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166 comments on Peak Oil and Community Solutions Conference (Friday)

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ChrisPhoenix on September 26, 2005 - 5:49pm

Please don't cite thermodynamics as a reason for energy scarcity. We have orders of magnitude more energy coming in from the sun than our total energy usage today. Thermodynamics has nothing to say about sustainability at current levels of resource usage.

Here's a way to put it in perspective: The sun shines with an intensity of about a kilowatt per square meter. Solar cells can collect an average of maybe a kilowatt per ten square meters.

Crops collect about one or two kilowatts per acre.

If we had an effective solar technology, we would not be short of energy. Wind already looks like a good investment, and it's not all that energy-dense. To store solar, use pumped water for the electric grid, and the new charge-in-a-minute batteries for cars (or even just plug-in hybrids).

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MikeCapone on September 26, 2005 - 9:15pm

Don't forget the immense potential of wave-power and high efficiency (big potential savings for heating and cooling buildings) of geothermal heat pumps.

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