costs (meaning energy used) in many areas. Computer controlled systems for lights, water usage, etc. might also increase efficiency demand and help reduce the overall amount of energy required.

c) While it's not a renewable per se (but H2 is rather common), hydrogen fuels might also play a role in the future. Various experimental programs are out there, including using fuel cells on buses (which would seem to have fewer of the issues associated with alternative fuels than cars do and have better performance as detailed in the linked book). It also appears that some work has been done on trains in this area. If H2 fuels could be phased in, they could reduce or replace the segment of the energy equation for transport. For that matter, I've seen at least one (old) proposal for H2 fueled jet aircraft many years ago. So might impact the air transport segment as well.

Finally re evening out power from renewables - would it be possible to 'store' energy via hydrogen fuel cells to act in this capacity?

Todd
Reply


Messages In This Thread
Renewables - by xsampa - 09-19-2014, 11:38 AM
RE: Renewables - by Cray - 09-19-2014, 12:31 PM
RE: Renewables - by stevebowers - 09-19-2014, 06:22 PM
RE: Renewables - by xsampa - 09-20-2014, 12:09 AM
RE: Renewables - by FrodoGoofball - 09-19-2014, 11:44 PM
RE: Renewables - by Cray - 09-20-2014, 12:32 AM
RE: Renewables - by FrodoGoofball - 09-20-2014, 03:30 AM
RE: Renewables - by stevebowers - 09-20-2014, 05:42 AM
RE: Renewables - by FrodoGoofball - 09-20-2014, 06:28 AM
RE: Renewables - by stevebowers - 09-20-2014, 06:53 PM
RE: Renewables - by xsampa - 09-20-2014, 08:55 AM
RE: Renewables - by stevebowers - 09-20-2014, 06:34 PM
RE: Renewables - by stevebowers - 09-20-2014, 07:04 PM
RE: Renewables - by Drashner1 - 09-20-2014, 09:42 PM
RE: Renewables - by Drashner1 - 09-20-2014, 09:36 PM
RE: Renewables - by stevebowers - 09-20-2014, 10:54 PM
RE: Renewables - by Drashner1 - 09-20-2014, 11:42 PM
RE: Renewables - by stevebowers - 09-21-2014, 12:54 AM
RE: Renewables - by Dalex - 09-21-2014, 01:15 AM
RE: Renewables - by stevebowers - 09-21-2014, 01:19 AM
RE: Renewables - by Drashner1 - 09-21-2014, 05:28 AM
RE: Renewables - by xsampa - 09-21-2014, 02:36 AM
RE: Renewables - by iancampbell - 09-21-2014, 03:11 AM
RE: Renewables - by xsampa - 09-21-2014, 03:36 AM
RE: Renewables - by kch49er - 09-21-2014, 10:16 PM
RE: Renewables - by xsampa - 09-22-2014, 04:24 AM
RE: Renewables - by Drashner1 - 09-22-2014, 07:56 AM
RE: Renewables - by xsampa - 09-22-2014, 11:13 AM
RE: Renewables - by kch49er - 09-22-2014, 05:43 AM
RE: Renewables - by xsampa - 09-22-2014, 06:17 AM
RE: Renewables - by kch49er - 09-22-2014, 07:57 AM
RE: Renewables - by Drashner1 - 09-22-2014, 11:29 AM
RE: Renewables - by radtech497 - 09-22-2014, 04:17 PM
RE: Renewables - by stevebowers - 09-22-2014, 08:57 PM
RE: Renewables - by iancampbell - 09-22-2014, 08:22 PM
RE: Renewables - by kch49er - 09-22-2014, 08:37 PM
RE: Renewables - by iancampbell - 09-22-2014, 11:47 PM
RE: Renewables - by xsampa - 09-23-2014, 12:40 AM
RE: Renewables - by radtech497 - 09-23-2014, 02:49 AM
RE: Renewables - by iancampbell - 09-23-2014, 08:25 AM
RE: Renewables - by xsampa - 09-23-2014, 10:44 AM
RE: Renewables - by Drashner1 - 09-23-2014, 01:00 PM
RE: Renewables - by Drashner1 - 09-24-2014, 01:26 PM
RE: Renewables - by Drashner1 - 10-09-2014, 11:15 AM
RE: Renewables - by stevebowers - 10-10-2014, 06:41 AM
RE: Renewables - by Drashner1 - 10-10-2014, 11:23 AM
RE: Renewables - by Fsci123 - 10-16-2014, 10:50 PM
RE: Renewables - by Cray - 10-17-2014, 09:12 PM
RE: Renewables - by iancampbell - 01-13-2015, 06:59 PM
RE: Renewables - by Rynn - 01-13-2015, 09:49 PM
RE: Renewables - by iancampbell - 01-14-2015, 01:17 AM
RE: Renewables - by kch49er - 10-18-2014, 09:04 PM
RE: Renewables - by tmazanec1 - 01-13-2015, 12:38 PM
RE: Renewables - by stevebowers - 01-13-2015, 08:55 PM
RE: Renewables - by Rynn - 01-13-2015, 09:56 PM
RE: Renewables - by stevebowers - 01-13-2015, 09:12 PM
RE: Renewables - by Dalex - 01-14-2015, 05:21 AM

Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)