Solar power, believe it or not. They’re producing large amounts of solar power in the plains in Spain (all right, that’s enough groaning) and may soon be doing the same in the Mojave Desert here. Using “concentrated solar power, or CSP. While traditional solar panels use photovoltaic cells to convert the sun’s rays directly into electricity, CSP deploys huge banks of mirrors to focus solar radiation; the intense heat drives steam turbines, producing electricity in a process similar to the one used in coal-or oil-fired plants, but without the greenhouse gas emissions.” They expect to be up to 7 gigawatts in the next three years.
Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/specialsections/40th-anniversary/A-Spanish-Breakthrough-in-Harnessing-Solar-Power.html#ixzz0wDxGDa9q
If he could aim a narrow beam straight down a (very straight) road, and shield the passenger compartment so the driver and passengers don’t fry, he might get there.
The Smithsonian article (link above) got lots of nuclear proponents commenting, and we have to remember that the life-cycle cost of nuclear power (whether fission or the chimerical fusion) is enormous, and mostly externalized and subsidized for the arsenal’s sake. We have to look at the whole picture, and not shuffle off costs on somebody else and the benefits to ourselves (since most of us are somebody else!)
GENI - the Global Energy Network Institute talks about the integration of the planet’s energy generation and distribution, growing out of Bucky Fuller’s ‘World Game’, so where the power is generated and where it is used are linked, since every rooftop may not be enough for local needs every day and night. Where there’s sun, there may not be wind, and vice versa.
Oh – and hydrogen is not a true energy source, it is at best a bridge fuel. We could wish otherwise, but ethanol has taught some of us that we have to look wider at costs.
Hillbillyman over 14 years ago
Can’t wait until sundays comic so we can back get to GA
BigGrouch over 14 years ago
Remember when Rover used to pick locks? “It looks like a fo’”
axe-grinder over 14 years ago
You could cook hot dogs at least two ways in that car, maybe three if the manifold gets hot enough (if it has a manifold)…
kab2rb over 14 years ago
Didn’t some guy build a car that would actually cook food?
GeneGene over 14 years ago
If his idea worked the name of the comic would have to change from Gasoline Alley to Steam Alley and his parents would be out of work.
harebell over 14 years ago
Solar power, believe it or not. They’re producing large amounts of solar power in the plains in Spain (all right, that’s enough groaning) and may soon be doing the same in the Mojave Desert here. Using “concentrated solar power, or CSP. While traditional solar panels use photovoltaic cells to convert the sun’s rays directly into electricity, CSP deploys huge banks of mirrors to focus solar radiation; the intense heat drives steam turbines, producing electricity in a process similar to the one used in coal-or oil-fired plants, but without the greenhouse gas emissions.” They expect to be up to 7 gigawatts in the next three years. Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/specialsections/40th-anniversary/A-Spanish-Breakthrough-in-Harnessing-Solar-Power.html#ixzz0wDxGDa9q
harebell over 14 years ago
So Rover may be onto something. And if so, his folks can retire!
DebJ4 over 14 years ago
And - how grand it is to see another story with members of the Wallet family being featured!
tcambeul over 14 years ago
Powerboy, I agree!!!
pbarnrob over 14 years ago
If he could aim a narrow beam straight down a (very straight) road, and shield the passenger compartment so the driver and passengers don’t fry, he might get there.
The Smithsonian article (link above) got lots of nuclear proponents commenting, and we have to remember that the life-cycle cost of nuclear power (whether fission or the chimerical fusion) is enormous, and mostly externalized and subsidized for the arsenal’s sake. We have to look at the whole picture, and not shuffle off costs on somebody else and the benefits to ourselves (since most of us are somebody else!)
GENI - the Global Energy Network Institute talks about the integration of the planet’s energy generation and distribution, growing out of Bucky Fuller’s ‘World Game’, so where the power is generated and where it is used are linked, since every rooftop may not be enough for local needs every day and night. Where there’s sun, there may not be wind, and vice versa.
Oh – and hydrogen is not a true energy source, it is at best a bridge fuel. We could wish otherwise, but ethanol has taught some of us that we have to look wider at costs.