/sci/ - Science & Math

>>6497144
>an extra mound of bullshit, on top of solar
Solar's happening.

We're getting better at it quickly. We know that it can be as cheap as leaves. Anyone can experiment with how to make it cheaper, with a decent education and a few thousand dollars. Anyone can deploy it on their own land without bothering the neighbors or making a tall eyesore. There's no weapon proliferation threat, long-term waste problem, or climate change concern.

Solar's going to happen because there are the least obstacles in the way of it. It's not going to be the only primary energy source, but it'll be a big one.

>>6452367
>If we switch to solar and renewables, we need to drastically cut the joule per capita for every person on the planet to a level lower than was enjoyed in the 18th century.
>>6452379
>Oh god, you are dumb... hydro, geothermal and even wind are more efficient than solar.

Solar power has more potential, and better prospects for rapid advancement in cost-effectiveness.

The problem with nuclear is that we can't trust just anyone to make nuclear reactors, so there's limited freedom to experiment and innovate. People will never be allowed to brew up their own nuclear reactors at home.

People have been making their own solar collectors at home for well over a century. The day may come when solar panel printers are common household items, like woodworking tools and paintbrushes, and produce high-efficiency solar collectors as needed for pennies per square foot.

>>6419516
>Where you came to believe that solar can replace petroleum, natural gas and coal, I can't even imagine.

>>6334923

You've got to read around the bullshit (underestimates of fuel that will be available with advancing technology, etc.), but there's enough truth here to make the point:
http://www.abb-conversations.com/2013/12/7-impressive-solar-energy-facts-charts/

Photovoltaic technology and industry is taking off like computer technology did. But instead of making exponential progress in power output per unit area (which would be nice, but is clearly impossible), it's been making exponential progress in power output per dollar (and joule) spent producing solar panels.

We're going to get to a point where using solar panels instead of shingles for your roof, and in place of vinyl siding for the walls of your house, is a no-brainer. Not much after that, solar decks and walkways will make sense, and then solar driveways, city streets, and highways. People will start putting out solar arrays on farmlands in the winter, and there will be an environmental issue with albedo changes.

Solar's going to provide us with a ridiculous abundance of power. Whole industries will spring up to take advantage of cheap peak power.

>>6238615
>Estimated economical reserves of uranium
Um... those are "economical" in the sense of being competitive with currently operating mines. Not being at the highest extraction cost worth extracting for nuclear fuel.

Seawater uranium is already only a few times more expensive than uranium from the best ore bodies, and the technology is still improving. Practically limitless supplies of uranium and thorium can be extracted from common granite at costs which are completely acceptable for use in breeder reactors.

>Mind you, we're currently burning uranium very inefficiently, and wasting a lot of it - perhaps we increase efficiency by a factor of ten.
Switching from U235 reactors to breeders increases the energy available from a given amount of natural uranium by a factor of more than one hundred, and allows thorium to be burned as well as uranium.

Anyway, it's solar power that's going to make energy cheap. That shit's taking off like computer technology did in the 70s, with watts per dollar increasing exponentially. Between solar's peak surpluses and dramatic improvements in battery, thermal energy storage, fuel cell, hydrogen storage, and electrolysis technology, we're going to be drowning in cheap portable energy.

I'll just leave this here.

look at pic related.. see how 2030 is 4x bigger than 1980 in requirement for space to power the earth

if we don't get fusion eventually we will run out of resources, and by 2190 we will have to have the entire earth covered with solar panels to keep up with energy demand... then what? Are we supposed to finally go to space?

I have space phobia!

>>5703977
How big of an area are you imagining?

>>5659218
No.

Image related. What does /sci/ make of it?

>>3970789

>The financial crash was not due to lack of foresight, regulation and common sense.

haha.

>>3970910

Imagine if, instead of $3 trillion dollars wasted in Iraq, the US had invested in stirling dishes, which require very few exotic materials, unlike PV panels.

Then you would have absurdly cheap energy and would not be beholden to anyone else in the world for energy.

I'm just sayain.

>>3673929

Words cannot express how much of a stupid motherfucker you are.

http://www.stirlingenergy.com/how-it-works.htm

This is the future.

Nuclear energy is just the same as fossil fuels; shit will run out in just a few decades.

Add to that the fact that, in order to replace fossil fuels within the next 20 years, we would have to build a new nuclear power plant on the order of every other day. This is impossible.

also,

>most notably wind turbines are downright TOXIC to create

FUCK YOU FOREVER

>>3043381
>>size of texas
Bullshit. Pic related. Also one can't be a Kardashev type one civilization with thorium reactors. Only so much thorium we can extract after all.

This isn't even necessary, really. It's well within our capabilities to completely power all human activities with solar power just by covering a tiny fraction of our planet's surface with solar collectors. We just don't fucking do it for some reason.