Energy Crisis Holistic Analysis

CHALLENGE:

I challenge anyone to propose a superior solution to our energy needs that fulfill the following post-production criteria:

Does not require fuel.
Does not require complex infrastructure.
Does not degrade or impose on the ecosystem.

Provides abundant electrical energy.
Provides energy on demand.
Can be scaled from nano to planetary.

RELEVANT LINKS:

FIRST SOLAR PASSES $1 PER WATT INDUSTRY MILESTONE
http://investor.firstsolar.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=201491&p=irol-newsArticle&...

New solar cell material achieves almost 100% efficiency, could solve world-wide energy problems
http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/39807/113/

Nanoantenna Arrays Seen As Possible Solar Cell Replacement
http://cleantechnica.com/2008/08/11/nanoantenna-arrays-seen-as-possible-solar...

Scientists Develop Commercially-Viable Carbon Nanotube Sheets
http://devicedaily.com/misc/scientists-develop-commercially-viable-carbon-nan...

Black Silicon To Revolutionize Solar Cells
http://devicedaily.com/misc/black-silicon-to-revolutionize-solar-cells.html

New Solar Cell Sets 40.8% World Efficiency Record
http://www.energy.gov/news/4503.htm

IBM claims major boost in solar cell efficiency
http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207800558

Sharp powers solar panel plant with solar power
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/06/24/sharp-partly-power-sol...

Scientists seek to make energy as plants do
http://www.physorg.com/news144307026.html

European Scientists: 'Let's Set Up A Global Solar Energy Grid'
http://www.triplepundit.com/pages/european-scient.php

SolFocus Installing Worlds Largest Concentrated Solar Project in Spain
http://cleantechnica.com/2008/11/03/solfocus-installing-worlds-largest-concen...

2 Large Solar Plants Planned in California, Each Will Be 10 Times Bigger Than Largest Now in Service
http://cleantechnica.com/2008/08/14/2-large-solar-plants-planned-in-californi...

Coal Power Plant Retrofit With Solar
http://ecoworldly.com/2008/08/20/coal-power-plant-retrofit-with-solar/

Breakthrough Solar Technology That Addresses the Global Energy Crisis
http://www.coolearthsolar.com/

Sunflower is First Solar Concentrator Safe for Rooftops
http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1976/83/

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• solar
• power
• global
• energy
• crisis
• holistic
• analysis
• design
• inevitability
• revolution
• paradigm
• shift
• solution
• nano
• technology
• superior
• efficiency
• renewable
• alternative

[ZopteY]

Note that (from my understanding anyways) photons are note transformed into electron but give electrons energy. I don't quite understand what you mean by L.E.Ds that convert one electron to one photon...one photon can have many levels of energy depending on its wavelength...can you clarify?

[neotoy]

@ZopteY It's just metaphorical in this case (the transformation). The reference is to a 100% efficient LED that emits 1 photon for every 1 electron sent through the circuit. Was in the tech news a few years ago, has since dropped off the map.

[CrossoverManiac]

70% of France's energy needs are provided by nuclear power. If it was half as dangerous the anti-nuke cultists made it out to be, France should be a nuclear wasteland. Just goes to show that most of the arguments against nuclear are outright LIES!

[neotoy]

Via NPR: "France's nuclear energy program is deeply flawed, with major cost over-runs and safety problems that have been covered up by the French government." Overlooking the safety concerns for a moment, the real problem with nuclear power is that it's not economical; and everyone in the energy industry knows this.

[CrossoverManiac]

Anti-nuke cultists love to make a federal case out of every tidbit of 'bad' news that occurs within a five-mile radius of a nuclear power plant and scream how unsafe it is. Oh, and NPR is a leftist propaganda machine that produces partisan ads despite being funded at taxpayer expense. What's next? Are you going to show me studies from the IPCC about global warming. You know the IPCC: the ones got caught in the act of falsifying global warming data.

[neotoy]

Troll detected.

[boxa888]

look up the tesla radiant energy device, captures cosmic radiation anbd changes it into energy, i made a small scale model that anyone can make as a simple example. again tesla wireless power harnessing hydrothermal or hydro electric would solve all of your problems listed! its that simple, and very safe!

[2ndKnight]

@neotoy No, I mean the 2nd Law. Useful energy can be extracted from a system only if their is an entropy gradient. Many hare-brained schemes propose converting high entropy "waste" heat into useful energy. See my comments on YouTube's "flexible nanoantennas" site.

[2ndKnight]

Why worry about cooling the depths of the earth by a insignificant amount? All heat on the surface eventually is radiated away to space in any case so there is no effect on the environment. By the way, by free energy I meat it in the scientific sense, that is, Gibbs Free Energy, Such free energy drives ecosystems around thermal vents in the oceans.