With 90% of the incident solar radiation reaching the surface of the earth(insolation) – the question becomes with what efficiency do we convert the insolation to usable forms of energy/fuels.

If you accept this arguement, it is known as to how many watts of energy reach the earth per sq km, assuming some conversion efficiency to human usable form, for a given population we could calculate how many watts were available to each person.

If persons are using energy at a rate greater than this there is no way any source can be considered renewable or there is an inequality in availability. The equation has to balance.

I have never seen this calculation done, although I have to believe that it has. And if I were forced to guess I expect that we would not like the answer because intuitively I believe it would forecast some serious consequences for populations. Particularly since lifestyle seems to be directly related to energy consumption.

If anyone has seen data on this or predictive models I would be interested in hearing about it.

Why bother to ask the average Joe what he thinks about it, it’s like asking him to decide whether we need to irradiate food (oh, wait, we did that. Turned out well, didn’t it?) or stem cell research needs to be pursued (ditto on that one) perhaps we should leave it up to the experts.

Aside from which, saying they are all untested is not factually precise. Biodiesel is currently in use in several areas around the world, and there are even vehicles produced now that can burn it. You can just pour straight vegetable oil into most diesel engines and they will run just fine.

Personally, my next vehicle will probably be a diesel, one that is set up to run a variety of fuels right from the manufacturer (Mercedes Benz already offers one) would be preferred.

There’s also the distinct possibility that we’ll invest in an electric car for day to day commuting. There are several places in town that either offer or retrofit vehicles themselves to run on electricity.

I’m also not counting out the introduction of compressed air technology, two versions of which were featured on Beyond Tomorrow recently. These options aren’t even mentioned in the poll.

So, which direction should we take? All of them. The only way to test which fuel is best is to subject them all to market forces and see which fuel system is successful in a open market place.

…and that means getting the government and it’s associated popularity contests completely out of the picture.

My opinion is that plug-in cars with those new capicitors I think are going to be the ticket.

alternative power

The post above mentioned salt water–I like the idea of using the solar collecting power of the world’s oceans to produce hydrogen gas, biofuels, other combustibles.

It is an economic decision that the world will make.

Biodiesel is a really good alternative. Biofuels is kind of vague. Ethanol is a biofuel but it sucks. Not much better than regular gasoline.