telegraph.co.uk— A revolutionary device can harness energy from slow-moving rivers and ocean currents could provide enough power for the entire world.
Nov 30, 2008View in Crawl 4
@notwiztI don't think the concern was that the energy would "disappear". Rather that it would be removed from the oceans to be used elsewhere. Granted, the amount of energy required would be so small that it would probably have no noticeable impact.As to cyrix's point, I do agree that we should spread around our energy sources. Build lots of wind turbines, fields of solar panels, various forms of hydro-electric, hell even nuclear. All of these are better than continuing to burn coal like there's no tomorrow.
notwizt: I don't think the energy will disappear at all... My concern is only that we'd be changing a part of the equation and we don't know what the outcome will be as of now.
I understand your frustration but clearly you do not understand the difference between 'science' and 'engineering.' Sure, science tells us we could do this, but it's going to take a hell of a lot more than a year to design a robust system for deployment in the ocean, never mind one large enough to produce a significant difference. Also, don't forget about the lack of economic motivation to do this; it may come some day, but companies are not just going to go out and install this 'just because', when it's significantly cheaper to buy their energy from existing sources.
lmaozedongNov 30, 2008
This is the way the world ends. Not with a whimper, but with a bang.
afluryNov 30, 2008
@notwiztI don't think the concern was that the energy would "disappear". Rather that it would be removed from the oceans to be used elsewhere. Granted, the amount of energy required would be so small that it would probably have no noticeable impact.As to cyrix's point, I do agree that we should spread around our energy sources. Build lots of wind turbines, fields of solar panels, various forms of hydro-electric, hell even nuclear. All of these are better than continuing to burn coal like there's no tomorrow.
cyrixNov 30, 2008
notwizt: I don't think the energy will disappear at all... My concern is only that we'd be changing a part of the equation and we don't know what the outcome will be as of now.
Closed AccountDec 2, 2008
I understand your frustration but clearly you do not understand the difference between 'science' and 'engineering.' Sure, science tells us we could do this, but it's going to take a hell of a lot more than a year to design a robust system for deployment in the ocean, never mind one large enough to produce a significant difference. Also, don't forget about the lack of economic motivation to do this; it may come some day, but companies are not just going to go out and install this 'just because', when it's significantly cheaper to buy their energy from existing sources.
raptor007Dec 2, 2008
The shoe phone?
diggaple4seDec 5, 2008
plankton porn :)