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

[hallenrm]

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.:eek2:

[Racoon]

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. :evil: :eek2:

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]

Thanks a million!:confused:

 

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

[TheFaithfulStone]

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]

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.

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.

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 :eek2:

 

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

[TheFaithfulStone]

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 ;)

 

:eek2:

 

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. :D

 

TFS

[InfiniteNow]

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.

 

:eek2:

[Jay-qu]

I vote hydrogen (as that can also be used for fusion :)) but I do think that solar will come along way as our technology in the area develops.

[TheBigDog]

The greatest source of energy has been and will continue to be the human mind.

 

Bill

[Queso]

The greatest source of energy has been and will continue to be the human mind.

 

Bill

 

Cha-Ching!

 

But is it a source?

[hallenrm]

Well it is my turn to tell my dreams. I must forewarn the readers that is a dream almost out of a scifi I am working on.:esmoking:

 

I dream that within next fifty to sixty years from now, biotechnologists will find/create a microorganism that would be able to dissociate sea water with the help of sunlight. I also dream that this would be a very dangerous microorganism for human health, perhaps more than the nuclear fuels. So the factories for producing hydrogen would be located in isolated islands, perhaps underground.:computer:

 

The hydrogen so produced will be adsorbed on some material like molybdenum, the cakes of this substance would be used just like recycled bottles for soft drinks. Put a cake in your car, and lo! it is ready to go, remember it would be as safe, perhaps more so than the petrol/gas fueled vehicles.:steering:

 

How do like the idea folks, please do respond, i am waiting for your responses, they may help me in my scifi initiative.:Headset:

[CraigD]

.. The hydrogen so produced will be adsorbed on some material like molybdenum, the cakes of this substance would be used just like recycled bottles for soft drinks. Put a cake in your car, and lo! it is ready to go, remember it would be as safe, perhaps more so than the petrol/gas fueled vehicles.:confused: …

I think your idea is clever, and reasonable based on hydrogen storage research as far back as the 1970s. Most of that research focused, and continues to focus on having the hydrogen-absorbing material remain in the vehicle, to be charged with low-pressure hydrogen gas, but the principle is similar.

 

With the shift of design focus from hydrogen combustion in the 1970s to the direct generation of electricity via hydrogen fuel cells, a substantial challenge has emerged. High efficiency, low cost fuel cells appear to be very sensitive to contamination – “poisoning” – especially from CO2. For a “just put a cake in your car” system, this is difficult challenge, since the cake will be exposed to lots of atmospheric CO2 and other contaminants which the system will likely need to remove before exposing the fuel cell to the generated hydrogen gas.

[hallenrm]

Thanks CraigD, for moderating my dream. ;)

 

But do remember I am referring to a time, almost half a century in future; indeed we all do hope that the scientific and technological research will add significantly to our capabilities. Maybe we will discover some material that will not suffer from the limtations present day materials suffer from.:hihi:

[GAHD]

It'd think energy resources in the future will be spread over a wide area. Wind&water mills, solar(probably from orbital arrays with focused beams to ground receptors), and geothermal. For all the power we get from dams, we'd get lots more by ducting water near a magma pocket and using that to drive electrical generators.

[CraigD]

Thanks CraigD, for moderating my dream.

Speaking of dreams, this thread seems a good place to mention a dream of future energy what was well-articulated by the late Robert Forward.

 

In short, Forward imagined the design of a particle accelerator/collider/collector not intended for research, but to produce the maximum amount of antimatter for its energy input. Although still a very inefficient energy conversion, such devices would be paired with gigantic solar power arrays in a close solar orbit, where they would steadily produce large quantities of antimatter.

 

Once you have large quantities of antimatter – in practical engineering terms, a few of grams is a large quantity – hardly any power-intense application is out of reach: tiny portable computers that run as long as their components survive, ground, water, and air craft that never need refueling; spacecraft that can travel directly from the surface on Earth to any hospitable body in the solar system and back without refueling, to mention just a few.

 

When it comes to energy density, it’s impossible to get any better than antimatter. Personally, I think it’s the energy resource of the future. Like hydrogen, antimatter isn’t a “found” energy source – it must be manufactured, at even lower efficiencies than hydrogen. The only source of energy great enough for large scale antimatter manufacturing appears to be space-based solar.

[hallenrm]

Many many thanks CraigD:) for attracting my attention to the efforts of Robert Forward!! However, I cannot comprehend how antimatter can be tapped to provide energy, because as I understand antimatter annihilates all matter and hence cannot be contained/produced in a material container.

 

On the other hand I would go along with the idea of BigDog. A discrnible trend is already visible in a section of humanity which is being attracted towards spiritualism. Now, according to some claims of spiritual leaders spiritualism can enable levitation or psychokinesis both of these proclaimed phenomena have immense potential as energy resoource.:)

[alxian]

http://www.thingsthatdontexist.com/index.php?pagename=showThing&id=15373&order=