Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: koan who wrote (78329)	4/25/2008 1:15:17 PM
From: Merlinson	Respond to of 116555

The technology that will save humanity. Sorry to all those who have already seen this on the other board, I just couldn't resist, again. This is about concentrating solar power (CSP), using mirrors to boil a liquid and drive an electrical generator. It is claimed that this technology doesn't require technological breakthroughs to become economical and nonpolluting, promising less than 10 cents per kW-hour eventually. salon.com Here are a few snippets: The key attribute of CSP is that it generates primary energy in the form of heat, which can be stored 20 to 100 times more cheaply than electricity -- and with far greater efficiency. Commercial projects have already demonstrated that CSP systems can store energy by heating oil or molten salt, which can retain the heat for hours. Ausra and other companies are working on storing the heat directly with water in the tubes, which would significantly lower cost and avoid the need for heat exchangers. ... CSP makes use of the most abundant and free fuel there is, sunlight, and key countries have a vast resource. Solar thermal plants covering the equivalent of a 92-by-92-mile square grid in the Southwest could generate electricity for the entire United States. Mexico has an equally enormous solar resource. China, India, southern Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Australia also have huge resources. CSP plants can also operate with a very small annual water requirement because they can be air-cooled. And CSP has some unique climate-friendly features. It can be used effectively for desalinating brackish water or seawater. That is useful for many developing countries today, and it's a must-have for tens if not hundreds of millions of people if we don't act in time to stop global warming and dry out much of the planet. Such desertification would, ironically, mean even more land ideal for CSP. The technology has no obvious bottlenecks and uses mostly commodity materials -- steel, concrete and glass. The central component, a standard power system routinely used by the natural gas industry today, would create steam to turn a standard electric generator. Plants can be built rapidly -- in two to three years -- much faster than nuclear plants. It would be straightforward to build CSP systems at whatever rate industry and governments needed, ultimately 50 to 100 gigawatts a year growth or more.

To: koan who wrote (78329)	4/25/2008 5:02:23 PM
From: kormac	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116555

Koan, I agree with the oil and natural gas numbers, but with regard to coal, you are way off. The reserve to production ratio dropped from 227 to 147 between 2000 and 2006. That is a 80 year drop in just 6 years. The figures are here in the various editions. bp.com Year 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 R/P 218 230 227 216 204 192 164 155 147 How many 80 year drops are left in these numbers????? Cheers, K.

To: koan who wrote (78329)	4/26/2008 12:06:19 AM
From: Dan3	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116555

Re: If you know another equation that gets the job done I am all ears. Nuclear Power. They reason we didn't build 200 of them after 9/11 (instead of attacking the only non Islamic-theocracy in the middle east) is that George Bush owes everything he has to the Saudis, who bailed him out of bankruptcy. That and Cheny's haliburton fortunes were linked to oil drillling and Middle eastern contracts. The Saudis hate the idea of us building nuclear generators so we don't have to pay them $1/2 Trillion a year to pump out their oil for them. The Saudis were the ones who bankrolled the 9/11 attacks and most of the attackers were Saudis. So Bush sends our sons and daughters to die in Iraq.