The Oil Drum

Thanks for the support.  Actually we also do, on occasion, transgress into talking about wind and solar, and likely will on occasion talk about pulverized coal, and coalbed methane.  The intent is to point out that the world is not totally ignoring the need to find alternate solutions, even some that might, at first glance, appear unlikely.

Since the intent is to provide information, you can make up your own minds, but be aware that work has been done on concrete liners that will provide the necessary vacuum seal; underground is remarkably free from earthquake damage (ask the coal miners who did not know that there was an earthquake until they came to the surface and found that the city of Tongchan had been destroyed); and one of the nice things about the underground is that once you have established a condition - whether vaccum or as a cold storage plant - it takes very little energy to maintain the condition.  We will see how the Swissmetro goes, but perhaps in 10 years or so, I suspect that one or two of our readers may owe me a beer! (In the meantime shhhhhh!)