Termyn8or
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Joined: 11/12/2005
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In the 70s Dr Olshevsky (sp) introduced a new form of semiconductor termed ovonics. He made amorpous semiconductors. The process was similar to normal crystalline semiconductors but simpler. They were said to be able to withstand much higher temerature than the standard silicon junction. I believe the only reason we don't see this technology in use today is because they probably couldn't beat the gain/power/bandwidth of conventional silicon technology.
Years after the original research, a use was found for this ovonics, although I have not heard it referred to as such, only referenced once. Solar cells. Ovonics did advance the efficiency and ease of manufacture of solar cells. However it was not enough.
Fact of the matter is that solar is not ready. Let's say the cooling system in my house pulls 22 amps at 240 volts. Does anyone have a conception of just how many solar cells it would take to power that ? And don't gimme satellites, I remember when the newer smaller dishes came out, like dishnet etc., as opposed to the seven foot recieving antenna. They boasted the they upped the transmitting power to a whopping 50 watts. Wowee. A cooling system at 240 volts pulling 22 amps is 5,280 watts. Ain't quite gonna cut it I think.
Of course that doesn't mean there is a mere 50 watts up there, there is alot of support electronics and they do indeed run some refrigeration. They have to to cool the chips etc. Terrestrially this is done with heat sinks with fins and fans. But there is no convection when there is no atmosphere, so other measures need to be taken.
Nuclear is not ready either. IMO we are behind where we should be. Although fuel cells exist (not quite sure how they work), most nuclear power is provided by converting it to heat and throwing it through a turbine or whatever. First of all this makes heat which is bad. It is very inefficient. It only seems efficient because of other factors. It also makes a mess.
Wind is a hopeful possiblilty, although the way we have become power crazy drarfs it's capacity, the cost would be enormous. Another school of thought proposed harnessing the currents of the oceans in much the same way as wind power does in the atmosphere. I think this one is promising, but expensive. If you're an engineer and understand the inherent differences between pnuematics and hydraulics, you see there is quite a potential.
The way I see it, to harness the power of the oceans' currunts we are faced with the following problems :
1. It will require the construction of a very large dam-like structure.
2. This paddle or whatever you want to call it will have to be impervious to seawater, as well as all of the other components.
3. The only way to make the system efficent and reliable will require the use of hydraulics, and the only logical choice for a medium is seawater. Forget mechanical linkage and who knows, all that stuff would fail within a decade.
Fusion is another promising technology, but is also fraught with problems. It really does make alot less of a mess if nothing goes wrong. It is still converting to heat though, no advancement seems to have been made out of that method. And if you think fission is dangerous, fusion makes it look like a three year old could do fusion. Hundreds of thousands of lives could depend on the power source feeding those coils that create the magnetic bottle. Not only that, but the pump that feeds them coolant, yes, the wires are actually tubing and they pump coolant through them. Remember, if anything fails, there is no chance to pull the rods or to shove the carbon and cadmium rods in to cool it down, it is BOOM NOW. Everybody who works there is dead at the very least.
With the general insidious imcompetence of people at large, I don't think we are ready for fusion.
What does that leave ?
I believe I am fairly well versed in science and technology, not that I have never been wrong, but I know more than average. If someone tells me I am wrong and supports the claim properly I appreciate the correction. But it seems to me that alot of these alternative energy sources have inherent problem with which we cannot effectively deal as of yet.
If that weren't true, I think we would just see the oil companies jump on that as their new profit engine. And I believe someday they will. Right now they want somebody else to develop the technology to the point where they see it as viable. Once it is they will see it as a threat, and buy it. Once it becomes their new profit engine, the Arabs will be able to sleep at night.
So the same elite will control that energy source and continue to bleed us to maintain their standard of living. I think to break the power structure we need individual sources of energy. I think the major problem is thinking big.
Let's say someone invented a really efficient way to get solar power, many times better than what we have today. We don't need one big one of these things downtown, we need millions of small ones feeding the needs of families, possibly apartment buildings and the like. That takes money out of the picture.
We could have a situation where a guy could buy a bigger facility and sell power to his neighbors. Or trade it for whatever. With modern battery technology, imagine a NiMh battery, the one that can play a half hour video on your cellphone, and make it the size of a car battery. We are talking some capacity here. People would have inverters to run the devices they have with synchonous motors or power transformers. We would trade power amongst ourselves with no intervention from government or big business. Really get off the grid.
This is really a horrid thought for the powers that be, and some of the technology already exists, we just ain't quite there yet. And it is obvious they don't want us there.
There is a whole lot more to this, and I don't have all that much time. Pot is illegal because of the oil companies. People look at me like I am some kind of a nut when I say this, but it is true. The various forms of hemp can replace many petroleum products as well as a shitload of bad drugs they push on us. Don't take my word for it, just see who lobbied, oops, they don't record every bribe.
Thing to realize is this. The average American thinks of oil and he thinks of gasoline or deisel fuel. Of course it is the most immediate need so it gets top billing. With some intelligent discussion he will realize that there is more to it, the first step, realizing that petroleum is in his oil he changes every once in a while. He can see that it is part of the hydraulic fluids in his transmission, power steering and brake system.
But what he doesn't see and what most people don't point out is all the other uses of petroleum. Look at your monitor right now (OK I guess you are), but it has a plastic frame no ? Don't tell me you got a home built monitor out of wood, there is plastic in it as surely as there is plastic in a plastic cup. What makes plastic ? Look at your kitchen floor, if you ain't got ceramic or marble or hardwood, you got dinosaur shit.
In fact linoleum was a waste product until somebody figured out how to paint it effectively.
Now for the kicker, gasoline was a waste product until Ransom Eli Olds came along. People were driving steamers around and shit, and they couldn't burn the gas in them because it was too fucking flammable ! Admittedly, Olds did not invent the car, nor the internal combustion engine, but what he did was to turn a waste product into a commodity. Similar things were going on elswhere, but he was the one who did it here.
We need a similar development today. If I could gather all the grass clippings and leaves in the neighborhood, and distill it, figure out how to get my car to run on it, how far do you think I would get ?
I put out some food for thought. Anyone care to take a bite ?
Oh, and just in case you have any faith left in the system, that $16B doesn't fall on Haliburton, they moved to Dubai.
Yes, I totally agree, we need to do something.
T
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RE: House puts $16 billion in taxes on oil industry - 
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