Climate Policy

[kandrathe]

Notwithstanding my poor attempt at a humorous reply, you are correct. It would be beter to speak about 'sustainable' energy sources, I think. Wind energy would fail that criterium, if we would rely for 100% on it. Even though the total amount is 5 times the amount we need, at some point winds might not be able to deliver moisture where it's supposed to be. The same goes for (affordable) geothermal energy. It's only sustainable as long as you don't ask too much from it, or things will start to cool down.

Let me see...

1. The sun is responsible for solar (of coarse), wind, biomass and fossil fuels (ancient plants). Wind and hydro are ways to capture solar power that evaporates water changing the density of the air (affected by gravity). Shallow geothermal (not the hot springs) is due to solar radiative heating of the ground.<>
   
2. The moon (and to a lesser extent the sun) is responsible for tidal energy, which is pretty predictable.<>
   
3. Deep geothermal is virtually limitless because it is generated by the gravitational action of the sun and moon on the earth as well as radioactive decay.<>
   
4. Other chemical reactions releasing energy <>
   
5. And, then, there is nuclear power, both fission and fusion.<>
   [st]And, who knows, maybe there is something else we haven't discovered yet.
   
   I'm researching the power possibilities of sterling engines with solar in cold climates. Energy output should be commensurate with the differential between the heated cylinder, and to cooled cylinder. It should produce more energy the colder it is outside, and then in summer with longer warmer days, the differential is less of a concern due to the longer generation time. It is hard to say without doing all the math though, the additional summer solar flux may increase the temperature differential to much higher level. (Air temps here go as low as 245K, and as high as 316K, but solar focused through a lens might go as high as 2000K).
   
   Even for automobiles, this engine design is much better than my crazy wind up spring musings. The energy source can be anything hotter than air, and once moving it would be easy to use a scoop and evaporation to super chill the cool side. I envision the engine would be like the Th!nk Nordic City used to recharge batteries, which would drive an electric motor for propulsion.
   
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