What will be the main energy resource in the next century?

hallenrm · 03-22-2006

Given that petroleum and gas will not last forever, it is safe to presume that petroleum would be in short supply sometime fifty years from now, an academic question is natural, academic because none of us will survive till then, "How will the coming generations fuel their activities?"

Several answers are evident from the various previous threads in Hypography, It could be Hydrogen, Nuclear fission/fusion, biofuels and so on. But can we dream of any new resources, And I really mean dream!!!

In fact I wanted to put this question in a poll, but when I tried I could not figure out how to do it. (perhaps the official forum pollster will instruct me.

Racoon · 03-22-2006

Go click onto Thread Tools at the top of your post.Scroll down to Add Poll
follow the instructions. Name the poll, select # of options, fill in those options, decide on duration in days of polls, and multi-vote and display options below.
Click submit

I really see a lot of promise with Bio-diesel, HallenRM.

seeing that mass production of Hydrogen vehicles and refueling methods are far distant...

Existing combustion-tech can be modifed for Bio-diesel usage with substantially less risk and development costs; And RIGHT NOW too!!

I am surprised it is taking this long. I presume "They" want to get as filthy,stinking rich off oil now while they can...

hallenrm · 03-22-2006

Thanks a million!

Your instructions were to the point. You see I could do it.

TheFaithfulStone · 03-22-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Racoon

Existing combustion-tech can be modifed for Bio-diesel usage with substantially less risk and development costs; And RIGHT NOW too!!

Ethanol at least is a net-energy loser. It takes more energy to make a gallon ethanol than you can get by burning it. Is Bio-diesel subject to similar restrictions?

And it's not fueling cars that's the reason I'm worried about us running out of oil. Cars can and will run on different stuff. It's making all that plastic! What else are you going to make plastic out of?

If oil is $105 dollars a barrell (according to the ad at the bottom of page) then gas may be $5 a gallon and we'll all drive hybrids. But your 10¢ BIC pen is going to cost $2 to make because of the plastic.

What is the comparative cost of Corn Plastic to plastics made of regular oil products?

We ought to stop using oil NOW so that we can save it up for all the plastics we're going to need to MAKE all of those solar cells.

Or our next "energy source" maybe the same one we used before the Industrial Revolution. Sweat.

TFS

CraigD · 03-22-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheFaithfulStone

Ethanol at least is a net-energy loser. It takes more energy to make a gallon ethanol than you can get by burning it. Is Bio-diesel subject to similar restrictions?

I recall some mention in a link by UncleAl that this is the case, or at least very close to it.

I think Kayra was right-on in his 3/6/06 post ”Re: Alternative fuels...how much longer”, in pointing out that it’s feasible create methane and methanol from H2O, CO2, and any source of energy that can separate H2O (via electrolysis, etc) into Hydrogen and Oxygen. So, as long as we can manage to generate plenty of energy – I’m partial, long-term, to space-based solar energy, transmitted to Earth as microwaves – we should be able to produce all the nice, useful combustible liquids we need.

Quote:

And it's not fueling cars that's the reason I'm worried about us running out of oil.

I think TFS is wise and insightful to have this worry.

As a general chemical rule, it’s easier to make small molecules out of large than large out of small, so a shortage of long petroleum (paraffin) molecules may well mean big trouble for plastics. Ultimately, with enough energy and chemical technology, we should be able to make plastic given elemental hydrogen and carbon, but such energy-abundance and technology could be long in coming.

Quote:

We ought to stop using oil NOW so that we can save it up for all the plastics we're going to need to MAKE all of those solar cells.

Fortunately, most solar cells are made mostly of silicon, not plastic. As long as we don’t run out of sand, we should have plenty of raw material for solar cells

PS: Why does the poll have no “solar” option?

TheFaithfulStone · 03-22-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by CraigD

Fortunately, most solar cells are made mostly of silicon, not plastic. As long as we don’t run out of sand, we should have plenty of raw material for solar cells

Of course, all of the wiring that tranmits that electricity withiin your house will be unsheathed.

Looks like it's back to paper-wrapped common neutral wiring! I KNEW there was a reason I didn't rewire my house. Now I'm ahead of the game.

TFS

InfiniteNow · 03-22-2006

It's always good in polls to add an "Other (please explain)" option. All too often, the pollster fails (through no fault of their own) to adequately represent all of the possible choices, and this limits options for new ideas to be expressed.

Now, if we could figure out a way to channel all of the energy from hate and ignorance into a fuel, then when it ran out all we'd have left is love and intelligence, and clearly some better option would present itself at that time (plus, we'd have the added benefit of no more hate and ignorance... BONUS!)

I guess that qualifies as "biofuel," so that's how I voted.