#energy

In fact, it would require about 31 hectares of corn ethanol to produce the same amount of energy generated by one hectare of land covered in solar panels.

Faced with multi-year delays to secure grid power, US data center operators are deploying aeroderivative gas turbines — effectively retired commercial aircraft engines bolted into trailers — to keep AI infrastructure online.

Today, a principal tenet of geology is that a vast majority of the world’s oil arose not from lumbering beasts on land but tiny organisms at sea. It holds that blizzards of microscopic life fell into the sunless depths over the ages, producing thick sediments that the planet’s inner heat eventually cooked into oil. It is estimated that 95 percent or more of global oil traces its genesis to the sea.

Today, a principal tenet of geology is that a vast majority of the world’s oil arose not from lumbering beasts on land but tiny organisms at sea. It holds that blizzards of microscopic life fell into the sunless depths over the ages, producing thick sediments that the planet’s inner heat eventually cooked into oil. It is estimated that 95 percent or more of global oil traces its genesis to the sea.

Journalist Richard Martin discusses thorium as a potential nuclear fuel and looks at the efforts to promote it as a new form of green energy.

Journalist Richard Martin discusses thorium as a potential nuclear fuel and looks at the efforts to promote it as a new form of green energy.

Is thorium the silver-bullet that we have been looking for to solve the energy crisis? We don’t know yet, but the research has certainly been promising. Scientists have shown how a small amount of thorium could power an automobile for its entire lifespan, hopefully it can be scaled for the world’s power grids.

Is thorium the silver-bullet that we have been looking for to solve the energy crisis? We don’t know yet, but the research has certainly been promising. Scientists have shown how a small amount of thorium could power an automobile for its entire lifespan, hopefully it can be scaled for the world’s power grids.

The decision, a milestone in the much-delayed revival of plant construction sought by the nuclear industry, involves the Westinghouse AP1000, a 1,154-megawatt reactor with a so-called advanced passive design. It relies more heavily on forces like gravity and natural heat convection and less on pumps, valves and operator actions than other models do, in theory diminishing the probability of an accident.

"The assumption behind Transition Towns is that we’re reaching a convergence of three crises: 1) a moment when oil production can’t meet demand, forcing us to confront a future of dramatically lower energy use; 2) climate change, which requires a drastic reduction in carbon emissions; and 3) worldwide economic instability. The Transition Towns movement is all about preparing communities to retool for this future, and the 12-step program is an outline of how to do that."

"Nuclear power will have to form part of a comprehensive post-carbon energy infrastructure, and its downsides are greatly overstated, according to a group of experts."

"Palin says Alaska supplies 20 percent of U.S. energy. Not true. Not even close."

"Are we running out of oil? The question seems silly. "Yes" is the obvious answer. Or is it? That there is less oil in the ground today than there was yesterday is true. That there was less oil in the ground yesterday than there was in 1870 is also true. But "running out of oil" is not as much a question of physics as it is one of economics. And economics assures us that we will never run out of oil." So I guess this guy is saying oil will get horrendously expensive before it physically runs out. Isn't that, umm, pretty f'ing horrible too?

"Most importantly, the electricity was transmitted without zapping anything or anyone that got between the sending and receiving units."

"We simply cannot pretend, as Senator McCain does, that we can drill our way out of this problem. We need a much bolder and much bigger set of solutions. We have to make a serious, nationwide commitment to developing new sources of energy and we have to do it right away. "

"When spun up to very high speeds, a flywheel becomes a reservoir for a massive amount of kinetic energy, which can be stored or drawn back out at will. It becomes, in effect, an electromechanical battery."

"Now is the time for serious leadership to get us started down the path of energy independence. Now is the time for this call to arms."

"A new coal-powered fuel cell may lead to a more efficient way of extracting energy from the fossil fuel than simply burning it."

Stirling Engines for solar power

Beginning of Peak Oil? Glad I have a gas-thrifty car instead of a wide-ass SUV

"The waste you flush down the toilet could one day power the lights in your home."

"Fuel cell system generates electricity while cleaning wastewater"

"Petroleum reserves are limited. Petroleum is not a renewable resource and production cannot continue to increase indefinitely. A day of reckoning will come sometime in the future."

"The conclusion is clear: if we do not immediately plan to make the switch to renewable energy ... then civilisation faces the sharpest and perhaps most violent dislocation in recent history."