Volunteerism vs. Rewards for Space Settlement (Was R

yours is a good point if we insist on existing
technology
I never mentioned solar power only
there is wind power, used for centuries in the
nettherlands and other countries including the US, and
the potential utilization of temperature difference as
an alternative technology to be developed.
The whole idea here is the following:
1-We need decentralize power generating systems
at the source
2-power from renewable and non polluting sources
3-if possible free after paying for the installation
we don't have it yet but the goals are clear and well
defined certainly more feasible than enormous and
unfeasible economically and ecologically monsters in
GEO or in the Moon transmitting energy to Earth based
structures causing further radation and ecologycal
disasters
but what I defined can be a possibility
they are developing energy generating painting
nanotech possibilities are just around the corner
many other alternatives are under development
we must solve here on earth our earth generated
problems with creativity and ingenuity and not hoping
that non tested solutions may come from space
fantasies or utopian technological systems, and we
must also never forget that any space initiative must
be technically feasible and economically viable.
Without that it will only be wishful thinking
Space must be utilized to help solving earth problems
but will not solve any of them by itself.
(By the way i have been and am a space enthusiast
since sputnik 1)
It will create new ones , new challenges for all of us
and we must be ready to face them.
If we are unable to solve earth problems we will never
be able to face the more complicated and unknown
problems that we w ill face in space, it will only
remain an escapist dream

--- In ssi_list@... giorgio gaviraghi
> fred
> i want to make you a small example of waht i am
> talking about
> today, in the traditional way, to power a house for,
> say 100W, you need a distant power plant, maybe
> powered by a dam and turbines or nuclear, miles of
> power lines dotting the territory, substation to
> transform the power, lines to your house.

Hey Paul, do you remember the start date for our go
around on this
topic? It was back in Nov/Dec 03 wasn't it?

Giorgio,

If you are keen on decentralized power you really need
to address
sustained load generation. You can't use your
decentralized power
system when it is sunny out and then in the winter
rely on the
electric utility. All of that utility company
infrastructure has to be
paid for year round, not just for the few months that
you would use
it. This means that if you rely on your decentralized
power system for
8 months of the year, your power savings won't be 8/12
of your annual
bill, but more like10% or so, because all the power
company saves by
not supplying you is the fuel cost. All of their
infrastructure costs
still have to be paid for, as well as power plants
that can handle
everyone who comes onto their system during the low
months of the year.

If you're going to go completely off the grid then you
need to
overbuild your system so that it can provide you with
your power needs
at the least efficient time of year. The capital cost
of doing this is
insane.

If you're going to store your surplus power in peak
season and draw
from it in the low season, then how are you going to
store the power?
If you're thinking of a flywheel, where are you going
to put a couple
of tons of spinning flywheel? If it's hydrogen that
you're going to
create for your fuel cell, which local gov't is going
to allow each
family to store cryogenic fuels willy nilly throughout
a neighborhood
and how much power are you going to need to minimize
boil-off?

Perhaps you're thinking you'll just use batteries to
store your power?
How much mining, fabrication and transportation cost
is involved and
how about the toxic waste that'll be created from the
batteries?

TangoMan