Alternative Energy -- Part Three

2001-10-22 00:13:00

Hydro Power is a clean option supported by many. It is ironical that even though this is a source of power that is as clean and inexpensive as you can get that it is also a prime target of environmentalists. Here in Idaho they are putting tremendous pressure on the state to tear down the dams and return things to their pristine condition.

"Save the salmon" is the slogan here. It is thought that we can increase salmon runs by breaching a number of dams.

There is a great debate going on in this state over this issue. One side says there are other ways to increase salmon runs -- in fact there was a significant increase this year. The pro-dam people say that it would take 50 years after the breaching before much natural increase in salmon could be effected through and even then we do not know for sure.

In addition to the loss of clean energy the breaching would also be a big disruption to irrigation water for farmers, recreation, boating etc.

The only argument for the anti-dam people is that it may increase salmon runs.

I personally do not support the breaching for the following reasons:

It appears to me that the ultra environmentalists would want to breach the dams even if an alternative salmon solution could be found as many of them want to see the land restored to its original condition. This "original condition of the land is sacred" attitude seems to be a zealous religious attitude with them as strong as that of any anti-abortionist I have encountered.

Hydro power currently supplies 8.3% of the nation's power and clean power it is, but most of the available locations have been dammed and because of breaching advocates we are likely to see less hydro power in the future rather than more.

Therefore it looks like we should not look to hydro power as a clean solution in there near future.

There is also a negative side to this clean source aside from the salmon problem. Dams wear out or develop flaws and break periodically causing many millions in damage and sometimes great loss of life. Up to 4000 people have been killed through the collapsing of a dam.

Not far from me in Rexburg, Idaho, the Teton Dam burst in 1976 causing a billion dollars worth of damage and the loss of 14 lives. This low loss of life was considered very miraculous as it could have been much worse.

Stories of four large dam disasters are related at:  http://simscience.org/cracks/advanced/failures.html

There are numerous other lesser known alternatives that may one day pay off. And who knows. Maybe out of the blue someone like Rick will come up with something simple in his garage that will fill all our energy needs for next to nothing in cost.

However, I have learned some good wisdom in the regard in my short life and that is this.

If you put all your eggs in a basket that is not perfected yet you are likely to spill and break the eggs. The loss will be great and the recovery slow.

It would be dangerous for any nation to neglect the development of proven energy resources while betting on others to come. Plentiful energy is not only important to our creature comforts, but is an essential ingredient to insure the survival of a free society.

The wise course is then to keep the energy flow going with existent technology while aggressively pursuing improvements and innovations.

Take a look. The amount of freedom and prosperity in the world very closely corresponds to the amount of available energy at a reasonable price.

There are many avenues to pursue here, but some of them may not be feasible for a hundred years.

Here are a few:

  1. Wave Power -- Ocean waves (as well as tides) have a tremendous amount of power in them that has potential to generate power. Some experiments have been done, but nothing practical has resulted yet. One experiment I read about was overwhelmed by the wave power and destroyed.
  2. Geothermal -- This is a very clean source and there are 39 countries in the world which have potential to receive 100% of their electrical power with this method. Most of these are poorer undeveloped countries that could take a leap forward with this technology.

There is some potential here in the United States, but until greater technology is developed to retrieve it from deep within the earth, this will only supply a small amount of our needs. We currently receive far less than 1% of our electrical power from this and the maximum projected would be 4.6%.

About a mile away from my home is a neighborhood that has used geothermal power for about 100 years.

New Zealand fares best among the developed nations in this regard. It has potential to supply over half if its energy needs from this source.

An interesting report on geothermal can be found at:  http://www.geotherm.org/PotentialReport.htm

  1. Cold Fusion -- This is a much hoped for source of clean energy that was dreamed up by a couple University of Utah scientists twelve years ago. Unfortunately, not a lot of progress has been made in this area. You can read an update on this in a Newsweek article at:  http://www.msnbc.com/news/639202.asp?cp1=1

Mark mentioned a web source on free energy. I tried it out and it wouldn't open, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was something promoted by Dennis Lee.

Below is a reprint of a post I made on his company some time ago:

"I see that the products of Better Technology has come up on the list. They are an interesting and controversial company. A couple months ago one of our customers invited us to a seminar where a guy was to present to us new discoveries in Tesla technology that would lead to free energy. They were excited about the company and were investing some money which they believed would make a bundle.

"I have always been interested in Tesla so I invited my friend Wayne to go with me and we attended the seminar.

"The founder of the company, Dennis Lee, did most of the talking and showed us technology, which if valid could revolutionize the world. He started out by showing us a modified engine that would run on water. His guys started it and it sputtered for a few moments and the backfired. He then complained that it usually worked fine, but that the engine must have been sabotaged by one of his enemies.

"Then he showed us other discoveries he made, but what made me a little uneasy is that he would pause about every ten minutes and tell us how he had given his life to Jesus. Now I have no problem with anyone dedicating their life to God, but I have found through experience that when this aspect of a person's life seems to be over emphasized in a nonreligious situation that it is often done for effect to promote some hidden agenda.

"He went through some interesting technology but his master plan revolved around a system of generating free electricity. He presented a scheme that called for some to invest now so the company could have enough money to go into production. After things got going the first investors would wind up getting free energy for life whereas those who came along later would pay considerable money.

"My instinct here was that I would lose my shirt if I invested with this guy and Wayne felt the same way. We were both skeptical about the inventions. I felt like the guy could be on to a few things, but did not have them perfected yet.

"Anyway I hadn't heard anything about this company since until a few days ago the people who invited us to the meeting came in our office again. They were very angry and disappointed at the company and were suing in an attempt to get their money back.

"Now I see that the company is selling a number of avant guard sounding products on the web and I'm still suspicious."

-- End Of Part Three --

  

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Alternative Energy - Part Four

Ten Deceptions of Nuclear & Alternative Energy (Article Index)

Global Warming Enlightenment (Article Index)