The future of energy storage

Posted on April 28, 2009 by mastadonzq

What is the best way to store energy in the long run?

and by long run I mean after all the fossil fuels have been used up.

Batteries
It is safe to say that eventually the power we get will originate as electricity whether from geothermal, solar, or wind (I exclude bio-fuels because it is not a long term energy solution and should be abandoned at some point)
Electricity isn’t very portable though, very difficult to pick up and carry. Batteries are the traditional way to store direct current but with the current design of a battery, I don’t think we have enough battery making material to hold the energy we need. There have been some developments in Supercapcitor technology that would greatly help the battery problem but I think there is probably a better solution.

My suggestion would be hydrogen.  Use electricity to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen (hydrolysis) and when hydrogen is used as fuel the only by-product is water. (I’m sure many of us did this experiment in high school)

The first element, from which all other elements descend, hundreds of times more abundant than any other substance.

Let’s take advantage.

hydrogen_gen1

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Solaren and Pacific Gas and Electric take on Space based Solar Power

Posted on April 24, 2009 by mastadonzq

These two companies are implementing the proven along with some mysterious new technology to make Space based Solar economically feasible.  I wrote a post a while ago about this subject and now with a serious commitment (albeit without the space elevator), I’m very excited to see how well it works.  Have to wait until 2016 though unless California politicians decide to fast track the necessary approvals.

PGE Blog

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Tree Found in Man’s Lungs

Posted on April 16, 2009 by mastadonzq

Poor Guy

Imagine if we could just produce oxygen internally?

tree-lungs

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Diatoms and Solar Nanotechnology

Posted on April 13, 2009 by mastadonzq

Article HERE

Microscopic algae called diatoms could help triple the electrical output of experimental, dye-sensitized solar cells, according to researchers at Oregon State University and Portland State University.

I won’t bother to summerize…

diatoms3a

Filed under: Solar Power | Tagged: , , | 3 Comments »

The Carbon cycle

Posted on April 4, 2009 by mastadonzq

Go back two hundred years

The carbon cycle has been occurring for four billion years.  Plants take carbon from the air and store it in themselves. When the plants die the carbon is either composted or trapped underground to become coal. Animals take carbon from plants and become oil in death.

As a result the level of carbon dioxide is the air has been steadily decreasing since life started to flourish.

Present day

We are putting all the carbon back in the air.

Perhaps a good way to explain the complex phenomenon of global warming is just to say we are turning back the clock, rapidly. The earth will find it’s equilibrium again but it might be a bumpy ride.

carboncycle

Filed under: Global Warming | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

Who will stop burning coal? Transferring our Carbon footprint to the Third World

Posted on April 3, 2009 by mastadonzq

Nobody.

By most estimates we have used about a third of the coal deposits on the planet.

Led by western Europe, industrialized nations are moving towards a sustainable future.  Unfortunately this may mean that developing nations will reject sustainable technology in favor of the technologies we left behind.

With the rise of Nanosolar it may eventually become more cost effective than coal, particularly given our dependence on cheap oil for extraction.  Most likely we will sell our coal to countries that want it.

So we will all feel better about getting our energy in a clean way but is it possible to stop the use of coal?

US Coal Deposits:

coal_regions_us_reserves_1996

Filed under: Global Warming | Tagged: , , | 7 Comments »

Earth Hour 2009: seeing at night

Posted on March 30, 2009 by mastadonzq

Here in Los Angeles I couldn’t tell that anyone had turned their lights off but HERE are some great pictures.

I would be interested to know if anyone saw the stars?

earth-hour-to-financial

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Gas Hydrate solid methane

Posted on March 26, 2009 by mastadonzq

gas-hydrate

collected from the bottom of the ocean. vast amounts. Why can’t drill for it like we do for oil?

Those were the questions I had about the large amount of natural gas trapped mostly on the bottom of the ocean by the pressure and cold temperatures. One obsticle with drilling is the extreme depths…not like offshore oil drilling which is done in relatively shallow waters.

Gas hydrates are crystalline solids consisting of gas molecules, usually methane, each surrounded by a cage of water molecules.  Gas hydrate looks and acts like ice, but it contains vast amounts of methane.

The real problem with considering this as a fuel source is the fuel would be Methane. Methane is a Greenhouse gas and when it is burned for fuel it produces Carbon Dioxide.   Taking the Hydrate out would also destabilize the sea floor and cause giant Tsunamis. So let’s not spend a lot of time and money on this kind of pipe dream.

Filed under: Environment, Global Warming | Tagged: , , , , | 3 Comments »

Turtle in commercial fishing net

Posted on March 24, 2009 by mastadonzq

Turtle in net by Carlos Villoch from Spain

turtle-in-net

I don’t know where this was taken but there are very simple contraptions that can be attached to a fishing net that will filter out the turtles.

Filed under: Environment | Tagged: | 1 Comment »

The thing about logging

Posted on March 18, 2009 by mastadonzq

redwood-logging

Logging as practiced by Americans and Canadians in places like New England and the Pacific Northwest is done right.  The trees they currently harvest were planted by loggers fifty to a hundred years ago and they will plants new trees after they cut old ones down.

I don’t think cutting down boreal forest is acceptable anymore.  Old growth forest ecosystems are not adapted to periodic harvest and are destroyed. With little regulations, no new trees are planted and the land can turn to desert.

Trees that are several hundred years old are giant carbon capture machines and we are using them as toilet paper.

Filed under: Environment, Global Warming | Tagged: , | 9 Comments »

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