Alternative Energy

Come here to talk about topics that are not related to development, or even Kansas City.
User avatar
FangKC
City Hall
City Hall
Posts: 18132
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2003 10:02 pm
Location: Old Northeast -- Indian Mound

Alternative Energy

Post by FangKC »

Could this change everything?


Lockheed says makes breakthrough on fusion energy project

(Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp said on Wednesday it had made a technological breakthrough in developing a power source based on nuclear fusion, and the first reactors, small enough to fit on the back of a truck, could be ready for use in a decade.

...


Compact nuclear fusion would produce far less waste than coal-powered plants since it would use deuterium-tritium fuel, which can generate nearly 10 million times more energy than the same amount of fossil fuels, the company said.

Ultra-dense deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen, is found in the earth's oceans, and tritium is made from natural lithium deposits.

It said future reactors could use a different fuel and eliminate radioactive waste completely.

...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/ ... EM20141015
loftguy
Bryant Building
Bryant Building
Posts: 3850
Joined: Fri Sep 16, 2005 12:12 pm

Re: Alternative Energy

Post by loftguy »

FangKC wrote:Could this change everything?


Lockheed says makes breakthrough on fusion energy project

(Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp said on Wednesday it had made a technological breakthrough in developing a power source based on nuclear fusion, and the first reactors, small enough to fit on the back of a truck, could be ready for use in a decade.

...


Compact nuclear fusion would produce far less waste than coal-powered plants since it would use deuterium-tritium fuel, which can generate nearly 10 million times more energy than the same amount of fossil fuels, the company said.

Ultra-dense deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen, is found in the earth's oceans, and tritium is made from natural lithium deposits.

It said future reactors could use a different fuel and eliminate radioactive waste completely.

...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/ ... EM20141015
Seems like a breakthrough to me.

However, why would Lockheed Martin stock drop 1.25 % following the announcement?
User avatar
grovester
Oak Tower
Oak Tower
Posts: 4553
Joined: Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:30 pm
Location: KC Metro

Re: Alternative Energy

Post by grovester »

That is curious, though with a prototype 5 years out maybe its not enough to overcome the ebola panic.
User avatar
FangKC
City Hall
City Hall
Posts: 18132
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2003 10:02 pm
Location: Old Northeast -- Indian Mound

Re: Alternative Energy

Post by FangKC »

A big breakthrough may be forthcoming in battery technology.

Car batteries may soon last 1,000 years thanks to pine and alfalfa

http://grist.org/business-technology/ca ... d-alfalfa/
brewcrew1000
Hotel President
Hotel President
Posts: 3102
Joined: Fri Feb 11, 2011 10:10 am
Location: Broadway/Gilham according to google maps

Re: Alternative Energy

Post by brewcrew1000 »

Why would a battery company want something to last that long, they need the repeat business, they would pretty much destroy there business model if batteries lasted this long.
loftguy
Bryant Building
Bryant Building
Posts: 3850
Joined: Fri Sep 16, 2005 12:12 pm

Re: Alternative Energy

Post by loftguy »

brewcrew1000 wrote:Why would a battery company want something to last that long, they need the repeat business, they would pretty much destroy there business model if batteries lasted this long.

This same dilemma is being faced by manufacturers and distributors of LED light bulbs. If the customer only buys once every 20 years, how does your business model work?
aknowledgeableperson
City Center Square
City Center Square
Posts: 12608
Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2004 10:31 pm

Re: Alternative Energy

Post by aknowledgeableperson »

Why would a battery company want something to last that long, they need the repeat business, they would pretty much destroy there business model if batteries lasted this long.
This same dilemma is being faced by manufacturers and distributors of LED light bulbs. If the customer only buys once every 20 years, how does your business model work?
Why????

Well, why not?????

If there is a demand large enough then they will meet it. Just think of other uses that could come about. Why are they pursuing development of these products if they are worried about being out of business some time in the future?
User avatar
beautyfromashes
One Park Place
One Park Place
Posts: 7137
Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2005 11:04 am

Re: Alternative Energy

Post by beautyfromashes »

loftguy wrote:This same dilemma is being faced by manufacturers and distributors of LED light bulbs. If the customer only buys once every 20 years, how does your business model work?
The lifecycle of a product is so much shorter now. If someone is thinking about 20 years from now, their business isn't going to last very long. Things move to fast to be looking that far ahead. Of course, this has caused the almost complete elimination of the family business in society today.
earthling
Mark Twain Tower
Mark Twain Tower
Posts: 8514
Joined: Sun Sep 11, 2011 2:27 pm
Location: milky way, orion arm

Re: Alternative Energy

Post by earthling »

The media is hyping this a little too much and many scientists are very skeptical about their results. Even Lockheed admits their results are just theoretical and will be difficult to apply in real world. Is still important to keep at it as there can still be some things learned that morph into other ideas that can be useful.

http://www.businessinsider.com/scientis ... on-2014-10

There have been many battery 'breakthroughs' over the last 20 years too but there still hasn't been any significant breakthrough that has ever made it to market. Usually it ends up not cost effective to get into mass production, but there has been some incremental improvement. There's been better progress with devices/components drawing less power than creating/harnessing/storing clean energy at a mass produced scale - supplemental yeah, but not enough to replace 'dirty' energy.

This doesn't sound like pseudo science but the science industry needs to do a better job managing media reports before getting peer reviewed, which will be a while because Lockheed isn't disclosing much yet despite patents - no papers have been released yet. Remember the 'breakthrough' a few years ago that claimed particles moving faster than light? Media took off with it before peer review and it turned out to be incorrect.
User avatar
FangKC
City Hall
City Hall
Posts: 18132
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2003 10:02 pm
Location: Old Northeast -- Indian Mound

Re: Alternative Energy

Post by FangKC »

Solar Shingles Made From Common Metals Offer Cheaper Energy Option

http://e360.yale.edu/digest/solar_shing ... tion/3600/
flyingember
Mark Twain Tower
Mark Twain Tower
Posts: 9862
Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2012 7:54 am

Re: Alternative Energy

Post by flyingember »

loftguy wrote: This same dilemma is being faced by manufacturers and distributors of LED light bulbs. If the customer only buys once every 20 years, how does your business model work?
you add technology of course.

look at how many new smart lightbulbs are on the market versus even a year ago.

today a lightbulb does color and wifi.

imagine when they have motion detection and ambient light sensors built into the package and standalone so a room can automatically set lighting based on where you are in it and time of day. each light turns on based on someone being in the room. thinking like those LED bars that come as a package or maybe in a ring around the bulb itself.
User avatar
FangKC
City Hall
City Hall
Posts: 18132
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2003 10:02 pm
Location: Old Northeast -- Indian Mound

Re: Alternative Energy

Post by FangKC »

Tesla Wants to Build a Battery for Your House

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... age-market
User avatar
FangKC
City Hall
City Hall
Posts: 18132
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2003 10:02 pm
Location: Old Northeast -- Indian Mound

Re: Alternative Energy

Post by FangKC »

The world’s renewable energy capacity is now higher than coal

http://inhabitat.com/the-worlds-renewab ... than-coal/
bobbyhawks
Bryant Building
Bryant Building
Posts: 3890
Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2006 1:19 pm

Re: Alternative Energy

Post by bobbyhawks »

And yet, people are freaking out about the potential to lose coal jobs. Everyone in every industry is at risk in the modern era of technology of being replaced overnight. We really need to do a better job at offering opportunities for folks to shift careers instead of holding on to industries and industry models that are no longer necessary or are holding society back.
earthling
Mark Twain Tower
Mark Twain Tower
Posts: 8514
Joined: Sun Sep 11, 2011 2:27 pm
Location: milky way, orion arm

Re: Alternative Energy

Post by earthling »

Coal production and consumption is down in the US and China but still increasing globally (especially India) and expected to long term. US and China may decline a bit over time but still expected to have major consumption over time...
https://www.eia.gov/forecasts/ieo/coal.cfm

Would expect US production to go in cycles but ultimately that all accessible coal is eventually extracted, just maybe slowed down (and just a slow decline). Money is power and unfortunately the US is heavily driven by lobbyists. It doesn't make sense that $Bs worth of easily accessible coal will just sit there forever. The alternatives are still supplemental for the most part but even if/when it could replace coal/fossil fuels, and there are isolated successes in some small countries, as long as money can be made from coal, production probably will continue until all gone unfortunately.
bobbyhawks
Bryant Building
Bryant Building
Posts: 3890
Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2006 1:19 pm

Re: Alternative Energy

Post by bobbyhawks »

I'm not arguing that coal will die an immediate death. I'm stating that coal jobs are probably going to diminish greatly in the future, though, and this is inevitable. All that is up for debate is how long it will take to significantly change the industry. People are freaking out about it in relation to emissions and coal generation regulation in the US, but if, as you state global demand increases, the US consumption won't be as important as the market shifts to ship overseas.

Incentivizing alternative energy is almost inarguably good for the environment and the long-term health, beauty, reliability, and efficiency of our country. Really the only pro-coal arguments out there are based on its economic benefits. Why we would ignore the potential of alternative energy to preserve jobs in an industry that we don't need as much anymore makes little sense. Local communities will continue to determine if coal mining is right for them, but the global market will still be there to dictate its value. This cost of coal may not be wildly shifting, but the value to various markets is. If it is growing in value globally, then people need to stop blaming US regulation on killing jobs.
User avatar
FangKC
City Hall
City Hall
Posts: 18132
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2003 10:02 pm
Location: Old Northeast -- Indian Mound

Re: Alternative Energy

Post by FangKC »

‘Insanely cheap energy’: how solar power continues to shock the world
...
“The International Energy Agency now says solar is providing the cheapest energy the world has ever seen. But we’re headed towards a future of insanely cheap energy.
...
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-n ... 1619716630
flyingember
Mark Twain Tower
Mark Twain Tower
Posts: 9862
Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2012 7:54 am

Re: Alternative Energy

Post by flyingember »

FangKC wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 7:55 pm ‘Insanely cheap energy’: how solar power continues to shock the world
...
“The International Energy Agency now says solar is providing the cheapest energy the world has ever seen. But we’re headed towards a future of insanely cheap energy.
...
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-n ... 1619716630
In 2016 Trump promised to reopen coal mines while Clinton promised half a billion solar panels. both were about donations and money, targeting industries and workers they thought would support them.

So what actually happened?

Clinton wanted to get the country to 140 gigawatts of solar by Jan 2021. In 2020 there was 97.7 gigawatts of solar power. In 2016 it was 27.2 gigawatts. So in three years the industry got 60% of the way to her goal, without any special incentives program. So this shows us that her plan around solar was largely realistic because companies were already installing solar.

Meanwhile, Trump gave coal subsidies.
When Trump was inaugerated there were 50,900 coal jobs. In Feb 2020 there were 50,600. That's not much beyond the numbers that fluctuate naturally within an industry, equally jobs didn't return to the industry.
Maybe the subsidies maintained jobs, but it certainly didn't create them on the scale of the campaign promise.

In the end, this is a great example of how the basic economic of a market is far more important than the policies of any political party and how a serious government program should strengthen demand for something new, not try to prop up the past.
User avatar
FangKC
City Hall
City Hall
Posts: 18132
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2003 10:02 pm
Location: Old Northeast -- Indian Mound

Re: Alternative Energy

Post by FangKC »

The best incentive for adding solar would be for the federal and state governments to give tax credits to individual homeowners and businesses that add solar to their properties. This creates additional demand for the solar panel industry, and encourage further battery storage research and development. Then the market would take care of the rest. Many homeowners need that additional tax credit to justify the expense of installing solar.

Our country also needs to do this to incentivize people to purchase electric vehicles that can be at least partially charged from their own on-site solar.

State governments also need to change laws and regulations to allow property owners to do this without penalty. States should mandate utility companies to buy back extra solar capacity from private parties, and reduce their reliance on fossil fuels. Many states are doing the opposite and allowing utilities to charge solar users additional fees.
User avatar
ToDactivist
Strip mall
Strip mall
Posts: 191
Joined: Sat Sep 30, 2017 10:06 am

Re: Alternative Energy

Post by ToDactivist »

FangKC wrote: Fri Apr 30, 2021 8:53 pm The best incentive for adding solar would be for the federal and state governments to give tax credits to individual homeowners and businesses that add solar to their properties. This creates additional demand for the solar panel industry, and encourage further battery storage research and development. Then the market would take care of the rest. Many homeowners need that additional tax credit to justify the expense of installing solar.

Our country also needs to do this to incentivize people to purchase electric vehicles that can be at least partially charged from their own on-site solar.

State governments also need to change laws and regulations to allow property owners to do this without penalty. States should mandate utility companies to buy back extra solar capacity from private parties, and reduce their reliance on fossil fuels. Many states are doing the opposite and allowing utilities to charge solar users additional fees.
how would you propose taxing EV's for road use since today that is primarily the use of the gas tax? subsidies often have unintended consequences.
Post Reply