What is Digg?107 Comments
- swass, on 11/20/2008, -3/+50Mr. Pibb + Red Vines = Crazy Delicious
- doople, on 11/20/2008, -1/+23Anyone else think green technology could be a new New Deal? Instead of throwing billions at companies who don't understand risk/reward investing, throw it in to renewable energy technologies. For this to be used in people's homes, it has to become extremely economical. But the government could afford it. Turn federal properties in to field labs for renewable technologies. Offer competitive contracts for it. The aerospace industry blossomed under competitive government contracts. Plus, why keep throwing money at decrepit companies to save those jobs, when you can just encourage the growth of a new industry full of jobs?
- Albumen, on 11/20/2008, -0/+21Sun + me = shadow
- FearisFailure, on 11/20/2008, -1/+21Sun + Water = Sunburn
- isntreal, on 11/20/2008, -2/+21Dude, it's over.
- inactive, on 11/19/2008, -2/+21i accidentally received someone else's technology review in the mail three weeks ago and read about this. I don't know how they're going to get around the scalability issue but it sounds good if it can be worked out!
- Cr0z, on 11/20/2008, -0/+11I was at the Inorganic conference in Edinburgh when Dan Nocera first announced details of this research, it blew everyone in the lecture theatre away. He started talking about how he envisions a future where every house is effectively a small power station, able to generate energy from the sun using this technology and store it until needed, it all sounds very cool. All we need now are cheaper solar panels and we're all set.
He was one of the best speakers I've seen too. - LibertyKnight, on 11/20/2008, -3/+12This is really cool stuff! Thanks for posting this.
- roddack, on 11/20/2008, -3/+12Sun + Water + Beer = Fun time
- cap11235, on 11/20/2008, -1/+9You stole my magazine!
- nofx1510, on 11/20/2008, -0/+8Thank you.
- nj10ii, on 11/20/2008, -0/+7RTFA!
- jhaks, on 11/20/2008, -1/+7This article was about a cheaper catalyst to facilitate electrolysis under normal conditions. As for energy spent driving the reaction and inefficiency, it isn't like "we" put any energy in or take any energy away from another source. The energy is from the sun which pretty much goes unused anyway.
- jackelopeus, on 11/20/2008, -0/+6Interesting more for the desalination abilities than the energy production, as of yet. Be interesting to see if the efficiency could be improved to the point where both could be accomplished though.
- acroyear2, on 11/20/2008, -0/+5sun & water = everything
- daridave, on 11/20/2008, -2/+7You + Double Posting = Buried.
- marc54, on 11/20/2008, -0/+5Old!
http://digg.com/environment/Solar_Energy_All_Night ... - malex, on 11/20/2008, -0/+5Both those problems can be addressed by decentralization.
- FadieZ, on 11/21/2008, -0/+52 + 2 = 5
- kick, on 11/20/2008, -0/+5Germany has been doing just this with great success.
- sourceholder, on 11/20/2008, -0/+5Big, round, and wrinkly shadow.
- nightwing2000, on 11/20/2008, -0/+5I wonder what ever happened to other choices.
One concept for storing energy was in sealed carbon-fibre flywheels in a vaccuum chamber. Since flywheel energy is proportional to mass but to angular velocity *squared*, make flywheels that look more like rolling pins than bicycle wheels, but spin them really fast and make them of wound carbon fiber that can survice the centrifugal force. Put it all in a vaccuum and mount on magnetic bearings, and get the energy in and out with motor/generator. Bury a few of these in your back yard (after all, it is still energy, if there is a failure) and store a few days' electrical needs out back.
Even more ideally would be superconducting rings; pump 'em full of perpetually circling current in the sunny times, suck it out by induction in the darker times... just don't lose the liquid nitrogen coolant, or 3 days' stored electrical power will turn to heat in a very short interval. - jhaks, on 11/20/2008, -1/+6Damn nature, you... keep mocking our pitiful inefficiency.
- roctimo, on 11/20/2008, -1/+6Enough with her already!
- SilverBlade2k, on 11/20/2008, -5/+9This will be bought out and buried by some big business who sees this as a threat to their profits..
- gbhall, on 11/21/2008, -0/+4Digg - Sun + Water = Fuel
Don't believe me? Title ^ - 8bitflu, on 11/20/2008, -2/+6Sun + Jin = Widow
- derekmas10, on 11/20/2008, -0/+4It's a start. Seriously inefficient at the moment, not to mention the home diagram should have a hydrogen tank twice the size of the oxygen tank BUT...
Like I said, it's a start. - yoda17, on 11/20/2008, -0/+4Yes, but the recurring and operation costs are very low.
- string158, on 11/20/2008, -0/+4I suspect that if they can prove it works on a small scale, even if it is inefficient, there will be people willing to invest in this. Then it will gradually scale up & increase in efficiency.
Exciting stuff!! - dustin32, on 11/21/2008, -0/+4You forgot the disclaimer:
"For extremely large values of 2." - Ramble, on 11/20/2008, -0/+3There is no patent on this, hence they can't bury it.
- JMellissa, on 11/20/2008, -0/+3Great stuff! I hope this goes beyond the laboratory!
- derekmas10, on 11/20/2008, -0/+3I think the point of the article wasn't just the splitting of H and O, but mimicking the process of photosynthesis which would allow the utilization of energy under cloudy conditions or even under the cover of complete darkness.
- LogicBomB, on 11/20/2008, -2/+5Beer + Consumption > Sun + Water
- crazyhorse13, on 11/20/2008, -2/+5Well, not buried entirely, just buried until they start to run out of oil. But yeah, no oil company is going to let this out of the labs any time soon.
- psdabfm, on 11/20/2008, -3/+6Should Read:
Sun + Water + Huge Investment Cost = Fuel
With that formula, anything can be converted to fuel. Enjoy cheap energy while it lasts. - noPCtoday, on 11/21/2008, -0/+3In another news, Scientists discovered how plants work!
- plarp, on 11/20/2008, -0/+3complete this equation
sun + water + bikinis = - Seraph787, on 11/20/2008, -1/+4The ability to split water into hydrogen and oxygen has been known since the 1800s I don't know why this is such a new concept. The reason people don't do this is because first the amount of energy used in electrolysis is extremely high. The amount of potential energy we can extract from the hydrogen and oxygen is very small compared to the amount that is spent getting it. Yes it is possibly a longer lasting form of energy compared to batteries which slowly loose their charge but there are many better ways to store this potential energy.
- yoda17, on 11/20/2008, -0/+3A physicist friend of mine works with utility companies. He said that they believe distributed power is the future and take this into consideration when making future plans. As opposed to what the tin foil hat crowd believes.
- shanealeslie, on 11/20/2008, -0/+3There is no nonvolatile form of Hydrogen - it is 1 electron circling a neutron/proton.
It is actually even more dangerous as a liquid; and if you find a way of economically
making stable bricks of pure hydrogen I'd be welcoming you as our new Overlord. - FloridaBlue, on 11/20/2008, -0/+3This is a really damn exciting development if the science pans out. We hear a lot of these developments, but few come to fruition. Here's hoping this one does.
- bgeek, on 11/21/2008, -0/+3Nah, California will tax it to death.
- Spetz, on 11/20/2008, -0/+3Wow an intelligent article on renewable power that actually mentions base load power demand.
- playuhh, on 11/20/2008, -0/+3Method?
- wissler, on 11/20/2008, -1/+4Attach wires to a battery and stick them in saltwater. You'll see hydrogen and oxygen bubbling off the wires. You can even capture the hydrogen gas (the smaller bubbles) into a balloon and light it, causing a small explosion.
This isn't news, it's lame. - yoda17, on 11/20/2008, -0/+3Except big business is already interested in this.
- drzaeus, on 11/20/2008, -2/+5...as long as they can continue to suck all of the water from neighboring states to the North and Northwest, then yeah, you're right!
- Nauree, on 11/20/2008, -1/+3Photosynthesis. Invented 2.0 Billion Years Ago
-
Show 51 - 100 of 107 discussions
Check out the new & improved 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is