Alternate Sources of Energy

[Lardmeister]

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/765251/fire_fart_funny/

Did you know that the average cow gives off 100 gallons of methane gas a day?

[Ezzaral]

Meh, so does the average congressman.
The cow is still more useful.

[vegaseat]

Wild video, always heard you can set the thing on fire, but this is one heck of a flame! You might have to get a permit from the fire department before you let one go!

[Lardmeister]

Meh, so does the average congressman. The cow is still more useful.

Would you have to hold the match to his mouth?

[Salem]

> Would you have to hold the match to his mouth?
Cows are female, and that's no bull :icon_lol:

[Lardmeister]

That sort of thing could be the next major weapon system. Even if it fails to ignite, it would still leave a mark on the enemy.

[sneekula]

Two in the row, only my ex-roommate could do that.

I heard of wind energy, but this is a little different.

[Serunson]

So many renewable energy types.....
Most are not that good to be honest, on a day with no wind, wind turbines are pointless, in the dark solar power is useless. Looks like it's back to burning coal again, .

[Salem]

> Looks like it's back to burning coal again,
Coal is just stored solar energy (albeit for many millions of years). It's not that hard to figure out the generation, storage and release part you know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumped-storage_hydroelectricity

Tides happen all the time, in a very predictable manner.

[Serunson]

That is true. Good old tides! But did you know that the moon is actually moving away from us? Albeit by 1-4cm a year, it's a big move over time!

[vegaseat]

A couple of giant mirrors in space could give you sunshine all night.

[sk8ndestroy14]

I would hate sunshine all night. That's why we have Alaska in the summer. Am I the only person who thinks that fire fart was fake? It was friggin' huge.

[MidiMagic]

One thing that is not an energy source is hydrogen.

It is a means for storing energy obtained elsewhere. But there is a 40 percent energy loss penalty in the amount of energy it can store.

[Dave Sinkula]

Today, what is the cheapest and most available/affordable form of energy?

[twomers]

I'm not certain but I know that a new kind of solar panel was invented recently which makes solar energy as cheap as coal to buy. Good quality panels have been really expensive up to now.

It's not the cost you want though, Dave. I can buy loads of one kind of fuel which isn't good for producing energy. What you're looking for is the highest calorific value with lowest price. What you'll want to consider to know this fuel is probably related to its TOE (Tonnes of Oil Equivalent)... kind of. A tonne of oil will give X Joules. So what you're looking for is the cheapest, with smallest volume, Y to give X watts too... As with most things engineering there are trade offs all over.

[Serunson]

Solar power is probably the easiest way to get energy from the environment, but it takes about 20 odd years to get your money back from the initial investment into solar panels.
Why can't we have huge solar panel fields in deserts? Where there is the most sun, yes it would take a while to build, and it would cost a lot of money, but the amount of energy that usually would be used on sand could be blasted onto a solar panel providing energy for all.

[sneekula]

Today, what is the cheapest and most available/affordable form of energy?

... and the obvious answer is heat from burning coal and burning garbage (sorted).

[Serunson]

Nuclear Power is the most expensive, BUT is the cleanest finite source if you don't count the nuclear waste at the end of the process.

[MidiMagic]

Why can't we have huge solar panel fields in deserts? Where there is the most sun, yes it would take a while to build, and it would cost a lot of money, but the amount of energy that usually would be used on sand could be blasted onto a solar panel providing energy for all.

They are mostly federally-protected habitats.

[MidiMagic]

Someone has come up with a way to use coal without the carbon dioxide. They bubble the exhaust into sunlit tanks of algae.