[N_Fiddledog]

I'm interested in alternative energy, but I can't be everywhere to hear everything. Has anybody heard of anything new and promising on the horizon?

They seem to be making advancements with this...

Using bacteria to get fuel from any organic mass

[Chumley]

We are hoping in the future to build a house and want to do the geothermal/solar energy thing and perhaps wind power as well. Haven't really looked into it all yet, but this might be a good thread to watch.

[sasquatch2]

N_Fiddledog

Quote:

They seem to be making advancements with this...

Using bacteria to get fuel from any organic mass

It is not by accident that the warmers have selected CO2 as the menace.

It is also not by accident the very same elements seek to eliminate nuclear energy.

The mythical magical molecule was designed to prevent ANY viable energy use.

This process is an excellant way to reduce dependancy on imported petroleum....which is not a goal of the eco-freaks.

[Wally_Sconce]

firewood.

From the moment a tree grows, it produces the same amount of CO2 if you burn it or let it die in the forest.

We have alot of pine beetle kill, as far as I'm concerned it is carbon nutreal because its dead already. and it poses a fire hazard if we leave it in the bush.

Furthermore, a growing tree removes CO2 for the atmosphere, so the sooner we knock down the dead tree and replace it with a growing tree, the better.

[Ripcat]

There may be huge amounts of hydrocarbons just below the earth's crust....

[Regina]

Could try this one..........

http://technology.canoe.ca/2008/02/07/4832934-cp.html

[N_Fiddledog]

Yeah I saw that one on the news the other day, where you walk, and it charges a battery.

In that vain, here's one I always wondered about. Why don't they do something similar with cars? They must be doing it. I'm just not hearing about it. You know what I mean right? Like as your driving along you're creating a lot of energy. Add a few wheels somewhere, or some sort of wind gathering apparatus, or both, and you've got enough energy to charge a battery. Wouldn't you be able to drive an electric car indefinitely like that? What am I missing there? It's so basic somebody, somewhere must be trying it. Why isn't it working?

[sasquatch2]

N_Fiddledog

Quote:

Why isn't it working?

Basically because:

Energy required ==A
Load =B
generator load = C

A = B but not A= B+C

[N_Fiddledog]

Yeah, I get that. There's drag, and any energy you expend to combat the drag is extra energy you have to expend. Still I can't help thinking there are ways around that.

Doesn't the sheer act of moving create energy which is wasted? For example once you're moving along, if you hit a downward slope, and click it into neutral. You're not producing any energy from the motor, but you're wheels are still spinning. You've created a process whereby there is energy created from inertia, and gravity and you're wasting it.

So here's what I'm thinking. As you're moving along you're already creating drag energy, and inertia you're wasting. If you have a bicycle wheel attached to the side of your car, that's not much drag, but it's creating enough energy to charge a battery just from the sheer power of moving the car along. If a weight and pulley system lifts the bicycle wheel, and the wheel clicks into neutral, the wheel continues to spin with no extra energy put out from the engine. so hasn't energy already been produced from the inertia of moving the car along? Isn't there already drag? Hasn't a wind vortex already been created around the car which will aid in the spinning of the bicycle wheel? Aren't you just creating a tiny amount of extra drag, but also harnessing the inertia, wind, and drag energy that's already there from the car itself which will otherwise be wasted.

So what I'm thinking, is shouldn't there be a way to harness that drag energy, wind, and inertia which has already been produced more efficiently so it won't be wasted?

[sasquatch2]

Those little fins on aircraft wind tips which are proliferating so rapidly, eliminate vortexs forming on the end of the wings during sonic flight. This reduces drag and improves fuel economiy and range.
Transonic and supersonic they are not a clever asset.

While a bicycle wheel and small generator may not create much braking force on a car---they also won't produce much power either, but even then will increase the drag/load and increase the power needed to move the car. The key to most high efficiency systems such as solar cars, is regenerative braking----instead of over-coming inertia by heating brake pads--the motors become generators which recharge the batteries and provide braking force.

[PluggyRug]

N_Fiddledog wrote:

Yeah, I get that. There's drag, and any energy you expend to combat the drag is extra energy you have to expend. Still I can't help thinking there are ways around that.

Doesn't the sheer act of moving create energy which is wasted? For example once you're moving along, if you hit a downward slope, and click it into neutral. You're not producing any energy from the motor, but you're wheels are still spinning. You've created a process whereby there is energy created from inertia, and gravity and you're wasting it.

So here's what I'm thinking. As you're moving along you're already creating drag energy, and inertia you're wasting. If you have a bicycle wheel attached to the side of your car, that's not much drag, but it's creating enough energy to charge a battery just from the sheer power of moving the car along. If a weight and pulley system lifts the bicycle wheel, and the wheel clicks into neutral, the wheel continues to spin with no extra energy put out from the engine. so hasn't energy already been produced from the inertia of moving the car along? Isn't there already drag? Hasn't a wind vortex already been created around the car which will aid in the spinning of the bicycle wheel? Aren't you just creating a tiny amount of extra drag, but also harnessing the inertia, wind, and drag energy that's already there from the car itself which will otherwise be wasted.

So what I'm thinking, is shouldn't there be a way to harness that drag energy, wind, and inertia which has already been produced more efficiently so it won't be wasted?

There's always gravity, hence friction, usually resulting in heat. Harnessing all those small heat energy spots would be difficult.

Unless we could surround them with CO2, trap the heat and divert it to a large heat sink in the trunk. That would mean extra weight, extra friction, we will need more CO2.

Lets build some CO2 generators. Al Gores mouth would be good start.