Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard
If a terrorist breaks a long distance electrical line (which we already have and use all the time), what happens? We lose electricity.
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Infrastructure is hardly a reason to take energy solutions off the table. Our grid is so close to max capacity that a problem in canada results in a blackout for NYC. These expenses that are not avoidable.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard
If a terrorist blows up a nuclear power plant, or gets a hold of some plutonium and uses it in a dirty bomb, or dumps it into a water supply, what happens? You get a lot of dead people and/or a ruined area.
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First, you can't let terrorism steal your security
That's just my opinion, of course. Second, you don't need nuclear power to get such items (
a teenager made suitable dirty bomb materials in his stepmother's shed not too long ago - he was trying to build a breeder reactor in a shed, among other things). And I apologize in advance (as I hate to be the one to make the reference), but history seems to validate that the power plants aren't cost v. benefit optimal targets - aircraft and economic centers are (and the result is a lot death and a ruined area - to be fair, that area is arguably smaller).
Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard
Over the 1,700 miles from San Antonio up to Calgary, do you think that there will be no wind blowing anywhere?
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Especially when we start tapping into high altitude wind - which blows very fast, 24/7, 365.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard
In the 500,000+ square miles in the sunniest areas of the country, do you think that there will ever be a time when it is all cloudy?
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Per square meter - high altitude wind (.5atm @ 18,000 feet, ~50mph airspeed) is a tad over 39kW/m^2. It is solar driven, yes, but no worries about the energy getting reflected by clouds
Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard
Did you know that enough sunlight energy strikes the earth in 40 minutes to power the whole earth for 1 year? The fusion reactor we call the sun is at a fairly safe distance: 91-94.5 million miles away.
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Theoretical wind power available on land and near offshore is ~72TW - 5x the current demand.
Quote:
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The potential takes into account only locations with mean annual wind speeds ≥ 6.9 m/s at 80 m. It assumes 6 turbines per square km for 77 m diameter, 1.5 MW-turbines on roughly 13% of the total global land area (though that land would also be available for other compatible uses such as farming).
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I'm not knocking solar - just giving corollary points