Alternative Source of Energy

[themanwithsauce]

Bio Fuels, if we can make an entirely oil free fuel that will work in autos using only materials like corn or soybeans, we do have an unlimited source of fuel that anyone can make (using proper equipment of course). Corn is a crop that can be grown fairly well and there are gas stations already offering gas mixed with corn oil. The main smell would be like french fries and emissions wouldn't be nearly as bad. Think of burning vegtables, the gases and byproducts from that should be similar to those produced when an internal combustion engine runs on a fuel that is nothing but corn oil (or whatever plant oil gets used) and some other natural plant products.

Solar energy seems to have more uses for if/when we travel deeper into space. We could use not only the light from the sun (which is stronger when in space because of no atmosphere) but also heat and other energy waves. The technology needed to efficiently harness all of this is not going to exist for a while though.

[IronMonk]

heat waves in space.... sorry to break this to you but there isn't a whole lot of heat in space. next time you take a trip to the moon tell me what temp it is. ill guarentee that you wont be in a swim suit.

[jewpinthethird]

I think we should build a machine that runs off of Stupid. And position it near a NASCAR track.

[Jam930]

heat waves in space.... sorry to break this to you but there isn't a whole lot of heat in space. next time you take a trip to the moon tell me what temp it is. ill guarentee that you wont be in a swim suit.

Light waves. There is light in space. Light as radiation.

Ofcourse there isn't heat in space, heat hardly moves, and it'd never really leave the sun.

[IronMonk]

hahah, a stupidity as a power source, you forgot one place aswell, following WWE, and all those other "professional wrestling" plenty of stupid poeple there. and maybe set a small one up by antiques roadshow.

[Jam930]

The Democratic Party.

[jewpinthethird]

The Democratic Party.

Zing. Originally I was going to say something to do with Republicans or George W. Bush, but you know, I thought, I have nothing against Republicans, and I dont want another arguement over Politics, so I chose NASCAR, not meant to offend any fans.

[ToshX]

Wouldnt it just make more sense to make everything Solar Powered...

[jewpinthethird]

It is expensive though.

[Jam930]

The Democratic Party.

Zing. Originally I was going to say something to do with Republicans or George W. Bush, but you know, I thought, I have nothing against Republicans, and I dont want another arguement over Politics, so I chose NASCAR, not meant to offend any fans.

How thoughtful of you......

and ofcourse the republican party has a lot of stupidity too, as it consists of politicians...

[Cenright]

Why are we not on Natural Gas? It gets renewed faster than we use it, it burns cleanly, and it already works for cars. So why not? It's the gas companies. They have an Iron Triangle Bureaucracy which has such strong roots in the government that it would take decades for us to up root them, but the gas companies pay the polititians so laws are passed to help them thrive and to stop natural gas from getting too large, so it isn't going anywhere right now.


Now, a nuclear power plant runs on Nuclear FISSION, which takes Uranium and slams neutrons into it to break it into smaller atoms. It can break apart a few different ways, depending on the conditions.

neutron + Uranium(235) --->
________________________ Te + Zr + 3 neutrons
________________________ Ba + Kr + 2 neurtons
________________________ Many more ways for fission.

This produces 26 million times more energy than the combustion of methane.



Nuclear FUSION, on the other hand, is what the sun makes. It gives off WAY more energy than Fission. The main problem is that it takes very high temperatures to start the reaction. The attraction of the Nuclear Force has to be very high to make the atoms bond. It gives off enough energy to get the rest of the atoms going, and more. (Enough extra energy to keep us warm and happy) Fusion takes a temperature of about 40,000,000 degrees celcius, or you could double that for farenheit.






Now I remember why I love FFR.

[Jam930]

Fact is, racers don't want their hot rods running on carrot juice or the stench radiating natural gas from the lesser parts of the planet.

[Cenright]

Natural Gas has no smell. That bad smell is actually added by the company so you can tell if you break a gas line. If that wasn't there, it could go unnoticed, someone lights a cigarette, and....


FOOOOMMM!!!!


That bad smell is a safety measure.

[TheTypist]

Yes. They add sulfur to it to make it smell bad.

Actually, natural gas (at least the methane) is pretty clean. It's a hydrocarbon with a lot of hydrogen and a little carbon. I think it's like, CH4. Obviously it is not as squeaky clean as hydrogen, but it sure is cheaper and easier to find...

[TheTypist]

Hmm... that 4 didn't turn out right. It was supposed to be smaller. Sorry.